#ReadShortStories ...That Are Mostly Poems (61 to 65)

An unusual batch this time around because I read all the Uncanny Issue 20 poems in a row, which I'm not sure is the best way to do it. Especially since my poetry reviewing skills a woefully underdeveloped compared with prose fiction. Maybe next time I'll read the poems between stories or something.

To cap it off and balance the relatively short poems, I went for a longer story from Tansy Rayner Roberts. A queer romcom about spy gadget scientists, it would have stood out even without the poems for contrast.

The Knight of the Beak by Sofia Samatar and Del Samatar — I have no idea how to review some poems, it turns out. Sorry. About a knight, sort of. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/the-knight-of-the-beak/

The Cat’s Daughters by Nitoo Das — A lovely fantastical poem about the daughters of a cat. Told before they were born and after and involving magical deals. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/the-cats-daughters/

Shadow-Song by Sonya Taaffe — Another poem that I’m not sure how to review. This one passed me by with my having only vague ideas as to what it’s about. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/shadow-song/

1532 by Ana Hurtado — A bit too stream of consciousness for my taste. The lack of line breaks in this poem made it harder for me to follow (but again, probably best not to trust my opinion on poems). Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/1532/

Super Spy Science Secret Santa by Tansy Rayner Roberts — A super fun novelette set in an undisclosed Australian location. The protagonist is the head of a research group whose job it is to develop high-tech spy gadgets for the agents out in the field. An amusing and entertaining story about a Secret Santa design competition, hating fun, avoiding explosions and romance. Source: Tansy Rayner Roberts’ Patreon

#ReadShortStories (56 to 60)

In this batch, I finished reading the fiction in Uncanny Issue 20. But then, after thinking I only had articles left, I realised there was still poetry hiding towards the end so I'm not actually quite finished. But almost. (And as a reminder I'm lumping poems in with short stories in these mini-reviews, which is why there's one here and will be next batch as well.)

Your Slaughterhouse, Your Killing Floor by Sunny Moraine — A violent, angry story about being alone, about love, about destroying the world. About a girl walking into a bar and meeting another girl like her. About the end of the world. I’m not sure that I exactly *enjoyed* this story, but I certainly *felt* it. A powerful read. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/slaughterhouse-killing-floor/

The Utmost Bound by Vivian Shaw — This story is about a couple of astronauts piloting a rover on Venus and finding something strange. I think it was intended to be SF horror, but I personally didn’t find it as horrific as the main character did, which lessened the impact somewhat. It wasn’t a bad story, but seeing as there was supposed to be (or so it seemed to me) more emotional impact than I felt, it fell a little flat. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/the-utmost-bound/

The Date by RK Kalaw — Short and about non-humans on a date. It had some similarities with “Your Slaughterhouse, Your Killing Floor” but didn’t pack as powerful a punch and hence suffered for the comparison. (And it was not only shorter but also less angry.) Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/the-date/

Conservation Laws by Vandana Singh — An interesting longer story about anomalies on Mars, set in a future with people living there and on the moon. I liked the way in which the protagonist was introduced before telling his story, and also the fact that the framing narrator was someone else and saw him from a different perspective. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/conservation-laws/

The Early Ones by Sofia Samatar and Del Samatar — To be honest, the way the formatting came out in the ebook on my phone, I didn’t immediately realise this was a poem rather than flash. But either way, I enjoyed it. About beings that were there before “civilisation” came along. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/the-early-ones/