2015 Stories 305 - 313
Managed to fall behind again, so here's a not-quite-completely catch-up post with my thoughts on the stories from the November 2015 issue of Lightspeed Magazine (issue #66):
305. HERE IS MY THINKING ON A SITUATION WHICH AFFECTS US ALL by Rahul Kanakia. A spaceship that has hovered above New York City for decades finally speak to humans, explaining where it came from and what its mission is. The way the spaceship speaks gives it a character that sounds at turns longing, believing, and questioning, like it it trying to convince itself that its mission is a valid one. And in that way, the spaceship mirrors humanity in a way that it itself possibly can't recognize. Very very moving story.
306. THE PIPES OF PAN by Brian Stableford. In a near future, natural children have been abolished and replaced with ones that stop aging between the ages of eight and thirteen. Adults live for hundreds of years. Girls are named Wendy, boys are named Peter -- but the Wendy narrating this story is showing signs of puberty and advanced thinking, as an epidemic of such spans the globe. Stableford weaves the world-building into Wendy's natural curiosity and her own questions build the story tension to an inevitable conclusion.
307. ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS, LOVE, DEATH by Caroline M. Yoachim. Nicole meets Andrew on a bus to Spokane, when a boulder strikes the bus and kills Andrew's father, after which the two fall in love, marry, divorce, and face suicide. But of course that's only the surface of one of the best time travel stories I've ever read. Absolutely involving, characters you care about, and amazing internal consistency.
308. THE LIGHT BRIGADE by Kameron Hurley. Hurley gives us a future where a long-separated Mars colony comes back to redeem Earth but war breaks out when the ruling Earth Corporations declare the Aliens are liars and betrayers. Told through the eyes of soldier, a member of an elite squad who can teleport by becoming light. PTSD, the effects of war, the justifcations we weave for why we do what we do... a powerful, topical story.
309. THE BLACK FAIRY'S CURSE by Karen Joy Fowler. A story of a princess's life told in reverse order, it seems, touching on aspects of Snow White, Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty and others. The main character is never named, but her identity becomes clearer as the story progresses. Very well told.
310. WHEN WE WERE GIANTS by Helena Ball. Students at an all-girls school discover that they turn into giants when they sneak off into the woods. It's liberating in a way, but it's also tween-girls social politics writ large and primal. Ball captures the friction of the clique/pack mentality at odds with authority (teachers, principal) and individuality.
311. PRINTABLE by Toh Enjoe. A rambling, idea-driven story about the effect of technology on humanity, the possibility of 3D-printed people, what makes us human, the application of human rights to "written" people, stories within stories, author's rights, ghost rights, and more.
312. THE PLAUSABILITY OF DRAGONS by Kenneth Schneyer. Malik, a wandering Moorish scholar, meets Fara, a Frankish female knight. She's searching for her missing sister and the dragon who may have killed her. But dragons don't exist, and people who should be accepting of the pair start to call them "witch" and "demon." Something odd is going on. The story really touches on cultural erasure and the ability to blend in, making the conceptual very personal.
313. THE LEAST TRUMPS by Elizabeth Hand. Ivy is the daughter of a famous childrens' book author, and her favorite book series is that of a friend of her mother's, a man who never completed his series after the death of his son. Those books mention a set of Tarot cards called "the least trumps." Ivy finds the deck in a rummage sale, one card missing and all but two of the remaining set completely blank. As she investigates the mystery, we learn more about Ivy's history with her ex-lover Julia as well as with Ivy's own parents. We learn how broken and anxiety-ridden our narrator really is, and why. Beautiful story with a few very effective creepy moments, and near perfect pacing throughout.
305. HERE IS MY THINKING ON A SITUATION WHICH AFFECTS US ALL by Rahul Kanakia. A spaceship that has hovered above New York City for decades finally speak to humans, explaining where it came from and what its mission is. The way the spaceship speaks gives it a character that sounds at turns longing, believing, and questioning, like it it trying to convince itself that its mission is a valid one. And in that way, the spaceship mirrors humanity in a way that it itself possibly can't recognize. Very very moving story.
306. THE PIPES OF PAN by Brian Stableford. In a near future, natural children have been abolished and replaced with ones that stop aging between the ages of eight and thirteen. Adults live for hundreds of years. Girls are named Wendy, boys are named Peter -- but the Wendy narrating this story is showing signs of puberty and advanced thinking, as an epidemic of such spans the globe. Stableford weaves the world-building into Wendy's natural curiosity and her own questions build the story tension to an inevitable conclusion.
307. ROCK, PAPER, SCISSORS, LOVE, DEATH by Caroline M. Yoachim. Nicole meets Andrew on a bus to Spokane, when a boulder strikes the bus and kills Andrew's father, after which the two fall in love, marry, divorce, and face suicide. But of course that's only the surface of one of the best time travel stories I've ever read. Absolutely involving, characters you care about, and amazing internal consistency.
308. THE LIGHT BRIGADE by Kameron Hurley. Hurley gives us a future where a long-separated Mars colony comes back to redeem Earth but war breaks out when the ruling Earth Corporations declare the Aliens are liars and betrayers. Told through the eyes of soldier, a member of an elite squad who can teleport by becoming light. PTSD, the effects of war, the justifcations we weave for why we do what we do... a powerful, topical story.
309. THE BLACK FAIRY'S CURSE by Karen Joy Fowler. A story of a princess's life told in reverse order, it seems, touching on aspects of Snow White, Red Riding Hood, Sleeping Beauty and others. The main character is never named, but her identity becomes clearer as the story progresses. Very well told.
310. WHEN WE WERE GIANTS by Helena Ball. Students at an all-girls school discover that they turn into giants when they sneak off into the woods. It's liberating in a way, but it's also tween-girls social politics writ large and primal. Ball captures the friction of the clique/pack mentality at odds with authority (teachers, principal) and individuality.
311. PRINTABLE by Toh Enjoe. A rambling, idea-driven story about the effect of technology on humanity, the possibility of 3D-printed people, what makes us human, the application of human rights to "written" people, stories within stories, author's rights, ghost rights, and more.
312. THE PLAUSABILITY OF DRAGONS by Kenneth Schneyer. Malik, a wandering Moorish scholar, meets Fara, a Frankish female knight. She's searching for her missing sister and the dragon who may have killed her. But dragons don't exist, and people who should be accepting of the pair start to call them "witch" and "demon." Something odd is going on. The story really touches on cultural erasure and the ability to blend in, making the conceptual very personal.
313. THE LEAST TRUMPS by Elizabeth Hand. Ivy is the daughter of a famous childrens' book author, and her favorite book series is that of a friend of her mother's, a man who never completed his series after the death of his son. Those books mention a set of Tarot cards called "the least trumps." Ivy finds the deck in a rummage sale, one card missing and all but two of the remaining set completely blank. As she investigates the mystery, we learn more about Ivy's history with her ex-lover Julia as well as with Ivy's own parents. We learn how broken and anxiety-ridden our narrator really is, and why. Beautiful story with a few very effective creepy moments, and near perfect pacing throughout.