Not Not If You Were the Last… February Stories!
I’m trying to read more short stories again this year, after being semi-retired from the Not If You Were The Last Short Story on Earth project for far too long.
My plan is to find at least 5 stories worth recommending each month, however many I have to read to get to that point! That’s doable, right? As long as we don’t mention January.
“The Heart is Eaten Last” by Kameron Hurley is a Nyx novella, set in the same world as Hurley’s Bel Dame Apocrypha series. It was released this month as a backer reward for Hurley’s Patreon campaign, and I seriously just read it in one afternoon. It was that good. (If you’re not a Patreon backer I don’t know how you can get hold of this but I’m sure someone will publish it, watch this space)
I’m in love with novellas as a format right now, and “The Heart is Eaten Last” is everything I want from a good one – a solid, character-rich story. I hadn’t thought before how much Nyx, in her war-torn city of assassins, magic and beetle technology, is a noir hero before this story, but she totally is – she’s a foul-mouthed Phillip Marlowe hunting the Maltese Falcon, only… she’s not. She’s Nyx, harsh and ruthless and completely fucked up but somehow managing to hold a team together long enough to solve the mystery and save her reputation while hanging on by her fingernails. Meet her terrible judgy sister! Wince at her awful life choices and the mean things she says to people! Cheer at her badassery! Everything I liked about the character and the world in God’s War comes across beautifully here – so much crunchy gender commentary in such a tight, fast-paced adventure. I want want want to read more novellas with Nyx and her team, because I think the format is perfect for Hurley’s cynical, violent prose, and I am far more invested in the characters than I really thought possible.
“The Sincerity Game,” by Brit Mandelo, Uncanny Magazine Issue 8.
A seriously hot story about sex, lies and werewolves, full of raw energy and lovely writing.
“Between the Dragons and their Wrath,” by Rachel Swirsky & An Owomoyela, Clarkesworld Issue 113.
A creepy wonderful exploration of dragons, their people, and the interactions between the two.
“Everybody Loves Charles,” by Bao Shu (translated from the Chinese by Ken Liu), Clarkesworld Issue 112.
Fascinating piece, an exploration of ideas to do with celebrity, privacy and the ownership of identity, through the eyes of two characters: Charles Mann, a successful American author and racing pilot, and Takumi Naoto, one of the millions of subscribers to Charles’ “livecast” who experience his privileged life via implant. There were elements that I stumbled over in this story – particularly the descriptions and characterisations of women which I found stereotyped and uncomfortable (and frankly the two men at the centre of the story were pretty damned unlikeable) – and the over-formal dialogue in many places which I suspect is a product of the author’s original language – but I was still gripped because of the interesting ideas and the length to which they were explored.
“Two’s Company,” by Joe Abercrombie, Tor.com
OMG this story. This is the first piece I’ve ever read by Abercrombie and I am so in love with it I can’t even tell you. Is all his grimdark stuff this funny and gross-out and awesome? Shev and Javre are a wonderful duo of swordswomen that hit all my buttons, reminding me of my love of the old Sword and Sorceress anthologies, and Xena, and Fritz Leiber, and, and, and…
Someone please tell me that these characters have a dozen trilogies to their name already. I am subscribed to the newsletter. I am on the Abercrombie train.
STORY OF THE MONTH:
“The Heart is Eaten Last” by a very narrow margin, because Shev and Javre have won a piece of my soul that I’m just never getting back.
HONORARY REPRINT MENTION:
Issue 8 of Uncanny also features one of my favourite Sarah Rees Brennan short stories from a few years ago, “The Spy Who Never Grew Up,” which is a gorgeous mashup of James Bond and Peter Pan mythology.
