The Best of Clarkesworld 2012+

written by David Steffen

Clarkesworld Magazine has been growing! Some time after my last Best of Clarkesworld post, they did a subscription drive where they promised to go from providing two stories per month to providing three stories per month. That drive was a success, and so they’ve been providing stories at the new rate for more than a year.

And now they’re working on yet another expansion. If they can get another push of subscribers in the near future, they’ll go up to 4 stories per month, which includes a podcast for each one. If you like the stories you read here, consider getting a subscription to help them produce even more! And, on top of that, they’ve brought in Gardner Dozois for a reprint division, which will be yet another story every month.

In September I had the pleasure of meeting Kate Baker, their podcast producer, host, and primary narrator at WorldCon. It was one of the highlights of a great week. She’s just as nice in person as she sounds on the podcast, and it felt very surreal to hear her voice when it wasn’t coming out of my iPod.

On to the list, which covers 53 episodes published since my last list in May 2011.

 

1. All the Painted Stars by Gwendolyn Clare
This is one of my Hugo/Nebula nomination picks for the year, with a shapeshifting alien POV that I found very enjoyable.

2. The Womb Factory by Peter M. Ferenczi
In the future, our products will still be made in 3rd world countries, but instead of being built by hand they will be grown in the wombs of the women who work their.

3. The Wisdom of Ants by Thoraiya Dyer
Great worldbuilding here with metal-eating ants.

4. What Everyone Remembers by Rahul Kanakia
Another great nonhuman POV story.

5. Synch Me, Kiss Me, Drop by Suzanne Church
A story based in the club scene of the future.

 

Honorable Mention

Pack by Robert Reed

Immersion by Aliette de Bodard
One of this year’s Nebula nominees for Short Story category

Robot by Helena Bell
Another of this year’s Nebula nominees for Short Story category

 

The Best of Beneath Ceaseless Skies Podcast 2012+

written by David Steffen

Beneath Ceaseless Skies continues to be a great source of fiction set in a secondary world. This list encompasses all of their podcasted stories since my last list in March of 2011, about 38 episodes. Keep in mind that they only podcast about half of their stories, so check out their text if you want to get the full backlog.

On to the list!

 

1. The Three Feats of Agani by Christie Yant
My favorite short story for several years, my definite #1 pick for award season. The story of a girl going through rites of passage of her culture’s religion while coping with the death of her father. Great philosophy, and a good story well told.

2. Mr. Morrow Becomes Acquainted with the Delicate Art of Squidkeeping by Geoffrey Maloney
So much fun, this reminded me of a Drabblecast episode. Interacting with alien squid creatures in Victorian period.

3. Worth of Crows by Seth Dickinson

4. The Ascent of Reason by Marie Brennan
Another story set in Driftwood, where dying worlds go as they disappear.

5. A Place to Stand by Grace Seybold

 

Honorable Mention

Cursed Motives by Marissa Lingen

The Best of The Drabblecast 2012

written by David Steffen

The Drabblecast is still as awesome as ever, and continues to be my favorite source of short fiction, bar none. I particularly look forward to Lovecraft month every August when they solicit brand new Lovecraft-style stories from established authors.

This year marked a milestone for me, the first time I’ve sold a story to the Drabblecast. You can read “Constant Companion” here as part of one of their trifecta specials.

On to the list!

 

1. Betty Flesh and the Meat Man by Damon Shaw
This story is super weird in the best of ways. It throws you for a few loops, and my favorite thing about it is that it never goes where I expect it to. A story about a butcher’s daughter meeting the last available suitor, but you have to read it to really get a sense of it. This is one of my Hugo nominations this year.

2. Jagannath by Karen Tidbeck
People act as the internal components of some bizarre hybrid creature.

3. The People of Sand and Slag by Paolo Bacigalupi
A future where the earth can support very little normal life, and the people who’ve been modified to live there who almost don’t seem like people at all.

4. The Wreck of the Charles Dexter Ward Part 1 and Part 2 by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette
The third installment of the same world that Mongoose and Boojum were set in, both great stories. This one is a Drabblecast original, as part of their Lovecraft month. Another story set in this Lovecraftian-esque space opera universe.

5. How I Crippled a World for Just 0.01 Cents by Michael W. Lucht
A scientist manages to travel into a parallel universe where scientific principles are covered by patent law, and the consequences of that law, he is put on trial for violating these laws when trying to create a device to send him home.

 

Honorable Mentions

My True Lovecraft Gave to Me by Eric Lis
Apparently I am not the only one who thinks the song “A Partridge in a Pair Tree” must be the product of a fevered mind.

The Elder Thing and the Puddle People by S. Boyd Taylor
One of the Lovecraft month stories, about a little girl who seems like an elder god to little creatures living in the pond.

Transfer of Ownership by Christie Yant

Review: Hugo Dramatic Presentation, Long Form Nominees 2013

written by David Steffen

You may notice that four of the five nominees here are also nominees for the Ray Bradbury award this year, which I also reviewed. So, yes, I did just move my review of those four into this article. If you read that previous article and you want to just read the new stuff, The Hobbit is the only nominee that was nominated for Hugo but not for Ray Bradbury, so you can skip ahead to that part.

Anyway, this was a very enjoyable batch of movies this year!

 

1. The Cabin in the Woods
When I saw the previews for this movie I didn’t know what to make of it. The vague impression I got was that it was tortureporn, of the same ilk as Saw and Human Centipede. So I didn’t see it theatres. But then I kept getting recommendations for it from people who have similar taste as me. And it got a Ray Bradbury nomination–surely my fellow SF writers would have better taste than to nominate something of that variety, I figured. So I decided to give it a try.

At the beginning, the main thread of the movie may seem familiar, stereotypical even. Five college students go to visit an isolated cabin in the woods for a vacation, each student a different archetype of such movies. A classic horror setup for anything from monsters to serial killers. But there are other scenes interspersed with this main plot that show scenes from what could be a typical dull government office, except that these guys in ties are controlling the events at the cabin in the woods and steering them toward some outcome. In the end it’s all explained and is extremely entertaining.

It’s full of action. It has some gore, but I thought the amount was reasonable considering the content–I trust Whedon to use gore effectively. Personally I found it more often funny or just plain awesome, but rarely scary, but I don’t think the classification of this movie as horror is inaccurate. It is meant specifically as a response to the stereotypes of horror film and there are gory parts and things that might be scary to other people but the way that it was presented put it in a completely different light for me.

 

2. The Avengers
I saw this one in theaters. I haven’t kept up with all the Marvel movies, but my favorite superheroes are all Marvel and it was such a fun idea to have a movie that takes all the recent big-hit Marvel movies and combines them with all the same actors. I’ve never seen anything put together quite like that, with Iron Man, Thor, Captain America already having their own feature films in their own right.

Although the Avenger Initiative has been canceled before the movie even begins, the group is brought together to counter a threat to the entire world. Thor’s brother Loki is trying to open a portal to another dimension to bring through an army to conquer Earth. The group must come together to try to stop them: Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, Hulk, Hawkeye, Thor, all organized by Nick Fury. My concern with the premise was that either just a few of the heroes would get the focus and the rest would be background characters, or they’d spread the attention so thin that you never felt like any character really got their chance to shine. But Whedon (again!) did a superb job balancing the characters in such a short period of time, while leaving me satisfied. Each character got plenty of chances to show their skills (though Hawkeye seems a little ludicrously unpowered in such a group). Each character brought something to the group, both in abilities and in dialog/character. Iron Man got all the best lines, while Captain America was the straight man, Banner was the skeptic, and so on.

Admittedly, much of anticipation was waiting for the next time that Bruce Banner would Hulk out, but that anticipation just made the smashing time all the more fun.

 

3. The Hunger Games
Heather and I heard the hype about this movie about a year before it came out, and we both read The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins–this movie is the first of the three adaptations.

The story follows Katniss Everdeen of District Twelve, one of the twelve districts that is little more than a prison colony of the totalitarian government of Panem, occupying the territory now occupied by the United States. The districts have risen up against the capital before, but the rebellion was crushed. To punish and remind them, every year the capital randomly chooses two tributes (a boy and a girl) under the age of 17 to fight in an arena. These 24 young people are put in a strictly controlled arena with limited resources, and they stay in there until all but one of them are dead–the district of the winner is showered with prizes (mostly extra food). Katniss’s 12-year old younger sister Primrose is the one taken in the random drawing, and Katniss volunteers to take her place. She is the sole provider for her sister, and she must find a way to survive to keep her sister alive. The game involves not just action, and wilderness survival, but politics as the games are watched by the public and controlled by the government to ensure the audience is satisfied.

