Review of The Four Profound Weaves by R. B. Lemberg

It’s been a rough year. For far too many people in the world, it’s been a rough few decades capped by an even worse year. And when we say 2020 is painful what we’re really saying is that not only are we hurting, we’re being actively harmed in a time of crisis by those with power.

I’ve been reading as many stories as I can this year as a form of something I can’t even describe. As escape? Therapy? A search for wholeness or meaning? So many great stories have been published in 2020, almost as if life understands that fictional creations — that fantasies and myths and dreams — are a powerful way to not only to heal each other but the very world itself.

And the stories I’ve read have helped. Some. A bit. Because I’m still making it through. Still alive.

Now I’ve read The Four Profound Weaves by R.B. Lemberg. And when I finished this novella I cried because it was so joyful and beautiful and moving that for the first time in a long while I caught a glimpse of the path forward.

The Four Profound Weaves is set in the Birdverse, a diverse world of feathered gods and mysterious deserts and magical names which bind people together and tear them apart. The story follows the lives of two people — Uiziya e Lali and an initially nameless man — who are in their sixties and trying to change their lives. But they’re up against a world which far too often believes change is a bad thing. That life should remain static and unyielding. That who others believe we are at one single moment of our life is who we must be for all our lives.

This is a lyrical, poetic, mystical journey which features some of the most beautiful writing I’ve encountered recently. In Lemberg’s hands a simple phrase like “The dawn is never far away” gains added depth and resonance to both stir the soul and make you pause your reading to reflect on what has been written. And the story also features two extremely endearing and relatable characters who you can’t help rooting for.

The Four Profound Weaves is queer as hell and fluid as hell and refuses to let anything stand in the way of what we can be, no matter is that means going up against an all-powerful dictator, the gender expectations of our family and friends, or even the world itself.

This is both a joy of a book and a joy of a reading experience. I came away feeling more healed than when I started. I won’t pretend one book can solve all the world’s problems, but The Four Profound Weaves was definitely the book I needed to read right now in my life. I think many other readers will respond the same way.

I expect I’ll reread The Four Profound Weaves over and over in the years to come. The novella will also be among my nominations for the upcoming Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards.

There is always a path forward. Unfortunately, many times we can’t see it until something brings our eyes back to where we’re walking.

The Four Profound Weaves illuminates for all of us the path forward.

Best SF/F short fiction, January through June 2018

Here are my picks for the best science fiction and fantasy short fiction published in the first half of 2018.

I originally set out to read a short story a day this year but massively failed in that attempt. That said, I still read more than 130 short stories, novelettes and novellas published between January and the end of June.

That doesn’t mean I haven’t missed some great stories — I’m certain I did. In particular, I read relatively few novellas this go around. I’ll try to make up for that in the coming months and will add any stories I missed to my next listing of the year’s best short fiction, which will be released in December.

If you like what I'm doing, consider backing my Patreon. And to check out my current short story reviews, go to the Twitter hashtag #JasonReads.

Best SF/F short fiction, January through June 2018

Note: All stories sorted alphabetically by title.

2018 Novella

• Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach by Kelly Robson
  Tor
  Time travel and environmental collapse collide in this imaginative story of the far future. Beautiful writing, captivating world-building, and characters you deeply care about pull you through this fast-paced story. Wow!

• Umbernight by Carolyn Ives Gilman
  Clarkesworld
  An exciting hard SF tale of colonists on an alien world with tons of sensawunda, danger, and insight. Once I started reading this story I couldn't put it down. "Umbernight" merges Golden Age SF excitement with modern sensibilities as this world's new generation of colonists pay for their parents' sins. Also a great look at the clash between the rationalists & dreamers in every society & how both are needed. Highly recommended.

2018 Novelette

• A Dog of Wu by Ted Rabinowitz
  Fantasy and Science Fiction, Mar/Apr 2018
  In a far future where families of genetic clones control Earth, a culler searches for those who have gone against the pre-ordained way. An excellent story, mixing Brave New World with modern ideas.

• El is a Spaceship Melody by Maurice Broaddus
  Beneath Ceaseless Skies
  Forget space opera, this story is pure space jazz as the starship Arkestra and her captain discover the human spirit is as limitless as the cosmos. For optimum enjoyment of Maurice Broaddus' jazz creation, I suggest playing Sun Ra while reading this story.

• Endless City by David Gerrold
  Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Jan/Feb 2018
  A hard-boiled detective is hired to investigate a client's murder moments before it happens in this merging of cyberspace & reality, where performance is everything & nothing. This novelette is hypnotic and dazzling, with something to insult everyone in a world where privacy might be the only unobtainable dream.

• My Base Pair by Sam J. Miller
  Analog Science Fiction and Fact, May/June 2018
  I’m fascinated by the world in this story, where the DNA of celebrities is hacked and sold so fans can raise designer kids in their idols' image. A disturbing yet thought-provoking tale.

