Aurealis #175, October 2024

“Sui Generis” by Joe Ford

“The Black Rain of Cerebor” by Rodney J Smith

“The Rescue” by Nigel Brown

Reviewed by Chuck Rothman

Joe Ford begins the October issue of Aurealis with “Sui Generis,” the name of an enormous sea turtle that washed ashore and is being kept at a research facility. Zhang Zi is the creature’s keeper and develops a liking for the creature, that she names “Sue Sue.” The story deals with our bonds with animals, but I found it a bit murky.

“The Black Rain of Cerebor” by Rodney J Smith shows us a group of soldiers on patrol on an alien planet on which it rains a constant black rain. Hicks is leading it when the patrol finds a boy who seems to be a survivor and seems to have a purpose to fulfill. I’m not sure what is supposed to be happening and I lost interest before it finished.

Nigel Brown’s “The Rescue” has Sam Munroe—a cyborg—working on terraforming Titan when he is contacted by a hologram of his estranged daughter, Erika, who belongs to a group opposed to terraforming and is there to rescue him. He insists that he is no longer Sam and that this is all part of a way he can help her. Nice dramatic situation here, with a decent twist.

Chuck Rothman’s novels Staroamer’s Fate and Syron’s Fate are available from Fantastic Books.