[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, May 20, 2024

“The Spindle of Necessity” by B. Pladek

Reviewed by Mike Bickerdike

“The Spindle of Necessity” by B. Pladek is an interesting short story that explores the nature and acceptance of transsexuality. Trans SFF has of course become a busy sub-genre in recent years, and this reviewer has read so much of it that’s dreadful, that “The Spindle of Necessity” was approached with a high degree of trepidation. A problem common to much queer genre literature is that the sub-genre itself tends to be the only point of the story. Take the queer theme away and what’s left isn’t worth reading—containing few if any novel ideas—and the queer theme on its own struggles to engage most readers. Moreover, it is not uncommon for queer genre short fiction to be saddled with a florid ‘literary’ style so overdone it makes for a challenging read. This story benefits from avoiding both faults. Pladek manages to weave an interesting story that stands on its own merits and presents a reflective and mature exploration of the protagonist’s sense of self. A young man is obsessed with the idea that a famous lesbian writer he likes was in fact a transsexual, in a day when such an idea sat outside cultural acceptability (or even existence). In vivid dreams the man meets the writer and wakes to interesting consequences each time. While characterisation is perhaps a touch on the thin side, the story wraps things up quite well, and leaves the reader satisfied. The writing here is also very good. Pladek doesn’t throw badly chosen similes and metaphors about like confetti but uses them well and only when appropriate. Overall, the impression is of a carefully crafted story that effectively overcomes any reserve one might have for the subject matter. Indeed, of all the queer literature I’ve read in the last few years, this is probably the short story that would garner the broadest general appeal and will offer insights into a world and life experience that is quite foreign to many. Recommended.

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