• Sea of Dreams by Cixin Liu (translated by John Chu)
  Asimov's Science Fiction Jan/Feb 2018
  A hard science fiction classic with strong sensawunda, where powerful alien artist nearly destroys Earth to create the ultimate work of art. "Sea of Dreams" showcases why Cixin Liu is the greatest living hard science fiction author. Even readers who don't like hard SF might like this story — there's a page in the middle where the story digs deep with scientific detail, but keep going and you'll be rewarded.

• The Barrens by Stephanie Feldman
  Fantasy and Science Fiction, May/June 2018
  A group of teenagers follow a pirate radio station's signal into a dark forest — and the woods are hungry. This new take on a familiar horror trope is a beautifully haunting story.

• The Ghoul Goes West by Dale Bailey
  Tor.com
  The brother of a dead screenwriter discovers a video of Ed Wood & Bela Lugosi's never-completed film. Haunting story about Hollywood destroying lives through delusion.

• The Substance of My Lives, the Accidents of Our Births by José Pablo Iriarte
  Lightspeed
  Gender becomes even more fluid when you reincarnate & the man who maybe murdered you in a previous life moves into your trailer park. A wonderful story — part slice of life, part mystery. I loved the narrator and embraced their struggles and dreams. A great read which so reaffirms the beauty of life. 

• The Sweetness of Honey and Rot by A Merc Rustad
  Beneath Ceaseless Skies
  When Jiteh’s twin brother is sacrificed to the Life Tree, she decides to change the world. An inspiring story that also broke my heart because, as we all know, our plans and dreams in life rarely work out as they would in an ideal universe.

• Three Dandelion Stars by Jordan Kurella
  Beneath Ceaseless Skies
  A fairy tale romance which both lives within the world of fairy tales and transcends them. I loved the story’s world-building and how the romance took me in directions I’d never have expected.

• Widdam by Vandana Singh
  Fantasy & Science Fiction, Jan/Feb 2018
  As heavy pollution and climate change push human civilization to the brink, hyper-intelligent machines are now used to ravage the Earth. A fascinating, all too plausible future which also remembers that hope is one of the defining aspects of humanity.

2018 Short Story

• A Lumberjack’s Guide to Dryad Spotting by Charles Payseur
  Flash Fiction Online
  A bittersweet yet beautiful slice of life about a lumberjack who will do anything to keep his dream of life and love. I don't read many stories twice in one hour, but I did with this great flash fiction story.

• A Night Out at a Nice Place by Nick Mamatas
  Apex Magazine
  A sadistic god-like transhuman returns to reality for a first date with a regular human. Delightfully funny SF mixing philosophy & borderline nonsense while dancing on infinity.

• A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies by Alix E Harrow
  Apex Magazine
  Because all true librarians are witches who help readers connect with the book they need most. I love this story!

• All the Time We've Left to Spend by Alyssa Wong
  Robots Vs Fairies
  A former idol in Japan visits robot versions of her former band, desperate to reconnect. A story about the damage life and fame brings to people, and their desperation to both touch who they once were and change the actions they took. A disturbingly painful yet always true story.

• And Yet by AT Greenblatt
  Uncanny Magazine
  A theoretical physicist tries to determine if haunted houses are merely doorways to parallel versions of your life. A moving & emotional look at the choices we make. And I so love the story's opening line: "Only idiots go back to the haunted houses of their childhood. And yet."

• Barleycorn by Cae Hawksmoor
  Abyss & Apex
  A modern-day fairy both consumes a suicidal man & shows him the beauty of life. A melodic story about how life, death & the harvest remain, no matter how our world changes.

• Being an Account of The Sad Demise of The Body Horror Book Club by Nin Harris
  The Dark
  What are those horrifying sounds in the apartment upstairs? A wonderfully gothic story exploring our fears of isolation & the unknown.

• Bread and Milk and Salt by Sarah Gailey
  Robots Vs Fairies
  The most disturbing, nightmarish fairy story I've ever read. Brilliant. A story to haunt your dreams. Gailey perfectly captures fairy amorality, such as how they lead young kids to their deaths, or worse. But the story then cranks the fantasy dial to 11 when a geeky boy turns the tables, and flips it again in a chilling ending which shatters all power dynamics. Wow.

• Carouseling by Rich Larson
  Clarkesworld
  Ostap loses the love of his life in a explosion at a quantum test facility in Mombasa. But why is he still linked to her? A moving SF story with strong sensawunda.

• Cosmic Spring by Ken Liu
  Lightspeed Magazine
  A sailor steers an island-ship through the heat death of the universe while trying to remember all that was. "Cosmic Spring" is a beautiful story of eternity, memory & spending time with friends as the universe ends. The sense of wonder in this story — wow. One of the year's best. And so many great lines like "It’s not home, but at least we don’t have to die alone."

• Domestic Violence by Madeline Ashby
  Slate
  An HR manager at a future workplace counsels a domestic violence victim to keep her performing like any good employee. Or is the manager really counseling herself? A subtle, eye-opening story which demonstrates how abusers can and will use technology to maintain control and hurt people. A must-read story of a troubling future.

