SQ Mag # 22, September/October 2015

“Civility and the Shark” by Jason Lairamore

Reviewed by Rick Cartwright

The relationship between man and machine has been an ongoing theme of science fiction since almost the beginning of the genre. In “Civility and the Shark,” Jason Lairamore left too much unexplained and set a tone that sounded uncomfortably like Matrix fan fiction.

Are we there yet? Anyone who has taken a road trip with children have heard that phrase early and often. “Car Trip Bingo” by Eric J Guignard imagines a car trip across a land of variable space-time and the items such a landscape would generate on a bingo card. Sadly, the ending was a bit disappointing. But your mileage may vary.

In “Eve of the White Moon” Deborah Walker asks the question of how you translate your cultural holidays, especially one based on a lunar new year to a new world? One of my personal touchstones for a good science fiction story is that you learn something without being preached at. Ms. Walker delivers by using the less well known Tsagaan Sar, the Mongolian New Year as the basis for this story. While on one hand, the story at first came across as more of a Wikipedia article, on the other hand, anyone who has been caught up in the preparations for a major holiday can identify with the characters.

Michael McGlade tries to put a horror spin on the theme of “you can’t go home again” in the horror short “Bring It All Back Home.” On its face the story is about a bereaved Irish ex-pat returning to his childhood home in Ireland that his parents moved from when he was very young and never returned to. The problem with the story is that there were just too many times where the reader was unable to make any sense of what was motivating the whiny main character. There was just no reason for the actions taken to set up the peril, and because of that no way to suspend the disbelief. At the end I was rooting for the monster.

The scarecrow has been a staple of magic and myth throughout history. Suzanne J Wallis spins an excellent tale in “Husk and Sheaf” of the costs and consequences of using magic from the scarecrow‘s point of view. The story plays out was well with a delightful twist at the end that makes it both memorable and thought provoking.

Rick Cartwright works and has worked at many things. His main job is Chief of Staff to the household cats.