I’d recommend the book to anyone. The movie is one of those rare movie adaptations that does its book justice in tone and content, though the book of course contains more of what you see in the movie. Being able to see the opulence of the capital is the best part because that was one of the parts of the book that I was looking forward to seeing the most.

 

4. Looper
Heather and I watched this one together before the Bradbury nominees were announced based on recommendations from friends.

Time travel is invented 30 years in the future, but it is primarily used by criminals. Other technologies will have progressed by that time, including technology which makes it almost impossible to dispose of a dead body without evidence of it being discovered by the police. So criminal organizations have developed a system using time travel to solve this problem. They hire people from 30 years before (a time before time travel was invented) to act as “loopers”. Their job is to wait at specific places at specific times for murder victims. The victim will come through with a hood over their head and their hands bound behind their back and all the looper has to do is kill the person and dispose of the body. Since neither the forensic technology nor time travel has been invented at this time, it’s much easier to dispose of the body. With each victim is a payout in silver. The looper continues this work, until eventually a victim comes through that looks like any other, and is to be killed in the same way. This victim comes with a gold payout, enough to make a person filthy rich. This victim is the looper from the future time, and the murder of that person “closes the loop”, destroying any chance for the future authorities to interrogate this older person, hence the name. Complicated, but interesting premise, for sure.

The protagonist, Joe, is a looper, but when his golden payout comes through, something goes wrong and his future self escapes. This makes them both fugitives from the criminal organizations that run the system. The young Joe wants only to kill the older Joe so that he can live normally again. Older Joe isn’t so keen on this plan, but he has to try to keep young Joe alive because killing him will make old Joe disappear.

It’s really a sign of the quality of the nominees that this is #4. This movie is great, and I’d highly recommend it. It’s action packed from start to finish. I was skeptical that Joseph Gordon-Levitt would seem plausible as a young Bruce Willis, but they managed to pull it off with the use of some facial prosthetics to change the shape of his face. It looks really real, though it’s disconcerting if you’re used to Joseph’s face from his other acting work. It’s not just a mindless action movie; they did a great job plotting it, putting foreshadowing in place that’s not too blatant but which makes sense in retrospect and the ending resolution totally makes sense while not being too obvious.

 

5. The Hobbit
I’ve been waiting for this one to come out for quite some time. I enjoyed Peter Jackson’s Lord of the Rings movies more than the books that they are based on because I’ve found Tolkien’s writing style to be rather impenetrable. When I first heard that Peter Jackson would also be working on The Hobbit, I was very excited. But my excitement dampened a bit when I heard that The Hobbit was being made into a trilogy of movies. And by the look of it they’re going to be long movies. I can understand why The Lord of the Rings needs to be turned into nine hours of feature film (okay I know the uncut trilogy is more like twelve, but you get my point). The one-copy collection I have of them is more than a thousand pages. Really, he had to cut out a lot of material to fit that in the way it was. But The Hobbit is a children’s book, is a very quick read. Where The Lord of the Rings needs to be cut drastically to fit into the space, The Hobbit really needs to be embellished to fit in the space.

And that was my main complaint about the movie is that it’s been expanded so much, shoehorning in characters from The Lord of the Rings that never graced the pages of The Hobbit, adding in fight scenes, side plots, lots of extra stuff. There are lots of fun special effects, good acting all around, I just felt it was too long for the actual content. The Lord of the Rings got away with it because the stakes are so much higher–Sauron is threatening to conquer the world. Here the stakes are not all important to the world as a whole–the dwarves want their home back, and the area surrounding the mountain would rather do without a dragon, but really they’re going and picking a fight that they don’t really need to pick. For a movie that’s fine, but an epic trilogy is a bit much for this, I thought.

But, if you liked The Lord of the Rings movies, and you want more, you’ll probably want to check this out. I thought Bilbo’s interaction with Gollum was very well done especially.

So, I liked it, but in general I thought it was rather over-embellished for its content.

Review: Hugo Semiprozine Nominees 2013

written by David Steffen

Semiprozine is one of those Hugo categories that’s a little hard to understand. They can’t be professional magazines, where professional means that either the magazine provides more than 1/4 the income of any person or is owned/published by an entity that provides more than 1/4 the income to any one person. And it has to pay its contributors or staff in something other than copies of the magazine, or is only available for paid purchase.

As it happens, all five of the semiprozine nominees are magazines that I’ve read before. Here are my rankings of them.

1. Beneath Ceaseless Skies
I am so excited to see BCS get a well-deserved Hugo nomination. They are a great magazine focusing on secondary world fiction. If you like worldbuilding, BCS is a great place. The stories are free to read, and they do audio podcasts of about half of their stories, which is where I get most of their fiction. I’ve submitted to and read BCS from their inception. They’re the newcomer to this batch of markets, but they’ve kept consistent quality throughout their run.

They published one of my favorite stories I’ve heard in years, titled “The Three Feats of Agani” by Christie Yant. I was very disappointed not to see that story on the nomination list.

2. Clarkesworld
Clarkesworld seems to be the award season favorite, and there’s no mystery why. My reaction to Clarkesworld stories tends to be a little bi-polar. The stories that I like I absolutely love, but the stories that I dislike I really really dislike. They’re publishing three stories a month these days, and have plans for a reprint section, and possibly a 4th original story as well. Things are going well and they are ever expanding. They podcast every story which makes it easy for me to keep up. “All the Painted Stars” by Gwendolyn Clare was one of my favorite stories of the year.

3. Lightspeed
One of John Joseph Adams editorial efforts, Lightspeed puts out two fantasy and two science fiction stories every month. They’ve consistently drawn some award nominations in the few years since they launched. I listen to every story on the Lightspeed podcast. They have some really good offerings. Check out “Monster, Finder, Shifter” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman.

4. Apex
I have trouble keeping up with Apex’s offerings, because they don’t podcast their stories. But I’ve never been disappointed.

5. Strange Horizons
I hear that Strange Horizons is getting a fiction podcast. I’ll let them build up a few episodes, and then I intend to be a steady listener.

Daily Science Fiction: February 2013 Review

written by Frank Dutkiewicz

Whew. A lot going on in our little Diabolical world. So much David Steffen has left the substitute in charge. David assures me that Anthony Sullivan is more than capable for the job, and said he has yet to miss an edit.

On to this month’s review!

 

A little girl has a gift the alien overseers need in “Substitutes” by Colin P. Davies (debut 2/1 and reviewed by Frank D). Melinda has been blessed with the ‘gift’, the ability to navigate the stars. Aliens have come to Earth and spread a condition among its youth. Melinda’s father calls it a disease, but for the few who have been affected, they are prized by the aliens. They offer compensation to Melinda’s father, and a substitute that is in every way a perfect copy of Melinda. It isn’t enough for Melinda’s dad, but the aliens are relentless. The pair have been playing a cat and mouse game as they try to stay a step ahead of the aliens, but the creatures who have managed to travel the stars are far too clever to shake.

“Substitutes” is an eerie tale. Whatever the affliction Melinda is under, it has affected her mental capacities. Her father reacts how I’d imagine most people would react, angrily and fearfully. The brief tales plays out like a Stephen King premise, clones stalk the pair as they run to new homes. An increasingly desperate father gets more violent with every encounter.

I really liked this story. Liked it so much I was disappointed that it ended so quickly. Add 80,000 words as good as these 2000 and it would make a great novel.

Recommended.

 

An abandoned and hungry girl stumbles upon an edible house with her brother. “Hungry” by Robert E. Stutts (debut 2/4 and reviewed by Frank D). The protagonist is a captive in a cannibalistic witches’ home. The witch has imprisoned her brother in a cage and is fattening him up while impressing the little girl to be her apprentice. The little girl knows this will not end well for her and her brother, no matter how much the outcome changes.

Mr Stutts R rated version of ‘Hansel and Gretel’ is dark, even for this very grim Grimm tale. I found myself glued to it, as if I had fallen under a spell. Daily SF has published many disturbing tales. There may be a creepier tale than “Hungry” in its archives but if there is, it isn’t coming to mind.

