Fantasy Magazine #85, November 2022

“Harvest of the Deep” by Kelsea Yu

“The Typewriter” by Z.K. Abraham

“Plum Century” by Simo Srinivas

“SOC 301: Apian Gender Studies (Cross-Listed with ZOL 301)” by Aimee Ogden

Reviewed by Mike Bickerdike

“Harvest of the Deep” by Kelsea Yu is flash fiction. A diver collects creatures from the deep sea for an oppressive ‘Collector”, with the aid of a black pearl that helps her survive the depths. Too short to build an engaging scenario or characters, the tale doesn’t offer that much.

“The Typewriter” by Z.K. Abraham is a rather quiet piece of literature that aims at poignancy. It’s hard to say how or why this is fantasy—it could belong in a non-genre magazine perfectly well. A woman is alone in her apartment after her husband has left her for three weeks and taken their children away (we don’t find out why) and wakes each morning to the sound of the woman in the apartment opposite typing on a typewriter. The tale explores the relationship between the women. As a tale, its fairly readable, but unlikely to excite many who are looking for more overt fantasy.

“Plum Century” by Simo Srinivas is a piece of flash fiction. It’s quite an engaging little tale of a man who spends a century climbing the hill to the reach the house of an immortal spirit. When he arrives, he finds the war he was part of is all over. While it’s inventive and interesting enough to read to see how it ends, the voice of the protagonists seems rather too modern to ring true somehow.

“SOC 301: Apian Gender Studies (Cross-Listed with ZOL 301)” by Aimee Ogden is a short story that presents an unusual fantasy idea. In this world, people live in symbiosis with honeybees, that live as hives within them. Bees crawl in and out of the mouth of the college girl who is our protagonist and allow her to produce her won honey. As her ‘Swarming Day’ approaches, she becomes frustrated with her mother’s attention. The story may be saying something about the absurdity of conventions and the fact that people are intrinsically themselves whether they stick to convention or not. Unfortunately, the pay-off in the story isn’t as strong as the odd scenario initially promises.

More of Mike Bickerdike’s reviews and thoughts on science-fiction can be found at https://starfarersf.nicepage.io/