Paula Guran Reviews Uncanny, Tor.com and Apex
Uncanny 3-4/23, 5-6/23
Tor.com 3/29/23, 4/26/23
Apex #137
This month, instead of covering all the stories in an issue as I usually do, I’ll only be discussing those I feel are the most notable.
My favorite stories from Uncanny #52 are ‘‘The Mausoleum’s Children’’ by Aliette de Bodard and ‘‘The Rain Remembers What the Sky Forgets’’ by Fran Wilde. In the former, Thuận Lộc, haunted by her childhood desertion of two friends to the Hunt – ‘‘malicious creations descended from ship technology…small, living gliders, driven by algorithms and some old, atavistic instinct to chase those who ran’’ – attempts, years later, to save them. De Bodard again demonstrates her stellar ability to create a science-fictional scenario in brief strokes and make the reader instantly care about the characters that inhabit it.
Wilde’s story is based in the early 1900s when extravagant use of exotic bird plumage on women’s hats resulted in legal battles to protect endangered birds. Milliner Celia Smith’s guardian, ornithologist Dr. Martin Ventri, is dead. His widow wants a mourning hat bedecked not with just the plumage of several of her late spouse’s prized specimens but the slaughtered birds’ bodies. Celia has never even used feathers, but unless she complies with Mrs. Ventri’s demand, she will be denied her inheritance. The funeral turns into a remarkable event.
I also liked ‘‘The Infinite Endings of Elsie Chen’’ by Kylie Lee Baker. As her high school classmates begin to die one by one, Elsie Chen trains an AI to determine causality and what events lead to the deaths of individuals. Interesting premise, but Elsie’s realization that humans are ‘‘only kites ripped away by the wind, tails lashing their hands, spiraling up and up towards a distant sun’’ seems a little obvious to me.
The lead story in Uncanny #51 – ‘‘A Soul in the World’’ by Charlie Jane Anders – begins memorably with: ‘‘There’s nothing quieter than the sound of dreams not coming true.’’ The author then presents an engaging story about a childless woman given an alien baby to raise as her daughter. It’s not epic or deeply profound, but it’s wonderfully endearing.
Also in #51: Valerie Valdes’s fantasy ‘‘In Time, a Weed May Break Stone’’ which features a smith, Nuria, a former ‘‘shatterknight.’’ She’s called upon to save a boy (and perhaps the entire village) from a crystal cougar. The cat’s owner, a mage, shows up, and Nuria is confronted with multiple cats. Luckily for the smith and her village, someone else has hidden powers and can help. High marks for originality.
‘‘The River and the World Remade’’ by E. Lily Yu from Tor.com (3/29/23) is commendable climate fiction. As Earth’s waters rose, some stayed on what came to be known as The River and made a waterborne life weathering the storms while finding strength together. Others live on The Land where there was still electricity and medical service. For either group, nothing new is made; old things are melted, patched, and fixed. Of course, some among The River dwellers are driven by curiosity to seek what they feel they are missing. An interesting perspective on future humanity.
Also from Tor.com (4/26/23) is ‘‘Counting Casualties’’ by Yoon Ha Lee. The deadships destroy more than lives and planets: they erase the greatest art from the worlds they annihilate as well. Commander Niaja vrau Erezeng must battle them and consequently discovers something about the reason for the mysterious and deadly war. Lee never fails to entertain and possesses an incredible ability to – in the limited length of a short story – introduce the reader to an entire universe and its quite-believable inhabitants. Absolutely brilliant.
Apex #137 features ‘‘Asian and Pacific Islander voices from the homelands and the diaspora.’’ ‘‘Loving Bone Girl’’ by Tehnuka is a tender story telling of the love shared by Isai and Vasanthi. Isai’s parents escaped their homeland and the strife there before she was born. Vasanthi did not avoid the horrors of war, but now escapes by creating new places out of other places. Sydney Paige Guerrero’s titular character in ‘‘Liwani’’ is the goddess of light, but now light burns her. Guntinan, the god of memory, is losing his mind. No one tells their stories anymore, and they are nearly dead. Liwani descends to the mortal plane in an effort to rectify the situation. ‘‘The Toll of the Snake’’ by Grace P. Fong is set in post-WWII Hollywood, where Mei-Ko Suen is transformed into starlet Suzy Moon. The tale cleverly combines the Chinese legend of the White Snake and that of Medusa.
Recommended Stories
‘‘A Soul in the World’’, Charlie Jane Anders (Uncanny 3-4/23)
‘‘The Mausoleum’s Children’’, Aliette de Bodard (Uncanny 3-4/23)
‘‘Counting Casualties’’, Yoon Ha Lee (Tor.com 4/2/23)
‘‘The River and the World Remade’’, E. Lily Yu (Tor.com 3/29/23)
Paula Guran has edited more than 40 science fiction, fantasy, and horror anthologies and more than 50 novels and collections featuring the same. She’s reviewed and written articles for dozens of publications. She lives in Akron OH, near enough to her grandchildren to frequently be indulgent.
This review and more like it in the June 2023 issue of Locus.
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