Uncanny Magazine has released the last of their stories in issue 51 to read for free online. That means it is time to review some short stories! There were eight new stories in this issue along with one that was accidentally released in the ebook last month. Let’s get started.

The issue starts with “A Soul in the World” by Charlie Jane Anders, author of All the Birds in the Sky. This is the sweet story of a single mom and her child whose origin is special. Let’s just say that she didn’t come into this world in the most terrestrial way. But that doesn’t dampen the challenges that all parents and teens deal with as teenagers grapple with a growing sense of identity. (My rating: 4/5)

An academic in the future works on an embodied AI as she deals with misogyny and hierarchy in “To Put Your Heart Into a White Deer” by Kristiana Wilsey. The world is a blend of academic mergers and corporate control. Things don’t go well for the protagonist, as you might expect, though you might not see the end coming. For me the world building was a bit clumsy and got in the way of the story. The result was too dense and disjointed. (My rating: 2/5)

“Perhaps in Understanding” by AnaMaria Curtis takes place in a world where the characters in the story literally show their emotions as masks on their faces. The wealthier you are, the more masks (and therefore emotions) you are able to wear. This is the story of a painter who is preparing for a show that will make or break her future in this world. It is a sweet story of getting under the masks we all wear. (My rating: 4/5)

My favorite story of this issue is Delilah S. Dawson’s “Blank Space“. It tells the story of a girl living in a small town with her strict uncle who polices who she can go out with and what she can wear. While working at her uncle’s hardware store, she is approached by a tattooed biker trying to pick her up. She likes him back, but her uncle doesn’t approve. Things don’t go as planned but maybe not in quite the way you think. (My rating: 5/5)

In the first fantasy story an old mage sets out to save a village from the ravages of crystal cougars. The story is “In Time, a Weed May Break a Stone” by Valerie Valdes. The cougars belong to wealthy owners who plan to use them to get a hand up on the poor villagers. But the wealthy outsiders get more than they bargained for when the town bands together. (My rating: 4/5)

A brother and sister can’t wait to get out of school and play. But, the brother is running away from the sister. She is angry because she was punished in class for something her brother did. As they both run into the woods, they find a surprise. And what is at first fear turns to play in “Space Treads” by Parlei Riviere. (My rating: 4/5)

“Yinying­—Shadow” by Ai Jiang is the other fantasy tale in this issue. A young girl whose father blames her for her mother’s death waits for foster parents to come after he also dies. Overnight she struggles with her past and how her father saw her. (My rating: 3/5)

Rounding out the issue is “Bigger Fish” by Sarah Pinsker. It feels like a futuristic Agatha Christie mystery. When a son asks a detective to investigate his father’s apparent suicide, the detective questions his house and robot valet. (My rating: 4/5)

My average rating for this issue comes out to 3.75. Overall, another excellent issue of great stories of speculative fiction.

The March issue of Lightspeed Magazine is a fairly strong issue with one meh story and one I really didn’t care for. The other six were very enjoyable and thought-provoking. There seemed to be a bit of a theme of love/relationship in this issue. On to the individual reviews.

“Crystalline” by Daniel H. Wilson stars a father who has lost his wife. He and his young daughter are in a cave where a glowing crystal connects them to a multitude of alternate worlds where the wife and mother still lives. The father is coaxing his daughter to approach the crystal and retrieve an alternate version of his wife for them both. Things do not go to plan. This is a bittersweet story of longing and loss and the things it can make us do. (My rating: 4/5)

A countess who can see, experience, and move through the past, present, and future attempts to save a spaceship from falling into a black hole in “One Pinch, Two Pinch” by Beth Goder. This is a tale told in an usual manner that is part of the storytelling itself. I enjoyed that but the whole thing didn’t quite land for me. (My rating: 3/5)

“Contracting Iris” by Peter Watts takes a page out of The Last of Us on HBOMax as it tells the story of a world plagued by a parasitic virus called Iris that slowly takes over its host. We follow a girl named Iris who is trying to navigate this world as she is not feeling well. As she seeks help, she is more and more concerned she might have the virus. But no one seems to be taking her seriously. This tale is creepy and got under my skin. I really felt for Iris the girl and what she was going through. (My rating: 4/5)

In “Four Years Minus Twelve Days” by Samantha Murray, you are a human who is married to an alien knowing that it can only last the period of the story title. But you are so in love that you ignore the metamorphosis that they will go through, forgetting you in the process. It doesn’t matter. You are in love. But as your time grows shorter you start to realize what this really means. This is well-told stuff touching the soft spot in all of us and the fairy tales we tell ourselves when we are in love. (My rating: 4/5)

