[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 5, 12, & 19, 2022

“A Love Letter Written at the Heat Death of the Universe” by Aimee Ogden (12/5/22)

“The Lifers” by Erin Innes (12/12/22)

“Our Heartstrings Howl the Moon” by Eleanna Castroianni (12/19/22)

Reviewed by Seraph

“A Love Letter Written at the Heat Death of the Universe” by Aimee Ogden

One of the beautiful things about speculative fiction, especially science fiction, can be summed up by the contrast between the worlds of Star Wars and Star Trek: in short, one resides long ago in a galaxy far, far away… while the other exists in our own galaxy far in the future. Both can exist within the same genre, and in the case of this story, it really could be either variety. The setting is deliberately vague with no time, place, or names given, but within that grey area there is room for infinite imagination. It is the multiversal meeting of two realities, one thriving and exploring technologies that allow the traversal of the barriers between universes, and the other the sole remaining survivor of a dying universe frozen in the very final moment of its existence. In a lot of ways, this is just the story of the discovery of a time capsule, but on a multiversal scale, and is fascinating in all the ways the author really explores the experience from the perspective of the (presumably) alien race.

“The Lifers” by Erin Innes

Science fiction has been fascinated by the concept of colonizing Mars (or other nearby planets) almost as a rule, and such stories often have elements of climate disaster or apocalyptic war that rendered Earth uninhabitable. This story takes it one step further, not only showing humanity seeking refuge elsewhere, but so thoroughly perfecting the terraforming to the point that the humans living on Mars are practically superhuman. Interestingly, the story echoes one of the themes of Genesis, after the banishment of Adam and Eve from Eden, specifically that the Earth itself is no longer welcoming, perhaps even hostile to human life. In contrast, Mars now is perfectly hospitable, cultivated to be the perfect home to humans. And yet, as scientists and grad students take the unwanted job to study the ruined Earth, they seemingly fall in love with it all over again, often staying for life as the title suggests. It is a study in the conflicting psychology of humans, and the inescapable pull of home even centuries later… and even in the face of a more perfect and desirable habitat.

“Our Heartstrings Howl the Moon” by Eleanna Castroianni

Seventeen children roam the war-torn landscape, set in an alternate-history Eastern Europe whilst the wall still divides Germany into East and West. Slavic children of partisans who found themselves on the seemingly losing end of a war, they roam from village to village, evading the soldiers of both sides, and living as a pack. The voices jump from child to child, first as they are all together, and later as they are separated and sent away to be adopted overseas. Tinted with the ever-so-slightest hint of the supernatural, regardless of where fate takes them, the “wolf” within each of them remains strong throughout their life, even as they return as adults to their childhood homeland. As a psychological study, it would be highly interesting. As fiction, I want to like the story, but it just feels like something is missing. I honestly don’t think it’s the fault of the author, there’s just too much breadth and width of these topics to cover in so short a space. It just… cries out for more. More attention, more thought, more awareness. Perhaps then, such a story would not happen again, as it does all across the world. And maybe that’s the highest compliment that I can give, that an alt-history fiction is written realistically and specifically enough to well up those intense feelings and draw forth the “never again” that the world so desperately needs to unite around. Then again, maybe there is a wolf in my own soul, if my heartstrings are pulled to howl this same moon.