In the midst of the surrealistic event that is the Corona/Covid-19 pandemic, one good thing is happening: the monthly short story recommendations are out. So here’s something to keep you occupied while you’re stuck in quarentine.
A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaiman (Shadows Over Bakerstreet anthology/Fragile Things collection): I’m almost certain I’ve recomended this story before, but I just read it again as I finally got started on Gaiman’s Fragile Things short story collection a couple of weeks ago, and this story is just so damned good. It’s a mix of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s A Study in Scarlet and H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu universe. That means an interesting mystery and a unique and well developed setting.
Gaiman manages to stay close to the source material and still create something new and unique. He builds a vivid setting and a well paced plot with original twists that should keep readers on their toes even if they’re familiar with Sherlock Holmes story. It’s more than deserved that it won a Hugo Award for best short stoy.
Mika Model by Paolo Bacigalupi (Future Tense/J. Strahan Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume 11): A cop that falls in love with a sentient robot on the run, raising the question: what’s constitutes intelligence, what makes humans different from a thinking, feeling robot? It’s plucked directly out of Bladerunner, but Bacigalupi still manages to make the idea feel fresh and turn it into his own story.
For one, the robot doesn’t just flee but instead tries to get a lawyer. And the robot isn’t just smart, it’s also part of a hive mind, and since it’s designed as a sex-bot, it’s a master at manipulating people into liking it/her. But does it do it on purpose or because it’s designed to do so, and is that any different from how humans act? This is a story that asks big questions and the author manages to interweave them skillfully into an interesting plot as well.
Glimmers by Sarah Yost (Daily Science Fiction): Because the monthly recommendations just wouldn’t be the same without at least one contribution from DSF.
This one had a really interesting premise and a well timed plot twist. It’s so short it didn’t really hurt the story that it was all about the twist. It’s also so short that I can’t reveal much about it without retelling the entire thing. So go read.
Touring With the Alien by Carolyn Ives Gilman (Clarkesworld/J. Strahan Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year: Volume 11): This is what solid science fiction looks like: an original speculative element (here in the form of some very strange aliens), which is a key element in the plot (the premise of the story is the protagonist trying to figure out what the aliens look like and why they’re here on Earth), and which leads to a big “what if” question that is highlighted by the events of the plot (the nature of the aliens eventually leads to the question, “what is conscience, and does it make the world better” being raised).
While all this is going on, the character interactions help build the tension and elaborate on the central question so that the story keeps from devolving into simply being the narrator telling us about the speculative element and the central question (as tend to happen in so much bad science fiction). This was perhaps my favorite of the month, no doubt worth the read. So what are you waiting for? Head over to Clarkesworld and give a read/listen.
Toby Backman 