Aurealis #178, March 2025“Old New Soul” by Anya Ow
“Everyday Discourses in Cultural Humanism” by Miriam Fietz
“Worse Companions” by Jake Stein
Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf
This issue contains a fantasy, a science fiction story, and a tale that straddles the line between both genres.
“Old New Soul” by Anya Ow takes place in the near future, when technology assists in the process of reincarnation. The main character is reborn into the body of his own son, a child created only for this purpose. His body grows extremely quickly into an adult, and he retains some of his memories. He investigates his own death, gaining insight into why it happened.
Much of the story involves the protagonist’s relationship with his mother and his husband. In combination with the man’s discovery of his own motives, this provides a great deal of insightful characterization.
Even if one accepts the process of reincarnation as a fantasy concept, the way in which the main character can change from an infant to an adult in a very short period of time is difficult to believe. The serious issue of what happens to the soul of the newborn child whose body was taken over by the dead man is raised only briefly, mostly ignoring a profound ethical problem. Almost nothing is said about the baby’s mother, either, which raises many unanswered questions in the reader’s mind.
In “Everyday Discourses in Cultural Humanism” by Miriam Fietz, an alien reveals that humans are actually descended from the extraterrestrial’s own species. Alternating with sections of text relating the alien’s speech to humanity are scenes of an ordinary family discussing what this revelation means to the human race.
The main question raised in the family’s conversation is whether this means that the definition of humanity is a cultural one rather than a biological one. The story treats this as a vitally important question, but I found it to be of little concern. Either way, people will go on living as they always did. A more interesting premise, that humans are invited to join the aliens in their travels throughout space, appears only briefly.
“Worse Companions” by Jake Stein takes place in a familiar medieval fantasy world. In this case, the elite can extend their lives by soaking in magic water, a resource denied to lower classes. The protagonist is a warrior who formerly enjoyed this privilege, but lost it when he refused to slaughter the inhabitants of a rebel village. An aristocrat offers him the chance to regain his status if he will undertake a similar mission.
The main character is no stranger to killing, and is strongly tempted to accept the offer, even if it means murdering men, women, and children as they sleep. This moral dilemma is the heart of the story, and readers may be able to predict how it plays out.
Victoria Silverwolf thinks the third story qualifies as grimdark.