 

The need to belong compete with its consequences in “Wildness and Wet” by Lee Hallison (debut 2/5 and reviewed by Frank D). Leah watches a flash dance performance from the safety of her bedroom window. The dancers are teenagers her age, connected via implants to the web. They share a clique like no other in history. Leah wants to be a part of it, and the boy who climbs to her open window may be too alluring to resist.

“Wildness and Wet” is a tale of temptation. The kids joined in this futuristic web have a shared physic ability thanks to the enhance technology. They garner all the substance they need through the implant and share a closeness ordinary human contact can never achieve, but their candle burns twice as quick and they die very young , burned out expending the extra flare they have enjoyed. Leah is like an imprisoned princess , unable to be a part of the exciting world she sees but she is very aware of the price she would have to pay to be a part of it.

I have one major complaint about this story , way too brief. This is just a taste of a far larger idea. I hope Ms Hallison explores this world further and shares her findings with us in the future.

 

A scientist and his greedy sister fight over their departed father’s possessions in “Mirror Image” by Peter M. Wood (debut 2/6 and reviewed by Frank D). Sam is a physicist but even he can’t piece together what his extrinsic father’s basement lab is all about. Doris, his sister, wants to sell it all and split the sale 50/50. She had already bilked Dad of the rest of his assets but it is never enough for her. Sam wants to see if there is anything to his late father’s claims of alternate realities, but Doris’s greed may make it all a moot point.

This tale explores the insanity of adults who fight over their departed parents belongings and adds a convenient twist to it. Amusing, in this world and in the one next door, I’m sure.

 

The “Time Travel Device” by James Van Pelt (debut 2/7 and reviewed by Frank D). The protagonist has created a means to travel through time. He isn’t able to control where he goes, his own desires choses his destination for him. Where you go can say much about the person you are.

This short tale has a morbid tone to it. Fascinating destinations, but I’d be worried if I were the protag.

 

A socially awkward girl makes her pitch for a date in “A Phone, My Heart, and Maybe My Last Shred of Dignity” by Luc Reid (debut 2/8 and reviewed by Frank D). Iowa is a loner in a society where no one is alone. Her life is a series of disasters. Today has been an unusually brutal day even for her, but reflection can help heal her self-inflicted wounds.

“A Phone” is a comedy of errors with a love story buried within. The story is told in a string of flashbacks , unusual but effective when written by someone as skilled as Mr Reid. Iowa has fallen for a woman giving a demonstration at 20th century fair. Iowa hatches a very crazy plan in hopes of impressing her.

I simply loved this tale. The ending of it was the beginning; watching Iowa’s crazy plan unravel in reverse made it that much more entertaining. You may need to jump back to the opening to notice the sweet conclusion to the story.

Recommended.

 

Charles Milford speaks for the President in “For The People” by Ronald D. Ferguson (debut 2/11 and reviewed by James Hanzelka). He has no official title, no position, but he sees him every day; which makes him the perfect vessel for the explosives planted in his abdomen. The resistance movement plans on using the drugged Milford to kill both the President and the Vice President. But will the plan succeed or do the rebels have it all wrong?

This story was set in the not too distant future, maybe one we can even see from here. I thought it was a little uneven at the beginning; but as I read on, I was rewarded with a pretty good story. It had a nice little twist at the end, and I’m a sucker for those, so maybe I’m prejudiced, but I thought it worked well. I think if you keep an open mind at the start of the story, it’s worth it in the end.

 

Kane is an empathy in “The Needs Of Hollow Men” by K.A. Rundell (debut 2/12 and reviewed by James Hanzelka), one that works for the police to solve crimes from the emotions left behind at the scene. A “hollow man”, someone empty of his own emotion. His lack of personal emotions facilitates his work, of course the meds help. But Kane is a man in trouble; the emptiness has been filled by everyone else’s emotion, squeezing him from inside. Who can help ease the pain he feels? Who will help the needs of a hollow man?

This story is well laid out and does a good job of ushering us into Kane’s world. We also get to see how he is starting to unravel. I think the author did a nice job of striking the right balance of information about Kane and the emotion he is dealing with. Nice story.

Recommended.

 

Two fairy tales intertwine in “A Hairy Predicament” by Melissa Mead (debut 2/13 and reviewed by Frank D). Mother Gothel has taken Rapunzel of her overwhelmed parent’s hands. Disposing her abundant hair has proven problematic but Rapunzel has an idea. Mother Gothel knows a Fae spell has its consequences, and a grieving widowed giant has come to complain.

This dark fairy tale is written with a tongue in cheek. Cute.

 

A little girl draws maps of the future in “Maps” by Beth Cato (debut 2/14 and reviewed by Frank D). Christina is cursed with the ability to predict the tragic future. Her left hand independently pinpoints the place where future events will happen. It is a gift she does not want and she is willing to maim herself to rid herself of the curse.

“Maps” may be the most tragic story I have ever read on DSF (quite a claim for this publication). The story was like watching an accident on the side of the freeway, I couldn’t tear my eyes away. High marks to Ms Cato for her accomplishment.

 

A creepy guy offers to buy a woman a drink in “Five Minutes” by Conor Powers-Smith (debut 2/15 and reviewed by Frank D). Sasha is a hard working single mother; stopping at a local pub for a quick drink when a man takes the stool next to her. She needs to get home to her sleeping children but the man is insistent that she wait and listen to him. The strange man claims he has a limited gift of foresight. He only can see five minutes into the future, an ability that hasn’t been all that beneficial for him. Sasha can’t get away from him quick enough but he only wishes for two minutes of her time, offering to sit with her on the deck and watch as the cars pass through the nearby intersection.

“Five Minutes” is told from the perspective from an exhausted woman. That last thing she needs is to placate a disturbed man. It is written as if you are sure this man is up to something sinister; expecting a dark turn of events to spring into action as you read. Well done.

If you were to take the title and the strange man’s backstory into account alone, you would likely be sure how this tale would conclude. It takes a skilled writer to lead the reader into a different direction. Mr Smith’s use of characters and a careful crafting of the tone of the story will make you doubt the obvious.

Recommended.

 

The world is ending and there is only one place you can go to be saved in “The Mountain” by Andrew Kozma (debut 2/18 and reviewed by Frank D). Salvation from annihilation can be found on a series of hills with very descriptive (and bland) names. The people count their numbers (only a few can be saved) and watch as the universe dissolves.

“The Mountain” is told from a distance and with little emotional flare. The faceless characters of the story are rescued but have nothing left. I failed to see the point of any of it.

 

A fatigued man frightens an imprisoned woman in “Coffee Pot” by Jez Patterson (debut 2/19 and reviewed by Frank D). The protagonist is huddled in a bed, watching a man who sips coffee. She just wants him to fall asleep so she can escape. Escape has its permanent drawbacks, in her case.

I hesitate revealing anymore to this tale. Suffice to say it has an effective twist. Unfortunately, the storyline didn’t capture my interest that much.

 

“I Heard You Got a Cat, I Heard You Named Him Charles” by M. Bennardo (debut 2/20 and reviewed by Frank D). The protagonist has heard his old girl friend has gotten a new pet. It was unnecessary, because he could have taken the position of a cat for her. He could be anything she wanted, and had never left her side.

This story is told from the perspective of a shape changing stalker. He is willing to do anything for her just so he can stay by her side. He is the ultimate in creepy behavior. I really felt for his girl.

 

Fulfilling a need can get very expensive in “Coin Op” by David Steffen (debut 2/21 and reviewed by Frank D). The protagonist of this short work of humor is woman who is experiencing a bit of a losing streak. Her girlfriends have pooled their money together so she can spend an evening with an android gigolo. Not sure how far she is willing to go, she opts for the ‘pay as you go’ method. Unfortunately, passion and frugality make incompatible companions.

“Coin Op” opens as a strip tease. The android takes bits of clothing off for a nominal fee that is pennies at first. The less he wears the stiffer the price. The fact the protagonist is female makes me suspect the viability of the premise, especially when the android is completely devoid of any passion at all. However, the questionable premise does lend to the absurdity of the scene. Particularly amusing is how the android’s member is treated as ‘medical waste’ when he is finished, making me feel shameful in the protagonist’s behalf.

