[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, February 12, 2024

“Rembrandt, graffiti, and the strange disappearance of ducks” by C. H. Irons

Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf

“Rembrandt, graffiti, and the strange disappearance of ducks” by C. H. Irons takes place at a high-tech future time when street art is encoded with encrypted messages. The protagonist, a graffiti artist herself, investigates a mysterious series of artworks containing messages in a private code. She eventually tracks down the creator of these messages and discovers their meaning.

The author combines a cyberpunk background with a story of loss and redemption. Avoiding melodrama and sentimentality, the work features a quietly powerful plot, plausible speculative technology, and characters who seem very real.

Victoria Silverwolf would like to point out that the lack of capitalization in the story’s title appears in the original.