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Detective Inspector Chen #0.2
Lightspeed Magazine, July 2015
LIGHTSPEED is an online science fiction and fantasy magazine. In its pages, you will find science fiction: from near-future, sociological soft SF, to far-future, star-spanning hard SF--and fantasy: from epic fantasy, sword-and-sorcery, and contemporary urban tales, to magical realism, science-fantasy, and folktales.
This month, w have original science fiction by Carrie Vaughn ("Crazy Rhythm") and Taiyo Fujii ("Violation of the TrueNet Security Act"), along with SF reprints by Tony Daniel ("Life on the Moon") and Mary Robinette Kowal ("The Consciousness Problem").
Plus, we have something a little different this month. We'll have fantasy reprints by Liz Williams ("Adventures in the Ghost Trade") and William Alexander ("Ana's Tag"), but instead of two original fantasy short stories, we have a single fantasy novelette by Andrea Hairston ("Saltwater Railroad"), which is about twice the length of a regular LIGHTSPEED story. So, although you are getting three stories instead of four this month, the novelette is the length of two full-length short stories, so you're still getting the same amount of fiction. We hope you enjoy this minor deviation from our usual offerings, and rest assured we will return to our regularly scheduled programming next month.
All that plus spotlights on our authors and cover artist, as well as a feature interview with Kelly Link, and the latest installment of our book review column. And for our ebook readers, we also have reprint of the novella "Dapple," by Eleanor Arnason, and a pair of novel excerpts, including a selection from Dark Orbit, by Carolyn Ives Gilman, and Wylding Hall, by Elizabeth Hand.
This month, w have original science fiction by Carrie Vaughn ("Crazy Rhythm") and Taiyo Fujii ("Violation of the TrueNet Security Act"), along with SF reprints by Tony Daniel ("Life on the Moon") and Mary Robinette Kowal ("The Consciousness Problem").
Plus, we have something a little different this month. We'll have fantasy reprints by Liz Williams ("Adventures in the Ghost Trade") and William Alexander ("Ana's Tag"), but instead of two original fantasy short stories, we have a single fantasy novelette by Andrea Hairston ("Saltwater Railroad"), which is about twice the length of a regular LIGHTSPEED story. So, although you are getting three stories instead of four this month, the novelette is the length of two full-length short stories, so you're still getting the same amount of fiction. We hope you enjoy this minor deviation from our usual offerings, and rest assured we will return to our regularly scheduled programming next month.
All that plus spotlights on our authors and cover artist, as well as a feature interview with Kelly Link, and the latest installment of our book review column. And for our ebook readers, we also have reprint of the novella "Dapple," by Eleanor Arnason, and a pair of novel excerpts, including a selection from Dark Orbit, by Carolyn Ives Gilman, and Wylding Hall, by Elizabeth Hand.
317 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 2008
2 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
About the author
John Joseph Adams
367 books985 followersJohn Joseph Adams is the series editor of BEST AMERICAN SCIENCE FICTION AND FANTASY. He is also the bestselling editor of many other anthologies, such as ROBOT UPRISINGS, DEAD MAN'S HAND, BRAVE NEW WORLDS,WASTELANDS, and THE LIVING DEAD. Recent and forthcoming books include WHAT THE #@&% IS THAT?, OPERATION ARCANA, PRESS START TO PLAY, LOOSED UPON THE WORLD, and THE APOCALYPSE TRIPTYCH (consisting of THE END IS NIGH, THE END IS NOW, and THE END HAS COME). Called “the reigning king of the anthology world” by Barnes & Noble, John is a two-time winner of the Hugo Award (for which he has been nominated nine times), is a seven-time World Fantasy Award finalist, and served as a judge for the 2015 National Book Award. John is also the editor and publisher of the digital magazines LIGHTSPEED and NIGHTMARE, and is a producer for Wired's THE GEEK'S GUIDE TO THE GALAXY podcast. You can find him online at www.johnjosephadams.com and on Twitter @JohnJosephAdams.
