Short Fiction Sunday |02.07.2016

I decided to launch a new segment on my blog called Short Fiction Sunday where I am going to wrap up all the short fiction I read recently, it can be a review of a whole issue of a SF magazine (like today) or just some random short fiction that I managed to read. I hope that you’ll enjoy it! 😀

Clarkesworld issue 11 – December 2015

Yuanyuan’s Bubbles— by Liu Cixin, translated by Carmen Yiling Yan ★★★★

I never read anything by Liu Cixin before even if I am intrigued by Three-Body Problem. This short story was first published in Chinese in 2004 but I am glad for the translation. The concept was very cool and the writing style was very good (even if one or two sentences were a little odd, I think this is mostly due to the translation).

It’s a story about a girl who loves bubbles. It may sounds weird but it was a lovely story, I would really recommend this one.

Union — by Tamsyn Muir ★★ 1/2

This story is freaking weird . It’s about farmers who are sent wifes by the government. Except that they are made of lichen. And that they are creepy as hell.

The concept was interesting, however the writing style didn’t work that well for me and I didn’t care for the twist at the end.

When We Die on Mars — by Cassandra Khaw ★★★

This story follows a crew of twelve people sent on a one-way mission to Mars to terraform it. The writing style was beautiful and the ideas were interesting enough however, the plot was pretty much non-existent and I have to say that some things were solved a tad too easily. Overall an interesting story but nothing amazing.

Morrigan in Shadow — by Seth Dickinson ★★★ 1/2

 I have to say that I was expecting to love this one (The Traitor Baru Cormorant being my favorite book of last year) but I was a tad underwhelmed by it. It has some interesting ideas but it was also very confusing.

It is a military science fiction story following a woman whose decisions could save her people, or destroy them. (Sounds familiar? If you have read his debut-novel, you’ll find similarities pretty). I read only another short fiction by Dickinson some month ago and I reallyliked so I would recommend it a lot more, it’s called Please Undo This Hurt, it is quite depressing but very well done.

Technarion — by Sean McMullen ★★★★ 1/2

This story was great, definitely one my favorite of the issue, it was very intriguing reflexions on computers and artificial intelligence, it was well paced and well written. Highly recommended.

Daddy’s World — by Walter Jon Williams ★★★★ 1/2

Another favorite of the issue, it’s a reprint and it won the Nebula award in 2001 and I can definitely see why. I can’t really say what it’s about because I could easily spoil it but it was another very moving reflexion on AI and what make us humans but with an Alice in Wonderland feel to it. It’s one of those short stories where the title means so much more after you finish reading it.

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So it was the first time that I read a whole SF magazine’s issue but it was a great experience! You can read (or listen to) all the stories mentionned on the Clarkesworld website for free. I have to say that I decided to try this particular issue because of the stories by Seth Dickinson and Liu Cixin but, even if they were not my favorites, at least I discovered other authors 🙂

Do you read short fiction? If so, what are some of your favorites short stories/novelettes/novellas? Do you have a subscription to a SF magazine?

I would love to know! 😀