'Nathan Burgoine's Blog, page 51

Short Stories 366:90 — “This Will Not Happen To You,” by Melissa Lingen

[image error]This very short piece packs one heck of a punch. It’s a single character voice, speaking out to the reader (as “you”), and there’s a kind of low-level fury throughout that I frankly loved. Basically, this is one person explaining what happened to them, but it’s framed throughout as a “but don’t worry, it could never happen to you” tone that… well, like I said, a kind of low-level fury.

It’s a very short piece, so I’m not sure there’s a lot I can say about it beyond how much I enjoyed it, but like most of the stories in Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction, the sheer weight of the voice is flipping brilliant. That it feels so damn rare is, of course, an ongoing frustration, but as the voice tells everything they’ve withstood, and how every promised success came with odds we ascribe to always mean people other than us, the end result had me feeling that same, low-level fury and nodding along to myself.

“This Will Not Happen To You,” echoes. It’s science fiction rooted so firmly in a today, little touches like “being a good citizen” and how there’s “researched based off people like me.” It does the thing science fiction does so well: holds up a mirror to our contemporary world before breaking it in some important way.

Short Stories 366:89 — “There Will Be One Vacant Chair,” by Sarah Pinsker

[image error]I waffled a bit over this story, and I’m still not 100% sure this story and I will see eye-to-eye, but it was incredibly well written, and once again, the setting is nearly a character in and of itself. This particular story in Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History takes place in Ohio in 1862, during the Civil War, and is centred on Hungarian Jewish families affected by the able-bodied men being taken off to war.

That’s a key component, and also where I waffled a bit. The POV of the tale is from the sister of a pair of brothers, one of whom (not a particularly nice man) is Levi: fit and sent off to war, the other, Julius: disabled, with weak, uneven legs and an inability to pass the basic physical requirements of soldiering. The story is centrally about Julius, and his frustration of not being able to go to war, but also of him finding a key concept in religious texts that make him believe there’s a way he could become ‘a righteous person’ and less ‘useless’ and he hopes to become pure enough to invoke a kind of possession from a spirit capable of using his body to be something better. It’s… a lot. And from the sister’s point of view, it read a little off to me at times.

The ultimate resolution was the flip-side to my waffling at first, then wobbled a bit again thanks to the POV. The speculative element here does come into play along the same notions that Julius describes: that a righteous soul can, indeed, inhabit another body, just not in the way he envisioned. And while it speaks well about him, it still kinda/sorta felt like a “magical cure.” Compounded with the whole of events leaving the sister inspired to learn and do better, ultimately I left “There Will Be One Vacant Chair” quite uncertain.

Short Stories 366:88 — “Tinaca Jones,” by Matt Boren

[image error]Sometimes when I listen to audiobooks it’s all about the plot. Othertimes, it’s all about the performer, and this one was all about the performer. Retta performs the titular character in this Audible Original, Tinaca Jones, and holy flying crap did she sell it. The narrative set-up is pretty simple: Tinaca Jones has a plan. She’s got two degrees, in business and performance, and she’s laying the groundwork and storing up her dollars to get eventually launch herself as a name with multi-pronged lines of products, including gardening and lifestyle products, and then, one day in the check-out aisle where she works the cash, a woman comments on how uncommon her name is.

Tinaca doesn’t know it yet, but she just met Kelly Smith, but when next she glimpsesKelly Smith, it’s on the cover of a magazine with a “wardrobe malfunction” that’s catapulting Kelly Smith to instant influencer fame… under the name Tinaca Parker Jones. What follows—all told through a deposition Tinaca is giving to a man—is in parts fun, over-the-top, amusing, and head-tilt inducing, a kind of satire and snark mix that Retta delivers without breaking character for even a moment. 

When I say the performance is the reason to love this piece, I say that with the slight warning about a deus ex machina ending, and a plot built on a lot of sudden reveals and twists that fly right out of soap opera or sitcom territory (which I suppose shouldn’t be super-surprising, given author Matt Boren’s history). As far as Audible Originals go, this was a good time.

Short Stories 366:87 — “Survivor’s Guilt,” by Greg Herren

[image error]If you’ve heard me say it once, you’ve likely heard me say it a few dozen times, but in the hands of Greg Herren, New Orleans is often in and of itself a character, rather than a setting. I once heard him say that so much of what he writes could only happen in New Orleans—and it’s hard point to argue with the likes of the Scotty novels, that’s for sure.