“Every Little Change” by Aimee Ogden also touches on the struggles of love. Here the husband can leap through time. He does so for reasons he is not allowed to share with his wife. She feels left out and alone, and it starts to wear on their relationship. But is where/when he is going for work or for her benefit or both? For anyone who has gone through a heartbreaking alienation of affection, this story will really resonate with your experience and perhaps make you look at it in a new light. (My rating: 4/5)

In the epistolary story “The Chosen Six” by Oyedotun Damilola Muees, six people are chosen for their magical skills to help a refugee society trying to survive and thrive in a climate-ravaged world. The story here is deeply engrossing but the clunky prose kept pulling me out of it. (My rating: 2/5)

The narrator in “Our Exquisite Delights” by Megan Chee describes an experience that happens over and over again to the people in her story. Each person sees an extra door where they had only seen one previously. What might be on the other side of that door? How might life be different if they opened that extra door? This is a fanciful exploration of those tantalizing thoughts of “what if”. (My rating: 4/5)

The last story of the issue was actually included accidentally in the January issue ebook version and published again in this issue where it was originally intended to be. “The Ministry of Saturn” by Benjamin Peek, explores the nature of creativity, freedom, power over others, and what we owe others. This is the tale of a magician, a homunculus, and his creator. (My rating: 4/5)

By my ratings, this issue wasn’t as good as the others so far this year at an average rating of 3.625. There were no five ratings for me but I still enjoyed reading it. For me, still worth the subscription price and the time to read.

Let’s dive right in. Issue 153 of Lightspeed Magazine is for the month of February 2023. It is edited by John Joseph Adams, and all the stories are original.

First up is “Learning Letters” by Carrie Vaughn, a story of the far future after “the Fall”. An isolated and primitive but successful community is visited by a stranger in an airplane. Where did they get the fuel for it? Where have they come from? And what do they want? This world just drew me in and made me want more. (My rating: 5/5)

After a nuclear war forces people to live underground, people have the desperate choice between staying underground and slowly going crazy from the lack of sunlight or venturing to the surface and dying from radiation poisoning. “In(con)solation” by Octavia Cade is the story of a couple living together facing this impossible choice. The story is told in an interesting combination of first and second person voices. (My rating: 3/5)

In “The Day the Earthman Didn’t Show“, Adam-Troy Castro tells the tale of a collectivist alien society that knows the future and works together to plan for it. For millennia. Only what if something happens and the prophecy doesn’t come true? Read this delightful story and find out. (My rating: 4/5)

Have you ever written to your congressperson or senator? If so, I bet it was nothing like the letter in “Subject: More Monsters Will Not Make Us Safer” by Paul Crenshaw. The problem this author is concerned with is using monsters to make children safer in schools. An interesting look at a current hot button issue. (My rating: 4/5)

All houses change as you live in them, even if you never renovate them. But the changes in “The House of Linear Change” by Oluwatomiwa Ajeigbe are way beyond that! The son of the homeowner finds himself in a bit of spot. This one was a bit trippy for me, but may be just your thing. (My rating: 3/5)

The title “Real Magic” by Sharang Biswas at first doesn’t quite seem to fit. People nervously approach the local witch to seek her help with a problem. One by one she sets them each on a quest that gets them what they want but with no real magic. She saves the real magic for the really important things. (My rating: 4/5)

I was surprised to learn that the title library in “Guidelines for Using the Harry Elkins Widener Memorial Library” by Marie Brennan actually exists. The author created a fantastic version of guidelines for using it based on her own time there. A fun read. (My rating: 4/5)

As a child did you ever need to stay with family or friends when something unexpected came up with your family? The boy in “His Guns Could Not Protect Him” by Sam J. Miller experiences this when something happens to his father. No one will tell him as he tries to protect his little brother from learning the danger their dad is in. This one really brings that childhood feeling to life. (My rating: 4/5)

That’s it for this month’s Lightspeed fiction! My ratings come out to 3.875 on average so another successful issue. Happy reading!

 

I didn’t start my subscription to Clarkesworld Magazine until after the first of January, so the February issue is my first issue. It was worth the wait.

