Another month has gone by, and it is, once again, time for some short story recommendations.
We start with one of my favorite magazines, Flash Fiction Online (FFO), but following that, every story was one I read in the “Best of World SF 3” anthology, and if you are interested in reading science fiction stories from a diverse set of writers originating from all over the world, I can definitely recommend “Best of World SF 3”. It is edited by Lavie Tidhar, and while every story (of course) hasn’t been to my taste, it really is a strong anthology.
Ten and Out by Myna Chang (Flash Fiction Online):
High-paced action adventure science fiction isn’t usually my thing, but this is exactly what Ten and Out is, and it works.
Chang throws us right into the deep end in the opening scene. The protagonist stumbles into a tattoo parlor, on the run and with a broken rib. From there, you just have trust that the explanations will come.
They do. In fact, the information flow is timed perfectly, the background information being on the page when the reader needs it, but only just when they need it.
Turns out our protagonist is an assassin, but somebody backstabbed her, trying to end her life just as she was ending her career. To make things worse, they send her best friend after her. Now, our protagonist is trying to figure out who was involved with the betrayel, while also trying to find a way out; hopefully one that doesn’t end up with her being dead.
If you want to read well-crafted action SF where all the gun fights and murder are deeply tied to the MC’s emotional struggles, this is the story for you.
I Call Upon the Night as Witness by Zahra Mukhi (Apex/Best of World SF 3)
This story was originally published in Apex magazine, but I read it first in “Best of World SF 3”.
I Call Upon the Night as Witness has a really cool (and horrible) premise. It takes the arbetries of boundary drawing, and makes it a very real and physical thing. In this story, boundaries drawn as straight lines on a map by the people in power become real and tangible. Massive lines appear out of nowhere, as boundaries are moved by the distant, careless leaders of states, transforming people from citizens into refugees without warning.
Our protagonist is one such person, having finally found her way home after the lines were rearranged, only for a new line to appear, cutting through her home and ripping her life to pieces. She is then forced to move the infamous no-man’s-land, where all the unwanted refugees go.
I must admit, the ending didn’t really work for me, but the story was still worth the read for it’s original premise and treatment of the theme. So, if you’re are into stories that take abstract concepts and treat them as real, physical thing, or you love political stories (because, obviously, this is a very political piece), then this might be for you.
Sulfur by Dmitry Glukhovsky (Best of World SF 3)
Sadly, I could not find a version of this story online, but then again, this is just all the more reason for you to go out and buy “Best of World SF 3”.
The story takes the form of an interrogation, a police officer questioning a elderly woman who willingly admits to having killed her husband. The format does, sadly, take a bit away from the story as it keeps the tension very low and doesn’t really allow for much character development. That said, the story really digs into the setting, the harsh mining communities of in the faraway parts of Russia. In the end, it almost felt like the setting had become the main character.
The story focuses a lot on the way the people living in those communities are treated, lured there by high saleries only to find out that the mining companies owning every shop in town keeps the prices so high that people can’t save up money to leave again. And death, death seems to be everywhere for them, in the very poisoned air they breathe, in the history of the town.
As a story, it is so-so, but as a political piece, highlighting the horribly living conditions for group of people most of us probably never really thinks about, this one really shines.
Two Moons by Elena Pavlova (Compelling Science Fiction/Best of World SF 3)
Honestly, I shouldn’t have liked this story nearly as much as I did. It’s not the most “hard SF” story I’ve ever read, but it does lean quite a lot into the details of the mechanics and background of the SF element. Also, there’s a mystery element that is left very open-ended, which I usually don’t like in mystery pieces.
That last element did leave the story feeling more like the start of a novel than a stand-alone story. However, it didn’t really bother me all that much, because we do get the important answers for the main plot.
And the hard SF style, that didn’t bother me at all. Somehow, Pavlova manages to balance it out, keeping the details from bogging down the story and leaving plenty of room for a sense of wonder. So what we are left with is an extremely detailed fictive world, where all the information drags you in rather than push you away. At least, that was my experience.
It’s a story that takes place in a giant desert world. Humans can only survive, because they live inside giant centipede-like creatures in a sort of symbiosis. Leave their home too long, and they will die. And when we meet our protagonist, she is in on a mission outside her home. A mission that has gone wrong, and she is struggling to find her way back.
I won’t really be diving deeper into story than that, because this is not a story for those who wants rich characters and high-paced plots. Sure, there are some twists and reveals, but they all serve to build the setting more than the plot. And the setting is what’s really drive this story. It’s original, it’s interesting, and it’s very rich.
Toby Backman 