• Four-Point Affective Calibration by Bogi Takács
  Lightspeed Magazine
  An insightful story about how human conformity and neurotypical thoughts/emotions can hinder attempts to communicate with aliens. As the story shows, human communications are always tied in with emotions & cultural contexts. But humanity's neurodiversity also means there's a range of amazing ways to see, experience & communicate about our world. I wish more people understood that.

• Godmeat by Martin Cahill
  Lightspeed Magazine
  A chef cooks the meat of the divine beasts who maintain his world's reality. An imaginative, must-read story of ambition conflicting with the greater good, and the choices we all make.

• Leviathan Sings to Me in the Deep by Nibedita Sen
  Nightmare
  This lush, dark story grabbed me from the start and refused to let go. Set on a whaling ship, the world is so disturbingly and beautifully captured that the reader believes that this nightmarish tale could have really happened. And the ending — wow!

• Me, Waiting for Me, Hoping for Something More by Dee Warrick
  Shimmer
  The ghost of who you never were haunts your life while exploring an impossible basement under the basement. A deep, bone-chilling story.

• Mother Tongues by S Qiouyi Lu
  Asimov's Science Fiction Jan/Feb 2018
  A touching SF tale of the importance of language to both our lives/sense of self, & what happens if this is commodified. A story to make you cry.

• Obscura by Yoon Ha Lee
  Strange Horizons, Short Story
  A 14 year old searching for connections meets a man whose camera destroys them. This disturbing, powerful story burned its way into my mind.

• One For Sorrow, Two For Joy by LaShawn M. Wanak
  Fireside Fiction
  An undertaker gifts sky burials to children who die before their time, magically giving relief to their grieving families. "One For Sorrow, Two For Joy" is a magically touching fantasy which made me cry before moving me to joy. This story is proof of the power of great fantasies. One of the year's best and a story which will stay with me for a lifetime.

• Opium for Ezra by T.R. Napper
  Interzone 274
  The commander of a nearly indestructible tank has survived for 9 months on a devastated battlefield. Now he battles a new enemy along with reality. A powerful, gritty and painful SF war story, with a heck of a plot twist at the end.

• Salt Lines by Ian Muneshwar
  Strange Horizons
  A jumbie comes for a man as he leaves a club. An exquisite story of loneliness, family and the past which haunts us all. Another must-read.

• Sour Milk Girls by Erin Roberts
  Clarkesworld
  SF story about memory becoming just another commodity. Story has a gripping, visual voice, which makes the outcome all the more painful. I believe this story is one of those which will truly stick in my memory.

• Strange Waters by Samantha Mills
  Strange Horizons
  A fisherwoman lost at sea keeps returning home at different points in time. A fascinating & touching time travel story with a deep sense of wonder. Days after I finished this story I was still thinking about it. Highly recommended, and the most emotional time travel story I've read this year

• The Court Magician by Sarah Pinsker
  Lightspeed Magazine
  A young man learns the price of going from sleight of hand tricks to true magic. And the worst trick? That those in power never pay the same price. This story accomplishes more in 3000 words than many novel-length tales, and showcases how at its best fantasy can touch on deeper issues than much of what passes these days for "realistic" or "literary" mainstream fiction.

• The Library is Open by Beth Cato
  Daily Science Fiction
  It's the end of the world but the local library is still open and will always be. A flash fiction story about hope which will touch the heart of every library lover.

• The Mansion of Endless Rooms by L. Chan
  Syntax and Salt
  A man carries his dead father to a mansion outside time, where his father's memories can live forever. a beautiful merger of truth & words, reaching deeper into sorrow and pain than stories a hundred times the length. A must read tale & one of the year's best.

• The Root Cellar by Maria Haskins
  Beneath Ceaseless Skies
  A young girl returns from the dead to save her little brother. But their grandmother keeps trying to kill them. A lyrical, disturbing story which continually keeps the reader off balance even while forcing you to keep reading.

• The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington by Phenderson Djèlí Clark
  Fireside Fiction
  A moving story melding ghosts and magic and humanity into something far truer than either fantasy or history. "The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington" proves that Clark is a writer to both watch and read. I wouldn't be surprised if this story earns award nominations and reprints in various year's best anthologies.

• The Sharp Edges of Anger by Jamie Lackey
  Apex Magazine
  A young woman deals with a world where anger is physically removed from her body. A dangerously powerful tale full of deep truths. Read this story!

• Traces of Us by Vanessa Fogg
  GigaNotoSaurus
  A beautiful, touching science fiction story of two people embracing each other across eternity. This is me crying over this joyous song of a love story.

• We Will Be All Right by Carolyn Ives Gilman
  Lightspeed Magazine
  In a world where sex between men and women kills the man, a mother watches with regret as her son falls in love. A powerful flash which left me shuddering and pained.

• With These Hands: An Account of Uncommon Labor by LH Moore
  FIYAH Literary Magazine Jan 2018
  A free black man helping build the White House learns of the changes two enslaved stonemasons will willingly undergo to escape bondage. A compelling look at history — all of history — and how those who do the work of building the world's monuments and mansions are often the first to be ignored by history.

