#ReadShortStories in unplanned bursts (161 to 165)

A small detour from the Simon Petrie collection I've been reading to a couple of stories published together in Glittership, and both featuring nonbinary characters. I especially enjoyed the JY Yang, though it wasn't exactly cheerful. Then it was back to the Petrie collection, which I have almost finished.

Curiosity Fruit Machine by S. Qiouyi Lu — An amusing very short story about two people in the future finding a certain present-day artefact. (Also of note is that both characters used different non-standard pronouns.) Source: http://www.glittership.com/2017/02/16/episode-33-fiction-by-s-qiouyi-lu-and-jy-yang/

The Slow Ones by JY Yang — A powerful story about the end of the world and finding comfort where you can. I found the background science a bit shaky, but it was also speculation on the part of the characters. Otherwise an excellent read. Source: http://www.glittership.com/2017/02/16/episode-33-fiction-by-s-qiouyi-lu-and-jy-yang/

Half the Man by Simon Petrie — Amusing flash Source: 80,000 Totally Secure Passwords That No Hacker Would Ever Guess by Simon Petrie

Tremble, Quivering Mortals, At My Resplendent Tentacularity by Simon Petrie — Another amusing flash, shaggy-dog stories though it is. Source: 80,000 Totally Secure Passwords That No Hacker Would Ever Guess by Simon Petrie

At the Dark Matter Zoo by Simon Petrie — An amusing poem Source: 80,000 Totally Secure Passwords That No Hacker Would Ever Guess by Simon Petrie

Reading stories 11 to 15

Post title brought to you by apparently I am counting stories read this year (I mean, automatically, because spreadsheet). And because I am definitely going to run out of post titles if I don't standardise them somehow.

A mildly amusing anecdote about the first story in this batch: for reasons I'm still unclear on, the version of the story that appeared in Pocket was only the last section of story. The fact that I still thought it was a pretty good read without the first two thirds or so of the text is testament to the author's writing. But of course, when I realised the mistake (basically, when I was logging it in the spreadsheet) and did read the start of the story, I found it an even better read that delved more deeply into the issues that previously only seemed touched upon. Shocking, I know. I will have to be vigilant if I get to more stories from the same magazine.

On another note, I just subscribed to Uncanny since I've been reading a lot of their stories. Will be interesting to see how having ePubs of the whole magazine rather than saving isolated stories affects my reading experience.

Stories 11 to 15:

A Complex Filament of Light by S Qiouyi Lu — A story set in Antarctica about a person dealing with difficult feelings after a loss. Isolation, auroras and mental health. Source: http://www.anathemamag.com/a-complex-filament-of-light

Landmark by Cassandra Khaw — Lovers separated by astronomical distances try to stay in touch with technology. The extreme long-distance relationship. Dour. Source: http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/khaw_12_17/

An Account of the Sky Whales by A Que — A lovely story about flying space whales, the boyfriend of a whale researcher making the journey to collect her ashes, poachers. A meaty world, well-developed in this novelette. Source: http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/audio_06_17d/

Relentless Adaptations by Tansy Rayner Roberts — A story about a sleep-deprived new mother in a world where all fiction has been reduced to classics + gimmicks (zombies, vampires, etc). Also an apocalypse, but she’s too tired to pay much attention to that. Very amusing. Source: Sprawl edited by Alisa Krasnostein

It Happened To Me: I Melded My Consciousness With the Giant Alien Mushroom Floating Above Chicago by Nino Cipri — A vaguely amusing story. Not bad, but not interesting enough to get away with not being funny at this short form. Source: https://firesidefiction.com/it-happened-to-me-i-melded-my-consciousness-wtih-the-giant-alien-mushroom-floating-above-chicago