Lightspeed #16, September 2011
“Join” by Liz Coleman
“Thief of Futures” by D. Thomas Minton
Reviewed by Richard Aphron
Lightspeed publishes two short story reprints and two pieces of original fiction every month. This month’s reprints, which are not reviewed, are by David Brin and Ursula K. Le Guin and are very much worth a read themselves.
The first original story is “Join” by Liz Coleman, and it’s one of those excellent science fiction stories that takes you to a new world while speaking eloquently about this one. The story is about homecoming, alienation and the bonds of family. In it Derek, who has never quite felt at home with the rest of humanity or his family, has voluntarily become host to a parasitic child. He has found a place he can fit in as part of an alien family unit, but in the process has undergone dramatic physiological changes to better adapt to his chosen circumstances. How will his human family cope when he returns home?
Coleman gives tantalizing hints of a fascinating larger universe. The aliens Derek befriends seem well-realized creatures with their own large backstory and unusual — but interesting — goals. The themes of alienation and estrangement never find more fertile ground than in science fiction, and this story takes both themes to interesting places without making the character’s any less human. This is a delightful story, and one I recommend.
In contrast, “Thief of Futures” by D. Thomas Minton is more along the lines of a science fiction crime story. The protagonist, Eshram, is a retired thief with the uncommon ability to steal a person’s future. In practice, this means magically putting them in a coma while filling a snowglobe with pretty smoke. He’s a tortured man, himself a victim of crime, struggling to build a better life for his daughter by escaping the sweltering and dystopian future of Kuala Lumpur. He is tempted into one last job to get the money to flee his situation. Will he successfully steal one last future to improve his own? Or will he fall prey to the forces that move against him?
I liked the setting of this story. Minton portrayed the sweltering Malaysian city well. However, the story can’t be good sf, because it’s not sf. It’s a fantasy story set in the future. The science fiction elements are not necessary to tell this story and only the fantasy element of Eshram’s magical power is required. Context is important, because if the device were used in a fantasy story, the reader might find the necessary leap easier; for instance, a similar idea to stealing a future is developed, and works well, in “The Discriminating Monster’s Guide to the Perils of Princess Snatching” by Scott M. Roberts. Overall, I thought “Thief of Futures” was pretty average, but might appeal if you like crime stories and can make the necessary leaps.
Lightspeed might be fairly new on the scene, but it’s making a very positive impact with a well-designed website and a range of interesting stories and useful supplementary material, and this issue is no exception.