Lightspeed #127, December 2020
“Your Mind is the Superfund Site” by Andrew Dana Hudson and C. Y. Ballard
“The Salt Warrior” by Kali Wallace
“Party Time!” by Ben H. Winters
“Ann-of-Rags” by P. H. Lee
Reviewed by Kevin P Hallett
There are four original short stories in Lightspeed’s 127th issue, plus another four previously published stories.
“Your Mind is the Superfund Site” by Andrew Dana Hudson & C. Y. Ballard
Hypnocath Tracey helps settle people’s troubled dreams in this quirky, future-based short SF story. Called into Boston, he enters a dream state with a local hypnopomp who says the people show increased insomnia and anxiety.
Tracey drops into a dream state to flush out the cause. He has several interludes with old discarded advertising icons like the Geico lizard and Flo, the insurance lady. Then Tracey hears about the all-powerful King of Brands. After many more encounters, Tracey closes in on the elusive King of Brands. Appropriately, he finds the King sitting under a giant Christmas Tree.
This was a whimsical story that wandered around in circles until it came to a rapid conclusion with the moral that people don’t like people messing with their icons.
“The Salt Warrior” by Kali Wallace
Inhuman raiders ransack Angela’s village in this SF short. Everyone is either killed or enslaved. Everyone except Angela, who hides in her prison cell, and the village saint who survives his fall off the cliff as he runs from the raiders.
Angela wheelbarrows the saint back to her hiding place. He was supposed to protect the village, but he ran away instead. She hates him. And his insistence that she is a demon doesn’t help too much. Angela waits. Legends say the Scavengers follow the raiders and will eat the bodies. And she wants to defend her village one last time.
This easy to read character-centric story lacked originality in its plot.
“Party Time!” by Ben H. Winters
In this short SF set in an Orwellian future, ditzy Janet has an overbearing boss who wants her to snitch on her fellow workers. The government includes many checks and balances. However, all seem to be purposed toward stopping any dissent or independent thought.
One day, Janet overhears coworkers discussing the removal of her boss. Unsure what to do, she puts the incident to the back of her mind. Until that is, they confront her about denouncing them. They threaten to condemn her first. She doesn’t believe them, but then the next day, she sees the secret police swarming over the office.
The story had an energetic pace and a humorous style. And though it portrayed an all-too-common future dystopia, it had a surprising ending.
“Ann-of-Rags” by P. H. Lee
A little girl becomes lost in a forest in this short fantasy. Ann-of-Rags, her doll, is her only company as the sun sets and the dark forest takes on an ominous presence.
As the girl cries in fear, her doll tries to find a forest creature to guide her out. But the girl eschews the doll’s advice to follow the owl or the wolf. And when Ann warns her not to follow the wicked witch, the little girl ignores this advice too.
Told as a story within a story, the plot was repetitive and predictable.