Better late than never. Here are the story recommendations for May.
Economic Principles of the Zombie Apocalypse by Wendy Nikel (DSF): I loved the concept of this story, where people are trying to just have a normal life and get by after the zombie apocalypse has hit. Which, of course, is exactly as difficult as it sounds.
It’s a fresh, down-to-Earth twist on the zombie apocalypse trope, somewhat in the vein of Zombieland while still having a slightly different style.
It was a quick and funny read, and Nikel managed to pack a lot of character and everyday life into an otherwise fast paced story. It was easily one of the best flash fiction pieces I’ve read all year.
Damnation by Gunnar De Winter (DSF): This was a very uncomfortable read, and it was meant to be so. This story probably isn’t every ones cup of tea, since it includes a lot of violence and abuse, but I think the author found a way to make that violence an important and integral part of the story.
The story is about a man shredding his last bits of humanity to achieve godhood, a thing which he achieves through incredible violence to a loved one. Of course, there’s more to this than first appears in the, but you’ll have to read Damnation for yourself to see what.
The author also used a simple but effective trick, switching the first couple of scenes out of order in a way that created mystery as to what exactly was going on. It’s done well so that the first scenes didn’t become confusing but left out just enough information to create a small but effective mystery.
I really enjoyed this story because of the craftmanship, but I have no doubt that it will also work well for the more casual readers.
The Style of Time Travel by Jessie Atkin (DSF): The story opened with a clear comedic tone, with time travellers not wanting to dress up as peasants to blend in. It’s a nice mundane view on time travel and an original and effective joke. Making the MC the costume designer for the time-travelling agents was also a nice touch of originality and introduced a conflict which will probably be familiar to many people (the person with the know-how at a workplace being the one without education and decision power).
The jokes kept building on the premise, and the story made me smile several times. The ending faltered a bit, but I was still well entertained all the way through.
Webs by Mary Anne Mohanraj (Asimov’s): The story had a pretty cool speculative element: body modifications which allowed people to fly by altering their bones and skin. The author even took an extra step in making the speculative element more believable by having the story take place on a semi-colonized planet with a different climate that made the flying humans possible.
The body modifications were the core of the story, as racists/speciest riots broke out and the altered humans found themselves in mortal danger. The protagonist isn’t an altered human (at least in an obvious way), and the story is about their dilemma of whether or not they should help their neighbours hide from the riot.
The author almost stuffed too much conflict into the story, adding a miscarriages, a broken marriage, sex changes, and neighbourly jealousy into the mix, but it all tied together with the main conflict, and in the end we’re left with a rich story that manages to entertain and teach a moral lesson without being preachy.
Toby Backman 