Interzone #228
A new Interzone plonked itself on the mat before I'd quite finished reading the last one. That's subscription service for you.
Great googly mooglies, there's a forum for all this stuff too. http://ttapress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1539
This month's theme is slightly familiar themes, played with a different paintbrush.
Untied States of America by Mario Milosevic
"The cows in Vermont all died a long time ago."
What would happen if America took isolationism to the ultimate extreme? What if every single state was separated and totally alone from each other? This story concerns itself with a woman named Susan, who lives in Washington and is part of the second or third generation since America was split up. She watches the coastline over the continental cliffs that form the boundary of Washington as it floats through the sea. Sometimes she thinks she sees another island. She has lost both her husband and son to the sea; the husband fell in, the son left in search of other States.
This was an interesting story based on an extremely implausible premise. The backstory of how the States split up is ludicrous, but it is related as a folk-tale, passed down through the generations, so it might not be entirely to be believed. The story explores various aspects of the drifting state scenario but doesn't come to a real conclusion. It feels like the prologue to a larger story. That said, I enjoyed it a great deal.
Iron Monk by Melissa Yuan-Innes
"In the movies, Chinese heroes always die."
First contact with aliens has been going badly. Although communication has been possible, every mission into space to meet them has ended with the spaceship disappearing. Now a group of traitors to the Government are being sent into space to investigate. The focus on the story is on an eight year old Monk named Little Tiger and his teacher, Big Brother, who is training him in martial arts while they are on their voyage.
What I liked most about this story was the Chinese perspective, it made what could have been a humdrum tale quite refreshing. The big enemy in this story is the government and whoever the spy is on board the ship. It seems a brutal way to treat convicts, to send them into space, but you can imagine the government rationale in doing so. Why waste their highly trained astronauts? Of course, if they're not expecting the convicts to return it's still an execution.
A Passion For Art by David D Levine
"Sitting on the sofa, denting it deeply, was Pocahontas."
Justin Carnes is a security specialist. He generally finds it a dull job, but when he is called in to investigate some damaged paintings at the Art Institute of Chicago, things take a turn for the strange.
This was a very simple story, but good fun. I recall that a similar premise was used in an episode of The Sarah-Jane Adventures, in an episode called 'The Mona Lisa's Revenge'. There it was an excuse for some mucking about in an art gallery, but in A Passion For Art it's used to explore the nature of artwork. The essential question is whether art is a dead representation of something living. If art were a butterfly, would it be better to have it pinned under glass or flying freely?
My opinion on the argument is that art is not important for the life within it, but for the effect that it has on people. The art in itself is not alive, but it's an interesting concept to consider. There are some great details in this story too; I particularly like the description of the cracks in the paving slabs left behind after a marble statue walks out of the museum.
Plague Birds by Jason Sanford
This story is set in the distant future, where humanity has mucked about with their gene-pool and incorporated various animal characteristics into their being. There are artificial intelligences who are subtly guiding humanity to the point where it can rediscover itself, but the setting is essentially a fantasy drawn out of sci-fi concepts. The AIs are magical spirits by another name. That said, the story still held my attention well. I especially liked the idea of the AI that lived within the blood.
Over Water by Jon Ingold
"Must we fight? cried the men, because we have only rope and needles while they have swords and jealous bellies."
Taking us back to island civilisations, Over Water describes a more connected society than the one in Untied States of America. The Hawn are a peaceful society of fishers, who are frequently raided by the Polyph, brutal scavengers from another island. The Hawn band together to make a defence against the raiders, though a Polyph spy almost ruins their plans.
The framing of the story is excellent, with the narrator beginning by telling us he will relate his story in three languages. It immediately creates the sense of a complex civilisation and there are other details that add to the historical impact. The whole thing goes off in a bit of an unexpected direction towards the end, as the narrator and his love explore the Library of Future Knowledge. There's a wonderful image of the map of the stars, where the night sky is turned to white and every star an inky pen-mark. Excellent stuff.