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Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews
August 2, 2015
My thoughts on the stories in this issue:
CRAZY RHYTHM by Carrie Vaughn. A Prohibition-era Hollywood dictatorial director makes like difficult for an Assistant Director and newly-hired Props guy: he wants his WW1 epic to include a fleet of real working tanks. The props guy has actual war experience that the Director denigrates. Vaughn’s first person narration (from the POV of the aggravated yet concerned AD) is spot on, really drawing the reader into the story. The characterization of the director is a trope, but Vaughn plays with that and runs with it, using the stereotypical director to draw out more nuanced characterizations for the assistant director and war vet. A neat piece of alternate history, as well.
LIFE ON THE MOON by Tony Daniel. Henry, a poet, marries Nell, a cutting-edge architect. They grow together and then apart as her art takes her to build a city on the Moon, a barren place earthy Henry just cannot bring himself to follow. The story is effectively interspersed with both Henry’s poems and Nell’s moon-city architectural treatise. Daniel’s prose is really evocative of the way, even without the SFnal elements, relationships spring up, settle in, and go to dust.
THE CONSCIOUSSNESS PROBLEM by Mary Robinette Kowal. Elise has problems with focus and time loss due to a subway accident. Her husband Myung is the head of a team that has successfully cloned a human and copied consciousness from original to clone. Kowal juggles several different storylines off of this premise: is Elise a clone herself (of someone who died)? Can Elise (clone or not) tell the difference between her actual husband and his clone? Where do/would clone rights begin and end, especially if the consciousness of the clone is the consciousness of the original (rather than the clone having its own personality and history)? Each question is addressed, and Elise’s confusion is the piece that holds it all together.
VIOLATION OF THE TRUENET SECURITY ACT by Taiyo Fujii (translated by Jim Hibbert). Years after an apparent programming glitch locked the world out of a possibly-sentient internet, Minima finds himself revisiting SocialPay, a bit of software he created pre-Lockout. He sees possibilities in the program, but how can he connect it to the strictly-controlled TrueNet, and can he trust his superior Chen to help? This is a great piece of corporate espionage fiction. I felt Minima’s elation and then paranoia as events unfold around him.
ADVENTURES IN THE GHOST TRADE by Liz Williams. Detective Chen polices the supernatural elements in Singapore3, and is not popular with the regular police because of it. In this story, he investigates the disappearance of a ghost named Pearl, who despite her family following the correct protocols does not end up in Heaven as expected. There is some really wonderful world-building in this story, combining science fiction elements (multiple large city complexes named after Singapore) with urban fantasy (supernatural detectives, ghosts, demons), and Chen’s world-weariness also really comes through in the narration.
SALTWATER RAILROAD by Andrea Hairston. In this novella, a shipwrecked woman (called Rainbow by her rescuers) washes up on a hidden island off the coast of the Carolinas. The island is full of runaway slaves, Indians and a few other downtrodden colonial-era folks. Miz Delia is the island’s spirit-seeing leader, but Rainbow’s unexpected arrival naturally foments unrest between those who feel the island society should stay hidden and those who feel it’s time to strike back against the mainland’s slave-owners. Hairston’s Delia is a compelling POV character and the politics of the hideaways are well-drawn.
ANA’S TAG by William Alexander. Ana clearly loves her older brother Rico, and when he acts strangely regarding graffiti that has appeared at the high school, she investigates what he’s hiding. She finds an entry to the Fairy Lands and discovers that friends aren’t always who they seem to be. The story is at once whimsical and dark, a really solid piece of YA short fiction.
DAPPLE by Eleanor Arnason. Full disclosure: I had no idea this story is part of a larger sequence until I read the Author Spotlight at the end of the issue. Dapple is the story of Ahl, a girl who yearns to be an actor in a society where women are not allowed to be. Her attempt to live as a male show her real life in the way the men’s plays she’s seen don’t. Dapple’s society is a matriarchal one in which same-sex relationships are the norm, and breeding is done by family contract (and where breeding out-of-contract is highly frowned on). Really great world-building, and kudos to Arnason for showing a female-led society that is just as fraught with violence and discrimination as any patriarchal society.
CRAZY RHYTHM by Carrie Vaughn. A Prohibition-era Hollywood dictatorial director makes like difficult for an Assistant Director and newly-hired Props guy: he wants his WW1 epic to include a fleet of real working tanks. The props guy has actual war experience that the Director denigrates. Vaughn’s first person narration (from the POV of the aggravated yet concerned AD) is spot on, really drawing the reader into the story. The characterization of the director is a trope, but Vaughn plays with that and runs with it, using the stereotypical director to draw out more nuanced characterizations for the assistant director and war vet. A neat piece of alternate history, as well.