#JasonReadsShortStories for March 2018

One of my goals this year is to read and review a short story every day. And here we go with the second month of the year — 31 days in March, 31 short stories read and reviewed.

Below are the reviews for all 31 stories, arranged by author's name. Also listed are the publication and story classification.

If you like my reviews, consider supporting my Patreon.

March 2018 Reviews

"And Yet"
A. T. Greenblatt, Uncanny Magazine, Short Story
A theoretical physicist tries to determine if haunted houses are merely doorways to parallel versions of your life. A moving & emotional look at the choices we make. And I so love the story's opening line: "Only idiots go back to the haunted houses of their childhood. And yet."

"Because Reasons"
Alexandra Renwick, Asimov's Science Fiction, Mar/Apr 2018, Short Story
Two future teenagers love historic punk rock but unfriend each other when one leaves to help settle Mars. A funny and insightful story about how cultural trends come and go but truth remains.

"baleen, baleen"
Alexandra Renwick, Interzone 274, Short Story
Zeke hates his life, but every time he almost drowns at sea the world changes. Maybe he can learn to change it for the better. A hypnotic story which dances like an ocean current.

"Four-Point Affective Calibration"
Bogi Takács, Lightspeed Magazine, Flash
An insightful story about how human conformity and neurotypical thoughts/emotions can hinder attempts to communicate with aliens. As the story shows, human communications are always tied in with emotions & cultural contexts. But humanity's neurodiversity also means there's a range of amazing ways to see, experience & communicate about our world. I wish more people understood that.

"A Priest of Vast and Distant Places"
Cassandra Khaw, Apex Magazine, Short Story
Airplanes are actually gods and you are their priest in this emotional tribute to the joys and pains of both home and travel.

"Five Tangibles and One"
D.A. Xiaolin Spires, Vice Motherboard, Short Story
A sexbot helping humans with marital counseling falls for a fellow bot. Or is their love merely a virus? A touching, insightful tale. And I absolutely love how @spireswriter created a world where bots are addicted to smoking kudzu leaves! This is a perfect example of how small, creative details in world building can make a story click into the deeper consciousness of readers.

"The No-One Girl and the Flower of the Farther Shore"
E. Lily Yu, Clarkesworld, Short Story
A girl abandoned by her village learns the truth known by the flowers of the farthest shore, which is that no one is ever truly alone.

"All the Time in the Sky"
H. L. Fullerton, Daily Science Fiction, Flash
The sun splits in two, as seen through the relationship of two people among the billions watching this cosmic mystery. A moving flash story about how every historic or cosmic change is witnessed and felt on a very personal level. Even if we don't understand why it happened.

"Your Damnation Will Be Infinite"
Hadeer Elsbai, The Dark, Short Story
A young woman in Cairo kills her abusive husband as part of a strange ceremony. But now she wonders about what she may have unleashed. A lush, darkly troubling story which presents no easy answers.

"Dragon Meat"
Helen French, Flash Fiction Online, Flash
When a family's dragon dies, the dragon's meat isn't to be wasted. A short, deep tale about the painful results when those we love are degraded by being a mere possession.

"Unplaces: An Atlas of Non-existence"
Izzy Wasserstein, Clarkesworld, Short Story
A woman hiding from a fascist militia writes her story in a book describing imaginary and lost places. This story is fascinating and well told, and a painful look at how any place or ideal can vanish — just as the America in the main character's time likewise becomes a dream which no longer exists.

"Braving the Morrow Candle’s Wane"
J.W. Alden, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Short Story
An old woman who lost her religious faith in the foolish wars of her youth has learned to believe in something far better — other people.

"Bury Me with Broken Love Light Bulbs, Bury Me in Shattered Glass"
Jack Westlake, Black Static 62, Short Story
A man addicted to alcohol becomes friends with a man addicted to eating glass. A disturbing and horrifying look at addiction and loneliness.

"Beautiful Quiet of the Roaring Freeway"
James Sallis, Interzone 274, Flash
What does the freedom of the road mean when only self-driving vehicles travel on the freeways? A short, lyrical look at our dreams of driving away.

“A Very Large Number of Moons”
Kai Stewart, Strange Horizons, Flash
A collector of moons shows how much of life is illuminated by moonlight. A touching, beautifully moonlit slice of flash fiction.

"Cosmic Spring"
Ken Liu, Lightspeed Magazine, Short Story
A sailor steers an island-ship through the heat death of the universe while trying to remember all that was. "Cosmic Spring" is a beautiful story of eternity, memory & spending time with friends as the universe ends. The sense of wonder in this story — wow. One of the year's best. And so many great lines like "It’s not home, but at least we don’t have to die alone."

"Tool-Using Mimics"
Kij Johnson, Clarkesworld, Short Story
The many different versions of the life of a girl with tentacles. In this story as in life, truth is a colorful, many limbed thing, just like an octopus. A beautiful, subtle story which moved me even as it flits beyond simple explanations or narratives. One of the best stories I've read this year.

