#ReadShortStories in context (71–75)

In this batch I finished off the fiction in Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction, the special edition of Uncanny, and caught up on a couple of Nature Futureses.

I want to briefly talk about a a short story in DPDSF which I read a while ago, “A House by the Sea” by P. H. Lee. When I read it, I did not realise it was from that particular issue of Uncanny because, for whatever reason (probably Twitter) it was presented to be without context. At that time, I didn't really "get" the story, because of said lack of context. When I came across it more recently, within DPDSF, I immediately recognised it when I started reading and, more importantly, the story suddenly made perfect sense. I had initially suspected that it was about disabled people, but now I had firm context to that effect. Does that mean it's a less good story if it isn't guaranteed to work without that context? I'm not sure, but I suspect a few of the stories in this particular issue of Uncanny fall into the same category of making more sense within their intended context. Is this ultimately a good or bad (or neutral) thing? What do you think?

This Will Not Happen to You by Marissa Lingen — I liked this one. A story about the frustrations of being diagnosed (too late) when chronically ill. Presented in a somewhat sarcastic tone to someone (sort of) who thinks these things only happen to other people. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/this-will-not-happen-to-you/

By Degrees and Dilatory Time by SL Huang — A thoughtful read about a man getting artificial eyes after a cancer diagnosis. It’s entered mainly on his feelings and sense of self. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/by-degrees-and-dilatory-time/

Listen by Karin Tidbeck — Another enjoyable story, this one a bit more alien in that it literally involves interactions between planets and different types of people. A neuroatypical protagonist is translator for aliens whose speech other people cannot remember after they have heard. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/listen/

Without Access by Deborah Walker — Flash, kind of interesting world building but a blatant premise. Unsubtly about internet/social media addicts but also with aliens. Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01316-1

Brick City by Robert S Wilson — Not a bad flash piece, charting the end of life and eventual fate of an obsolete android. I found the ending appropriate but was a bit confused by the intended emotional resonance. Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01429-7

#ReadShortStories to kick off 2019 (1 to 5)

A mixed bag of stories in this batch, although most of them are from Meet Me at the Intersection edited by Rebecca Lim and Ambelin Kwaymullina, an anthology I am approaching the end of. I've also thrown in a few miscellaneous stories since I have quite the backlog of free-floating stories awaiting my attention (as in, not part of an anthology or collection).

Trouble by Kelly Gardiner — A story of non-conforming girls in 1950s Melbourne. I enjoyed the local colour even if the end was not quite as I had hoped/shipped. Source: Meet Me at the Intersection edited by Rebecca Lim and Ambelin Kwaymullina

Sweet as Sugar Candy by Seanan McGuire — For a story billed as ruining marshmallows, it wasn’t quite what I expected. I’m not sure it was marshmallows, per se, that were “ruined” or the source of the horror. In any case, despite expecting something strange to happen I was a little surprised when it did. A delightful read. Source: Seanan McGuire’s Patreon

Planet of the five rings by Marissa Lingen — A funny flash story about first contact that I found quite unexpected (but was probably quite topical when it was first published). Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/549302a

Sheer Fortune by Jordi Kerr — A more Australian story that I would have expected from a short summary of it, with some strong New Zealish elements thrown in via the second character. Shifters, lesbians, high school. A nice read.  Source: Meet Me at the Intersection edited by Rebecca Lim and Ambelin Kwaymullina

Telephone by Yvette Walker — A timey-wimey story in which the main character receives a phone call from her teenage self. As she talks to this version of herself that had been trying to call and LGBT support hotline, she reflects on her life and how she got to where she is now (happily living with her wife). A sweet story, overall. Source: Meet Me at the Intersection edited by Rebecca Lim and Ambelin Kwaymullina

#ReadShortStories (51 to 55)

Another mixed bag of stories. I am not keeping up with Uncanny, despite my subscription: I read one more story in the Jan/Feb issue and, meanwhile, the March/April issue arrived. Whoops. But hey, better than nothing and I think I'm a reasonable way through the fiction. The other stories were a bit random and older. I realised that sorting my Pocket queue by oldest at the top was going to make getting through the stories I've had on there the longest easier. We'll see how that goes.

