Lightspeed “The Twenty-One Second God” by Peter Watts
“Eyes Grown Thick on the World” by Will McMahon
“Multi-Spatial Apartment Complex Malfunction Results in Body Horror” by Reyes Ramirez
“When the Faerie King Toured the Human Realm” by Vanessa Fogg
“See Now the Misfortune of the Thinking Tenax” by Lowry Poletti
“A Week at the Raven Feather Salon” by Carrie Vaughn
“All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt” by Marissa Lingen
“My Mother, the Supervillain” by Benjamin Blattberg
Reviewed by Mike Bickerdike
This issue of Lightspeed, offering 4 SF tales and 4 fantasy tales as usual, is probably the highest quality issue of this magazine I’ve read to date.
“The Twenty-One Second God” by Peter Watts is an interesting and inventive SF short story, from one of the most well-recognised authors this magazine has published in recent years. An aspect of the ‘Metaverse’ took control of 15 million people for a period of 21 seconds, and during this time, used the combined neuronal power at its command to gain insights into the universe. While most victims who were taken over lost their minds, one man—suffering from grief from losing his wife—survived well, and undergoes tests designed to determine what occurred, and why he survived. It’s a neat idea and ultimately rounds out some interesting philosophical ideas in its conclusion. However, it’s far from perfect. The style used here could best be described as cyberpunk for the 2020’s, and as with most short form fiction in that subgenre (so popular in the 1980s and ‘90s), it gets bogged down in exposition of the speculative tech, with the focus on jargon as opposed to clarity. This stylistic approach makes it a much denser and less engrossing read than it could have been. Moreover, if your story is riddled with tech jargon, throwaway references to areas of the brain, and statements about tech development, it’s best to get these aspects right. Unfortunately there are several errors made in that regard. For example, Watts tells us that “Nobody knew because patents describe concepts, not implementation” which is entirely untrue–all patents are required to describe methods of use and implementation in order to be granted. Better research and less jargon would possibly have made this decent story an excellent one.
“Eyes Grown Thick on the World” by Will McMahon is fantasy flash fiction, which successfully bucks the trend for this shortest of fiction forms, by being both engaging and complete. As with most flash fiction, to describe the plot at all would spoil too much of the story, but this tale explores an interesting idea of identity in quite a novel way. Recommended.
“Multi-Spatial Apartment Complex Malfunction Results in Body Horror” by Reyes Ramirez is a piece of SF flash fiction, written as a news article. This is terrific—a fable told in the guise of highly speculative SF, this serves as a warning that care needs to be taken when applying new technologies, when the driver is purely commercial. Also recommended, which is highly unusual from this reviewer for flash fiction!
“When the Faerie King Toured the Human Realm” by Vanessa Fogg is a brightly written and intriguing fantasy, in which the Faerie King comes among us in search of his lost Faerie Queen. While the plot is somewhat slight, it’s the quality of the writing that carries this piece and keeps the reader engaged.
“See Now the Misfortune of the Thinking Tenax” by Lowry Poletti is SF flash fiction. On (presumably) an alien world, non-thinking creatures have been created called Tenax to devour dead flesh; in the tale one such creature gains sapience. Albeit short, the author tries to pack a huge amount into the piece, which can only be done at the expense of any helpful exposition. This is a slightly weaker story in an otherwise very strong issue.
“A Week at the Raven Feather Salon” by Carrie Vaughn is an appealing fantasy short story. A military veteran runs an artistic salon, where she works with other ladies who provide spells and enchantments through music and art. The fundamental idea is good, and it’s well employed in the story, which also offers some depth of character, and a light touch in its prose. It’s quite a relaxed, measured piece, in which the tensions are subtle, rather than being overly dramatic—possibly to reflect the relaxing nature of the salon.
“All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt” by Marissa Lingen is an SF short story, that can be read as a fable for our times; on a space station a salesman brings a device that might harm everyone, but his need to make a profit blinds him to an obvious truth. It’s a short but enjoyable read.
“My Mother, the Supervillain” by Benjamin Blattberg is a final piece of SF flash fiction to conclude the issue. An old lady, who was once a superhero, lives in a retirement village with dementia. This short, affecting tale centres on her daughter and grandson who visit her, and the truth behind her lapsed abilities. It’s well-worth a read.
More of Mike Bickerdike’s reviews and thoughts on science-fiction can be found at https://starfarersf.nicepage.io/