Cat Rambo’s “Events at Fort Plentitude”
Filed Under: Recommended Media, Short Story
Weird Tales Jan/Feb 2008 Issue
I haven’t finished the issue by any means (I read ridiculously little right now. It’s a combination of the impending move and having too much work to do), but I wanted to recommend this story, “Events at Fort Plenitude.” The only complaint I have about it was that it wasn’t novella length. The setting is a weird American West, including native tribes and harsh, starving winters. It has buffalo! But also demons in the magic, and royalty in the political structure. It hints at some larger place, one that I would very much like to revisit. Call me a country rube, but I am a sucker for fantasy obviously set in the Midwest. Also for stories told in the diary format. Cat’s a fine writer, and I doubt this is anywhere near her best story, just because of how good she writes, but I enjoyed it for the above reasons. If you like those sorts of things, then you should read it too.
Recommended Reading: The Wreck of the Grampus by Jeremy Adam Smith
Filed Under: Short Story
Lone Star Stories - The Wreck of the Grampus by Jeremy Adam Smith
“Do you understand the story, you machine? If there is an intrinsic design to the universe, humanity has not been able to find it. We must make our own, and so are most fully human when in situations that are wholly artificial.”
Picking something from this story to quote was not easy. This is one of the best, if not the best science fiction story I have read this year. It has senswunda note after senswunda note–a veritable senswunda orchestra. It has robots and deep philosophical questions and giant undersea creatures. Believable human characters, deeply human in their ways, and some deeply strange. This is a future that does not leave me cold like many post-singularity stories do, which are so common these days. In those stories, you can almost feel the silicon wrapped around you. Not here. There’s so much I want to say, so many surprising bits, but I don’t want to spoil it for anyone.
I think it’s absolutely fantastic, and the author, Jeremy Adam Smith, and Eric Marin, the editor and publisher, should have as many kudos I can throw at them. This is damned good science fiction. Read it. Let me know what you think. Let the editor and author know.
My only problem is, the author’s name is Jeremy. I can’t stand that name!
“Where We Live” by Daniel J. Pinney
Filed Under: Recommended Media, Short Story
Strange Horizons Fiction: Where We Live, by Daniel J. Pinney
Grim, grim, grim–as I’ve come to expect from Strange Horizons lately. A future without hope, and yet, the characters themselves continue to exist. This story is full of telling details. I didn’t have to read the author’s bio to know that he had lived in the Middle East. Every descriptive line speaks with authority.
The character’s life unfolds slowly, in a nonlinear fashion, moving back and forth through time. The protagonist moves through life, ever forward, never hesitating, never despairing, despite the apparent end of the world around him.
The ending–I have to mention the ending–fucking perfect. Absolutely god damned perfect. The scene before it, even more so. I don’t want to spoil it for anyone who might read it, and if you read this, go read it.
It builds slow, sets the stage, fleshes it out, piece at a time. It’s horrific, and beautiful. And hopeful. Did I say that?
More, more of this, please. Daniel J. Pinney is going on my “to watch” list, you can bet on that.
“We Love Deena” by Alice Sola Kim
Filed Under: Recommended Media, Short Story
Strange Horizons Fiction: We Love Deena, by Alice Sola Kim, illustration by Hellen JoIt’s the classic tale of love lost, obsessive love. Girl meet edgy girl, who kills people professionally for the government. Girl loses edgy girl. Girl possesses half the other women on the planet attempting to seduce edgy girl once more. Haven’t we read this one a million times before?
Well, no, actually. This is actually pretty good. The protagonist is believable, even sympathetic in her stalker ways. The story moves along at a very nice clip, and it ends in the only way it could. I’ve never heard of Alice Sola Kim before, but I will be looking forward to more.
Still have that death obsession going a little, Strange Horizons. This story was perky, but still kinda dark and twisted like everything else lately.