The Mansion of Endless Rooms"
L. Chan, Syntax and Salt, Flash
A man carries his dead father to a mansion outside time, where his father's memories can live forever. a beautiful merger of truth & words, reaching deeper into sorrow and pain than stories a hundred times the length. A must read tale & one of the year's best.

"Crave"
Lilliam Rivera, Nightmare Magazine, Short Story
To stop a monster from feeding on people, families gift her food. But one starving girl hates being part of this. A moving, disturbing story on the horror of mistreating women.

"Domestic Violence"
Madeline Ashby, Slate, Short Story
An HR manager at a future workplace counsels a domestic violence victim to keep her performing like any good employee. Or is the manager really counseling herself? A subtle, eye-opening story which demonstrates how abusers can and will use technology to maintain control and hurt people. A must-read story of a troubling future.

"A Swim and a Crawl"
Marc Laidlaw, Fantasy and Science Fiction, Mar/Apr. 2018, Short Story
A man allows himself to be swept away to sea but eventually he swims back to shore and the cliff leading to safety. But what is that voice he hears? A disturbing little horror story.

"The Ghost In Angelica’s Room"
Maria Haskins, Flash Fiction Online, Flash
A young woman's ghostly father visits her every evening and asks how her day went. a painful scream of a story, begging us to remember that everyone lives alongside the ghosts of those who were as scared as we are. And that living can be far harder than dying.

"Never the Twain"
Michael Reid, Interzone 274, Short Story
A person living simultaneous lives in the present & far future faces the death of one self, even if their future half knows how to save them. A touching time paradox story.

"Child of Snow"
Nina Kiriki Hoffman, Daily Science Fiction, Short Story
A young man born of snow goes out into the world with his father, who aims to do him harm.

"In Event of Moon Disaster"
Rich Larson, Asimov's Science Fiction, Mar/Apr 2018, Short Story
After a strange asteroid hits the moon, a 2-person spaceship finds person after person knocking on their airlock door. Echoes of "The Cold Equations" in this story.

“The Triumphant Ward of the Railroad and the Sea”
Sara Saab, Shimmer, Short Story
A competitive eater travels endlessly by train along a coastal sea. A chillingly beautiful slipstream story of loneliness and the hunger which eating can never fill. And I love Saab's writing: "Loneliness is not the consistency of coal — it is not dry or porous or easy to palm. It is a fish, a thing of the ocean, slapping forever in the chest, eroding a space in the heart shaped like its own body."

"Do As I Do, Sing As I Sing"
Sarah Pinsker, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Novelette
A young cropsinger is determined to aid her village despite her brother's jealousy. I love Pinsker's storytelling as I fell in love with the main character & setting. And the story showcases how envy and anger are bad reasons to aim to change the world, even if they're behind so many of our world's technological advances.

"Occasionally in the Night, a Vague Craving Arose"
Sean Ennis, Tin House, Short Story
Benny the Therapist & everyone in an extended rehab decide candy helps them fight their addictions. A quirky, insightful look at how so much of life is addiction.

"Opium for Ezra"
T.R. Napper, Interzone 274, Short Story
The commander of a nearly indestructible tank has survived for 9 months on a devastated battlefield. Now he battles a new enemy along with reality. A powerful, gritty and painful SF war story, with a hell of a plot twist at the end.

"A Dog of Wu"
Ted Rabinowitz, Fantasy and Science Fiction, Mar/Apr 2018, Novelette
In a far future where families of genetic clones control Earth, a culler searches for those who have gone against the pre-ordained way. An excellent story, mixing Brave New World w modern ideas.

"Traces of Us"
Vanessa Fogg, GigaNotoSaurus, Short Story
A beautiful, touching science fiction story of two people embracing each other across eternity. This is me crying over this joyous song of a love story.

#JasonReadsShortStories for February 2018

One of my goals this year is to read and review a short story every day. And here we go with the second month of the year — 28 days in February, 28 short stories read and reviewed.

Below are the reviews for all 28 stories, arranged by author's name. Also listed are the publication and story classification.

For the January reviews, go here. And if you like my reviews, consider supporting my Patreon.

February 2018 Reviews

"Dances With Snoglafanians"
Aimee Ogden, Daily Science Fiction, Flash
Forget everything you know about the white savior narrative in film b/c this is how Avatar and Dances with Wolves should have gone. A funny and truth-telling satire.

"Granny Death & the Drag King of London"
AJ Fitzwater, GlitterShip, Short Story
Lacey mourns for Freddie Mercury and her life at the height of the AIDs epidemic while being recruited by a grandmother of death. An excellent story which made me want to read more tales about these characters.

"Ten and Ten"
Alan Dean Foster, Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Short Story
A researcher tries to communicate with a Pacific cuttlefish but time is running out. A good "slice of life plus science" SF story.

"A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies"
Alix E. Harrow, Apex Magazine, Short Story
Because all true librarians are witches who help readers connect with the book they need most. I love this story!

"Birth of the Ant Rights Movement"
Annalee Newitz, Spectacle Magazine, Short Story
A historic examination of the mutual discovery by ants and humans that the other species is sentient and can communicate. A quirky, thought-provoking story.