The two best stories in this batch were easily "Lines of Growth, Lines of Passage" by Marissa Lingen and "Fiber" by Seanan McGuire (which I just really want to spell correctly — ugh, US English, why?). Both were funny, in different ways, and thoughtful too.


The Egg by SB Divya — Sad flash about uterine replicator-type technology as a solution to infertility. Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/519256a

Lines of Growth, Lines of Passage by Marissa Lingen — A delightful story about a sorceress who was betrayed and who went on to solve a somewhat military problem with communication rather than force. I quite liked it. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/lines-growth-lines-passage/

Fiber by Seanan McGuire — A really fun and entertaining story about cheerleaders with supernatural inclinations, yoghurt and other monsters. A very enjoyable read. Source: http://www.tor.com/2015/12/01/reprints-fiber-seanan-mcguire-unbound/

Ten Days’ Grace by Foz Meadows — A story set in a dictatorially Christian future, about a woman who was forced to marry a stranger to be allowed to keep her daughter. Not a bad read. Source: http://www.apex-magazine.com/ten-days-grace/

Let There Be Light by Chen Quifan  — A series of glimpses at a high tech future world where, despite convenient technology, people aren’t magically happy. Some interesting ideas, but light on plot. Source: http://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/future-societies/chen-qiufan-translated-by-ken-liu-/let-there-be-light_scifi

Some short stories to start off the year

On the back of my victorious short story reading challenge in late 2017, I have gotten into the habit of reading short stories.

I also have a great way of managing the stray short story reading: Pocket. It's a "read later" article manager that I'm only using for short stories (I theoretically also use Instapaper for non-fiction articles, but rarely check it). Pocket has smartphone and iPad apps as well as the website and all of them sync your stories and your place. I also discovered a Chrome extension, Accelereader, which tags all the stories in Pocket with reading time (which you can even adjust to your actual reading speed) so you can get an idea of the time commitment before you start a story. Very handy (apart from the need to open Chrome to get those tags on newly added stories). It's also supported by my Kobo, which does time estimates without the chrome extension. Recommended if you're looking for a way to keep online short stories for later perusal.

Anyway, here are the first five stories I've read in 2018:

Velveteen vs the Flashback Sequence by Seanan McGuire — More of a chapter establishing character than a properly stand-alone story in its own right. Nevertheless, an enjoyable read.  Source: http://seananmcguire.com/velvs3.php  

Velveteen vs the Old Flame by Seanan McGuire — A less fun read that dredges up some unfortunate back story from Velma’s time as a junior superhero. As with the previous story in this sequence, it feels a bit more like a chapter than a self-contained short story. Source: http://seananmcguire.com/velvs4.php 

Velveteen vs the Junior Super Patriots West Coast Division by Seanan McGuire — The plot thickens as Velma, our retired superheroine, faces off against the new generation of her former child hero team. New characters with interesting back stories are introduced and Velma’s road trip comes to an end. Source: http://seananmcguire.com/velvs5.php 

I Won At NaSuHeMo! by Marissa Lingen — A fun, quite short story written as diary entries of someone pursuing National Super Hero Month — a quest to get super powers in the vein of nanowrimo. Source: http://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/superhero/marissa-lingen/i-won-at-nasuhemo 

A Hundred and Seventy Storms by Aliette de Bodard — A story of a young mindship, her keeper and a dangerous storm. An interesting read. I particularly enjoyed seeing a relatively young mindship who still has close living relatives. I am enjoying the Xuya universe and will definitely be reading more stories. Source: http://uncannymagazine.com/article/hundred-seventy-storms/