Story Recommendations – January 2021

Before we get to the actually fantastic stories, I just want to shamelessly plug my own barely-mediocre writing. The editors over at Daily Science Fiction took pitty on me once again and published The Monsters Which Must Be Slain To Save The Kingdom And Set Things Right earlier this month.

Right. Moving on.

The first two recommended stories come from Joe Abercrombie’s short story collection Sharp Ends. I’m a pretty big fan of Abercrombie’s writing, and if you’re not familiar with his work, I can definitely recommend picking up one or two of his books. My favorites are Heroes and his debut trilogy The First Law. It’s fantasy but far from the Tolkienesque kind. It’s grimdark with very realistic characters being pushed to the edge and beyond, often with brutal outcomes.

Sharp Ends was a more than enjoyable read, too. Though, I have to admit that I much prefer Abercrombie’s novels to his short stories. Not because his short stories are bad, but the biggest draw, for me, when it comes to an Abercrombie story is the character arcs which just don’t have the same effect in a compressed format. That and the fact that in Sharp Ends Abercrombie mostly writes about established characters from his novels made most of the short stories read as excerpts from novels rather than self-contained stories.

Minor criticisms aside, nearly all the stories in Sharp Ends had me well entertained, and there were some truly great ones in between. Starting with…

Small Kindnesses by Joe Abercrombie (Unbound: Tales by Masters of Fantasy anthology/ Sharp Ends): This story follows Shev, a master thief who has a hard time staying retired. And as in all other Abercrombie stories, the characters are the strong point and Shev is no exception. She is a coward who still tries to do the right thing, which is an uplifting change to most of Abercrombie’s characters.

Shev’s relationship with the warrior Javre, who’s also introduced in Small Kindnesses drives a lot of the other stories in the collection as well.

Small Kindnesses is typical Abercrombie. It’s a complex protagonists, action heavy, and filled with burly warriors reminiscent of Conan the Barbarian and Red Sonja. If that’s your cup of tea, Small Kindnesses is definitely worth the read.

Two’s Company by Joe Abercrombie (Tor.com/ Sharp Ends): Another Javre and Shev story. Actually, I’m pretty sure that I’ve read this one before and that I liked it back then, too.

Like Small Kindnesses, this story showcases what Abercrombie does so well: create interesting characters and write action scenes and fantasy with a fresh kick of gritty realism.

Javre and Shev faces of against Whirren of Bligh (one of my favourite Abercrombie characters) over something as petty as who should step aside and the let the others pass on the narrow bridge on which they met. Of course, both parties are being chased by their respective enemies, and typical Abercrombie troubles (variations of fist- and swordfights) ensure.

Amber by Sandra M. Odell (DSF): Alzheimer’s/dementia stories are a dime a dozen, and mixing with the SF idea of uploading personalities isn’t exactly new either. Still, Amber manage to be a fresh take on this particular premise.

Here, the demented mother’s mind isn’t just uploaded to a cloud or a random computer but to the very house the protagonist lives in, creating a more original set of problems for them.

The story nicely shows what it’s like to deal with a demented parent and having to say goodbye to them, and it does so through an original science fiction element. It does rely a bit much on telling and backstory, but it’s still an interesting story.

The Old Storms by Nina Shepardson (MetaStellar): This story hooked me right from the start with the weird element (raining frogs) and some absolutely stunning decriptions which really painted a clear image of the scenery. The protagonist was also very nicely fleshed out considering how short the story is and they felt very much like a real person.

The plot was somewhat so-so, as it was only towards the end there’s really any conflict or character drive. If this had not been flash fiction, it would’ve have ruined the story for me. But it is flash fiction, and the writing and the original premise was enough to carry the story through. Also, for me at least, the story nicely parallels what it’s like to grow up in a place where there used to be snow almost every winter, and now, there’s just rain and cold winds.