Tag: fantasy

Uncanny Magazine Issue #64

This is the first issue of this magazine that I have read since 2023. I still love the variety of stories told.

“Unfinished Architectures of the Human-Fae War” by Caroline M. Yoachim (6,748 words) — Through a series of short vignettes, it tells the story of an ongoing war between humans and fae and how it reflects the ongoing state of their shared existence. (My rating: 4/5)

“Barbershops of the Floating City” by Angela Liu (6,024 words) — A daughter who sees the memories of her customers cuts hair and struggles to help her mom. A poignant story of class struggle, abuse, and relationships. (My rating: 4/5)

“Vivisection” by Anjali Sachdeva (4,916 words) — Eleanor, fearing for her safety, hides her organs around the house to keep them safe from her abusive girlfriend Severine. This my first story by this author. A unflinching and sideways look at a relationship with an abuser from the victim’s perspective. (My rating: 5/5)

“The Breaker of Mountains and Rivers” by Aliette de Bodard (Story link live starting June 3) — An angel is tortured by demons led by the lover of the celestial being tortured. (My rating: 4/5)

“Hi! I’m Claudia” by Delilah S. Dawson (Story link live starting June 3) — A man talks with an AI about the troubles in his life. A view to our possible future? (My rating: 5/5)

“All the World is Fog” by DeVaun Sanders (Story link live starting June 3) — A father leads a krewe in a water-soaked, climate-changed dystopia. I enjoyed the world here but the plot was a bit muddled for me and left me not feeling much of anything. (My rating: 2/5)

“Pale Serpent, Green Serpent” by Ewen Ma (1,199 words) — Immortal friends play a game after getting together after a long time apart. The game is one only immortals can play. (My rating: 4/5)

Average rating for this issue: 4 out of 5.

Onyx Storm by Rebeccah Yarros

My partner had this book on pre-order. She read it when it first came out. I only got around to reading it. It was okay.

It continues the story of the relationship between Violet and Xaden and their dragons and how they are dealing with the turmoil caused by the dark wielders as well as trying to find a cure for Xaden’s situation. There are many adventures and mild twists and turns.

This edition of the Empyrean series didn’t do much for me. It wasn’t bad. It just didn’t hold my interest like the previous books in the series. I expect that I will read the next book to find out how the story unfolds. Eventually.

My rating: 3/5

Mrs. Caliban by Rachel Ingalls

Back in 2017 the movie The Shape of Water was released to box office success and critical acclaim. In November of that same year, this novella, originally published in 1982 and long out of print, was republished. It then found its way onto my list of books. This past week I had some longer than usual drives to scholastic soccer matches that I officiated, so I listened to it on audiobook.

An amphibious creature escapes from a lab where it was being tested on, tortured, and abused. The titular Mrs. Caliban hears about it on her radio as she does her housework. She and her husband are somewhat estranged though still living together. They lost a son to an operation gone wrong and another to a miscarriage. While Mrs. Caliban is preparing and serving dinner for her husband and a co-worker, the monster shows up in her kitchen. She befriends him, hiding him in her son’s old room as her husband never goes to that room or even that part of the house. Mrs. Caliban and the monster have an affair and work on a plan to get him back to his own home in the sea.

Numerous themes and ideas are explored in this short novella. Naturally relationships and fidelity, but also what it means to be a monster and the treatment of non-human animals, including the ethics of eating meat. None of this is heavy handed but occurs in the natural course of the storytelling. Despite being written over forty years ago, it feels surprisingly contemporary. What I appreciate most is that it doesn’t really give answers, though these are implied. Instead, it is a book that questions many things that we often take for granted without even thinking.

My rating: 4/5