This short story, which launches Survivor’s Guilt and Other Stories: Tales of Mystery and Suspense, is no different: it opens with a man on the roof of his home in the ninth ward, after Katrina has passed, and he is clinging to life and hoping for rescue. Baking in the sun, barely holding it together, we get his fractured (and fraying) view of what happened leading up to leaving him here, hoping rescue might come before he finally runs out of what little supplies he has left. It’s a twisting, shudder-worthy story, as this man’s nature is revealed in tiny glimpses (almost despite himself).

On the roof, with only a few bottles of alcohol left (and no food), he suffers exposure in the heat and sun, the ensuing pain shaking him in and out of the narrative of what led to his decision to stay with Katrina bearing down on the city, and the costs of that decision, which are far more than revealed at first glance. Ultimately, there’s a resolution to his predicament, and it’s the reader left to shudder in this dark little opener for the collection.

 

Short Stories 366:86 — “Perfidity at the Felidae Isles,” by A.J. Fitzwater

[image error]Ever since I first bumped into the character of Cinrak the Dapper (which was in Scourge of the Seas of Time (and Space)), I needed more of the capybara pirate joy energy in my life. Luckily, A.J. Fitzwater is there for me, and can be there for you, too. The Voyages of Cinrak the Dapper is a collection of tales about the anthropomorphized capybara in question, and we last saw Cinrak as she began her pirate career.

In “Perfidity at the Felidae Isles” we advance some years, and now Cinrak is the leader of an organization (but not overtly) as well as a pirate captain, and she and her opera performer lover are about to attend a high-stakes diplomatic meeting between the local major powers, including the Felidae (and, since they’re cat-folk, you can imagine how their history has gone with the other rodent-like-folk, so this is a big deal that they’re coming to the table for talks). Alas, right before the talks are to begin, Cinrak is woken up by a phoenix friend who delivers a prophecy—there’s murder coming!—and then collapses into ash.

She’s a phoenix, so she’ll be fine, but in the meanwhile, Cinrak has a murder to try and stop, major talks to try and bring to a positive conclusion, and a sense in the salt-magic she possesses that something is very, very wrong. The characterization in this story is so wonderfully done and often lovingly humorous (the phoenix keeps immolating because she’s menopausal and the heat flashes are setting her off), and the mystery of the upcoming murder itself has enough twists born from the world-building to be satisfying. Also, while we get to meet a few new characters, and check in with some we’ve already met, things are always advancing in Cinrak’s world, so the tails (sorry, tales) move ever onward.

And, as a bonus, once again I’ve got A.J. dropping by to explain where this particular tale was born…

From the author:

[image error]

What is a rodent’s biggest predator? Cats! I wanted to ask the question “What would a rodent world be like if they made friends with felines?” All sorts of questions sprung from that: What was their history like? How did they get to a place of making such a treaty? Who would be against a rodent-cat utopia? And what would the struggle to change one’s instincts look like?

Yeah, this is a metaphor for wondering if the patriarchy can pull their socks up.

Cats are so Extra. I had fun writing Rozo all mascara side eye and cool tail flick. Rozo is definitely Felidae’s Next Top Drag Superstar. 

Muriel is a character I’ve had on my mind for a very long time. A menopausal phoenix – the comedy writes itself. Also a good excuse to bring in (another) female character of wisdom and years. All my femme characters are experts in their chosen fields, even if they use that expertise against others (looking at you, Helet).

Find The Voyages of Cinrak the Dapper at Queen of Swords Press, or Books2Read.

Find A.J. Fitzwater on Twitter, or at pickledthink.blogspot.com.

Short Stories 366:85 — “Necessary Elvis,” by Jerry L. Wheeler

[image error]A few years ago, I had the good fortune to nab a copy of Strawberries and Other Erotic Fruits. It’s no secret I adore Jerry L. Wheeler, who is both my editor and who has an ability to come up with the most unique themes for his erotica anthologies—be it trains, the circus, or diners—and presents the reader with collections that manage to spin those themes into an amazing whole. If Strawberries has a theme, it’s a propensity to take the reader aback. The uniqueness of the stories that give the collection as a whole its strength, and it’s a rare short story collection that wanders through this many ideas and still holds the reader’s attention so completely. From the first story, “Strawberries,” you become aware that Wheeler has the ability to walk the reader down a teasing path and then deliver a reveal full of dark shivers. I’ll certainly not look the same way at a farm’s landscape again.

