On Spec 
#128, Summer 2024
“When It Comes to the Dog” by M. Ian Bell
“In Defence of Plant Life” by Katherine Quevedo
“Into the Blue” by Jeff Hewitt
“Smorg” by Terri Favro
“Moonlight Sea” by Ruth E. Walker
“At the Sexbot Park” by Josh Pearce
“There Is No Sequel to Me” by C. C. Graystone
“Accept All Cookies” by Robin James
“Dead Drop” by Shannon Taft
“Knights of the Spherical Table” by Robert Bagnall
Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf
Ten new stories appear in this issue.
“When It Comes to the Dog” by M. Ian Bell takes place at a time in the future when a disease has killed all dogs. Robotic replicas, designed to be as realistic as possible, have replaced them. The narrator, who makes a living through petty high-tech crime, sets out to deal with a simulated dog that drives him crazy with its constant barking. Their encounter ends in an unexpected way.
The story has some of the grittiness of cyberpunk fiction, but leads to a sentimental conclusion. The basic plot could occur in a mainstream story about a real dog; the work’s many speculative elements are not strictly necessary. Subplots about a valuable item the narrator steals and about his mother, suffering from Alzheimer’s disease, adds complexity to an otherwise simple story, but are irrelevant.
The narrator of “In Defence of Plant Life” by Katherine Quevedo builds terrariums. A wealthy woman asks her to investigate a mystery involving a large, shattered terrarium from which two trees are missing. The narrator discovers the secret behind the unique trees.
The speculative element in this story strains credibility, both scientifically and in terms of human behavior. There is not much more to the work than its premise, so whether readers are able to accept a very unlikely concept will determine if they enjoy it.
The narrator of “Into the Blue” by Jeff Hewitt is stranded aboard a starship returning to Earth from the Centauri system. Mysterious events occur, and the ship’s artificial intelligence may be more hostile than helpful. The situation involves the starship’s cargo.
The main narrative alternates with flashbacks to the narrator’s former job on Earth and to the way he obtained his new position. These sections add little to the story but length. Much of what occurs lacks an explanation, unless it’s too subtle for me.
“Smorg” by Terri Favro takes place in a posthuman future. The narrator, like almost all people of her time, has a body that does not require food. In fact, eating is considered sinful in her transhuman religion. A childhood acquaintance, who is not fully altered, tempts her into trying food at a secret location.
The text takes the form of the narrator warning other youngsters to avoid the horrible consequences of eating. The analogy with a lecture against drug abuse is clear. The satiric intent is effective, even if the story is a little long for a work with a single idea.
In “Moonlight Sea” by Ruth E. Walker, a boy meets a woman by the seashore. She invites him to dinner with her family, and he discovers her true nature.
The premise involves a familiar bit of folklore, and readers of fantasy will be able to predict what happens long before it is revealed. The fact that the boy is a hunchback and is running away from an abusive orphanage adds poignancy, but has nothing to do with the plot.
In “At the Sexbot Park” by Josh Pearce, people take their erotic robot companions, which are not very intelligent, to the equivalent of dog parks to play with others of their kind. That’s about all there is to this brief tale, although one event occurs that adds a touch of humor.
The narrator of “There Is No Sequel to Me” by C. C. Graystone appears on stage during a performance in which advanced technology causes the audience to share the narrator’s experiences, ending in an unexpected way. Frankly, I didn’t understand the climax of this very short story.
In “Accept All Cookies” by Robin James, a woman receives unflattering images of herself, taken by hidden cameras, during an exercise session. Obviously intended as a satire on the way that modern media collect information from their users, this brief story has a very light mood that is more amusing than biting.
The narrator of “Dead Drop” by Shannon Taft is an artificial intelligence operating a spaceship that carries goods to an alien trading post on Pluto. Its sole occupant is involved in illegal activities, and is intent on erasing the AI’s memory of his crimes. Things don’t work out well.
Readers may be put off by the fact that the human characters in this story are unpleasant, willing to sacrifice their close relatives for their own gain. Even the AI ponders the possibility of overriding the programming that prevents it from killing people.
The most interesting part of this story involves the unseen aliens, who are willing to trade with humans but who limit their visits to Pluto and who completely decontaminate the station after each session. I would have enjoyed learning more about these extraterrestrials, but they play no part in the plot.
“Knights of the Spherical Table” by Robert Bagnall is an Arthurian farce in which the Lady of the Lake appears in a man’s bathtub, forcing him to accept Excalibur as well as a device that carries him into other dimensions. Sent to find the Holy Grail, he eventually figures out a long and difficult process that might locate the sacred object.
This is a very silly story, reminiscent of the film Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Fans of wacky comedy will best enjoy it.
Victoria Silverwolf notes that her American spellcheck doesn’t like the Canadian spelling of a word in the title of one of these stories.