April’s list of recommendations is a meagre one. I simply didn’t have as much time and energy for reading/listening to short stories as I usually do. Luckily, I did find two gems I want to share with you.
The Hagfish Has Three Hearts by Monica Joyce Evans (Escapepod, episode 875 (originally published in Crossmass Infinities)):
Some time in the future, whales have grown sentient and somehow developed the ability to create or control tidal waves. This has caused humanity to abandon the oceans and most of their coastal settlements. Those settlements which do remain along the coasts are dependent on fishing agreements with the whales, allowing the humans to fish within the agreed parameters.
Communication with the whales isn’t exactly easy, which is where our protagonist comes in. With the help of some pretty shady black market implants, she has developed the ability to communicate with and merge her consciousness with hagfish of all beings.
The story kicks off when our MC discovers that the buoys the humans use as marker for their fishing-rights area have been moved. Only, no humans have the ability to move the buoys and the whales who have the ability do not seem to have a reason. Worse, though, it might lead to the humans fishing outside their designated fishing area and a deadly conflict with the whales in turn.
The MC goes to the leaders of the settlement with her observations. Though, faced with the potential upheaval of their society, they react less than ideally. They put on the blinders and decide to punish the MC instead of addressing the issue she brings to them. So, it is up to our hero to not only save herself but the entire settlement by figuring out what is going on.
I do not know if the story’s speculative element was really cool or mostly just weird. Either way, it was definitely one I had not seen in a story before. On top of that, Evans used it to create an interesting mystery that made the story float and kept me hooked to the end (fishing puns intended).
Silo, Sweet Silo by James Castles (Clarkesworld, issue 197):
Another excellent story by a debut author, and once again, it was published in Clarkesworld.
In Silo, Sweet Silo a war has devastated much of the world, at least the parts which are in focus of the story. Our protagonist is the AI of a smart missile that malfunctioned and did not fire along with all its siblings. So, it is left alone as the soldiers leave the base as well, and eventually it manages to take over the base control system, providing the AI with enough computing power to evolve into something that is at least close to sentient.
One day, a group of humans arrive at the gates of the MC’s silo, seeking refuge from the no longer inhabitable world outside. The MC’s agrees on the one condition that the humans will eventually provide the human input it needs to fulfill its purpose in life, to launch and fling itself at their former enemies.
This, of course, leaves the humans with a dilemma. Should they put their own chances of survival over those of people that may no longer exists but are certainly no longer their enemy?
As the story progress, a friendship develops between the MC and one of the humans, and the answer to whether the humans will eventually need to launch the MC becomes clearer and clearer.
It is a sweet little story about how we define ourselves (or if we let others do it for us), and what gives us a purpose in life. It was a strong debut. Well-written with solid pacing and a clear theme. The only minor issue I had was the ending, where, a somewhat forced twist to the plot ends up ruining the theme a bit. Still, Silo, Sweet Silo easily made this month’s recommendations.
This month, I listened to/read stories from Escapepod, Clarkesworld, Podcastle, and Uncanny Magazine.
Next month, I hope to be back with a more extensive list.
Toby Backman 