June was full of excellent speculative fiction. Every month is. Here are 9 stunning stories I read this past month.
You can also check out my monthly roundup for B&N SciFi & Fantasy Blog:
A Brief and Fearful Star, by Carmen Maria Machado in Slate
This brand new story by Machado, is mysterious and unsettling and cuttingly
beautiful. A girl and her mother live their hard-scrabble lives in a future
that might be taking place in our world or an alternate one very much like it.
At night, the girl is haunted by visions of strange beasts; death and danger
lurk everywhere; and the past – pain and memories – seems etched into the
girl’s bones and blood. Superb from start to finish.
The
Hurrah (aka Corpse Scene), by Orrin Grey in The Dark
A (literally) haunting story about a woman who has spent years trying to
find a complete copy of the movie her mother made . It’s a horror movie that
has achieved a devoted cult following, even though few people have ever even
seen the whole movie. Grey expertly brings out every ounce of suspense and
creeping horror here, allowing us brief glimpses of the movie and its setting.
By the time the whole movie is played in the story, I was at the edge of my
seat. An excellent ghost story about digging into the past, and finding more
than you bargained for.
Ice
Monarch, by Michèle Laframboise in Abyss & Apex
A gripping and harrowing tale of a future Earth where climate change has
completely changed the planet, and where both nature and human society are
changing or being destroyed. Laframboise’s tale is rich in vivid, evocative
details – fake ice was once used to save the Arctic, yet it had unintended
consequences, there are genetically altered humans, and the rich are avoiding
the catastrophe by isolating themselves. As the strange, winged protagonist of
the story flies across the changed landscape, there’s a feeling of both devastation
and possible hope for the future. Excellent science fiction.
Quietly
Gigantic, by K.C. Mead-Brewer in Strange Horizons
“I don’t just love being alone. I am Alone. I’m the thing
witnessing every empty room. Hearing all the trees fall. The lone survivor of
every monster apocalypse.” This is an exceptional, deceptively quiet,
thoroughly strange and totally excellent story. A young woman is house-sitting
and pet-sitting for a friend, when strange things start occurring. Mead-Brewer
includes musings on the life-cycle of cockroaches, looming childhood memories,
and musings on the zombie apocalypse in this ravishing slow-burn of a story. A
must-read.
Home Away From Home, by Fred Coppersmith in Syntax
& Salt
If you’re looking for great opening lines, this is a pretty darn good
example: “Jack carries around an empty room for almost a week before he has
the nerve to do more than just peek inside.” What follows is a quietly
funny, wistful story of love and regret, a strange room that shouldn’t really
be in that Winnebago, and (maybe) second chances. Coppersmith perfectly
captures the bewildered sense of loss you can feel when you’ve lost someone, or
something, that meant the world to you. Luminous flash.
Three Dandelion Stars, by Jordan Kurella in Beneath
Ceaseless Skies
A profoundly moving story by Jordan Kurella, about love, about friendship,
about trying to change for others and letting others change us, and also about
the danger of expecting others to be (or become) something they do not want to
be. Shai is in love with Amarine, the daughter of the local Lord, and to get
her heart’s desire, Shai makes a deal with a swamp fairy. What follows is a
beautifully crafted tale of both love and hardship, despair and hope. Lovely
and piercing.
Mother Time, Father Death, by Clayton Snyder in Helios
Quarterly
Blending dark fantasy, myth and fairy-tale, this is an evocative story
about an old woman on her death-bed, thinking back on her life, knowing she has
a debt to pay because of what she once did to bring her husband back to life.
As she lies dying, something is waiting for her. I love how this story weaves
together the real world and the world of magic and gods, and how Snyder twists
the fabric tale to give you a surprise at the end.
The Strawberry Queen of Irapuato, by Sarah Beaudette
in Flash Fiction Online
A group of girls are shut away from the rest of the world, each of them
suffering from strange symptoms and afflictions caused by toxins and chemicals
used by agricultural companies, but also wielding a strange powers. Beaudette
beautifully captures the companionship between the girls, and their longing to
be free. Gorgeous flash fiction story.
The
Steam-Powered Princess, by Aimee Ogden in Augur Magazine 1.2
This wonderful steam-powered fairy-tale by Aimee Ogden in the new, Canadian
speculative fiction zine Augur is a dark delight. Ogden brings
together many familiar fairy-tale elements (a princess, knights sent on quests,
a rescue) but spins them all into something shiny and unique. The end result is
a story about destiny and finding your own happiness, about strength and
bravery, and it’s also a story where nothing really works out the way you might
think it would.
(Originally published at mariahaskins.com)