The Goddess Has Many Faces"
Ashok K. Banker, Lightspeed, Short Story
An assassin aims to kill the leader of an all-female breakaway region of India. This is a disturbing and violent yet ultimately insightful story showcasing the lengths some people will go to stop women from challenging the world's status quo. But as always, the soul of a movement is hard to kill.

"Where the Anchor Lies"
Benjamin C. Kinney, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Short Story
An aged general treks to the graveyard of her former warship/lover while contemplating how politicians use the military to manipulate citizens.

"Umbernight"
Carolyn Ives Gilman, Clarkesworld, Novella
An exciting hard SF tale of colonists on an alien world with tons of sensawunda, danger, and insight. Once I started reading this story I couldn't put it down. "Umbernight" merges Golden Age SF excitement with modern sensibilities as this world's new generation of colonists pay for their parents' sins. Also a great look at the clash between the rationalists & dreamers in every society & how both are needed. Highly recommended.

"Where Would You Be Now?"
Carrie Vaughn, Tor.com, Short Story
It's the end of the world and a group of doctors sets up an armed outpost to treat people in a Mad Max style USA. What I particularly like about Vaughn's story is it covers issues many male-focused post-apocalyptic tales ignore, including how without modern medical care both child birth and high infant mortality will kill a great many people.

"The Quiet Like a Homecoming"
Cassandra Khaw, Lightspeed, Short Story
A cat wife travels to Scandinavia to revisit places seen before. Beautifully written and hypnotic. There are lines in @casskhaw's story which grabbed my mind and made me pause. "...the color is absolute as a rich man’s confidence." and "Animal wives are performative, performances, a menagerie of curated expression and long-lashed silences." Wow!

"A Lumberjack’s Guide to Dryad Spotting"
Charles Payseur, Flash Fiction Online, Flash
A bittersweet yet beautiful slice of life about a lumberjack who will do anything to keep his dream of life and love. I don't read many stories twice in one hour, but I did with this great flash fiction story.

"Endless City"
David Gerrold, Jan/Feb 2018 Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Novelette
A hard-boiled detective is hired to investigate a client's murder moments before it happens in this merging of cyberspace & reality, where performance is everything & nothing. This novelette is hypnotic and dazzling, with something to insult everyone in a world where privacy might be the only unobtainable dream.

"The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington"
Henderson Djèlí Clark, Fireside Fiction, Short Story
A moving story melding ghosts and magic and humanity into something far truer than either fantasy or history. "The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington" proves that Clark is a writer to both watch and read. I wouldn't be surprised if this story earns award nominations and reprints in various year's best anthologies.

"Early Morning Service"
Irette Y. Patterson, Strange Horizons, Short Story
An immortal church usher lives off the faith and love of her dwindling congregation. A sad, touching, yet ultimately hopeful story.

"Deep Down in the Cloud"
Julie Novakova, Clarkesworld, Short Story
A hard SF scuba diving hacker story (yes, you read that correctly). A fast paced, exciting story. I'm particularly intrigued by the idea of putting server farms underwater to protect against a large increase in solar activity, which would damage all our modern tech.

"Just Another Love Song"
Kat Howard, Robots Vs Fairies, Short Story
A busking banshee takes on a jerk of a bro-culture fairy who forces people to fall in love with him. A fun, sweet story.

"Fairyless Tales"
Kyle Kirrin, Daily Science Fiction, Flash
Funny and sacrilegious takes on fables, as if Monty Python channeled the spirits of the Brothers Grimm.

"On the Occasion of a Burial of Ernest Zach Ulrich"
Mary Kuryla, Strange Horizons, Short Story
A powerful, language-twisting story which is also disturbing as hell (be sure to read the content warnings). To sumarize the story is near impossible, except to say it involves a shape-changing bear, an abandoned girl, and a man who needs to pay the local tax collector. The story left me shuddering in despair by the end.

"El is a Spaceship Melody"
Maurice Broaddus, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Novelette
Forget space opera, this story is pure space jazz as the starship Arkestra and her captain discover the human spirit is as limitless as the cosmos. For optimum enjoyment of Maurice Broaddus' jazz creation, I suggest playing Sun Ra while reading this story.

"He Dies Where I Die"
Michael Harris Cohen, The Dark, Short Story
A zama zamas miner goes too deep in the illegal search for gold. A disturbingly excellent horror story of both claustrophobia & darkness.

“Mother of Invention”
Nnedi Okorafor, Slate.com, Short Story
An excellent science fiction story looking at the future of truly smart homes, and how technology doesn't stop people from still hurting other people.

"Riddle"
Ogbewe Amadin, Fireside Fiction, Short Story
A young girl explores why her mother said all witches are evil instead of calling out the people actually doing wrong in their village.This appears to be one of the first published stories by Ogbewe Amadin. Definitely a writer I'll make a point of reading again, and I look forward to seeing more stories from him.

