Once upon a time, I tried to keep current with short
fiction, but have failed miserably in recent years. Therefore, when the urge to
read these stories strikes, I seize the moment. Recently, I dove into a pile of
unread sf/f magazines, most of them freebies from the Nebula Awards weekend, World
Fantasy Con, and similar events.
Why should you bother to read reviews of short fiction, that
most evanescent form, gone once the magazines have been pulled from their racks
to make room for the next issue? (Setting aside online magazines, which number
among their virtues the ability to keep back issues available indefinitely, and
the ease with which authors can now publish collections of their work.) The
answer is author discoverability. Reading short fiction is a great way to find
new authors, with relatively little investment in time and the price of an
entire book.
Back in the dawn of time, when I began writing
professionally, conventional wisdom stated that the way to begin a career was
with short fiction, crafting one’s literary skills and building an audience in
preparation for that first novel sale. For some, this advice worked well, but
for others, it turned out to be nonsense. Some authors are natural novelists;
that’s the size story their brains come up with. They can on occasion “write
short,” but it’s not their preferred length. The other pitfall was for the
magazine editors. They’d discover a new author, delight in publishing
increasingly ambitious stories, and then have the source dry up when the author
switched to novels and no longer had time for short fiction (or at the same
level of production). Magazines remain the point of professional entry for many
writers, and because established writers do continue to write short fiction,
they’re still a great place to find new authors to love.
Here are some of my favorites, presented in
reverse-chronological but idiosyncratic fashion. I’ve picked one or two stories
from each magazine that stood out for me. Others were marvelous and
well-received, so their omission should not be taken as criticism.
Analog, July/August
2014. “Mind Locker,” by Juliette Wade. Wade is a rising star in the field,
blending superb world-building, thoughtful treatment of issues, and some of the
best alien races I’ve read recently. “Mind Locker” is a weird blend of near-future
dystopia, VR zombies, mind-linked communities of outcasts, and a bunch of other
nifty stuff. One of the things I like best about Wade’s work is how much she
trusts the reader to figure things out.
Asimov’s, June 2014.
“Ormond and Chase,” by Ian Creasey. Since my husband is an avid gardener, this
tale of botanical genetic modification was especially amusing, especially
creating plant dummies of the entire government. Come to think of it, I am not
entirely sure that hasn’t already happened. “Murder in the Cathedral ” by Lavie
Tidhar. The story begins, “The year is 1888 and in London the Lizard-Queen Victoria
reigns supreme… Meanwhile in France, sentient machines joined by humans form
the Quiet Consort, maintaining French independence…” Steampunk and lizards, how
delicious!