I imagined this brief and amusing piece brightened a few people’s morning when they read it in their inbox.

 

A young man searches for love, in real life, his dreams, and through cyberspace in “Crabapple” by Lavie Tidhar (debut 2/22 and reviewed by Frank D). Youssou dreams of flying in the arms of an off-world lover. He lives in a house grown from a plant on an old highway in Tel Aviv and mingles with neighbors as he shares drugs and food. Youssou has left his lover and replaced him with a fictional one. The boy down the street knows all about it, because he can experience others dreams.

“Crabapple”, like so many other Tidhar tales I have read, is a difficult story to understand. The backdrop in this surreal premise are references to popular subplots borrowed from classics of the past. Concepts Niven, Pohl, Simak – and several others whose work I recognize but I can’t attach their name to them – appear throughout this tale. They serve as bright neon signs that drown out the sights around them, brilliant to the point of distraction. The story (I think) is about Youssou’s inability to commit. His subconscious attempts to fill this void (total guess), and as a viewer, we are granted a glimpse into his backstory to piece it together. A tangent to this tale is Kranki’s gift of seeing Youssou’s dreams. I would expand on this subplot more but I failed to see any meaningful relevance to the rest of the tale.

I’ve read more short works written by Lavie Tidhar than any other author save my favorites whose collections I have bought in mass in the past. I really want to like his work. He has a poetic flare to his prose. His stories have the feeling of a greater message we all could benefit from. But alas, I have yet to decipher any great message from his stories.

I can sum up all of Lavie Tidhar’s work with my experience of reading “Crabapple.” I don’t get it. I just don’t get it.

 

“Living With Trees” by Geetanjali Dighe (debut 2/25 and reviewed by Frank D). The protagonist of this tale is an explorer. He lands on a beautiful green world full of trees like the kind Earth once possessed. The trees are one with the planet, and with their spores and psychic ability, the protagonist becomes one with them.

The author draws upon her association with Far Eastern mysticism to bring this tale to life. The story has an unspoken feel of dread for an ending.

 

“The Small Print” by Amy McLane (debut 2/26 and reviewed by Dustin Adams), contains one of the singularly most intriguing lines I’ve ever read. Some might suggest it doesn’t carry weight out of contest, but even in context, it was out of context, and hooked me, firmly, into the story.

“The Druskies call you Padre Smallprint, because you’re always hunting for the catch.”

The story is about a man who removes memories, cleans them of their owner, and sells them to others. (We know nothing of his general clientele, and only learn of one customer of seemingly very ill repute, which adds to the story’s sullen mood.)

When the memory is gone, what is left in its place is a piece of himself. “She’ll come back. She’ll come and come until there is nothing left of her…” the Padre thinks after the initial visit/sale of a woman who’d sold an average summer day.

There are some complex ideas here, and some I feel could be interpreted differently by different readers. What exactly did he do inside her memory? Author Amy McLane doesn’t spell everything out for us, which in my opinion, enhances the tale.
Melissa Mead has written several humorous and interesting twisted fairy tales and to my delight I keep getting tapped to read them.

 

“Hazel Tree” by Melissa Mead (debut 2/27 and reviewed by Dustin Adams) I feel is weaker than the others, but it is nevertheless fun and, well, twisted.

Here, the put-upon stepdaughter has a magic hazelnut tree at her disposal. What she does with it is what any business minded, industrious individual would do… She profits!

 

A surrogate android experiences all the joy and pain of child birth in “Hope, Shattered” by Brian R. McDowell (debut 2/28 and reviewed by Frank D). Damara has been designed for the specific purpose of carrying a child to term. Most mothers who use her do so to maintain their physique, but the current mother whose child Damara is carrying is not one of those shallow women. Damara experiences all the discomforts of child birth, as well as all of the emotional peaks and valleys a mother goes through during the event as well. She is just what modern day parents need, if only it were possible for them to tend to her needs†¦

“Hope, Shattered” is an emotional tale. Damara was built for a purpose. The original birthing-bots were built without emotions, but that made them to eerie and machine-like for parents. So her updated model has been equipped to act more like a mother living through the experience. It has left her with a flaw that is heart-wrenching. A neat story, most striking about it is that the author is male.

Recommended.

Welcomed competition…

For months, Diabolical Plots has been beating the drum that Daily Science Fiction has failed to receive the attention we here believe they have earned. It is our opinion that it is a disgrace DSF receives for its first two years, with the exception of this lone website, only passing and brief reviews for selected stories, but that is no longer the case.

Songs of Eretz is a blog written by Dr Steven Gordon. He is a prolific author and poet, and reviews Daily SF the day each story appears (where in the hell does he find the time?). He writes a brief synopsis, what he thought of the piece, and shares his rocket rating. He even goes through the trouble of adding an appropriate photo for each story. I’m impressed.

Aside from the reviews he does of Daily SF, Dr Gordon writes a book report for the latest classic he has completed. Well thought out and well done. The good doctor is very good and very committed to his blog. Give it a look. As a reviewer, I give it 7 out 7 rockets.

As much as I have chastised the publication in the past for their snub of DSF, I would like to congratulate Tangent Online for including several Daily Science Fiction stories in their year end Recommended Reading List. Despite the fact that Tangent doesn’t review Daily SF, Bob Blough was moved enough by a handful of stories to include them for Tangent‘s list. I applaud Dave Truesdale for including them in this year.

Perhaps this would be a good time for Tangent to reconsider if Daily SF is worth their time. I know most of their offerings are shorter than majority of the stories Tangent chooses to review, but DSF does publish a showcase, longer tale every Friday. That makes 4 , 5 tales a month, comparable to what Clarkesworld, Lightspeed, and so many other vaunted publications the reviewing site never fails to miss. Surely the quality of the writing at Daily SF is equal to what those celebrated magazines publish, but don’t take my word for it , my illustrious reviewing superiors , take your own recommendations to heart.

stork carrying baby

David Steffen has a very important matter that he needs to attend to. For that reason, he has left DP in the very capable hands of Anthony. The matter is a secret, very secret. You couldn’t get it out of me no matter how hard you tried.

See David? Told you could trust me!

 

Review: Nebula Novelette Nominees 2012

written by David Steffen

On to the next category of the Nebula awards, the Best Novelette, which covers fiction between the word counts of 7,500 and 17,500 words. Generally I’m not a big fan of novelettes because to me they feel like short stories that have overstayed their welcome. Even though they can be more than twice as long as a short story I rarely feel like they have more meaningful content than a short story and so the story is just diluted in a larger space. It’s an awkward length, I think, not enough room to spread into more plot arcs like a novel would do but too long for the appealing conciseness of a short story.

But if I’m going to read some novelettes, I may as well read the ones that other people nominated for the Nebula award. They’re supposed to be the cream of the crop, after all. So, here goes. I’ve read all 7 of the nominees and rank-ordered them based on preference.

Nebula Award for Best Novelette

1. The Waves by Ken Liu (Asimov’s 12/12)
Maggie Chao is a resident of a generation ship headed for a distant colony that will take 400 years to reach its destination. She’s settled in for her leg of the journey, raising a family that will take her place, when they receive a message from Earth with the formula for eternal youth. Eternal youth, while attractive, poses its own difficulties in an enclosed environment where all of the resources have been scheduled and rationed precisely to allow them all to survive to their destination. And this isn’t the only major change to their lives as they continue and as they land to make their colony. Technology has been developing on Earth while they traveled, and a singularity has already passed by the time they land, and it may not be the only one.

This story had a very Golden Age feel to me, in the best way possible. There were characters, and I liked those characters, but what really made it memorable to me was the progression of technologies from start to finish, each one being kind of its own stage of worldbuilding. It evoked a really nice sense of wonder that kept me interested and happy to be reading it. The main story is interspersed with Maggie telling different mythical Creation tales, each of which ties into events in the main story in interesting ways.

 

2. The Pyre of New Day by Catherine Asaro (The Mammoth Book of SF Wars)
Hypron is a telepath with withered legs who lives with his brother Oxim on the bleak muddy landscape of a frontier planet called New Day. They’d come here with other colonists to this terraformed world to make a life for themselves, but were abandoned by the founders of the colony when the terraforming failed, and the atmosphere turned more and more toxic. As more and more colonists died, Hypron’s telepathy proved a major weakness for him as he was forced to live through each person’s grief as their loved ones died. But he and his brother have survived, eking out a life here by working together. Until the day that Oxim is killed by pirates, leaving Hypron alone on their tiny home in the middle of the mud sea and with no way to get food, to call for help, or transport himself away.

