#ReadShortStories (46 to 50)

The milestone of reaching 50 short stories read for the year comes just as I begin my Hugo reading, with story number fifty coming from the short story shortlist. If you would like to join me in reading the Hugo nominated fiction (or non-fiction etc) then I draw your attention to this post on File 770, which goes through the short list and directs you to where you can read/watch/listen to everything for free or, at least, read an excerpt or watch a trailer.


Internal Investigations by Naomi Alderman — This story was interesting in so far as it looked at hacking the mind/body, but not exceptionally original in doing so. It was well written enough to be enjoyable and creepy, which counts for a lot. Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00pbgrk

The Frequency of Compassion by A. Merc Rustad — There were too many very wrong throwaway statements about space/physics for me to enjoy this story. For me they overshadowed what was otherwise a nice story about an agender and neuroatypical protagonist making first contact at the edge of the solar system. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/the-frequency-of-compassion/

The Stars Above by Katharine Duckett — An excellent story, my favourite in the issue so far. A small Kazakhstani village returns to nomadism and living off the grid after aliens invade. The protagonist being a foreigner worked well for the outsider view and the links to family back in the US. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/the-stars-above/

The Things I Miss the Most by Nisi Shawl — An unexpected story essentially about a hallucination generated by a futuristic treatment for seizures. I found it touching and difficult to have a single opinion on, in a good way. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/the-things-i-miss-the-most/

The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society by T. Kingfisher — An amusing story about the tables turning on a group of fairies who usually get their way and enjoy leaving humans to pine after them. Short and sweet. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/the-rose-macgregor-drinking-and-admiration-society/

#ReadShortStories about philosophical concepts in science fictional contexts (136 to 140)

A couple of stories from Uncanny Issue 22 in this batch, followed by three from Mother of Invention, an anthology edited by Rivqa Rafael and Tansy Rayner Roberts. I'm now halfway through Mother of Invention and still enjoying the stories. Huzzah.

My favourite story in this batch is the John Chu, which is not a huge surprise. I look forward to the day when he has enough stories to warrant his own collection...

Sucks (to Be You) by Katharine Duckett — A succubus tells us about her life and how much easier it is for her to feed off people’s thoughts of her in the modern world of social media. My favourite thing about this story was how textual the subtext got. I liked it. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/sucks-to-be-you/

Discard the Sun, for It Has Failed Us by Marina J. Lostetter — While this isn’t what I would normally think of as my kind of story, I quite liked it. It was a short story about worshipping the sun and keeping it alive before it’s time. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/discard-the-sun-for-it-has-failed-us/

Fata Morgana by Cat Sparks — Post-apocalyptic/war-torn Australia with fighting mechs wandering around, at least one of which is intelligent. In rough conditions the mech protects the old lady that was its creator and helps a poor settlement. I enjoyed it. Source: Mother of Invention edited by Rivqa Rafael and Tansy Rayner Roberts

Quantifying Trust by John Chu — A robot engineering grad student works on her design and ponders the question of trust for AI. And meets a postdoc who may or may not be an advanced AI sent from the future. I really liked this story. Source: Mother of Invention edited by Rivqa Rafael and Tansy Rayner Roberts

Bright Shores by Rosaleen Love — A fantastical story about robots (and one woman) living in a nuclear exclusion zone. Clearly taking cues from the Fukushima tsunami disaster, I liked the premise of the robots left behind (because they are too contaminated from dealing with radioactive material), but it lost me a bit with some of the less scientific ideas. Source: Mother of Invention edited by Rivqa Rafael and Tansy Rayner Roberts