REVIEW: “De Profundis, a Space Love Letter” by Bella Han

Review of Bella Han, “De Profundis, a Space Love Letter”, Clarkesworld Issue 205, October (2023): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

“Dear Yuwen,

This is the last night of your existence.”

When a story starts like this, you can’t help but continue. Can I call it a space opera about stories? I thoroughly enjoyed every aspect of this one. As long as feelings exist, there will always remain a very real need for good storytelling. The flood of AI-generated stories aren’t cutting it, as it turns out. A human tries to change that.

An enchantingly grand novelette.

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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: “Down To The Root” by Lisa Papademetriou

Review of Lisa Papademetriou, “Down To The Root”, Clarkesworld Issue 205, October (2023): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

Across time, space, and civilization, feelings remain the same – often simultaneously all consuming and incomprehensible. Sometimes what drives you is simply a determined feeling, and sometimes that simple feeling is the most important thing of all.

A story about space battles and planets with cyclical time. Also a story about relationships, friendship, and a sense of faith and hope.

I also feel like Luriel is the kind of friend everyone should aspire to be. True to her duty and her friend, while traversing the confusing journey of life.

Two things to remember from this story – there are a million ways to die, and taking risks gives you strength.

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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: “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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REVIEW: “Rain Town” by Mary J. Daley

Review of Mary J. Daley, “Rain Town,” Luna Station Quarterly 56 (2023): Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

Lyn and her parents live in a Rain Town — something we, the reader, never quite find out what it is, and yet Daley gives just enough details to allow us the piece together an intricate backstory to this world that feels both incredibly familiar and yet altogether foreign. Is it a vision of what our world might be in the future? Is it an alternate past? Or is it entirely it’s own thing? Again, none of these questions are answered, but instead provide a backdrop for what is, at the heart of it, a simple story: A stranger comes to town, works for room and board, and when he is able to, leaves again. Yet there was also so much more to it than that, making for an extremely effective and satisfying read.

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REVIEW: “Such Is My Idea Of Happiness” by David Goodman

Review of David Goodman, “Such Is My Idea Of Happiness”, Clarkesworld Issue 205, October (2023): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

A very timely story about wealth and power concentrated in the hands of a few. Actually, there are very few instances where such a story would not be timely!

When you’re too tired, you have no energy to think. Without original thought, you cannot uplift yourself.

This is true for oppressed and exploited people across the globe, across time. This particular story is set in a future London, with the city and the world being so different from what it is today, and heartbreakingly similar in a few terrible ways.

Stepping out of your comfort zone may bring you peace and contentment, but it’s so hard to step out. Even if your current situation is not ideal, it’s still better than an unknown future, right? There is fear and the people with power exploit that fear. It’s an age old game, and the powerful players keep winning.

But sometimes, there’s a revolution. And sometimes, the good guys might just win.

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REVIEW: “The Blaumilch” by Lavie Tidhar

Review of Lavie Tidhar, “The Blaumilch”, Clarkesworld Issue 205, October (2023): Read Online. Reviewed by Myra Naik.

A lovely story of self discovery and finding joy. Or is it a science fiction story about future generations living on Mars, and how humans adjusted to life there? Or maybe it’s about how things change so much, but still remain the same in so many ways?

This story is about all those things. It is also about a canal and a man who digs it. Whatever perspective you choose to read this story from, it’s going to be enjoyable.

If you let it just unfold in all it’s glory, you’re in for a treat. Such depth and heart in this one.

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REVIEW: “To Persist, However Changed” by Aimee Ogden

Review of Aimee Ogden, “To Persist, However Changed,” Small Wonders no. 3 (September 2023): 27-28 — Read online. Reviewed by Sara L. Uckelman.

This was a very sciencey science fiction, full of botanical terms. It’s tricky to take plants and make them into sympathetic characters, and I struggled a bit with getting past the jargon. But maybe someone more familiar with the vocabulary would enjoy the story more!

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