LIFE ON THE MOON by Tony Daniel. Henry, a poet, marries Nell, a cutting-edge architect. They grow together and then apart as her art takes her to build a city on the Moon, a barren place earthy Henry just cannot bring himself to follow. The story is effectively interspersed with both Henry’s poems and Nell’s moon-city architectural treatise. Daniel’s prose is really evocative of the way, even without the SFnal elements, relationships spring up, settle in, and go to dust.
THE CONSCIOUSSNESS PROBLEM by Mary Robinette Kowal. Elise has problems with focus and time loss due to a subway accident. Her husband Myung is the head of a team that has successfully cloned a human and copied consciousness from original to clone. Kowal juggles several different storylines off of this premise: is Elise a clone herself (of someone who died)? Can Elise (clone or not) tell the difference between her actual husband and his clone? Where do/would clone rights begin and end, especially if the consciousness of the clone is the consciousness of the original (rather than the clone having its own personality and history)? Each question is addressed, and Elise’s confusion is the piece that holds it all together.
VIOLATION OF THE TRUENET SECURITY ACT by Taiyo Fujii (translated by Jim Hibbert). Years after an apparent programming glitch locked the world out of a possibly-sentient internet, Minima finds himself revisiting SocialPay, a bit of software he created pre-Lockout. He sees possibilities in the program, but how can he connect it to the strictly-controlled TrueNet, and can he trust his superior Chen to help? This is a great piece of corporate espionage fiction. I felt Minima’s elation and then paranoia as events unfold around him.
ADVENTURES IN THE GHOST TRADE by Liz Williams. Detective Chen polices the supernatural elements in Singapore3, and is not popular with the regular police because of it. In this story, he investigates the disappearance of a ghost named Pearl, who despite her family following the correct protocols does not end up in Heaven as expected. There is some really wonderful world-building in this story, combining science fiction elements (multiple large city complexes named after Singapore) with urban fantasy (supernatural detectives, ghosts, demons), and Chen’s world-weariness also really comes through in the narration.
SALTWATER RAILROAD by Andrea Hairston. In this novella, a shipwrecked woman (called Rainbow by her rescuers) washes up on a hidden island off the coast of the Carolinas. The island is full of runaway slaves, Indians and a few other downtrodden colonial-era folks. Miz Delia is the island’s spirit-seeing leader, but Rainbow’s unexpected arrival naturally foments unrest between those who feel the island society should stay hidden and those who feel it’s time to strike back against the mainland’s slave-owners. Hairston’s Delia is a compelling POV character and the politics of the hideaways are well-drawn.
ANA’S TAG by William Alexander. Ana clearly loves her older brother Rico, and when he acts strangely regarding graffiti that has appeared at the high school, she investigates what he’s hiding. She finds an entry to the Fairy Lands and discovers that friends aren’t always who they seem to be. The story is at once whimsical and dark, a really solid piece of YA short fiction.
DAPPLE by Eleanor Arnason. Full disclosure: I had no idea this story is part of a larger sequence until I read the Author Spotlight at the end of the issue. Dapple is the story of Ahl, a girl who yearns to be an actor in a society where women are not allowed to be. Her attempt to live as a male show her real life in the way the men’s plays she’s seen don’t. Dapple’s society is a matriarchal one in which same-sex relationships are the norm, and breeding is done by family contract (and where breeding out-of-contract is highly frowned on). Really great world-building, and kudos to Arnason for showing a female-led society that is just as fraught with violence and discrimination as any patriarchal society.
August 19, 2015
I very much enjoyed this issue. Though none of the stories completely spoke to my soul, I enjoyed reading the majority of the issue. And the bits that didn't work for me I'm sure spoke to others. My favourite pieces in the edition would be Tony Daniel's "Life on the Moon", Mary Robinette Kowal's "The Consciousness Problem" and Eleanor Arnason's "Dapple". So, for this edition, I was probably a bit biased towards the science fiction and the reprints.
Looking forward to the next edition!!