"A Coward's Death"
Rahul Kanakia, Lightspeed, Short Story
The emperor orders first sons into slavery, but one man objects. Is his objection moral or merely selfish? A disturbing philosophical tale about taking a stand. While I disagree with the theory behind the story and its ultimate outcome and theory, reading it still made me reflect on what it means to stand up for your beliefs.  

"Penitents"
Rich Larson, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Short Story
A black cube dances human survivors across a devastated and destroyed Earth. This is Sci-Fi Strange at it's best, almost a dark-mirror reverse of Clarke's 2001: A Space Odyssey.

"The Court Magician"
Sarah Pinsker, Lightspeed, Short Story
A young man learns the price of going from sleight of hand tricks to true magic. And the worst trick? That those in power never pay the same price. This story accomplishes more in 3000 words than many novel-length tales, and showcases how at its best fantasy can touch on deeper issues than much of what passes these days for "realistic" or "literary" mainstream fiction.

"Your Slaughterhouse, Your Killing Floor"
Sunny Moraine, Uncanny Magazine, Short Story
A young woman who is a living bomb represses her anger until she falls in love with another woman with explosive powers. The sparks literally fly in this story. And I love these lines: "She’s saying that fear is its own form of control and it’s immensely powerful. If you’re different—and they can tell, they can always tell—they’ll punish you for it."

"The Starship and the Temple Cat"
Yoon Ha Lee, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Short Story
The ghost of a temple cat and a sentient starship meet above the ruins of a dead city. A fun, witty story with lots of sensawunda. And SPACE CATS!

#JasonReadsShortStories for January 2018

One of my goals this year is to read and review a short story every day. And so far it's working out — 31 days in January, 31 short stories.

The 31 stories I read ranged in length from flash fiction to novellas. Below are the reviews for all 31 stories, arranged by author's name. Also listed are the publication and story classification.

I should note I read more than 31 stories this month. A number of stories didn't work for me for various reasons and I stopped reading them or, after finishing, decided not to write a  review. Why didn't I review these works? Because I prefer to promote the stories I like instead of hating on the stories which didn't work for me.

If you like my reviews, consider supporting my Patreon.

January 2018 reviews

"All the Time We've Left to Spend"
Alyssa Wong, Robots Vs Fairies, Short Story
A former idol in Japan visits robot versions of her former band, desperate to reconnect. A story about the damage life and fame brings to people, and their desperation to both touch who they once were and change the actions they took. A disturbingly painful yet always true story.

"The Blue Fairy's Manifesto"
Annalee Newitz, Robots Vs Fairies, Short Story
A robot retelling of Pinocchio, as a Blue Fairy drone frees a RealBoy robot enslaved in a toy factory. An excellent look at politics through a SF robotic lens and the differences between those who demand immediate revolution and those who see different ways to improve our world.

"Symphony to a City Under the Stars"
Armando Saldaña, Apex Magazine, Short Story
A word-twist joy of a story, where the far-future universe is so high-def it's a glory to behold even as it burns out your vision and mind.

"The Lighthouse Girl"
Bao Shu, translated by Andy Dudak, Clarkesworld, Novelette
A gripping story of cloning, obsession, deception, rebirth, and jellyfish.

"The Library is Open"
Beth Cato, Daily Science Fiction, Flash Fiction
It's the end of the world but the local library is still open and will always be. A flash fiction story about hope which will touch the heart of every library lover.

"Sea of Dreams"
Cixin Liy, translated by John Chu, Asimov's Science Fiction Jan/Feb 2018, Novelette
A hard science fiction classic with strong sensawunda, where powerful alien artist nearly destroys Earth to create the ultimate work of art. "Sea of Dreams" showcases why Cixin Liu is the greatest living hard science fiction author. Even readers who don't like hard SF might like this story — there's a page in the middle where the story digs deep with scientific detail, but keep going and you'll be rewarded.

"Ingredients"
Craig DeLancey, Spectacle Magazine, Short Story
A very moving story of a customer service AI trying to understand human emotions and life.

"The Donner Party"
Dale Bailey, F&SF Jan/Feb 2018, Novelette
Compelling alternate history of a Victorian England where the elite feast off the poor. Disturbing and chilling, and as much a story of today as of back then.

"The Ghoul Goes West"
Dale Bailey, Tor.com, Novelette
The brother of a dead screenwriter discovers a video of Ed Wood & Bela Lugosi's never-completed film. Haunting story about Hollywood destroying lives through delusion.

"Me, Waiting for Me, Hoping for Something More"
Dee Warrick, Shimmer, Short Story
The ghost of who you never were haunts your life while exploring an impossible basement under the basement. A deep, bone-chilling story.

"Ostentation of Peacocks" (A story in the world of the Shadow)
Delilah S. Dawson, Robots Vs Fairies, Short Story
A fun tale with Nettie Lonesome as she takes on four vigilante fairies out to hang a man in a magical wild west.

"Sour Milk Girls"
Erin Roberts, Clarkesworld, Short story
SF story about memory becoming just another commodity. Story has a gripping, visual voice, which makes the outcome all the more painful. I believe this story is one of those which will truly stick in my memory.

