This month’s short story recommendations has turned into a bit of a Clarkesworld special. It is quite unintentional, though, I guess I was catching up on their publications through part of the month. Also, Clarkesworld just consistently publishes some great stories.
First, though, the one recommendation that is not a Clarkesworld story.
Ootheca by Mário de Seabra Coelho (Best of World SF 3 / Strange Horizons)
In his introduction to the story in Best of World SF 3, Lavie Tidhar compares Ootheca to China Miéville’s writing, which seems like an apt comparison to make. It has all the same sense of something being off, the creepiness, and the originality in the setting details of a Miéville story. Compared to the Miéville novels I have read, though, this story has a much more coherent plot and a tightly controlled word count.
The story takes place in a world surrounded by a dead or dying god whose sudden appearance has f***ed up everything for the poor people on the ground. Cities shift and merge, information technology has become dangerous, but most importantly, the god’s representative/messenger can seriously mess with people’s lives if they are unlucky enough to get a visit.
Our protagonist was one such unlucky person, and the encounter left him with cockroaches instead of teeth.
Yep…
The story starts of as the protagonist is about to go on a date with an acquaintance of his. The date does not go as he had hoped, but despite of his unlucky circumstances, the two do end up in a relationship. Only, that is not necessarily a good thing.
It was the setting details, in all their originality and eeriness, that hooked me. But this was also a pretty interesting story about unhealthy relationships and how to deal with those.
Wireworks by Sheri Singerling (Clarkesworld)
At first, this read like an only mildly interesting grief story. The MC’s is grieving the recent loss of her mother, which is made even more difficult by her father’s cold and distant demeanor. To cope, the MC goes to the visiting circus where things starts to change as she meets an ownerless robot (something that should not be possible).
The story really picks up towards the end, though, as the robot tries to help the MC deal with her grief through some secret technology is has developed (which again should not have been possible), leading to a confrontation with her father.
Twist and turns towards the very end leads to some really interesting shifts in perspective and sympathies, which I will not go into detail about here. You should go it yourself!
I recommend this story to anyone who likes slow build-ups, interesting twists, and grief stories.
Abstraction Is When I Design Giant Death Creatures and Attraction Is When I Do It for You by Claire Jia-Wen (Clarkesworld)
I previously recommended Jia-Wen’s “If an Algorithm Can Cast a Shadow” here, also published in Clarkesworld, which was one of my favorite stories published last year. “Abstraction Is When I Design Giant Death Creatures and Attraction Is When I Do It for You” never reached quite the same heights, but it is still an excellent story.
First of all, it has a really interesting premise. It is set in a world where superstar pilots are battling giant mecha monsters as entertainment for people all over the galaxy. Only, as the story progresses, we learn that most people believe that these mechas are ingedinous creatures to the planet the fights take place on. Only, that is not the case.
The MC is one of the few people who knows they truth. He is one of the architects designing the mechas.
As the plot progresses, the story claws at the consequences of all the secrecy and the cost of having these mechas around. It affects the MC’s relationship with their lover, the most famous of all the pilots; the MC’s relationship with their sister who has developed strong political views regarding the mechas; and the role mechas have in maintaining the status quo on the planet where the inhabitants all live in a giant bunker below ground.
Ultimately, it is a story about ambition, about what we are willing to sacrifice to live out our dreams. It makes a few logical leaps here and there, treating some subjects a bit too superficially, but other than that, this was a really interesting and well written story. I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys original premises, morally ambiguous characters, and moral gray zones.
The Potential Side Effects of Roleplay Stimulation Therapy by Claire Jia-Wen (Clarkesworld)
I have apparently not just been on a Clarkesword reading spree this month but a Claire Jia-Wen reading spree. This is the third of her stories I have read and the third to make my recommendations list, so I guess I can add a new author to my list of favorites.
The speculative element in “The Potential Side Effects of Roleplay Stimulation Therapy” was not as interesting as in Jia-Wen’s previous stories: here a form of simulations are used for physical and mental therapy. Instead, it is the characters that made this one worth reading.
Jia-Wen manages to pack a lot of very unique and specific details about not just our protagonist but also the girl she befriends when waiting to be picked up after therapy.
To begin with, the story did not really blow me away. The more common speculative element combined with the fact that it seemed like a story that would be mostly about finding your feet in life after a life-changing accident did not really pique my interest. But gradually, the story grew on me as it started focusing on the relationship between the two girls ,and when we, through that relationship, started to learn about the MC’s past and how that led her to the car crash that changed her life. And in the end, yes, it was a story about recovering physically, but it was also a story about learning to interact with other people and helping others heal as well.
This is a story worth reading if you love mellow stories with interesting characters and relationships.
Toby Backman 