[On May 10, 2021 Strange Horizons officially expressed its political support for Palestinian solidarity. The views of Tangent Online reviewers are not necessarily those of Strange Horizons. Fiction critiqued at Tangent Online is, as much as is humanly possible, without prejudice and based solely on artistic merit.]
Strange Horizons, December 2nd, 9th, and 16th, 2024
“To Drive the Cold Winter Away” by E. Catherine Tobler (12/2/24)
“A Wish For the Drowned” by Corey Farrenkopf (12/9/24)
“Exit Interview” by K. W. Onley (12/16/24)
Reviewed by Mina
This month’s stories focus on characters who want something different from their lives.
In “To Drive the Cold Winter Away” by E. Catherine Tobler, the narrator returns to her home island (Prince Edward Island based on the clues) for her mother’s funeral. She stays in her mother’s house and wanders the woods taking photographs of the damage done by men. She also sees two figures—half men, half caribou and moose. They promise her she can join them when her heart has beaten its last and her lungs have breathed their last. Until then she works at returning the island to its unspoiled state. The whole story has a dream-like quality.
“A Wish For the Drowned” by Corey Farrenkopf takes us to a world being taken over by the sea. Even in such a world there is still exploitation and drudgery: the two protagonists make T-shirts depicting the Water Wench. Desperate people row out during the Wish Ceremony and only one in five comes back alive, the rest becoming victims of the water monster. The trick is to make your wish as specific as possible. There is real love and care between the protagonists, which is what makes this grim tale palatable. Will they risk all for the small chance of a better life?
“Exit Interview” by K. W. Onley imagines a world where portals have opened everywhere to another world. But only Black women can cross over. Dottie watches her female friends and neighbours crossing over, all of them urging her to follow them. She stays because she is still fighting for equal rights in this world, a world where a Black woman is “negative space”: “a person passed over for potential jobs. A person less likely to be considered for a mortgage, loan, credit card. A person less likely to get married. Less likely to have health insurance and proper medical care, more likely to die from the care if she received it. A person amongst the most unseen, most unheard, most ignored, most easily dismissed.” And sexism is alive and kicking in Black men too, which is the reason hinted at for why they can’t cross over. Gradually, Dottie is left with fewer and fewer reasons to stay. A story with an unapologetic political message.