Sci Phi Journal #11, March 2016
“Megacats” by Jonathon Burgess
Reviewed by Chuck Rothman
Sci Phi Journal bills itself as a science fiction and philosophy magazine, with stories that explore philosophical concepts in a science fiction context. This immediately raises two questions: is the philosophical content something more than a college bull session and, is the resulting story good fiction?
In Jonathon Burgess‘s “MegaCats,” benevolent aliens have come to Earth, dropping off “Maker-machines” that can create whatever you want from even the flimsiest of instructions. The government spends a lot of time and effort shutting them down, implying that the ability to freely create what you need would be a threat. The story focuses on Martin, who wants the machine to make an exceedingly detailed MegaCat toy. The story shows a fight against government bureaucracy and the character of Martin is a strength – he looks at everything in the way a child does. But it ultimately is not a compelling adventure because Martin had little at risk.
“The Persistence of Tim” by Matthew F. Amati shows Marcus, who repairs artificial spouses. They are more than just sexbots, and are usually purchased by spousal abusers so they’re not hurting a real person. Annie is Marcus’s favorite, married to Tim, who may be dead. When Marcus realizes that Annie has trouble recognizing Tim, he hatches a plan. I’ll admit I don’t like simplistic philosophical concepts introduced in fiction as a big revelation, so the story starts out with a few demerits, but the real problem is, ultimately, Marcus uses the philosophy to be a real dick to Annie. I suppose it’s justified by the story, but the wonton deception – shown approvingly – leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
Zena Shapter contributes “Let the Tempest Hold Me Down,” set in an alien world whose inhabitants live in the air, feeding on microbes. Tek has learned that his father has been killed, as part of their culture, where the older generation dies to feed the new one. But Tek has a family legend about others who live in the world and he goes to seek them out. The story fits the old concept of “things are not what they seem” and I didn’t find the character‘s break out from cliché enough to be drawn into it.
“The Window” is almost shorter than this review. Calvin hates living in his underground bunker where the town hid in order to survive. He learns that things aren’t what he was told. Unfortunately, Denny E. Marshall merely shows what happens, leaving the revelation to speak for itself. But that raises more questions than it resolves. This might have been the opening of a pretty good story if we saw the effects on Calvin once he gets this knowledge.
“The Hemingway Hunter” is exactly what the title says: a hunter is out to bag Ernest Hemingway and the hunter is a clone of Hemingway himself. E.J. Shumak spends far too much time on the details of the gun and hunting in a story that really doesn’t seem to have much point.
George Nikolopoulos‘s “The Game of Lives” tells of Alex Miles, who is ready to commit suicide after learning the truth about reality. The revelation, though, is hardly new; I even used the concept myself in a short story published years ago. Maybe that was why I was unimpressed by it, since the story merely reveals the situation, presenting it without any exploration about what it means.
“The Ethical Committee” by Ray Blank is about Lydia Williams, a woman who is refusing to undergo a simple medical procedure in a future where all such things are required. The story is a vast infodump, with people telling each other things they should already know (not completely unjustified here), and a lot of lecturing.
I must say I was generally unimpressed by these stories. The focus on philosophical ideas is not a bad idea, but the ideas here overpower the rather weak stories. While I don’t hold it against the stories, the didactic “Food for Thought” sections at the end of the story which lecture on the philosophical theory involved would seem to acknowledge the weaknesses involved. I would prefer keeping the philosophy in the background to concentrate more on the characters and story.
Chuck Rothman’s novels Staroamer’s Fate and Syron’s Fate were recently republished by Fantastic Books.