For me the first story is an outlier. I didn’t like it very much. In fact, I’m not sure I really understood it. Maybe I was too tired. Maybe it just isn’t for me. You be the judge of “The Portrait of a Survivor, Observed from the Water” by Yukimi Ogawa. It didn’t work for me. (My rating: 2/5)

There is a lot of talk these days about AI. One researcher even believes that the AI he works with is sentient! In “Somewhere, It’s About to Be Spring“, Samantha Murray tells how a space ship achieves sentience throughout its systems after losing its crew. A touching story. (My rating: 4/5)

A philosopher of cognition doesn’t sound promising as a short story writer. But in “Larva Pupa Imago” Eric Schwitzgebel tells the fascinating journey of a caterpillar from birth to becoming a butterfly. As a caterpillar he enjoys a close friendship until he becomes a butterfly and sets out to procreate. (My rating: 4/5)

“An Ode to Stardust” by R. P. Sand is about a woman hampered by real chronic pain her whole life. She tries to hide it from everyone around her and succeeds to become the youngest commander on the moon. There, for the first time, she makes a friend that she can be completely honest with. And it changes both their lives. (My rating: 5/5)

“Introduction to 2181 Overture, Second Edition” by Gu Shi, translated by Emily Jin is presented as the introduction to a book in the future about cryosleep. People are frozen until their terminal illness has a treatment. This is nothing new in fiction. But the author goes a bit further. People become voluntary “time migrants”. They allow themselves to be frozen for a time so they can travel into the future where presumably things will be better. Throughout this story is weaved the author’s relationship to the history of cryosleep. Wonderfully told. (My rating: 4/5)

Time for the next magazine review in my year of short fiction. This one is Uncanny Magazine Issue 50 for January/February 2023. Let’s dive right into the story reviews!

The first story, “Collaboration?” by Ken Liu & Caroline M. Yoachim, is experimental. It attempts to tell the story of two beings creating worlds together. In the ebook version they use what they call an accessible version that will work for screen readers. It didn’t really work for me. It’s a little better on the website but still not my cup of tea. (My rating: 2/5)

Next up is “Cold Relations” by Mary Robinette Kowal. This is by far my favorite story of the year so far. It tells the tale of a brother and sister on opposites sides of the law where magic is concerned. They’ve become estranged but start to come together in a way that surprises. Emotion-filled storytelling that is both realistic and tugs at the heart. (My rating: 5/5)

“How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub” by P. Djèlí Clark is exactly what it sounds like in the title. A wannabe somebody in the Victorian era mail orders a kraken egg and raises it in his bathtub. As you can imaging, things don’t go to plan. The author really brings you into the world of his unlikable protagonist and makes you feel the consequences of his hubris. (My rating: 4/5)

A. T. Greenblatt shows us “Waystation City” through the experience of twins who are seeking to leave it. Everyone arrives without knowing when they will leave. The twins get tired of waiting and seek a guide to get out sooner, as many others have. The feel of the city and how those in it are feeling really shine. (My rating: 5/5)

Imagine a plague-ridden world hollowed out by millions of deaths that has descended into a dictatorial corporate government. Now you are a trans woman living alone in an apartment where you once cared for the now-dead owner. Oh, and “you see dead people”, that is ghosts. This is the setup for “Horsewoman” by A.M. Dellamonica. The loneliness amidst all the voices is what came through most to me. (My rating: 3/5)

In “Flower, Daughter, Soil, Seed” by Eugenia Triantafyllou, a mother tells her daughter of the women in her family all the way back to her great great grandmother. The twist here is that they are all flowers. Each generation is a different flower that grew up in a different environment. The love flows through and down to each new generation. (My rating: 4/5)

In “One Man’s Treasure“ by Sarah Pinsker, the wealthy have so much magic they can afford to throw away its tools and artifacts. The garbage workers need to be careful not to be hexed by the things they pick up. One crew finds a statue that may be more than it seems. This story felt very Agatha Christie to me in all the best ways. (My rating: 4/5)

What if the Jesuits had an enclave on the moon? Why the moon? What would they do there? How would they relate the church authorities? E. Lily Yu explores these questions and more in “The Father Provincial of Mare Imbrium“. Like other Jesuits, these are scientists, and they discover something important. But will they be allowed to share their findings? (My rating: 5/5)

A cold, dark man arrives at a small village each month to take one of the women to be his servant for the month. No one ever sees these women again. “Silver Necklace, Golden Ring” by Marie Brennan is the story of one of these women. But she resolves to do something about her situation and takes her fate into her own hands. A well-told fairy tale of female agency in less than ideal circumstances. (My rating: 4/5)

Married husbands accompany a young female magician into the desert to guard her as she undoes the magic  at the request of a recently deceased woman who performed that magic long ago in “Miz Boudreaux’s Last Ride” by Christopher Caldwell. Shades of Alfred Hitchcock’s The Birds heighten the fear and foreboding. (My rating: 3/5)

