[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, November 14, 2022
Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf
The narrator of “B-ing” by Crystal Odelle is transitioning from male to female in middle age. An experimental time travel drug allows the narrator to grow younger, while changing the past so that the transition is not necessary.
I have probably badly distorted the story in the above synopsis, because the narrative is difficult to follow. Unlike many tales of time travel, which rely on carefully constructed plots, this one is more impressionistic.
At well under fifteen hundred words, the text is very condensed. It is also full of wordplay. (A pun between cruller and crueler seems a bit silly in an otherwise very serious work.) A very minor character has the same first name as the author, further drawing the reader out of the story.
Victoria Silverwolf is having a busy night at work.