Fantasy and Science Fiction, January/February 2021

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Rating: 4/5 Stars

A better than average last issue of this magazine to be edited by C.C. Finlay. It features interesting stories by Robert Reed, Jonathan L. Howard, John Kessel, Lavie Tidhar and James Morrow. “N-raptured” by Justin C. Key, however, may be too US-centric a story to be enjoyed by those who are not familiar with racism and the use of racial words in the US against African-Americans.

• “Integral Nothings” by Robert Reed: enigmatic aliens are altering the world, making it a better place. But appearances can be deceiving, when the unknown plan the aliens have for the world may not be for the good of mankind.
• “The Diamond Family Glitters” by H. Pueyo: a unusual family gathers, preparing for the death of an elderly relative. But this is a family of unusual abilities, all of which stem from the dying relative and there are fears their abilities will vanish when she dies.
• “Interludes with the Gunwright” by Jonathan L. Howard: a light fantasy involving a veteran soldier who goes in search of a person who makes good weapons. The soldier would have reasons to see the weapon maker many times over the years as her fortunes rise and fall, and their relationship blossoms.
• “The Dark Ride” by John Kessel: an interesting and unusual spin on the assassination of US President William McKinley in 1901 which would involve the assassin taking a carnival ride to the moon which turns out to more real than expected. This would lead the assassin to live two lives that merge at the end, leaving the reader to decide which one was the real life he had.
• “A Little Knife Music” by Jenn Reese: in a society where skills are determined by the ability to listen to ‘their inner music’, a girl learns to be an assassin at a school after her first kill. But an assignment to kill a fellow student at the school, who turns out to be royalty, would cause her to consider just what her abilities should be used for.
• “N-raptured” by Justin C. Key: a story about a future where a kind of ‘rapture’ has occurred in the USA, causing people who say a racist word to get marks on their heads. If they get three marks, they turn into rats. The story is about a man who already has one mark, working for an analyst who works with the ‘marked’ to make them more acceptable to society. Unfortunately, the story is rather US-centric and readers from an international audience (like me) who don’t have good knowledge of the racial tensions in the USA or the use of racist words may not get much out of the story.
• “Hard!” by Van Aaron Hughes: a humorous tale about the sport of curling and consequences of discovering that aliens also consider it a sport worth playing.
• “Litter Witch” by Susan Palwick: the story of a girl who is constantly mocked by her peers. For comfort, she collects litter from the wood during her walks and considers herself a witch. One day, she runs off with her collection of litter and, ending up by a lake, finds the collection of litter forming itself into a house for her. There’s she lives for any years: until a nearby incident causes her to become the temporary guardian of a girl. That would lead her to the next stage of her transformation into a witch.
• “Wild Geese” by Lavie Tidhar: a tale set in Mongolia that, at first, appears to be a tale about chasing birds. Until events, and future technology gradually introduced into the tale, up-end expectations, and it turns into an expedition on the hunt for an not-yet inhabited city. The transition from one expectation of the story to another is gradual and suprising.
• “Bible Stories for Adults, No. 51: The Great Fish” by James Morrow: playing on the tale of Jonah and the Whale, this one has its protagonist being swallowed by a literal giant fish. Inside, they discover other inhabitants from other times as they work to find a way to get them all home.
• “The Piper” by Karen Joy Fowler: a fairy tale-like story told from the point of view of a peasant. The King of a country calls his countrymen to go to war on his behalf to protect their way of life. But on the march, questions being to asked about the true purpose of the war and whose way of life is being protected.

Magazine read from 2021/01/01 to 2021/01/15