2016 Story 47
Today's story also comes from the February 2016 issue of Lightspeed Magazine (#69), edited by John Joseph Adams:
47. STARFISH by Karin Tidbeck. Kim takes an arctic cruise to take her mind off of recent changes in her life. The captain's late-night tale of the Iron Coffin, a portal to another realm, intrigues her. The world of the story is not immediately recognizable as "not our own," which I think is a great way to pull a reader in. Tidbeck implies heavily before outright revealing that the setting is a world very much like our own but not quite exactly the same; the biggest hint is the starfish-creatures of the title, who are real and a metaphor. I related to the main character wanting to just get away from a life she's no longer happy with.
47. STARFISH by Karin Tidbeck. Kim takes an arctic cruise to take her mind off of recent changes in her life. The captain's late-night tale of the Iron Coffin, a portal to another realm, intrigues her. The world of the story is not immediately recognizable as "not our own," which I think is a great way to pull a reader in. Tidbeck implies heavily before outright revealing that the setting is a world very much like our own but not quite exactly the same; the biggest hint is the starfish-creatures of the title, who are real and a metaphor. I related to the main character wanting to just get away from a life she's no longer happy with.