Not my Cup of Tea
"Violation of the TrueNet Security Act" by Taiyo Fuijii - I don't understand enough about computers, programming, security protocols to follow this story.
"Adventures in the Ghost Trade" by Liz Williams [reprint] - Bit too dark for me.
Fine, but didn't talk to me
"Saltwater Railroad" by Andrea Hairston - Some of this I enjoyed but it didn't quite come together for me.
Enjoyable
"Crazy Rhythm" by Carrie Vaughn
"Life on the Moon" by Tony Daniel [reprint]
"The Consciousness Problem" by Mary Robinette Kowal [reprint]
"Dapple" by Eleanor Arnason [reprint novella]
"Ana's Tag" by William Alexander [reprint]
Perfect for Me
Looking forward to the next edition!!
Not my Cup of Tea
"Violation of the TrueNet Security Act" by Taiyo Fuijii - I don't understand enough about computers, programming, security protocols to follow this story.
"Adventures in the Ghost Trade" by Liz Williams [reprint] - Bit too dark for me.
Fine, but didn't talk to me
"Saltwater Railroad" by Andrea Hairston - Some of this I enjoyed but it didn't quite come together for me.
Enjoyable
"Crazy Rhythm" by Carrie Vaughn
"Life on the Moon" by Tony Daniel [reprint]
"The Consciousness Problem" by Mary Robinette Kowal [reprint]
"Dapple" by Eleanor Arnason [reprint novella]
"Ana's Tag" by William Alexander [reprint]
Perfect for Me
August 16, 2015
Original SF:
"Crazy Rhythm" by Carrie Vaughn - nice little story taking place on the set of a silent Hollywood movie. There's some tanks involved!
"Violation of the TrueNet Security Act" by Taiyo Fuji - for some reason I kept envisioning the protagonist as a woman here. Anyway, another good story, this one set in a future where humanity was locked out of the original internet and had to recover from that loss. The main character finds one of his old programs still hanging on in the old web wilds.
Original fantasy:
"Saltwater Railroad" by Andrea Hairston - LOVED this novelette, set on an island off of Georgia and Florida, a haven for escaped slaves, Indians, and ex-pirates. (This is pre-Civil War, of course) Beautiful and magical.
"Crazy Rhythm" by Carrie Vaughn - nice little story taking place on the set of a silent Hollywood movie. There's some tanks involved!
"Violation of the TrueNet Security Act" by Taiyo Fuji - for some reason I kept envisioning the protagonist as a woman here. Anyway, another good story, this one set in a future where humanity was locked out of the original internet and had to recover from that loss. The main character finds one of his old programs still hanging on in the old web wilds.
Original fantasy:
"Saltwater Railroad" by Andrea Hairston - LOVED this novelette, set on an island off of Georgia and Florida, a haven for escaped slaves, Indians, and ex-pirates. (This is pre-Civil War, of course) Beautiful and magical.
August 8, 2015
It's after the war (Ben-Hur was out in 1959) and Margie Stewart, the director Granger’s assistant in filming 'Shattered Spring' (to star Ross as George, and Arlene as Annabell). It's a war movie her director says lacks heart, so he wants to turn it into a love story.
When Margie meets Peter Jeffries, recently hired by Mr Palmer, they don't expect the tank that Granger has gotten a hold of, or the request to build more, Peter wishes that Granger could have seen the war as it was instead of as just a silent film.
The resulting mechanical creation may make or break their careers.
When Margie meets Peter Jeffries, recently hired by Mr Palmer, they don't expect the tank that Granger has gotten a hold of, or the request to build more, Peter wishes that Granger could have seen the war as it was instead of as just a silent film.
The resulting mechanical creation may make or break their careers.
August 12, 2015
I have a bit of a soft spot for alternative depictions of Heaven and Hell, so I enjoyed this story a lot. Plus, it's always nice to see speculative fiction in less common (read: not Western European) settings (in this case Singapore).
Anyway, it was a well-written and engaging story. Rich worldbuilding in such a short piece. Nicely done.
Anyway, it was a well-written and engaging story. Rich worldbuilding in such a short piece. Nicely done.
Read
July 28, 2015Enjoyed Saltwater Railroad by Andrea Hairston
March 21, 2019
I really liked this story. I'd love to read more about Ana!
Displaying 1 - 7 of 7 reviews