Interzone #279

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Rating: 3/5

An average issue of Interzone, with interesting stories by Alison Wilgus, G.V. Anderson and Sean McMullen.

• “The Backstitched Heart of Katharine Wright” by Alison Wilgus: an interesting story involving Katharine Wright, the sister of the famous Wright brothers (Orville and Wilbur) who suddenly discovers the ability to find a particular ‘thread’ of time, jump back through time and alter the future. This she does to help save her brother from an early death from a bicycle accident, and twice during their early flying days. But when Wilbur dies from typhoid fever, possibly an unavoidable death, she has to decide whether she wants to jump back through time one last time to try to save him and keep their family together.
• “The Fukinaga Special Chip Job” by Tim Chawaga: a glimpse of a future where people live in mainly isolated cities and some people make a living by hunting through the remains of civilization. In this case, hunting for a rare brand of potato chips.
• “This Buddhafield is Not Your Buddhafield” by William Squirrell: a tale that goes nowhere, as far as I can tell. A maid is offered a job cleaning a floating mansion above Uranus, which she does, year after year. And as the years past, her connections to her family and humanity gradually disappear. Yet, she never questions her job or why she still works there.
• “For the Wicked, Only Weeds Will Grow” by G.V. Anderson: an unusual tale about a colony of alien, mobile plant-like species who ease people waiting to die by providing pain-reducing drugs. One day, a grumpy terminal patient arrives, and it would involve a lot of patience and communication from one alien provider to ease his journey into death.
• “Seven Stops Along the Graffiti Road” by David Cleden: a meandering story about people who seem to be wandering forever down a forest road, looking for it to end, and meeting fellow travellers along the way. Unresolved threads make the story feel like a fragment of a larger tale.
• “Terminalia” by Sean McMullen: an interesting glimpse of an alternate history where rich and powerful people can live for longer (and keep control of their wealth) by having their ‘souls’ transferred into mechanical beings. One group wants to break their stranglehold, but it would involve a temporary death of an associate and the involvement of a doctor who can revive people who have cardiac arrests.

Magazine read from 2019/01/21 to 2019/01/24