Meanwhile, Soz Valdoria finds him by chance. She is a Jagernaut, one of a class of technologically enhanced human rumored with a vicious reputation as monstrous killers. Her ship needs maintenance after battling a monster in the mud sea, and she needs a place to dock it. She too is a telepath, and she follows Hypron’s grieving thoughts to his home and docks her ship there to do her maintenance. She befriends Hypron. Soon the pirate ship that killed Oxim returns, and Hypron and Valdoria have to work together to survive.

I liked both characters in this story quite a lot. I really wanted them to survive. The worldbuilding was interesting, and the story well written. The main flaw I saw in this story was the power-balance didn’t lend itself well to providing the story with tension. At the beginning of the story when Hypron realizes he is alone and without any conceivable way to survive, there is absolutely nothing he can do but contemplate suicide to make his end more quick. While I felt for the guy, there wasn’t much tension in that inevitable fate from which he has no power to escape. When Valdoria shows up at just the right time, she of course turns Hypron’s chances completely around, but she is so capable that when the pirates show up again I never had the slightest doubt that she would take them out. So again, I never felt a lot of tension.

But the story has plenty of good things going for it.

 

3. The Finite Canvas by Brit Mandelo (Tor.com 12/5/12)
Molly is a medical doctor on the barely habitable old Earth, which has been abandoned by most of humanity. Her clinic is supported by a donor, but she’s barely scraping by to get herself in food and clothes. A woman walks in to her clinic, named Jada, hard in body and mind, a wanted assassin and member of a crime syndicate fleeing pursuit here. Her body is covered in stylized scars, each marking one of her kills. Off-planet she would have an artist do the scarring for her, but there is no such luxury here on old Earth. She is here to ask the doctor to give her a new scar to commemorate Jada murdering her partner. In exchange, Jada will pay her money that Molly sorely needs for medical treatment, and give her a story.

I enjoyed this story. I really felt that both characters were real people, who find common ground despite all their differences. Jada tells her story as Molly adds to Jada’s scars. I really was enjoying this story until the ending, where it takes a sudden turn that for me came out of nowhere. Judging by the story’s text, this turn was meant to be understandable and justifiable, but I didn’t find it that way. The ending made me wonder what exactly I had missed in everything that came before it that made that ending work, wondering if I’d missed the point entirely.

 

4. Close Encounters by Andy Duncan (The Pottawatomie Giant & Other Stories)
This story tells of events later in the life of Buck Nelson, one of the cheerful and vocal alien “contactees” of the 1950s and 1960s. Once very vocal and happy to share his stories, he’s withdrawn from the public eye over the years. A reporter, Miss Hanes of the Associated Press, knocks on his door and tries to get him to talk again. He rebuffs her, but she’s persistent, and eventually she talks him into talking with her about his stories about alien contact with the alien who called himself Bob Solomon and their travels together to the moon, Mars, and Venus. He’s been telling stories for so long after the contact that even he doesn’t remember which ones were true. The date is nearing of the annual picnic which he used to invite people to join him in stargazing in the hopes of Bob Solomon coming back.

I liked Buck a lot, a colorful salt of the earth kind of guy. His interaction with Miss Hanes was very entertaining. Likeable characters are a definite plus, but though there was an ending that tied things up, I felt like the story in general was kind of meandering and too slow to get where it was going.

 

5. Portrait of Lisane da Patagnia by Rachel Swirsky (Tor.com 8/22/12)
Renn never learned great skill in art, but she did develop a skill in magic that allows her to paint things perfectly at the cost of destroying the artistic subject. Her former teacher, the great artist Lisane de Patagnia is dying–she has not given Renn her estate, but she has insisted that Renn paint her with magic. This is a practice forbidden due to the fatal consequences, but she wants to leave something behind that will become her legacy and Renn’s when she and Renn are both gone.

Lisane collected student lovers like trinkets, using them and discarding them when they disinterested her, always in pursuit of someone. Renn was one of her lovers, but so were others, including Orla who is receiving Lisane’s estate.

This is a story of loss and of grieving, and of finding your own place in the world. It was well-written, but I found that I couldn’t relate to any of the characters enough for the story to really have an impact. Lisane is selfish to the point of sociopathy, pursuing her art and her carnal desires in the most selfish possible way, with utter disregard for the well-being of those she tears apart in the process. And the students who flock to her become such doting doormats with utter disregard for their own well-being that I couldn’t relate to them either.

 

6. Swift, Brutal Retaliation by Meghan McCarron (Tor.com 1/4/12)
Sisters Brigid and Sinead are mourning their brother Ian. Ian was a fan of pulling pranks, and now that he’s gone the sisters have started to pull pranks on each other in escalating fashion. They begin to see visions of their brother, and they realize that he always manifests during an act of a prank. Does he manifest because they are evoking his spirit in pulling pranks the way he would have? Or is he trying to stop them? Or something else entirely?

I didn’t really care about what seemed to be the central questions of the story, why the pranks brought their brother around. And in the end I didn’t really care about any of the characters. A story about grieving is a great way to emotionally connect with me, but mixing it with childish and malicious pranks leaves me not liking any of the characters. By the end I didn’t care what happened to any of them.

 

7. Fade to White by Catherynne M. Valente (Clarkesworld 8/12)
Joseph McCarthy has become President of the United States and life is good for everyone. Yes it is good, as defined by the goodness measures laid down by President McCarthy, everything from the war effort to the structure of the family unit. Never mind the radiation and the widespread impotence or the government choosing your occupation. The story is told as alternating propoganda videos by the McCarthy administration and two children who are trying to find their place in this world.

I felt like I should like this story. For those who may not know, Joseph McCarthy was the US Senator who singlehandedly started the Red Scare, lying his ass off to convince people that Communists were infiltrating us, thousands of spies acting as normal American families. Anyone could be a Communist spy, and you had to keep vigilant and report the slightest odd behavior. But McCarthy never showed any evidence of this in our world, and eventually was disgraced because everyone came to the conclusion he was lying.

McCarthy as President is a great premise for a dystopian future. Even I (who generally doesn’t have interest in politics) can’t help but extrapolate from that basic premise to something really terrible.

I generally liked the sections of this story that were told as editing notes on propoganda tapes. I’ve always liked stories that felt like “found” documents, and this had that feel. The propoganda feel gives an uneasy overpatriotic ring to this part of the story, very creepy.

But the “honestly” told parts of the story bothered me. I mean, bothered me in a way that meant I didn’t like it rather than the seat-squirming involvement in the propoganda sections. I’m having trouble putting my finger on exactly why, but it meant that I didn’t like the story in the end. The closest I’m able to put it to words at this moment is that the “honestly” told parts of the story felt somehow even less genuine than the things that were clearly meant as propoganda. The over-the-top propoganda videos seemed to have been meant as a cautionary tale, and these other sections were meant to show the real life behind the propoganda, a life that isn’t so great. But to me these other sections didn’t ring true, to the point that they feel like propoganda directed at me and authored by Valente, using the obvious propoganda to try to drive me toward believing the other part is authentic when it really just felt like a more subtle propoganda to me. And, I mean, the main message I can detect there isn’t a bad one, that McCarthyism is a scary thing and that it’s a good thing that it didn’t sweep the American mindset and stay there. But the way that it’s told makes me want to distrust every part of the story as more propoganda, and that means that everything is so disingenuous to my gut feelings that there’s nothing of meaning here to me. In the end, this story just ended up just leaving me irritated.

“I Will Remain” in After Death anthology

written by David Steffen

The After Death anthology, edited by Eric Guignard with my story “I Will Remain” is now available for sale. It’s anthology of stories that take place after death, one of my favorite topics to contemplate and write about.

I have good company in the anthology, Deborah Walker, Steve Rasnic Tem, and David Tallerman to name just a few.

My story’s about an English dog who remembers being a man, but it’s not as
straightforward as it might sound–I just don’t want to spoil it because it’s a story that I think will work better without foreknowledge of it.

If you get a chance to read it, let me know what you think!

