Once again, I’m not posting these nearly as often as I would like. This time, though, I have good excuse. I’ve been away on my honeymoon most of September, so, yeah. Wasn’t going to spend that on posting story recommendations.
Enough Rambling. Let’s get to it.
Words I’ve Redefined Since Your Dinosaur Invaded my Lunar Lair by Stewart C. Baker (Flash Fiction Online): A solid story (actually a good list-form story; it’s been a while since I’ve read one of those) by a great writer published in my favorite magazine. What’s not to like? The story had its funny moments, and though both the list format and superheroes are overdone, the author managed to turn this into something that felt original, especially towards the end when the villain turned out to actually have the moral high ground.
The Masochist’s Assistant by Auston Habershaw (The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction/Podcastle): This was one of the very best short stories I’ve read in the last couple of months. The story is both funny and interesting right from the start where the protagonist has to stab his boss in the heart so that the boss can build an immunity to being stabbed. The story takes some time to really kick off, but the humor and solid writing was enough to keep me interested until it did.
Strange Waters by Samantha Mills (Strange Horizons/Podcaste): There’s a great speculative element that drives the story, a fisherwoman lost in time instead of at sea, trying to get home to her family. The classic time-travel paradox of trying and failing to change the future once it’s known comes into play but only as a backdrop element. It’s the protagonist’s desire to travel back to her own time through the unpredictable maelstroms that drive the story. It’s a slow but interesting read, especially the ending where the author lands perfectly in the middleground between downer and predictable and sugarsweet.
And of course we can’t have a short story recommendation without a story from Daily Science Fiction, so here’s…
Not Like the Stories by Michelle Muenzler (DSF): It’s a great play on some of the common fairytale tropes, especially Sleeping Beauty. The moral at the end seemed tacked on, but the story manages to be both grim and funny at the same time, which is very impressive and entertaining to read.
Toby Backman 