REVIEW: “Mephisto & Me” by Lyle Stiles

Review of Lyle Stiles, “Mephisto & Me,” Assemble Artifacts 2 (2022): 156-176 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

When Jerod’s demon-possessed robot finally succeeds in harnessing Jerod’s angerinto bringing about Armageddon, he won’t have anyone to blame but himself. After all, it was Jerod who was willing to do anything to bring his father back after he was murdered — including a pack with the devil.

The premise has a lot of potential, but I found the implementation of it sometimes a bit clunky and stodgy; I never really quite got into the story. I did appreciate Jerod’s attempts to speak up against the horribly whitewashed version of BML his teacher tried to give him in school.

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REVIEW: “Prism” by Nick Shafir

Review of Nick Shafir, “Prism,” Assemble Artifacts 2 (2022): 97-118 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

The narrator is off to test their potential as a Querier, a person in charge of gathering information that will contribute to determining what, exactly, are the Prism Events. We see their interview with an astronomer, we hear about their own experience with the first Prism Event, and the twist at the end is both fitting and not so telegraphed in advance to not be a surprise. But the entire thing was let down for me by a simple inconsistency in how the main character was presented. First, they say “It’s fortunate that in a job like this, being emotionally attuned wouldn’t do me any favors. That’s part of the reason it was a good fit for me” (p. 98). But then just a few pages later — “I’d been warned about keeping my sympathy in check when I took the assignment” (p. 101) and on the next page there’s a reference to “my unintentionally callous nature” (p. 102). So: sympathetic/empathetic or not? Which are we to believe? I’m not sure I can buy this being simply an unreliable narrator when the explanation of inconsistent author strikes me as more likely. And as soon as I am worried that I’ve got an inconsistent author, it makes me uncertain about everything else I’m given in the story.

A real shame, because the idea had potential, I think.

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REVIEW: “Love, Happiness, and All the Things You May Not Be Destined For” by Lindz McLeod

Review of Lindz McLeod, “Love, Happiness, and All the Things You May Not Be Destined For,” Assemble Artifacts 2 (2022): 62-96 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

I know it’s still early 2024, but this story is an exceptionally strong candidate for being my story of 2024. The conceit is novel: Georgia meets up regularly with other versions of herself, at different ages, both learning how her life will turn out from the older versions and in turn teaching the younger ones the same. And the twist(s! plural!) at the end are glorious and unexpected and perfect.

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REVIEW: “First Ship” by Eric Lewis

Review of Eric Lewis, “The Family Proof,” Assemble Artifacts 2 (2022): 45-61 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Corralyn Fan-Anders has spent the last 16 years in stasis, on the first manned mission to another star system. When she awakens from stasis, everything goes smoothly — until another ship, impossibly, appears.

For someone as clever as Corralyn must have been, she seems remarkably obtuse about the possibility of technology improving in the time that she’s been asleep. That, combined with some bad judgment and poor decision making, made her a relatively unrelatable, unsympathetic character. The story was billed as a comedy, but I didn’t quite see that side of things; maybe other readers will have a different experience.

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REVIEW: “The Family Proof” by Arianna Reiche

Review of Arianna Reiche, “The Family Proof,” Assemble Artifacts 2 (2022): 1-44 — Purchase online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Content note: Sexual assault/violence.

At 44 pages, this is almost a novelette than a short story. But the length worked: It allowed Reiche to feed the reader small bits and dribs and drabs, the hints that let us know that things are not as they seem. It’s a story that sits in the uncanny valley: It’s almost just an ordinary story about ordinary people, and just enough not that to make for an incredibly rewarding read. (I also think it would make a fascinating short film.)

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