Grimdark #40, October 2024“Little Mermaid, In Passing” by Angela Slatter (reprint, not reviewed)
“Lock and Key” by Wendy Nikel
“Unholy Ghost” by Mark Lawrence
“All the Riches of Suffering” by Ben Galley
“The Absolute” by Aaron Dries
“Under Furious Skies” by Christopher Buehlman
“The Dreams of Wan Li” by Andrea Stewart (reprint, not reviewed)
“The Subtler Art” by Cat Rambo (reprint, not reviewed)
“Stones” by Anna Smith Spark (reprint, not reviewed)
“Locke Lamora and the Bottled Serpent” by Scott Lynch (serial, not reviewed)
Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf
Grim tales of science fiction, fantasy, steampunk, and surrealism appear in this issue, often with these genres blending into each other.
The narrator of “Lock and Key” by Wendy Nikel secures herself behind a barrier of thorns and within a tower. Outside the city, armies engage in bloody battles in order to win her hand in marriage and thus her powerful magic.
In this brief story, the author creates a gruesome blend of “Sleeping Beauty” and “Rapunzel.” The tale’s moral is clearly expressed in the last sentence. Even in a magazine dedicated to dark fiction, readers may find the narrator’s treatment of her violent suitors disturbing.
“Unholy Ghost” by Mark Lawrence is narrated by the simulation of a warrior emperor, existing in a shared virtual reality with other electronic copies of the minds of the dead. He downloads himself into an ancient war machine buried deep underground, in order to protect his heir.
As this synopsis suggests, the story begins as pure science fiction. Once the narrator emerges from burial, however, it has the flavor of medieval fantasy, with palace intrigue and bloody battles within a castle. The transition from cyberpunk to sieges and swordplay is jarring.
One odd premise is the introduction of a destructive artificial intelligence early in the story, which aids the narrator’s escape from underground but then disappears from the rest of the text. Readers may wish that it played a larger role in the plot.
In “All the Riches of Suffering” by Ben Galley, the antihero escapes
imprisonment for murder and sneaks aboard a flying ship. Warriors in steampunk battle suits force the vessel to enter a gigantic, never-ending hurricane, full of deadly creatures, in order to destroy the even more dangerous creature that lurks in its heart. They are quite willing to sacrifice the entire crew. Adding to the protagonist’s problems is the fact that the leader of the warriors is an old enemy.
This is a fast-paced, action-packed adventure yarn, with an extremely high body count. The most interesting fantasy concept (in a story that has many of them) is that the characters serve different gods in various fashions, earning good luck as rewards. The protagonist serves a goddess of cruelty, treachery, and mischief. The blessings he earns from her for his nefarious deeds tilt the odds in his favor at times, weakening the suspense.
“The Absolute” by Aaron Dries is a surreal tale in which a gigantic mouth devours the Earth piece by piece. The members of a cult that worships it practice cannibalism and give themselves false teeth made from soft drink cans. The protagonist shelters an elderly woman who devolves into a sea-dwelling creature, then encounters a young woman whose child undergoes the same transformation.
As can be seen, this is a very strange story. The mood is unrelievedly bleak, with the main character unable to do anything but mourn for his deceased family and make a final gesture of resignation. Fans of New Weird fiction may best appreciate it.
The protagonist of “Under Furious Skies” by Christopher Buehlman makes a living as a professional fighter. She barely earns enough to keep herself and her disabled uncle, deathly ill mother, and little brother alive. When the rulers of her nation seek the best fighters, so they can be recruited as elite warriors, an opportunity to improve her life arrives.
The warriors will receive very large payments, but are almost certain to be killed in a war against inhuman enemies. The protagonist is supposed to deliberately lose to a weaker opponent, who will then join the doomed warriors, while she is paid for throwing the fight.
In essence, this is a fantasy version of the familiar plot of a boxer being asked to take a dive. As such, the outcome is predictable. The story is best appreciated as a portrait of someone who never gives up, even in the worst of circumstances, and is willing to sacrifice herself for her family.
Victoria Silverwolf is currently reading Unicorn Mountain by Michael Bishop.