Recently, Jerry did a revised edition and a re-release. This meant that (a) the cover is now an Inkspiral Design and thus gorgeous as always, and (b) the credit can be clear that this was a Lammy Finalist for Gay Erotica. Also? The revised collection boasts four new tales, and so I thought I’d take a wee stroll through the foursome, and since we’re all trapped indoors for the most part, Jerry was kind enough to do a quick back-and-forth with me about the new tales.

NB: Okay, “Necessary Elvis. I’m pretty sure I remember how this title happened. This was sort of my fault, right?

JLW: Yes. You had a story in another anthology called “Necessary Evils,” which I misread as “Necessary Elvis.”

NB: And I joked that if anyone could write that, it would be you. You’re the person I think of first when it’s music-themed prose.

JLW: You said I had to write a story with that title.

NB: I’m sure I was polite about it. I mean, I’m Canadian.

JLW: Uh-huh. This was the result. Elvis is alive and old, rescued from a nursing home by a CNA who believes in his vision of a church rising from the river—a church that will take him home to Glory. If only they can avoid the cops long enough to get there.

The result, by the way, is great. A darkish tale, the world-building is fantastic, and there’s a sense of in media res I really admire to the whole. And as someone who never, ever has a title before I write a story, I can’t imagine what it’s like to start with a title and then come up with something this grand.

You can find Jerry online via Twitter, his ongoing brilliant review blog Out in Print: Queer Book Reviews, and if you’re in need of a fantastic editor, definitely hit him up over at Write & Shine.

 

Short Stories 366:84 — “Awaken,” by Anne Shade

[image error]The middle novella of three in Femme Tales (a trio of retellings of fairy tales through a Black queer women-loving-women contemporary lens), “Awaken” brings forth its ‘Sleeping Beauty’ charm with a softer, and even slightly magical trace than “Beast” did with ‘Beauty and the Beast,’ but that’s neither a bad thing nor a complaint about either of the tales. If anything, after Ebony and Belinda butting heads throughout “Beast,” the shift in tone to something gentler (but no less romantic) was welcome and sweet.

Chayse Carmichael, who appeared in “Beast” as one of Ebony’s friends (and a local celebrity chef) steps up to find herself considering taking a chance with a repeat customer. It’s a line she’s never crossed before, but Serena Frasier is tempting in more ways than one: seeing her, and having a brief chat or two with her leaves Chayse realizing that success in her career is a great thing, but she’s starting to feel lonely. Serena, who in an evening of homesickness came to enjoy Chayse’s soul food and asked for a pie to ship home to her grandmother, is just the kind of woman Chayse can imagine spending more time with—and then Serena doesn’t show on her usual night.

I’ve previously struggled with Sleeping Beauty in that the prince character so often knows zilch about the beauty character (and it all ends up being creepy), but Anne Shade plants just enough seeds between the two women to make it clear they were on track already, just interrupted by Serena’s injury and resultant coma. The tie-in with Serena’s family (her grandmother especially) was another nice counterpoint, a building sense of community and family that echoes the more metaphysical journey Serena takes. I ended “Awaken” with a genuine smile, utterly charmed.

Also! As I mentioned last week, I was lucky enough to have been able to touch base with Anne Shade about the stories, so here’s some behind-the-scenes for “Awaken.”

From the Author:

In choosing “Sleeping Beauty” for the premise of “Awaken” I gave myself an unexpected challenge. In the story of “Sleeping Beauty,” Beauty and the prince never truly meet so the reader is supposed to believe these two strangers fall in love instantly with just a kiss, true love’s kiss at that. How do you have true love if you never met? Even with the fact that “Awaken” is based on a fairy tale, I still wanted it to be a tad bit believable that’s why I had Chayse and Serena meet briefly and have that love at first sight moment before the fairy tale premise took over. Then, since many in the medical field believe that talking to a comatose patient could help them recover faster, I thought that would be the perfect way for Chayse to reach Serena. To be the one that kept her connected to the light of life. Her heart was already connected to Chayse, I had to get her head there as well.