Great googly mooglies, there's a forum for all this stuff too. http://ttapress.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1539
This month's theme is slightly familiar themes, played with a different paintbrush.
Untied States of America by Mario Milosevic
"The cows in Vermont all died a long time ago."
What would happen if America took isolationism to the ultimate extreme? What if every single state was separated and totally alone from each other? This story concerns itself with a woman named Susan, who lives in Washington and is part of the second or third generation since America was split up. She watches the coastline over the continental cliffs that form the boundary of Washington as it floats through the sea. Sometimes she thinks she sees another island. She has lost both her husband and son to the sea; the husband fell in, the son left in search of other States.
This was an interesting story based on an extremely implausible premise. The backstory of how the States split up is ludicrous, but it is related as a folk-tale, passed down through the generations, so it might not be entirely to be believed. The story explores various aspects of the drifting state scenario but doesn't come to a real conclusion. It feels like the prologue to a larger story. That said, I enjoyed it a great deal.
Iron Monk by Melissa Yuan-Innes
"In the movies, Chinese heroes always die."
First contact with aliens has been going badly. Although communication has been possible, every mission into space to meet them has ended with the spaceship disappearing. Now a group of traitors to the Government are being sent into space to investigate. The focus on the story is on an eight year old Monk named Little Tiger and his teacher, Big Brother, who is training him in martial arts while they are on their voyage.
What I liked most about this story was the Chinese perspective, it made what could have been a humdrum tale quite refreshing. The big enemy in this story is the government and whoever the spy is on board the ship. It seems a brutal way to treat convicts, to send them into space, but you can imagine the government rationale in doing so. Why waste their highly trained astronauts? Of course, if they're not expecting the convicts to return it's still an execution.
A Passion For Art by David D Levine
"Sitting on the sofa, denting it deeply, was Pocahontas."
Justin Carnes is a security specialist. He generally finds it a dull job, but when he is called in to investigate some damaged paintings at the Art Institute of Chicago, things take a turn for the strange.
This was a very simple story, but good fun. I recall that a similar premise was used in an episode of The Sarah-Jane Adventures, in an episode called 'The Mona Lisa's Revenge'. There it was an excuse for some mucking about in an art gallery, but in A Passion For Art it's used to explore the nature of artwork. The essential question is whether art is a dead representation of something living. If art were a butterfly, would it be better to have it pinned under glass or flying freely?
My opinion on the argument is that art is not important for the life within it, but for the effect that it has on people. The art in itself is not alive, but it's an interesting concept to consider. There are some great details in this story too; I particularly like the description of the cracks in the paving slabs left behind after a marble statue walks out of the museum.
Plague Birds by Jason Sanford
This story is set in the distant future, where humanity has mucked about with their gene-pool and incorporated various animal characteristics into their being. There are artificial intelligences who are subtly guiding humanity to the point where it can rediscover itself, but the setting is essentially a fantasy drawn out of sci-fi concepts. The AIs are magical spirits by another name. That said, the story still held my attention well. I especially liked the idea of the AI that lived within the blood.
Over Water by Jon Ingold
"Must we fight? cried the men, because we have only rope and needles while they have swords and jealous bellies."
Taking us back to island civilisations, Over Water describes a more connected society than the one in Untied States of America. The Hawn are a peaceful society of fishers, who are frequently raided by the Polyph, brutal scavengers from another island. The Hawn band together to make a defence against the raiders, though a Polyph spy almost ruins their plans.
The framing of the story is excellent, with the narrator beginning by telling us he will relate his story in three languages. It immediately creates the sense of a complex civilisation and there are other details that add to the historical impact. The whole thing goes off in a bit of an unexpected direction towards the end, as the narrator and his love explore the Library of Future Knowledge. There's a wonderful image of the map of the stars, where the night sky is turned to white and every star an inky pen-mark. Excellent stuff.