Interzone #290/#291

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Rating: 3/5

An above average issue with interesting stories by Alexander Glass, Tim Major, Cécile Cristofari and Shauna O’Meara.

• “A Hollow in the Sky” by Alexander Glass: a story set in a time when most of Earth’s human population are joined together in a gathering of minds. But some individuals are still around, and one has been sought out to assist in the return of another individual who has travelled with an alien group mind and maybe returned with a message of hope.
• “The Andraiad” by Tim Major: an interesting story about a man who works and repairs pianos and other mechanical objects for a living. As the story progresses, it would appear that the man may not be a man at all, but a creation made to replace another man. But this premise may need a re-examination when an accident reveals more about what he may actually be made of.
• “Pace Car” by Lyle Hopwood: in a world where teleportation gates that only let organic organisms through have devastated the world, a woman gets a person to work on her salvaged vintage cars. As the story progresses, we learn more about the state of the world after the gates appeared, and how it has changed what remains of mankind, as well as her thoughts on what is pure and original and what is not.
• “An Island for Lost Astronauts” by Daniel Bennett: a rambling take about life on an island soon to be flooded, and a former astronaut who also lives there, lost in the past.
• “A Stray Cat in the Mountain of the Dead” by Cécile Cristofari: a story of a nurse who works at an elderly home where a cat also roams. Due to the hot weather, some residents began to die. But the nurse starts to wonder whether it is actually due to the cat, for it is found to be in the laps of residents before they die.
• “Nemesis” by Matt Thompson: a story is a woman in medication struggling to put her life back together and complete her job. But it is interrupted by strange visions of comets in the sky and a strangely familiar woman who reminds her of Nemesis, a possible companion start is the sun, and another job she is to fulfil.
• “The Mischief that is Past” by John Possidente: another ‘Humbolt station’ story, this one has a journalist chasing a story while being chased by ‘shadowy forces’ and involves a strange story involving a UFO and a frozen body.
• “The Egg Collectors” by Lavie Tidhar: a story of two sisters on Titan, the moon of Saturn. A storm forces their balloon down, and they take shelter, while reminiscing about their time together and trying to decide if they should stay together.
• “Without Lungs or Limbs to Stay” by Shauna O’Meara: a sad but thoughtful story about people living in a generational spaceship heading nowhere. To survive, they periodically ‘recycle’ people still in hibernation. But this time, the sleeper is awakened first, and dreams of forgotten people are awaken with her.

Magazine read from 2021/08/20 to 2021/08/30