Galaxy’s Edge #9, July-August 2014
Reviewed by Chuck Rothman
The July-August issue of Galaxy’s Edge features five new stories from newer names in the field.
Kary English contributes “Totaled,” the story of Maggie, who, after a car accident has her brain connected to a machine for study. But Maggie is still conscious, and has to try to contact her lab partner Randy to let him know about the fact. The early part of the story lets us get into Maggie’s head and feel for her plight, but the ending is just too futile for my tastes and makes me wonder what the point of the story is.
Iyalah in “Honey, Plums, and Cinnamon” is a woman with a talent — the ability to sense forms of love in others — which she got from a god in exchange for her right eye. Her mother is dying and, with her shapeshifting friend Niyat, she goes to the dictator of her country, Raj Mefit, to help him discover who is behind an assassination plot. Andrea G. Stewart’s fantasy world is richly detailed and there are plenty of surprises as Iyalah works to earn the money she needs.
“The Wings The Lungs, The Engine The Heart” by Laurie Tom is set in an alternate World War I where Karl is a German doctor with a new invention — an artificial heart that can even bring the dead back to life. He is able to get a chance to use it when Manfred von Richthofen — the Red Baron — is killed in combat and brought to life, not just to fight, but also to be a symbol to rally Germany. But you can’t keep the pilot out of the man. I did like the concept (I’ve always been a World War I buff) and there are some interesting points made, though, again, the ending was not to my taste.
“Matial” is flash fiction where the title character is a priest/executioner in a society where human sacrifice is common. However, his next sacrifice — a young woman — begins to form a bond with him. Lou J. Berger‘s story is long on charm, though it’s hard to discern why Matial thinks this sacrifice is so different from the others.
Husband and wife Lisa Tang Liu & Ken Liu contribute “Hark! Listen to the Animals,” an epistolary short story told in the form of emails. Margaret Stokes contacts an old friend, Jennifer “Nifer” Lyle about a strange incident, where a group of bears kidnap her husband Todd. The animals are behaving strangely — smarter, more intelligent — and Jennifer goes to find out what’s happening and try to find Todd. The story has an animal rights theme, though is not strident about it, and does call into question how humans have treated animals over the centuries. The structure is a good way to reveal the story, and overall it’s an interesting read with the type of theme James Tiptree, Jr. often dealt with. (It brings back parallels to Tiptree’s “The Last Flight of Dr. Ain”.)
The stories tend to have downbeat themes and protagonists die. Some are trying to be tragic, but don’t understand that tragedy is more than just bad things happening to the character in the end.
Chuck Rothman’s novels Staroamer’s Fate and Syron’s Fate were recently republished by Fantastic Books. He has stories upcoming in Triangulation: Parch, Fantasy Super Pack I, and Analog.