“The Solid Years of My Life"
Holly Collingwood, Flash Fiction Magazine, Flash Fiction
An eerie yet fun look at the downside to being frozen in suspended animation. This is SF flash fiction doing what it does best.

"Refugee; or, a Nine-Item Representative Inventory of a Better World"
Iona Sharma, Strange Horizons, Flash Fiction
When an old woman protects a refugee poet, they're both embraced by a poetic story of a better world.

"Three Robots Experience Objects Left Behind From the Human Era for the First Time"
John Scalzi, Robots Vs Fairies, Short Story
The perfect story to make you laugh on a sh*thole of a day. In story three robots try to understand why humans went extinct & if that ties in with humanity's weird fascination with balls, sandwiches, cats, & our assorted orifices. I laughed so hard at this story I forgot our species is the one facing potential extinction.

"The Substance of My Lives, the Accidents of Our Births"
José Pablo Iriarte, Lightspeed, Novelette
Gender becomes even more fluid when you reincarnate & the man who maybe murdered you in a previous life moves into your trailer park. A wonderful story — part slice of life, part mystery. I loved the narrator and embraced their struggles and dreams. A great read which so reaffirms the beauty of life. 

"The Rescue of the Renegat"
Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Asimov's Science Fiction Jan/Feb 2018, Novella
A fast-paced standalone novella set in Rusch's Diving universe, which has long been one of my favorite story series in Asimov's SF.

"Kite Dancer"
Laurie Tom, Galaxy's Edge Magazine Jan. 2018, Short Story
During World War I a Chinese kite dancer grudgingly serves on a German zeppelin, controlling the winds during an air raid on London. Interesting alternate history.

"With These Hands: An Account of Uncommon Labor"
LH Moore, FIYAH Literary Magazine Jan 2018, Short Story
A free black man helping build the White House learns of the changes two enslaved stonemasons will willingly undergo to escape bondage. A compelling look at history — all of history — and how those who do the work of building the world's monuments and mansions are often the first to be ignored by history.

"Aurelia"
Lisa Mason, F&SF Jan/Feb 2018, Short story
A philandering lawyer falls in love with a mysterious woman who never leaves her home. An enjoyable tale of sex, lies, and bloody butterflies. 

"A Head in a Box, or, Implications of Consciousness after Decapitation"
Lori Selke, Nightmare, Short Story
A famous actress lives on after decapitation in this humorously horrific look at female objectification.

"Bondye Bon"
Monique L. Desir, FIYAH Literary Magazine Jan 2018, Short Story
Alternate history where the slave revolt of 1811 near New Orleans succeeds after a vodun priestess raises an undead army. But her daughter is curious why she kept their former master alive. A well written, gripping story of revenge and truth and consequences. I also liked the story focusing on a sadly forgotten aspect of history, namely the largest slave revolt in USA history.

"A Night Out at a Nice Place"
Nick Mamatas, Apex Magazine, Short story
A sadistic god-like transhuman returns to reality for 1st date with a regular human. Delightfully funny SF mixing philosophy & borderline nonsense while dancing on infinity. 

"Benefactors of Silence"
Nin Harris, Beneath Ceaseless Skies, Short Story
Two survivors of a devastating war meet daily in a destroyed manor to share food and music. A tale about the barriers and pain which divide us all.

"An Incomplete Catalogue of Miraculous Births, or Secrets of the Uterus Abscondita"
Rebecca Campbell, Shimmer, Short Story
Beautifully disturbing story of unusual conceptions and the new worlds they create.

"An Equation of State"
Robert Reed, F&SF Jan/Feb 2018, Short story
An alien diplomat tires of space wars & comes to Earth to observe human wars. Love the creatures the diplomat turns into. Reed is a master of SF stories which span the eons.

"Mother Tongues"
S. Qiouyi Lu, Asimov's Science Fiction Jan/Feb 2018, Short Story
A touching SF tale of the importance of language to both our lives/sense of self, & what happens if this is commodified. A story to make you cry.

"Contingency Plans for the Apocalypse"
S.B. Divya, Uncanny Magazine, Short story
A fast-paced story with echoes of The Handmaid's Tale, showing what happens when violence replaces political debate.

"Bread and Milk and Salt"
Sarah Gailey, Robots Vs Fairies, Short Story
The most disturbing, nightmarish fairy story I've ever read. Brilliant. A story to haunt your dreams. Gailey perfectly captures fairy amorality, such as how they lead young kids to their deaths, or worse. But the story then cranks the fantasy dial to 11 when a geeky boy turns the tables, and flips it again in a chilling ending which shatters all power dynamics. Wow.

"Learning to See Dragons"
Sarah Monette, Uncanny Magazine, Flash Fiction
Beautifully written flash fiction about a young girl desperate to see dragons to overcome the grief in her life.

"Obscura"
Yoon Ha Lee, Strange Horizons, Short Story
A 14 year old searching for connections meets a man whose camera destroys them. This disturbing, powerful story burned its way into my mind.