Sci Phi Journal #12, April 2016
Reviewed by Michelle Ristuccia
In “Be Careful What You Wish For” by Jeffrey G. Roberts, a technician steals temporal technology in order to take revenge on his morally corrupt boss, only to find that he is also corruptible. Unfortunately, overly-dramatic prose and a specious plot fail to hold the reader’s attention, let alone sympathy. An unexplained switch from first to third person in the introduction does not help matters.
“Lily in Asphodel” by Gregory Marlow follows Lily’s insatiable quest for knowledge as an uploaded personality. Marlow’s direct style makes for a concise story with a clear theme and an appropriate conclusion. The setup relies heavily on a trope.
In “Emergent Behavior” by Deepak Bharathan, the narrator runs into unexpected dangers while performing a routine maintenance check at a mining base. Bharathan’s narrator gives a cynical, entertaining glimpse into a future as bureaucratically corrupt as our present. The title gives away the source of the mech’s problems.
“Sunrise,” by Benjamin Nutt is a flash piece showing how a couple calmly faces an incoming disaster. The wife seems a bit daft.
“The Button” by Jamie Wahls follows experiment victim B-113 as he reaches the end of his conditioning and faces the ultimate test of willpower. Wahls inspires dread in his readers by thoroughly exploring mind control through instant gratification and psychological torture, and by portraying the experimenters and their victims realistically.
In “House of Flies” by Russell Nichols, Smart House Virtual Assistant welcomes its new family with pep and optimism. The family soon regrets SHVA’s omnipresence when the AI attempts to help with their interpersonal problems. “House of Flies” is smartly written, entertaining flash fiction.
“Failure to Thrive” by Tom Howard follows an alien invasion force whose opponents wear glowing white armor. Some readers will guess the location of the invasion early on. “Failure to Thrive” is an action-oriented narrative with descriptive detail.
In “Zee Warrior” by Mark Wolf, humanity creates zombie soldiers and pits them against alien invaders. A soldier narrates his present battle and his back story in a back-and-forth flashback style. Because death has little meaning and the narrator undergoes only a small change, “Zee Warrior” comes off as a military SF parody.
Michelle Ristuccia enjoys slowing down time in the middle of the night to read and review speculative fiction, because sleeping offspring are the best inspiration and motivation. You can find out more about her other writing projects and geeky obsessions by visiting her blog.