Asimov’s: Short Fiction Reviews by A.C. Wise

Asimov’s 7-8/24

The July/August issue of Asimov’s opens with the novella “Sisters of the Flare” by Stephen Case, set in the same world as the author’s earlier story “Daughters of the Lattice”, though in a differ­ent time period. The story focuses on Tars, who encounters a woman named Petrichora who has forsaken her vows as is now on the run. Tars and Petrichora’s story is interwoven with bits of their society’s history and legends, which have a fairytale-like feel. The novella is full of lovely imagery, and the worldbuilding is intrigu­ing, though the story didn’t always feel like a stand-alone piece. “Flipped” by Leah Cypess effectively uses the parallel world/multiverse trope to reflect a time of life when many people struggle to define themselves, try out different personas, and decide who they want to be – namely, their high school years. Jake is the boy in Becka’s class who everyone wants to date, so imagine her surprise when out of nowhere he sits down next to her in the cafeteria one day and kisses her. They quickly figure out that Jake is from another universe where he and Becka are dating, and this Jake and the one she knows have switched places. Becka has long had a crush on Jake, and they begin dating in her world. At first she can’t believe her luck, but she soon starts to worry that Jake is trying to turn her into “his” Becka, and wonders if this other, more confident Becka is someone she should aspire to be. Cypess delivers a very enjoyable take on parallel worlds with this story, and does a wonderful job further complicating an already complex time in the characters’ lives with multiple possible versions of themselves and their lives to worry about.

In “A Family Matter” by Robert Morrell Jr., Lyle takes a DNA test that returns some strange results, leading a backwoods cult to take a sud­den interest in him and revealing disturbing family secrets. “Tamaza’s Future and Mine” by Kenneth Schneyer forces protagonist Lumulu to evaluate her life and her priorities. She’s a spy, living undercover, and her latest mission puts her neighbors – including their young daughter, Tamaza, who Lumulu has grown close to – in danger. Now she must decide whether her mission or the people she cares about are more important to her.

In “This Good Lesson Keep” by James Van Pelt, Ms. Milpaugh is on the verge of retire­ment, trying to get one last group of students to appreciate Shakespeare. The students largely filter their lives through wearable tech, but Ms. Milpaugh convinces them to try being in the moment for just a little while as they read and perform Hamlet together. The play ends up resonating in unexpected ways, mirroring two students’ interpersonal drama and helping them understand each other and resolving the rift between them. The characters are well done, and the story highlights the idea that art is as much about what the audience brings as what the artist does. “Yarns” by Susan Palwick also explores a student-teacher relationship. Irene is a retired teacher, currently in hiding after trying to help a young student whose father was a member of the violence-worshipping Combine. Irene ends up forming a relationship with the young man sent to kill her after teaching him to knit, and finds herself once more risking the Combine’s wrath as she tries to help him.

“Future Perfect” by Genevieve Valentine is written in an almost stream-of-consciousness style, following a group of artists in a museum – a last haven where they can protest the cur­rent Hardin administration under the guise of performance art. The artists play on nostalgia and an idealized version of the past, including recreating Jello salads and other once-popular foods. As a result, the very people they are critiquing literally eat up their performances, never realizing that the artists are speaking out against them. Like Van Pelt’s story, Valentine does a nice job of exploring how much of art is what the audience brings to it, and how people tend to fall into echo chambers, often choosing to take away interpretations that support their worldview.

“Untouchable” by R. Garcia Y. Robertson is set in the same world as the author’s story “Lucifer’s Lode” from the January/February issue of Asimov’s where characters inhabit virtual worlds that mash up bits of history and various stories and traditions. Here, the virtual backdrop combines American gangsters of the 1920s and ’30s, Danish fairy tales, and Norse figures such as Heimdall and the Valkyries. Missy is a gambler out to make money. When the false identity she was using suddenly van­ishes, she’s mistaken for a missing person, and she ends up drawn into the investigation when three other girls mysteriously disappear as well. “You Know Me Al” by Alex Irvine is framed as a series of messages the protagonist sends to his friend on Earth, recounting his travels as he plays baseball across the solar system. During his travels, he falls for a woman named Flossie who may or may not be using him to fund her revolutionary activities.

“The Weight of Oceans” by Mark D. Jacobsen follows Antonne as he is swept up in a whirlwind relationship with Keiko. The shield that keeps the ocean back from the peninsula where they live is about to be lowered for good so that the government won’t have to raise taxes for the rich to maintain it, destroying their home. Against this ticking clock, Keiko drags Antonne along as she breaks into the factory where her father used to work and burns it down, blaming the factory for destroying her family. Jacobsen does a nice job with worldbuilding, and the scenario the story presents of an entire town destroyed in order to avoid inconveniencing the rich feels sadly plausible. The issue closes out with “The Sixteenth Circumstance” by John Richard Trtek, a quiet story with lots of intricate world­building, featuring an investigator named M. Picot visiting various planets and stations, uncovering irregularities and half-truths and setting things right without causing a fuss or a diplomatic incident.

Recommended Stories
“Flipped”, Leah Cypess (Asimov’s 7-8/24)
“This Good Lesson Keep”, James Van Pelt (Asimov’s 7-8/24)
“Future Perfect”, Genevieve Valentine (Asimov’s 7-8/24)

This review and more like it in the September 2024 issue of Locus.

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