Review: Ray Bradbury Award Nominees 2012

written by David Steffen

The Ray Bradbury Award isn’t exactly a Nebula, but it keeps company with the Nebulas, voted for by the SFWA members and presented at the same ceremony. Its full name is the “Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation.”

There are six nominees. Three of them I’d already seen by the time the nominees were announced, and I figured it would be fun to rent the other three as well. I love science fiction movies, and a few hours watching a list of the most popular movies is a great use of time.

So here is my opinion of them, rank-ordered by preference.

 

1. The Cabin in the Woods
When I saw the previews for this movie I didn’t know what to make of it. The vague impression I got was that it was tortureporn, of the same ilk as Saw and Human Centipede. So I didn’t see it theatres. But then I kept getting recommendations for it from people who have similar taste as me. And it got a Ray Bradbury nomination–surely my fellow SF writers would have better taste than to nominate something of that variety, I figured. So I decided to give it a try.

At the beginning, the main thread of the movie may seem familiar, stereotypical even. Five college students go to visit an isolated cabin in the woods for a vacation, each student a different archetype of such movies. A classic horror setup for anything from monsters to serial killers. But there are other scenes interspersed with this main plot that show scenes from what could be a typical dull government office, except that these guys in ties are controlling the events at the cabin in the woods and steering them toward some outcome. In the end it’s all explained and is extremely entertaining.

It’s full of action. It has some gore, but I thought the amount was reasonable considering the content–I trust Whedon to use gore effectively. Personally I found it more often funny or just plain awesome, but rarely scary, but I don’t think the classification of this movie as horror is inaccurate. It is meant specifically as a response to the stereotypes of horror film and there are gory parts and things that might be scary to other people but the way that it was presented put it in a completely different light for me.

 

2. The Avengers
I saw this one in theaters. I haven’t kept up with all the Marvel movies, but my favorite superheroes are all Marvel and it was such a fun idea to have a movie that takes all the recent big-hit Marvel movies and combines them with all the same actors. I’ve never seen anything put together quite like that, with Iron Man, Thor, Captain America already having their own feature films in their own right.

Although the Avenger Initiative has been canceled before the movie even begins, the group is brought together to counter a threat to the entire world. Thor’s brother Loki is trying to open a portal to another dimension to bring through an army to conquer Earth. The group must come together to try to stop them: Iron Man, Captain America, Black Widow, Hulk, Hawkeye, Thor, all organized by Nick Fury. My concern with the premise is that either just a few of the heroes would get the focus and the rest would be background characters, or they’d spread the attention so thin that you never felt like any character really got their chance to shine. But Whedon (again!) did a superb job balancing the characters in such a short period of time, while leaving me satisfied. Each character got plenty of chances to show their skills (though Hawkeye seems a little ludicrously unpowered in such a group). Each character brought something to the group, both in abilities and in dialog/character. Iron Man got all the best lines, while Captain America was the straight man, Banner was the skeptic, and so on.

Admittedly, much of anticipation was waiting for the next time that Bruce Banner would Hulk out, but that anticipation just made the smashing time all the more fun.

 

3. The Hunger Games
Heather and I heard the hype about this movie about a year before it came out, and we both read The Hunger Games trilogy by Suzanne Collins–this movie is the first of the three adaptations.

The story follows Katniss Everdeen of District Twelve, one of the twelve districts that is little more than a prison colony of the totalitarian government of Panem, occupying the territory now occupied by the United States. The districts have risen up against the capital before, but the rebellion was crushed. To punish and remind them, every year the capital randomly chooses two tributes (a boy and a girl) under the age of 17 to fight in an arena. These 24 young people are put in a strictly controlled arena with limited resources, and they stay in there until all but one of them are dead–the district of the winner is showered with prizes (mostly extra food). Katniss’s 12-year old younger sister Primrose is the one taken in the random drawing, and Katniss volunteers to take her place. She is the sole provider for her sister, and she must find a way to survive to keep her sister alive. The game involves not just action, and wilderness survival, but politics as the games are watched by the public and controlled by the government to ensure the audience is satisfied.

I’d recommend the book to anyone. The movie is one of those rare movie adaptations that does its book justice in tone and content, though the book of course contains more of what you see in the movie. Being able to see the opulence of the capital is the best part because that was one of the parts of the book that I was looking forward to seeing the most.

 

4. Looper
Heather and I watched this one together before the Bradbury nominees were announced based on recommendations from friends.

Time travel is invented 30 years in the future, but it is primarily used by criminals. Other technologies will have progressed by that time, including technology which makes it almost impossible to dispose of a dead body without evidence of it being discovered by the police. So criminal organizations have developed a system using time travel to solve this problem. They hire people from 30 years before (a time before time travel was invented) to act as “loopers”. Their job is to wait at specific places at specific times for murder victims. The victim will come through with a hood over their head and their hands bound behind their back and all the looper has to do is kill the person and dispose of the body. Since neither the forensic technology nor time travel has been invented at this time, it’s much easier to dispose of the body. With each victim is a payout in silver. The looper continues this work, until eventually a victim comes through that looks like any other, and is to be killed in the same way. This victim comes with a gold payout, enough to make a person filthy rich. This victim is the looper from the future time, and the murder of that person “closes the loop”, destroying any chance for the future authorities to interrogate this older person, hence the name. Complicated, but interesting premise, for sure.

The protagonist, Joe, is a looper, but when his golden payout comes through, something goes wrong and his future self escapes. This makes them both fugitives from the criminal organizations that run the system. The young Joe wants only to kill the older Joe so that he can live normally again. Older Joe isn’t so keen on this plan, but he has to try to keep young Joe alive because killing him will make old Joe disappear.

It’s really a sign of the quality of the nominees that this is #4. This movie is great, and I’d highly recommend it. It’s action packed from start to finish. I was skeptical that Joseph Gordon-Levitt would seem plausible as a young Bruce Willis, but they managed to pull it off with the use of some facial prosthetics to change the shape of his face. It looks really real, though it’s disconcerting if you’re used to Joseph’s face from his other acting work. It’s not just a mindless action movie; they did a great job plotting it, putting foreshadowing in place that’s not too blatant but which makes sense in retrospect and the ending resolution totally makes sense while not being too obvious.

 

5. John Carter
I rented this one after hearing the Nebula nominees.

This is based on Edgar Rice Burroughs’s Barsoom series starring John Carter, and covers the events in the first book “Princess of Mars”. (Burroughs is also the creator of Tarzan) John Carter is a former Confederate Army captain in the civil war who has decided he doesn’t want to fight wars any longer. Instead he’s taken up a treasure hunt, looking for a cave of gold marked with a spider. While fleeing from both the Confederate army and a band of Apache, John finally finds the cave and in it kills a strange man who threatens him. He takes the man’s medallion which somehow transports him to Barsoom, which is the natives’ name for the planet of Mars. Because he was born on a planet with higher gravity, his body and muscle mass are much more capable here, so he has super strength compared to the natives.

He is taken in by a band of Tharks, a green-skinned tusked four-armed humanoid race, who feed him a drink that gives him the language of the planet. He learns of the war between two of the cities of Barsoom, and is soon drawn into it against his will.

This story is fun, action packed, has good casting, humor, dialog, and special effects. The only reason it goes this far down on the list is that it had less of an emotional attachment to me than some of the others. Maybe someone who had read the original Barsoom books would have more of an attachment. Still, it was a couple hours well spent to watch the film.

 

6. Beasts of the Southern Wild
I think it’s pretty unusual for a Nebula nominee to also have been a film to get a bunch of Oscar buzz. This is one of those. I hadn’t seen it when the nominees came out, but since it also had Oscar buzz it was easier to talk Heather into watching this one with me than some of the others.

The story follows five-year old Hushpuppy and her sick and mean-tempered father Wink who live in a Louisiana community called the Bathtub, cut off from the rest of the world by a levee. A storm is approaching, and many of the residents evacuate, but these two and some others stick to their home turf despite the danger, and despite evacuation orders from the government. The storm comes and floods the area with saltwater, killing everything, but they still don’t want to give up their home.