You can find Anne on Facebook and Twitter, and you can find Femme Tales at the Bold Strokes Books Webstore or wherever quality queer books are sold!

Short Stories 366:83 — “Disconnect,” by Fran Wilde

[image error]Oh wow, this story. First, I need to mention that I had multiple visceral reactions to this story, which involves a woman with a disability that involves her bones randomly teleporting out of her body and existing elsewhere (like, in orbit of Mars elsewhere), who uses a particularly modified Faraday cage and a process she calls “singing” to bring them back. The descriptions of these bones exiting her body (her jaw, at one point, her knee another) had me reeling from the page, despite the lack of gruesome detail. My mind just sort of filled in the shudder-inducing stuff, and I had to keep putting the story down. That is by no means a complaint nor a criticism, but it meant this was the story I took the longest to get through in Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction.

Izze is a scientist, and both she and her friend, Severin, are in cages both literal and figurative thanks to their disabilities: Severin, who seems to age forward and backward depending on stressors, and Izze with her teleporting bones. Izze fights for her independence, to get enough cash to avoid having to sign up for studies, and teaches while she works as much as possible to figure out solutions for herself (and Severin). It’s all familiar, despite the fantastical concepts of their illnesses, and Izze’s frustrations and pains are so clear and blunt. (And the elevators are always goddamn broken.)

The journey in this tale isn’t so much toward freedoms as it is toward solutions, and that difference is something I’ve noticed over and over in these stories—not cures, but rather accommodations or freedoms or accessibilities. And while I can’t get the image of Izze’s bones flinching their way out of her body, the story itself would have sat with me a long while thereafter regardless.

Short Stories 366:82 — “Knotting Grass, Holding Ring,” by Ken Liu

[image error]If there’s one recurring facet in Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History that I struggled with as a reader, it was how often the stories are set during (the seemingly endless) slaughter of one people by another. This time, we’re in Yangzhou, Jiangsu Province, China, in 1645, and the Manchus are about to invade a city, and those within are doomed to a person, more or less.

Liu tells the story through the lens of a servant girl at a Teahouse, Sparrow, who both idolizes and is frustrated by Green Siskin, a beautiful woman who handles men as easily as she handles an eloquent turn of phrase (often using the latter to achieve the former) and yet who seems to run hot-and-cold with Sparrow. Casual kindnesses are often followed by quick cruelty, and as such Green Siskin is a cipher. Then the gates open, most are killed, and Sparrow and Green Siskin find a way to survive the initial slaughter together.

What follows is a story of slow revelations, the battle between appearance and reality, confidence and fear, and fighting for every single moment knowing the end will likely only be pushed another step further away. Green Siskin and Sparrow are two very different women on the surface, but there’s more going on than the surface, and the end result—and the dash of speculative to the story—is as elegant as Green Siskin deserves. This was, despite the blood and fear and horror of the reality of the history, a beautiful piece, and the asides in the end about the way history is “remembered” were a wonderful touch.

Short Stories 366:81 — “Cloud Dragon Skies,” by N.K. Jemisin

[image error]Walking the line between science fiction and something near-mystical, this latest story from How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? is a beautiful example of world-building (and, I guess, off-world-building, too).

It’s set after a mass exodus. Humanity has mostly left Earth (after basically ruining the place) and moved to the asteroid belt to a ring habitat. Those who remained on Earth had a cultural shift: they would live simply, in balance, not taking more than they needed and not demanding more of the Earth than she could give, and though they might not live as long as those in the ring, they would do so on Earth, and they would do so with the pride of knowing they were guarding the Earth from future ruin, which also means protecting Earth as-is, which includes the new, red sky and the dragons (clouds) that seem to live there.

When “sky-people” return to her village, Nahatu strikes up a friendship with one of the young scientists, and they grow to know each other while they examine the sky and try to track down the reason for the change from blue to red. Nahatu is a woman who would be a great warrior were she a man, but is instead left in the strange position of being unmarried due to her penchant for strength, and as such cares for her father alone.

The twist comes at the end of this tale, and the nudging across from science fiction into something a bit more fantastical is done deftly and without ever losing verisimilitude, something Jemisin is freaking amazing at doing. Nahatu is left with a choice between duty and freedom (and love), and it plays out perfectly.

It’s a great story all around.