Fantastic Stories #233, March/April 2016

Posted byNatalie J. Havlina
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Fantastic Stories of the Imagination #233, March/April 2016

“Memory and Iron” by Kelly Sandoval

“Who Ya Living?” by George Allan Miller

Review by Natalie J. Havlina

“Memory and Iron” by Kelly Sandoval opens with Katherine vigilantly guarding her daughter Elizabeth against the fae. She has good reason: Elizabeth is not the child of Katherine’s husband, but rather of a fae stranger. The fae court Elizabeth as she grows and Katherine must determine, again and again, what it means to be a good mother in her situation. This is a beautiful little story that conjures clear images with few words and makes effective use of understatement.

In “Who Ya Living?” George Allen Miller presents a world where everyone is immortal and those over the age of 500 receive a small hard drive containing their memories. Protagonist Ryan traded his drive so that he could experience the memories of others. Now he wants his own memories back and is searching for his drive. While Miller develops an intriguing premise, the conflict in “Who Ya Living?” isn’t developed well enough to make much of a story.