Lightspeed“The Time Traveler’s Advice to the Lovelorn” by Adam-Troy Castro
“Melting Like Metal” by Ada Hoffmann
“The Fenghuang” by Millie Ho
“Destinations of Love” by Alexander Weinstein
Reviewed by Kevin P Hallett
There are four original short stories in the 120th issue of Lightspeed. Each of the stories was an interesting read.
“The Time Traveler’s Advice to the Lovelorn” by Adam-Troy Castro
In this SF short, Samael is a plain but good man who is smitten by Magda, the woman of his dreams. But though she is also a good person, she just doesn’t notice Samael.
Knowing his dull looks and slow mind will never win her heart Samael appeals to the local time traveler for advice. The traveler likes Samael’s sincerity and agrees to aid him. Maybe something from the distant future will help the poor lovelorn man?
This was a pleasantly paced story with a hard to predict twist at the end.
“Melting Like Metal” by Ada Hoffmann
Unstable Enga is single-minded in her desire to kill Candor Gray in this SF short set in the distant future. Enga is an angel of Nemesis, a quantum computer that has taken over the management of the galaxy for humanity’s own good.
Candor Gray is a heretic and Nemesis has ordered his capture and elimination. The problem for Enga and her two fellow cyborgs is Candor has a device to disrupt their cyber connections. But Enga may be erratic enough to fight through it.
This fast-paced story evolved quickly, making for a pleasant read on a rainy afternoon during home lockdown.
“The Fenghuang” by Millie Ho
In Ho’s short fantasy, Candice can’t manage her anger well. And when she gets upset, she tends to catch fire and burn to ashes, regenerating herself like the Fenghuang of Chinese legend. The medical experts can’t help except to give her medicine to dampen her emotions.
In the hospital she meets another girl with a strange condition. Fiona has a mole on her stomach that is growing into the size of a bowling ball and consuming all her nutrients. Unable to eat enough Fiona is wasting away. The shared fight against exotic maladies draws the two young women together to support each other and seek new solutions.
The author’s prose was light and easy to read, and the story’s human-interest intrigues pulled the reader through.
“Destinations of Love” by Alexander Weinstein
A travel guide describes speculative destinations in this short fantasy. Each place’s description alludes to an aspect of love, be it passionate love, lustful love, betrayal, unrequited love, or the mundane love that fades over time.
Though the author had no protagonist in any of the five entries, the prose was engaging enough to make for an interesting read.