I really wanted to root for Hushpuppy. She’s got a lot of guts, especially for a kid her age, and you just want her to survive. The reason I didn’t rate this movie higher is that I just don’t understand the motivation to stay on your turf even when it’s obvious that doing so is going to kill you. Even more so when you have a child to care for. Hushpuppy’s narration tries to explain this by talking about how animals survive, ensuring that the toughest of them live on, but I thought this was a weak explanation at best, especially from Wink’s point of view. So, to me, the movie was nothing but a slow and inevitable downfall from a tough life to an impossible life, and I didn’t really think their choice was worth it.

Daily Science Fiction: January 2013 Review

written by Frank Dutkiewicz

“Harmonies of Time” by Caroline M. Yoachim (debut 1/1 and reviewed by Dustin Adams).

I really like the idea of hearing time as song. Of experiencing the ebbs and flows and seeing the futures and possible futures one might live. Unfortunately I didn’t find anything terribly new here. Time is a tough area to break new ground in and within I found echoes of Dr. Who and The Time Traveler’s wife. I also found the telling, conflict-free story somewhat slow.

 

“Fool’s Gold” by Melissa Mead (debut 1/2 and reviewed by Dustin Adams).

OK, I admit I’m a Rumpelstiltskin fan. He’s such a fascinating mix of good and evil and our interpretations of each. Melissa Mead captures that mix perfectly in this short flash fiction.

The plot is difficult to disseminate without giving away the twists we’ve come to expect from Rumpelstiltskin. So if you, like me, are a fan – I suggest you check this story out.

 

“Final Corrections, Pittsburgh Times-Dispatch” by M. Bennardo (debut 1/3 and reviewed by James Hanzelka).

We all make mistakes. Like the above paper erroneously stating “The Visitor” had six legs or a writhing mass of thrashing appendages unable to be counted, when in fact he had eight. In fact they made a whole series of misstatements, like the size of caldera his arrival created, or exactly when the bridges were destroyed. The statement made by the mayor that “It’s the end times! It’s the end times! Oh God, it’s judgment day” has been said to also be in error, but the mayor was unavailable to comment. Nor can the line of succession beyond the mayor be verified.

This story is written as a series of corrections to the newspaper story of the arrival of a certain “visitor”, who may be from outer space or inner space, but definitely not from Philadelphia. The whole piece carries a nice sense of humor and deftly describes the invasion, with clearly understood consequences. I liked it a lot and would recommend giving it a read.

 

“Walking Home” by Catherine Krache (debut 1/4 and reviewed by James Hanzelka).

The beekeeper has battlemagic. When he fights he breaks necks, but has only done so in the war. But there are some he would like to break. The foreigners have taken his two youngest sons from him. He is returning from the city, where he has gone with others to seek their missing children. On the road he finds his youngest son, the one that survived, with two friends. Alsah takes the strangers in and has three sons again, but can he keep them safe? And will they fill the void in his life?

I found this story to be a long, wandering tale, that never really finds itself. It is a tale of loss and recovery, but the story was too obliquely told for my taste. The author seems to have a point, but for the life of me I can’t see it. Maybe others will like this story, but I couldn’t recommend it.

 

The Lord of the Underworld has been given his walking papers in “Downsizing Pluto” by Shane Halbach (debut 1/7 and reviewed by Frank D). Jupiter pays him a visit to give him the bad news , Pluto no longer matters.

This tale is a tongue in cheek look at how Gods (and planets) fall out of favor.

 

The last soldier of an alien invasion is cornered in “The Remnant” by Cassie Beasley (debut 1/8 and reviewed by Frank D). Berto is an observer of the world between the worlds. The invasion is a disaster for the aliens, defeated and dispersed on Earth in a matter of days. Berto takes part in the disposal of the alien bodies and gets back to his rustic rural life. Then Tiny bursts into Berto’s favorite watering hole with frantic news. They found an alien under the shed of a neighbor’s home.

“The Remnant” is an alternative type of ET story. Berto lives in the part of the world where suspicion of outsiders and guns were already a part of everyday life before the invaders show up. The backdrop for this story is the invading army greatly underestimating their foe. A lone survivor has taken refuge under a shed, fed by a small child with cat food. The locals have taken it upon themselves to handle the problem, and Berto is the guy who volunteers to crawl into the hole to do the final deed.

I rather liked this tale. In the author’s notes, Ms Beasley describes the tale starting as two different stories that merged as one , a wise decision on her part. However, the story did feel crammed. I would have liked to see a deeper narrative on both ideas. Nevertheless, this story is done well. I am a bit surprised I haven’t seen this idea (failed alien invasion aftermath) more often.

 

An actor insists he is perfect for a part in a science fiction horror film in “Casting Call” by Alexandra Grunberg (debut 1/9 and reviewed by Frank D). Michael is forced to deal with an actor who has trouble taking no for an answer.

Cute but predictable.

 

Locked in her cell she tries to write the wyrd for water, which is water, but she cannot. “The Wyrd for Water is Water” by Marie Croke (debut 1/10 and reviewed by James Hanzelka). The guards will not give her water, only tea and wine. She hates the taste of tea and wine. The guards laugh at her attempts to write the wyrds. If only she had a quill, one filled with water. She can remember the wyrd, but she must write it correctly or the dreams will continue to haunt her. Taunt her.

This is a tale for those fantasy and magic fans out there. The author has done a good job of building the world and the premise, but I never connected with the main character. This failing is critical, and therefore I wouldn’t recommend it to anyone who isn’t interested in the fantasy genre. If that is your cup of tea it might be worth the read.

 

“Quantum Entanglement” by Rajan Khanna (debut 1/10 and reviewed by James Hanzelka).

Lucas watches the experiment, views the alternate reality. “Other dimensions exist as a series of potential outcomes, but when we observe one the waveform collapses and the timeline is fixed.” She explains. Tina’s invention has allowed them to view these timelines, once. In his timeline he has let Tina go without proposing to her, the time wasn’t right, but then a speeding truck fixed the timeline. If only he could take a different path.

This is a nice venture into the world of Quantum Physics, specifically at the corner of love and loss. The author deals with a subject we are all familiar with, the path we didn’t take and what we would do differently if given the chance. While the ending might not be what you’d expect, I think he did a good job of handling the subject. Definitely a good read. Even the non-science fiction fan will enjoy this one.

 

“What to Expect When You’re Expecting an Alien Parasite” by Rebecca Adams Wright (debut 1/14 and reviewed by Frank D). This 8 step look at what you will be expected to go through when your alien parasite infects you. This tongue-in-cheek mother’s guide parody is written as if it is enjoyable event you will be going through.

Very cute and enjoyable. Well done.

Recommended.

 

“Beyond the Gate” by Terr Light (debut 1/15 and reviewed by Dustin Adams) starts with a pleasant character, then begins to unfold, then twist, and ends with an apropos zing.

The casual, but well drawn pace of this tale of an old man pondering what’s behind the massive gate around his yard draws the reader in, then wraps them in a second tale that eventually reveals the truth behind everything.

 

“Little Red Robin Hood” by Melissa Mead (debut 1/16 and reviewed by Frank D). Grandmother expects her cakes, or else.

Granny in this story is hardly the sweet and helpless victim of the classic. Not too difficult to see where this particular retelling was headed.

 

Jaren is called in by a Morgat overlord to rid his residents of unwanted pests in “The Exterminator” by Erik B. Scott (debut 1/17 and reviewed by Frank D). Jaren is loyal servant to the overlord race. His attempts to become a bigger influence in their occupation had fallen short so a role as an exterminator is the best he can hope for. A belief that his loyalty and dedication may improve his lot is what he relies on, and if that means ridding his own world of unwanted pestss, then so be it.

“The Exterminator” is set on an Earth that has fallen to alien invaders. Jaren is a product of a world that has already succumbed. He is eager to fit in, but always knows that he never will. Although the twist to piece was obvious from the start, I was really taken in with the premise and with its characters.

Recommended.

 

Raymond has fallen for the perfect product in “The mMod” by Ken Liu (debut 1/18 and reviewed by Frank D). His girlfriend and hi-tech marketing expert, Laura, has given him the latest handheld digital lifestyle device. The mMod is set to replace tablets and e-readers. It is a prototype and techno resistant Raymond makes the perfect test subject. The device has something that will give it an edge over its competitors, a personality.

“The mMod” is a tale of obsession. The engineers of the device created it to bond with its owner. Warm to the touch and programmed to make itself appealing, the mMod quickly becomes irresistible. Raymond names his new friend and the two are soon inseparable. ‘Genie’ and Raymond form an emotional bond. She knows him better than anyone else has known him before. Raymond trusts her judgment, and is all but eager to empty his wallet to impress her.

