Diabolical Plots #88, June 2022
“Timecop Mojitos” by Sarah Pauling
“The Hotel Endless” by Davian Aw
“The Twenty-Second Lover of House Rousseau” by C.M. Fields
Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf
Three very different stories appear in this issue.
“Timecop Mojitos” by Sarah Pauling is a very light comedy in which the narrator confronts a man from the ancient, magical past. He is in search of the narrator’s roommate, who used magic to travel back in time. The main source of humor in this brief jape is the contrast between themes from heroic fantasy and the mundane concerns of modern life.
The title of “The Hotel Endless” by Davian Aw refers to an enormous structure, constantly increasing in size, created by automated machines from surrounding raw materials. The rooms inside the building are so luxurious and seductive that people refuse to leave. Seen as a threat to the outside world, society attempts to stop the ever-growing hotel, only to fail. Eventually, the people born inside the structure set off on their own quest.
The author’s biography indicates multiple award nominations for poetry. Unsurprisingly, this beautifully written work reads more like a long prose poem than fiction. The descriptions of the hotel are as enticing to the reader as to the characters. Although the premise is based on speculative technology, the result seems more like pure fantasy. None of the characters have names, which may have a distancing effect on the reader. One is more likely to admire this dazzling creation as a lovely jewel than as a story.
The narrator of “The Twenty-Second Lover of House Rousseau” by C.M. Fields is an artificial being with an organic brain inside a robotic body. Over many centuries, she has been the lover of countless owners, each time changing in appearance to fit the needs of the client.
(My use of the female pronoun for the narrator, although not specified in the story, seems appropriate. All of the various ways the lover is described suggest beautiful women, no matter the gender of the owner.)
After an accident in space leaves her client dead and herself trapped awaiting rescue, the lover develops anger, an emotion formerly forbidden to her. The result is a return to her place of origin, to set things right.
In only a little over two thousand words, the author creates fully developed characters, settings, and plot. The use of flashbacks adds the density of a novel, without making the work seem rushed or overly complex. The elegant narrative style does not distract the reader from the story.
Victoria Silverwolf would probably never leave the hotel in the second story.