It’s March (it has been for a while now) and that means time for another short story recommendation post. Sadly, I only have three stories for you this time, not because it’s been difficult finding those golden nuggets, but because most of my reading lately has been novels. Anyway, without further delay, here are the recommendations for March.
Deriving Life by Elizabeth Bear (Tor.com/Longlist Anthology 6):
This is a grief story with capital G. It has an interesting speculative element which is at the core of the story, but the focus is mostly on loss and how we learn to deal with the inevitable death of our loved ones. The MC is trying (and failing) to deal with losing their significant other who is slowly but surely dying due to the sentient alien cancer they are hosting.
The SF element of the sentient cancer-like organisms which provides their host with briefer but in many ways better lives was very cool and raised some interesting moral dilemmas. I especially liked that the author gave the MC’s significant other a more than plausible reason for deciding to host such an organism, knowing full well it would be their death. The author also treated the grief of the MC and their loved ones very well.
The story did seem to slow down too much at times and definitely could’ve been shorter without really becoming weaker in any way. Pacing issues aside, though, it was great story both because of the original speculative element and the emotional payoff.
Dave’s Head by Suzanne Palmer (Clarkesworld/Longlist Anthology 6):
I’m not sure I would call this a post- apocalyptic story, but it very much have that feeling, the feeling of decline, the slight sense of an all-around bleakness in the story world. And yet, it was anything but a bleak and depressing read (as these kind of stories all too often turn out to be). In fact, it had a good amount of humor.
In the near future, the world has devolved a fair deal, communities closing off, towns and cities being abandoned. The MC is the daughter of a brilliant engineer (her now dead mother) and a power-hungry businessman (her estranged father). Her life centers around taking care of her brilliant but senile uncle and the semi-sentient mechanical theme park dinosaur he’s put together. Yes, you heard me, “semi-sentient mechanical theme park dinosaur”. The latter makes for a both unique speculative element and a funny premise.
The mechanical dinosaur’s longing to see others of his kind and the MC’s willingness to pretend that he is an actual living being leads them on a road trip that turns out to be anything but problem free.
The characters and setting are very much the strong point of the story. Along with the funny premise, they easily overshadow the fact that the plot is a bit thin (thin, but not weak). Overall, this was very entertaining story.
The Devil You Don’t Know by Dave Henrickson (DSF):
A somewhat snarky and sarcastic protagonist is visited on his deathbed by a devil trying to strike a deal for the protagonist’s soul. There wasn’t much to the plot, but the story was pretty funny with its comparisons of the devil’s job with that of a regular salesman, a telemarketer from hell.
That’s it for this month. Hopefully, I’ll pick up speed on my short story reading and have a bunch of new recommendations for you come April.
Toby Backman 