No matter where he lives or tries to escape it, the protagonist of John Wiswell’s “Bad Doors” simply cannot get away from the mysterious door that keeps appearing in the walls of his homes. It doesn’t help that he is dealing with a global pandemic and an uncle deep into conspiracy theories. Angst and helplessness and frustration are on hand here. (My rating: 3/5)

In “Prospect Heights” by Maureen McHugh, a young woman in a gentrified neighborhood of New York is warned not to turn right out of her apartment. Of course, she does, and as she explores the dilapidated building thinks she sees herself. Nothing really new here for me but the imagery and writing are good. (My rating: 3/5)

One bonus review. I don’t normally review the essays in these magazines, though I do read them. I highly recommend from this issue “Building Better Worlds” by Javier Grillo–Marxuach which discusses how world building in fiction works. It deals mostly with film and TV but also applies to writing. It is fantastic resource for any storyteller.

Overall, this was an excellent issue in my opinion. My short fiction ratings average out to 3.75. I’m looking forward to reading more short stories in my February issues!

I previously subscribed to Lightspeed Magazine a few years ago. I resubscribed as part of my “year of short fiction”. Here are my brief reviews for the fiction in Issue 152 for January 2023, my first since I started reading it again.

The first story in the issue is The Last Serving by Lincoln Michel, about a vegetarian cook who conquers the culinary world and looks for her next challenge. She settles on learning to cook meat, but with a unique approach. As a vegan, I really connected with this. I really felt the motivation for the chef’s vegetarianism, and it ends with a humdinger of a twist. (My rating: 5/5)

This is followed by A Guide to Alien Terms Useful in the Human Diaspora by Deborah L. Davitt, a short glossary of alien linguistic terms. It is an interesting look at culture and language. It ends with a paragraph that uses all the words in the glossary. I found the format to be unique but the piece itself was just okay for me. (My rating: 3/5)

Imagine Survivor or The Amazing Race on a planetoid where if you die as a fan favorite, they simply bring you back to life and re-insert you into the program. Oh, and you are indentured to the production company. Two of the characters conspire to find a way out in The Narrative Implications of You Untimely Death by Isabel J. Kim. This is a well-written and entertaining exploration of facing hopelessness. It really grabbed me. (My rating: 5/5)

From the Largest Crater by Jendayi Brooks-Flemister is story of separation anxiety told as audio diary entries. A woman goes on an expedition from the moon to earth in an attempt to save her climate ravaged birthplace. Her wife stays home alone missing her. The telling felt overly long and didn’t feel like a particularly new take on this theme. (My rating: 2/5)

This is followed by one of the longest titled short stories I’ve ever seen–A Man Walks Into a Bar; or, In Which More Than Four Decades After My Father’s Reluctant Night of Darts on West 54th Street, I Finally Understand What Needs to Be Done by Scott Edelman. In it a son tells us of his dad who played darts in a league in the seventies and his run in with a particular famous New Yorker. The love and connection to his father really come out on the page. And what he decides to do in the end is an unexpected turn. (My rating: 5/5)

In Braid Me a Howling Tongue, Maria Dong tells of young enslaved girls living and working together. Once every five days they are put outside to fend for themselves as they are hunted by a large creature. One of those girls is an outsider with no tongue. She connects with another of the girls as they learn to cope with their circumstances and seek to better them. A very touching and haunting story of love and care for others told from a place filled with despair. (My rating: 5/5)

In Between the Stones and the Stars by A. L. Goldfuss a hunter and a warrior arrive at a temple to claim the same prize–a chalice. But rather than fight, they decide to camp together and share their food and enjoy each other’s company. But what about the chalice? I enjoyed how this trope was humanized through the individual experiences of each character. A short read worth your time. (My rating: 4/5)

The focus is on light in In the Deep Woods; The Light is Different There by Seanen Mc Guire. A young woman recently divorced spends a night in her family’s old house in the country. The parts of this story (the light, the protagonist, the neighbors) didn’t come together well for me despite the excellent writing. (My rating: 3/5)

I love stories that deal with deep human issues. The final story, The Ministry of Saturn by Benjamin Peek, explores the nature of creativity, freedom, power over others, and what we owe others. This is the tale of a magician, a homunculus, and his creator. (My rating: 4/5)

My average rating for the fiction in this issue comes out to an even 4. An excellent issue with a mix of great stories well told. I look forward to reading the next issue.