Clarkesworld: Short Fiction Reviews by A.C. Wise
“Space O/pera” by Abby Nicole Lee in the October issue of Clarkesworld centers on Clara, whose family dog, Daki, is sent into space. When footage of Daki’s shuttle exploding is released, Clara is certain a cover-up is afoot and sets out to investigate. “The Children of the Flame” by Fiona Moore is another of the author’s stories featuring Morag as a recurring central character. In this instance, Morag is drawn into a conflict with the titular Children of the Flame, a nomadic group whose worldviews about ownership, land, and resources fundamentally oppose the worldview shared by Morag and her neighbors. “Fishing the Intergalactic Stream” by Louis Inglis Hall has a subtle eeriness to it, along with some nice atmospheric descriptions, as a fisher visits the desolate and seemingly empty moon of Nero and begins to suspect that something may have set a lure and be fishing for them in turn.
In “The Face of God: A Documentary” by Damián Neri, originally published in Spanish and translated into English by the author, God has appeared in the sky over Earth, a radiant being with scales and fur and feathers who is slowly dying. As the title suggests, the story is framed as a documentary, with vignettes focused on various people impacted by God’s appearance – from a man whose father was the first to spot God in the sky and died soon after, to scientists studying Him, to average individuals considering what His appearance means for their faith and their daily lives. “The Buried People” by Nigel Brown is set in a new ice age. Alison is a shepherd, acting as a local guide for the Laird’s son and a scientist from Cambridge, who are on an expedition to uncover the buried people, preserved in the snow by unknown or forgotten scientific means. The Laird’s son views the Buried People as animals who can be put to work, and the scientist sees them as curiosities to study, but Alison sees them as people, putting her in a difficult position made more complicated by the secret she’s keeping from the others on the expedition.
“Fractal Karma” by Arula Ratnakar is a novella that feels like a spiritual successor to the author’s previous novella, “Axiom of Dreams”, published in Clarkesworld last year. Both explore the mind-altering possibilities of math when combined with drug use and technology. In this case, the experimental drug is known as Klein-bottle, and the technology is a three-way headset that allows (or forces) users to share memories and erases the boundaries between self and other. Leela signs up for an experimental study to earn money, but quickly begins to lose herself in her past. The story is effective in its exploration of memory, guilt, the idea of being truly perceived, and how we frame the narrative of our lives. “Midnight Patron” by Mike Robinson is a postapocalyptic story told from the perspective of a Crow in a world where humans have all perished. While scavenging bodies in a museum, the Crow is inspired to create art of his own.
This review and more like it in the December 2024 issue of Locus.
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