Shorts and Sorcery Book Club discussion
September 2022
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Future Science Fiction Digest, issue 15 - Discussion
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Interestingly, every single story in this issue is translated. And Julia Meitov Hersey, who translated Vita Nostra by Marina and Sergey Dyachenko into English, has translated one of the stories here. Very cool.
Rescue Rangers by Henry Lion Oldie
Translated by Julia Meitov Hersey
This story was quite strange. It plays with perception of reality and has two different points of view, with conflicting ideas and knowledge of events. I think it was interesting as a concept, but in execution it felt a little flat. At times it felt more like a recitation of names and events, and there was not that much exploration of characters.
Reading the story was almost a stream of consciousness kind of experience, except I was not producing anything, the story was flitting into my mind.
Genre-wise I think this fits into sci-fi category quite neatly, but there are some fantastical elements in it as well.
Rescue Rangers by Henry Lion Oldie
Translated by Julia Meitov Hersey
This story was quite strange. It plays with perception of reality and has two different points of view, with conflicting ideas and knowledge of events. I think it was interesting as a concept, but in execution it felt a little flat. At times it felt more like a recitation of names and events, and there was not that much exploration of characters.
Reading the story was almost a stream of consciousness kind of experience, except I was not producing anything, the story was flitting into my mind.
Genre-wise I think this fits into sci-fi category quite neatly, but there are some fantastical elements in it as well.
Déjà Loop by Kostas Charitos
Translated by Dimitra Nikolaidou, Victor Pseftakis
I think, this story would actually make a pretty solid action movie. In tone it reminded me of Blade Runner, with a dash of Inception. I got a clear visual of neon lights, dark city scapes and rainy days, possibly the main character in a black hoodie and a cap. Carpenter Brut for the music perhaps.
It is a story of people who can predict the future, and work for an agency, which might or might not have the world's best interest at heart. I found the concept of it fascinating, and would read more stories set in this world.
Very simple, yet surprisingly effective, even if I don't really like gruff, self loathing, noir type main characters.
But there was a cat, so it gets points for that.
Translated by Dimitra Nikolaidou, Victor Pseftakis
I think, this story would actually make a pretty solid action movie. In tone it reminded me of Blade Runner, with a dash of Inception. I got a clear visual of neon lights, dark city scapes and rainy days, possibly the main character in a black hoodie and a cap. Carpenter Brut for the music perhaps.
It is a story of people who can predict the future, and work for an agency, which might or might not have the world's best interest at heart. I found the concept of it fascinating, and would read more stories set in this world.
Very simple, yet surprisingly effective, even if I don't really like gruff, self loathing, noir type main characters.
But there was a cat, so it gets points for that.
Reija wrote: "Rescue Rangers by Henry Lion Oldie."The idea of the story is that (view spoiler)
The authors are more known for their 90s fantasy novels, which like more popular right now re-tellings like Circe and Ariadne worked with Greek mythos, but not trying to make a feminist or any other interpretation. Instead, they played on contradictions within mythos to say that accession to divinity led to re-writing of the whole world. Like mentioned by you Dyachenko, they are from a group of Ukrainian SFF authors writing in Russian, who got famous in the 1990s - then Slavic fantasy just started and more than half of Russian fantasy books were written by Ukraine-based authors. This made their situation problematic after 2004 Orage revolution and more importantly after the 2014 Russian aggression - possibly afraid of losing their earnings as writers, neither Dyachenkos nor Oldies made their position on war clear, instead going with general phrases that peace is better than war. Therefore, they aren't very popular among the younger generation of Ukrainians. After Russia bombed Kharkiv where Oldie live in 2022 they finally started calling Russia the aggressor...
Oleksandr wrote: "Reija wrote: "Rescue Rangers by Henry Lion Oldie."
The idea of the story is that [spoilers removed]
The authors are more known for their 90s fantasy novels, which like more popular right now re-t..."
That is actually really interesting context. I did not know that about Dyachenkos either, but it makes sense, considering their livelihoods were so intrinsically linked with the Russian publishing market.
Also, having the context of this being a kind of anti-war and war-trauma story, makes me see it in a slightly different light. I am not sure I still liked it all that much, but I think having that context is important for understanding the themes.
Thank you. :)
The idea of the story is that [spoilers removed]
The authors are more known for their 90s fantasy novels, which like more popular right now re-t..."
That is actually really interesting context. I did not know that about Dyachenkos either, but it makes sense, considering their livelihoods were so intrinsically linked with the Russian publishing market.
