Redo by Brigitte Winter (Podcastle/ New Year, New You: A Speculative Anthology of Reinvention):
A fresh but disturbing take of the age-old SF trope of time travel.
From the start, it’s clear that the MC is stuck in a less-than-ideal relationship, being severally subdued by her dominating and inconsiderate husband. Things starts to take a turn for both the worse and the strange when the MC starts flirting with a dancer at the burlesque her husband dragged her to for their anniversary (year, he’s that kind of guy).
The flirt ends up as an affair, and memories return to the MC of having done this before, with the same person.
Spoiler alert, since much of the story happens after the major reveal.
Turns out the husband has a time travel device, which he uses to go back and “fix” their marriage. He genuinely believes he is doing this as a favor not just to himself but to the MC as well. However, as the story clearly reveal, when trying to make things better, it is always worth asking “for whom?”
The less-than-ideal husband turns out be controlling, manipulating, and straight out delusional.
The story is grim and brutal and not exactly a cozy read. That said, I really enjoyed it. The original take on the time travel trope and the way the SF element was used to highlight the theme of abuse and control, with a meta storytelling element and, showing how women in stories all too often are used as a plot device for the male protagonist.
How to Steal the Plot Armor by Luke Wildman (Podcastle / Writers and Illustrators of the Future, Vol. 37):
A wise old sage has sought out a solitary life in a lonely mountaintop hut. It should be the kind of thing that tells everyone that he prefers to be left alone, but no, every to-be hero around of course comes to seek out his help. So, the sage, our MC, does whatever he can to turn them away, doing his best to avoid being dragged on the sort of quest that will get everyone except the “hero” killed.
I had a blast reading this story. It was all the most overused fantasy tropes stuffed into a neat little packing and then turned on their heads. The unwilling mentor, familiar with all the tropes, the noble hero (who doesn’t know how to take no for an answer), the damsel (who doesn’t really feel like she is in any distress), the dark lord (who doesn’t seem all that bad).
It is you standard farmboy adventure, only nothing is truly what it seems like, and we get it all through the snarky comments of the wise mentor. If you are into comedic fantasy, this is for you.
Six People to Revise You by J.R. Dawson (Uncanny):
In this story, a medical procedure exists that allows a person to alter both their personality and appearance, but the company providing the procedure forces the user to base the change on input from people who know the user in order to make them a “better person”. Throw in a non-binary protagonist with anxiety issues and prolonged therapy sessions, and you got yourself a story stuffed with internal conflict.
Our protagonist is planning to undergo the procedure, and the story follows them as they gather input needed from colleagues, family members, loved ones, and even an enemy. As you might expect, this doesn’t go well.
Right from the start, the behavior of the MC’s mother is a pretty good indicator as to at least where part of the blame for the MC’s anxiety is. Of course, the once-friend-now-enemy doesn’t make things better, and even the well-meaning colleagues’ input can be interpreted in a pretty negative way (and, of course, the MC does exactly this). And then there is the loved one.
I hope I haven’t revealed too much of the story, but, honestly, the plot evolves pretty much as you would expect as you’re reading along. It’s not because of high stakes, fast paced action, or interesting twists that you should read this story. But there’s a cool and unique speculative element there, lot’s of internal conflict, and a very heart-warming message about learning to love yourself that made this piece well worth the time.
Toby Backman 