[On May 10, 2021 Strange Horizons officially expressed its political support for Palestinian solidarity. The views of Tangent Online reviewers are not necessarily those of Strange Horizons. Fiction critiqued at Tangent Online is, as much as is humanly possible, without prejudice and based solely on artistic merit.]
Strange Horizons, January 3, 10, 17, 2022
“Broken Blue” by E. M. Faulds (January 3)
“Palm Chess” by Gabrielle Lucille Fuentes (January 10)
“Gentle Dragon Fires” by T. K. Rex (January 17)
Reviewed by Seraph
“Broken Blue” by E. M. Faulds
At first, this piece was hard to really comprehend, which is strange given how straightforward it appears to be on the surface. The characters are clear: Katie is a divorced, middle-aged woman with a dog named Herby. Rowan is an older woman who appears as if from the woods themselves, and almost without realizing it Katie finds herself with an industrious and caring roommate. The narrative basically consists of how much Katie’s life is awful in the wake of her divorce, and how alone and shut out she feels by her ex and especially her daughters. Rowan and the dog are the last things she really has left, but she comes to find joy in their presence, specifically Rowan’s. Seems perfectly straightforward, a love story that blooms out of broken hearts and homes. And yet, Rowan isn’t at all what she seems. You get the distinct impression she’s around far more for the dog than for Katie, and ultimately this proves to be true. There are subtle yet strong fantasy elements here, but if you aren’t familiar with some of the more detailed nuances of the Fae, (or perhaps moreso the Dryads if I’m on point here), you’re mostly left confused as to why it ends the way it does. Which, while I’m on the topic, is utterly depressing on the face of it. There’s a point to this story, and after reading through it several times, I think I’m grasping at it, but it certainly isn’t a casual read. Whether that kind of subtlety and depth is a masterstroke or just unnecessarily understated, I can’t say.
“Palm Chess” by Gabrielle Lucille Fuentes
What could have been a powerful story about self-sufficiency and/ or empowerment fails to resolve into either. What is being represented is not terribly hard to grasp: the primary voice is a filmmaker, desperate to put her past and a man named Claude behind her. We’ve no name for the narrator, just that it is a woman, and are left to try and piece together exactly how all this came to be, or even why. The setting is Cuba in the modern day, specifically around Havana, and it’s somewhat clear that the narrator is returning home to her long-lost roots, but the purpose of doing so is left quite vague. There are some slight fantasy elements, in that she is seeking out ancient rituals and the women who practice them. The writing shifts back and forth between exposition, internal monologue and an abbreviated movie script without any sense of chronology or rhythm. The relationship between her and her ex-husband is portrayed as being toxic and restrictive, and much effort is put into this rambling narrative of how she is going to make this film all on her own, Claude be damned. Yet little is given to help the reader beyond her codependent obsession with Claude. We are supposed to understand that he is this ominous figure who has haunted and oppressed her and others, whom she clearly despises, yet refuses to let go of. Her obsession is more powerful than anything else in this story: it is like watching a train wreck in slow motion. In the form of diary entries, we are given this incredibly (and occasionally beautifully) descriptive yet mostly empty account that ends with what should be powerful words: “When you meet me, you will break on me.” Instead, the words are as adrift and without direction or foundation as the character who utters them.
“Gentle Dragon Fires” by T. K. Rex
Mythology, to some, is just another variety of fantasy, and maybe inversely fantasy derives much from mythology, but mythology is often what was once believed quite sincerely. Time alone seems to draw the line between belief and myth, but when mythology, especially tribal myth, is united with fantasy elements… the results are beautiful and have a quality to them that is akin to kindling a new spark into a dying flame. Here, Let is the descendant of an ancient people, living in the City of Birds, and has come to brave the scars of her past. No real time frame is clear, and the world seems to blend elements of the modern and the fantastical, but it is clearly told that this is not the first life she has lived, nor the first time she has known her dragon. Her lineage can call forth the spirits of dragons from their eggs, and rebirth them into the world. These dragons are a function of the cycle of life, burning away the tangled and broken, preserving the living and green. But greed and fear have all but eradicated the noble creatures… and Let has run from her own pain and fears so long that it is now almost too late. The writing itself can be a little disjointed at times, but that appears more intentional than anything, almost an accent to how fragmented Let’s mind can be at times. At the very least, it is an interesting read, and has a fresh feel to it that is increasingly less common.