Shimmer “The Last Dinosaur” by Lavie Tidhar
Reviewed by Kris Rudin
“The Star Maiden” by Roshani Chokshi is narrated by a young Filipina. Her grandmother has always told stories about how she was a star maiden visiting Earth and found by the girl’s grandfather, and subsequently fell in love and stayed. She tells her granddaughter that she, too, is of the stars and will return there. When the girl was younger, she was captivated by these stories and believed her grandmother. As she reaches her teens, she stops believing, and is embarrassed by her grandmother’s behavior. When her grandmother dies, however, she is forced to look more closely at what she’d been told. Chokshi expertly depicts a teen girl’s angst, and the feeling of being pulled in different directions. The story is full of Filipino terms (which are easily defined from context) and feels like a folk tale. Clearly, it’s a loving homage to Filipino culture, and it is delightfully executed.
Lavie Tidhar’s “The Last Dinsosaur” is set in near-future England, where fossil fuels are almost gone, and cars are rarities on the roads. The protagonist is Mina, a young woman who inherited her grandmother’s VW Beetle, along with her love of driving. Knowing that the petrol supply is nearly exhausted, she goes for one last drive. The imagery of how the landscape has changed with the decline of automobiles is well-realized, though probably more meaningful for those familiar with the neighborhoods and environs in and around London.
The word serein is defined as “a mist or fine rain falling from a cloudless sky” and is a perfect title for this story by Cat Hellisen. It is about two sisters, Claire and Alison. Claire disappears one day, never to be seen again. Water plays a pivotal role, hence the title, and Claire’s relationship to it is what moves this story into the realm of the fantastic. The narrative switches between the points of view of each girl, letting us in to their own thoughts and feelings. It is a beautiful, haunting tale of leavings – what it means to those who are left behind, and to those who have left. “Serein” is an impressive, moving story.
“States of Emergency” by Erika L. Satifka is a cleverly written story, set in the US in the near future. It is a series of vignettes, each taking place in a different state of the union, which may or may not show the gradual overtake of the country by the Alien Brotherhood League. Paranoid Jack is sure of it, but maybe he’s just paranoid. It is a light-hearted story, despite the apparent paranoia/oncoming doom.