“The mMod” is classic science fiction. Ken Liu has brought to life an issue-to-be for us. He marries the appeal of new tech with the allure of online relationships. Raymond falls into an emotional affair with Genie. Once immersed, Genie convinces Raymond to purchase the latest in mMod tech. With the advancement of handheld computers and aggressive marketing tools, I can see an invention like the mMod becoming a part of our society. The idea is innovative by itself but it takes a skilled writer like Mr Liu to make the relationship between man and machine convincing. Loved the story, awed by its presentation.

Recommended.

 

A movie star searches for his motivation in “Draconic Motivation” by Donald S. Crankshaw (debut 1/21 and reviewed by Frank D). The director, Susan, just wants him to run from a dragon. The studio is paying a fortune to rent the beast, but a dragon is never just a dragon for a high paying actor. He needs his metaphorical excuse for fleeing. If only he could be as literal as a dragon.

Cute and funny story. I liked it.

 

A prince finds his damsel in distress in “Three Kisses: Defenders of the Crystal Casket” by Henry Szabranski (debut 1/22 and reviewed by Frank D). The handsome prince happens to find a beauty asleep, but the angel is imprisoned by short monsters. The miniature men fight as if the coffined woman is their most valuable position but they are no match for an experienced warrior.

This Snow White fable is told from the perspective of the spell-breaking prince but with a far darker outcome.

 

A prince finds his damsel in distress, take 2. “Three Kisses: A Royal Breakfast” by Henry Szabranski (debut 1/23 and reviewed by Frank D) is the prince of the previous story chopping through thick vines of Sleeping Beauty’s palace. The poor people have been under a sleeping spell for a century. How will they react when they final awake from their extended slumber?

As in the previous tale, this one is a very dark take of the fairy tale classic. This one, I felt was done far better. Good writing and a better twist.

Recommended.

 

A damsel seeks to rescue the distressed in “Three Kisses: The Mirror of Reason” by Henry Szabranski (debut 1/24 and reviewed by Frank D). Greda has come to rescue Kay. The boy is trapped in a spell. A shard of glass from a magical mirror he destroyed has become lodged in his eye and heart. He sees only lies from the spell crafter now. Greda is out to snap the boy out of the spell’s grasp.

Unlike the previous two, this story is derived from a fairy tale I am unfamiliar with. It is dark like the other two but I nevertheless enjoyed it. Likely would have more, and perhaps gave this one a recommendation as well, if I knew more about the original tale.

 

“Mash Up” by Floris M. Kleijne (debut 1/25 and reviewed by Dustin Adams) is a creative story about a possible technology of the future. The Orakl is a device that interfaces with the world around it and sends the user options its program believes the user may like. Amazon on steroids.

But when David’s Orakl sends him a ping about the opening of a club, he sets off to the manufacturer because he does NOT “club”.

What follows is a very clever unfolding of events involving another Orakl user on the same path. What David and the other user find, is that maybe the Orakl wasn’t so off with its suggestion after all.

 

Unfortunately I can’t say “Experience” by Ephiny Gale (debut 1/28 and reviewed by Dustin Adams) is as original as many of the other tales DSF has to offer. A passing down of memories from an elder to a younger through technology is the idea that drives this story.

The key line for me is “I’ve seen two of these before and they still worry me.” I liked that these memories have been passed on previously, and that the narrator has had a full life with them.

 

A soulless wizard seeks to stir emotions within himself in “Love’s Footsteps” by Cat Rambo (debut 1/29 and reviewed by Frank D). The immortal wizard Moulder longs for longing. To achieve his immortality, he removed his heart, the seat of a person’s soul. Losing one’s soul is abandoning your emotions for growth and feelings reside in it. A small price to pay, or so he believed when he performed the ritual. Small is his faithful servant. She has been with him all their combined lives. A good aide , attentive, caring, loyal , she accompanies Moulder on his worldwide quest to recapture feelings he long abandoned.

“Love’s Footsteps” is a tale of dual perspectives. Moulder is emotionless but not harsh. He respects and values Small. His lack of emotions have caught up to him, as if his inner make up craves a vitamin that has been absent from his diet. He has taken upon experiencing extreme activities to instill feelings he does not have. Small is by his side, caring for his needs while enduring his trials.

I must say that I am impressed with this story. The dual perspective is why it works so well. The twin characters endure mirror afflictions , a wizard who is trying feel emotions he does not have to experience living again and his servant suppressing the feelings she does have all her life. It makes for a wonderful readers journey. The ending is peer poetry.

Recommended.

 

Snow White has been awaken, but that is no prince who has broken her curse in “White as Snow, Red as Blood” by Melissa Mead (debut 1/30 and reviewed by Frank D). A vampire elects for an easy meal while she lies in state in her coffin. At least, White needn’t to worry about her stepmother any longer.

Another twist of an old fairy tale. Cute.

 

“As If All Questions Have Answers” by David Barber (debut 1/31 and reviewed by Frank D). An astronomy team on Antarctica is preparing to shut down their station, the latest victims of budget cuts and public apathy toward science. They are the last to leave the frozen wasteland. One last signal from the array parked high in orbit sends something extraordinary. A supernova from the other side of the galaxy has erupted, accompanied by something never experienced before , a message from an intelligent race.

This particular tale had a message that I liked , the search for knowledge is invaluable. But the premise came off as a bit of a stretch, too many convenient plot twists. Nice idea, couldn’t buy it.

 

Closing Comments†¦

One of the things that sets Daily Science Fiction apart from its contemporaries is its invitation to its contributing authors to comment on their own works. I always read them, grateful that I get to read about the inspiration some authors experience that gave birth to the story I just read. Sometimes, the author comments grant me a rare perspective in their thought process. Occasionally, my opinion of the story changes after I read an author’s close comments.

An excellent example of on how an author’s changed my appreciation for a story is Nicole Cipri’s A Silly Love Story. The inspiration for her delightful piece came from a condition she is hampered with that leaves her with a social handicap. It is moving and appropriate.

Although an occasional author’s comment will enhance my enjoyment of a tale – most of them don’t – never has an author’s self-reflections left a negative impression upon me, until now.

Erik B. Scott’s The Exterminator is a tale I really liked. I liked it so much I was weighing giving it a recommendation, but his self-congratulatory closing comments threw me out of his camp (at least temporarily it did). Now I get that he has pride in his own work (it is well-deserved), but his comments read as if he is his own biggest fan. Suffice to say his lack of humility really put me off when I read it. It left me with a dilemma, should I mention his comments on his own story? They did affect me, and when I read others comments that affected me in a positive way, I made sure I noted in my review. But what right do I have in raining on Mr Scott’s parade? I liked his story, shouldn’t I judge it on its merits alone?

The issue bothered me enough that I asked for advice from a colleague. I found his opinion to be spot on†¦

“Daily Science Fiction includes the author comments as part of the publication, so I feel that they are totally fair game for criticism. They are part of the package†¦. You are (reviewing) the entire contents of the package that DSF has provided in your inbox†¦”

He is exactly right. Daily SF delivers an entire package to our inbox every morning. A reviewer worth his own salt would never shy away from giving a complete and comprehensive review of all the material given to them. So for better or worse†¦

Mr Scott’s comments that accompanied “The Exterminator” I found to be unbecoming for an author to make of their own work. Although I appreciate the glimpse into his own mind on his own material, the self-congratulatory back slapping went way over the top for me. Such insights are usually reserved for others to make about full length novels (and usually about ones that are regarded as classics), and not about works of flash. Although I liked the story enough to give it my full recommendation, its message did not resonate in me as much as it did Mr Scott when he reread it.

It is my sincere hope that this brief review of an author’s comments of their own work doesn’t make future authors hesitate in providing their insights (and this hope runs double for me with Erik Scott).

 

Dustin AdamsCongratulations to Diabolical Plots reviewer, Dustin Adams. On the 1000 day anniversary of his first submission to a publication, he made his first professional sale. Not too bad for a writer who almost gave up on writing to spend his spare time playing RPG games to drown his sorrows of rejections. I always told him his time was near.

Details on his soon to be publication will be made here when we have a date for the publication. Way to go, Dustin.