Also, having the context of this being a kind of anti-war and war-trauma story, makes me see it in a slightly different light. I am not sure I still liked it all that much, but I think having that context is important for understanding the themes.
Thank you. :)
Reija wrote: "I am not sure I still liked it all that much, but I think having that context is important for understanding the themes.Thank you. "
You're welcome! I agree the story per se is nothing special - Oldie mostly works with longer forms, like novels. Sadly, there aren't a lot of places for young (and established) SFF authors to train their short story skills - there are no SFF magazines and while several groups try to promote short stories by making competitions for the best SFF story in a given genre, at the moment there is definitely an improvement during the last decade, but an average contribution is way closer to fanfic than even a magazine publication.
Oleksandr wrote: "Reija wrote: "I am not sure I still liked it all that much, but I think having that context is important for understanding the themes.
Thank you. "
You're welcome! I agree the story per se is noth..."
I am not necessarily of the mind that publishing stories inherently is needed to polish one's writing skills, but I do think that having less low threshold avenues to publish works, limits authors' abilities to network and get connected with publishers. Like it's easier to go pitch your work to an agent or publisher, if you have already had something published in a semiprozine or something similar.
Thank you. "
You're welcome! I agree the story per se is noth..."
I am not necessarily of the mind that publishing stories inherently is needed to polish one's writing skills, but I do think that having less low threshold avenues to publish works, limits authors' abilities to network and get connected with publishers. Like it's easier to go pitch your work to an agent or publisher, if you have already had something published in a semiprozine or something similar.
The Exclusion Zone by Volodymyr Arenev
Translated by Max Hrabrov
The sci-fi/fantasy elements in this story were very subtle and I liked that.
A mysterious separation, which not only has physically separated territories and people, but their entire language and capacity to understand and empathise with each other. People get sick visiting the other side, they lose the ability to understand each others' speech.
Visiting family left behind is like visiting ghosts, both figuratively and literally. And those who got caught in the crossfire of the Separation itself, can never be communicated with again.
This was very much an anti-war story, and specifically commenting on the devastating after effects of a war, even when peace, such as it is, has been negotiated.
I quite liked this story.
Translated by Max Hrabrov
The sci-fi/fantasy elements in this story were very subtle and I liked that.
A mysterious separation, which not only has physically separated territories and people, but their entire language and capacity to understand and empathise with each other. People get sick visiting the other side, they lose the ability to understand each others' speech.
Visiting family left behind is like visiting ghosts, both figuratively and literally. And those who got caught in the crossfire of the Separation itself, can never be communicated with again.
This was very much an anti-war story, and specifically commenting on the devastating after effects of a war, even when peace, such as it is, has been negotiated.
I quite liked this story.
The Immaculate Ivory Tower by Li Huayi
Translated by Nathan Faries
This was my favorite story of the issue.
The prose style was beautiful and the narrative seamlessly played around with hard science fiction concepts, philosophy and fantastic imagery.
The characterization might be a little lacking and one dimensional, but the characters themselves were more a vehicle to the plot, than the focus.
This was a creature feature, so the focus is squarely on the mystery of the wandering elephants. The whole time you are left wondering how these creatures work and what is their point. And I think the way they are imagined, is really interesting.
The ending is a gut punch, because it ties the fate of these creatures back to human history, and how we have dealt with new species and even other human populations on our planet.
Truly a spectacular read.
Translated by Nathan Faries
This was my favorite story of the issue.
The prose style was beautiful and the narrative seamlessly played around with hard science fiction concepts, philosophy and fantastic imagery.
The characterization might be a little lacking and one dimensional, but the characters themselves were more a vehicle to the plot, than the focus.
This was a creature feature, so the focus is squarely on the mystery of the wandering elephants. The whole time you are left wondering how these creatures work and what is their point. And I think the way they are imagined, is really interesting.
The ending is a gut punch, because it ties the fate of these creatures back to human history, and how we have dealt with new species and even other human populations on our planet.
Truly a spectacular read.
Shorts and Sorcery Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Circe (other topics)Ariadne (other topics)
In September we will be reading issue 15 of Future Science Fiction Digest.
You can read the full magazine for free over here: here
But if you are financially able, please consider also supporting the magazine by buying a digital copy.
Table of Contents:
Foreword by Alex Shvartsman
Rescue Rangers by Henry Lion Oldie
Déjà Loop by Kostas Charitos
The Exclusion Zone by Volodymyr Arenev
The Immaculate Ivory Tower by Li Huayi