Fantasy and Science Fiction, September/October 2017

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Rating: 3/5 Stars

An average issue, with some interesting stories by Jeremy Minton, Amy Griswold and Oliver Buckram. But the story by Juan Paulo Rafols stands out for imagining a world where a tiny ‘privileged’ minority is not afraid to give their children every advantage they can get in a warring future. Quite a number of tales feature unusual sexual encounters and relationships, which appears to be the dominant theme in this issue.

• “Evil Opposite” by Naomi Kritzer: a tale of being able to see parallel universes mixed in with the antagonism between a lab assistant and a researcher. The conclusion is reasonable and shows that, no matter how much you may envy the lives you may have lead in parallel universes, the one you are currently living may be the best one.
• “We Are Born” by Dare Segun Falowo: a fantasy tale with an African feel about the creation of a life out of mud, how it lived and how it was reborn in another form.
• “Leash On a Man” by Robert Reed: in a future where humanity has altered itself and the environment genetically, a horrible crime is committed on a space habitat. The criminal is stripped of abilities and sent to prison on Earth. But such is the crime that the prisoner is in danger, and only an unusual prison guard from another era may be the only one who can protect her from harm; or possibly harm her.
• “Tasting Notes on the Varietals of the Southern Coast” by Gwendolyn Clare: a short tale about the sweetness and varieties of grapes being carried on a guarded cart as it travels through a fantasy land.
• “The Care of House Plants” by Jeremy Minton: two agents trace a runaway worker who has stolen some genetically modified seeds. But what they find is a house overrun by the seeds, the man’s mother, and no sign of the man. But lots of signs that something is very peculiar about the plants.
• “The Hermit of Houston” by Samuel R. Delany: a wild but hard to grasp story about a future where gender is fluid and relationships in various enclaves are mediated by ‘hermits’ who have access to vast computing powers.
• “On Highway 18” by Rebecca Campbell: a story about relationship and loss while travelling and hitch-hiking along said highway.
• “Hollywood Squid” by Oliver Buckram: an entertaining, light-hearted piece about a future where ET squids have landed and mostly moved on (due to their tendency to lie). A going-down-and-out film producer and a fellow squid try to market their story about a conspiracy theory behind the Oscars, but without success: until they learn there may be some truth behind the story.
• “Still Tomorrow’s Going To Be Another Working Day” by Amy Griswold: a short piece about what happens in a future where people fail to pay their ongoing loans and almost anything can be repossessed and passed on to other buyers.
• “Bodythoughts” by Rahul Kanakia: a story of an alien (or aliens) who falls ‘in love’ with a human after watching his exploits and ‘interspecies’ behaviour in a film. A pretty uncomfortable read.
• “Riddle” by Lisa Mason: a charged story about a down-and-out artist who meets an unusual female who speaks in riddles. Physical and emotional mayhem ensues.
• “Children of Xanadu” by Juan Paulo Rafols: a long and fascinating story, set in a future where China has apparently dominated the world militarily. A doctor from the Philippines is ‘requested’ to work on a (secret and illegal) project to enhance the bodies and minds of children of selected families. The project is successful but came at a high human cost. Now the doctor has been asked to go to the city of Xanadu, home of the ‘enhanced’, to investigate and duplicate the work of a ‘group-mind’ by insurgents. But little do they know the doctor isn’t who he claims to be and has other plans in mind for his project.
• “The Two Choice Foxtrot of Chapham County” by Tina Connolly: a fantasy tale about a friend who, against her society’s conventions, helps a girl who is pregnant with an unusual baby. A tale about unusual choices made under the pressure of trying to conform and when you shouldn’t.
• “Starlight Express” by Michael Swanwick: a man falls in love with a woman who appears out of nowhere from a matter transporter that shouldn’t work. As he works to sorts out his feelings and learn more about where the woman came from, we learn more about this strange Earth of the far future. But even here, being lovestruck and failing to love can be painful.

Magazine read from 2017/09/11 to 2017/09/22