Strange Horizons, June 15, 2015

“What We’re Having” by Nathaniel Lee

Reviewed by Kris Rudin

What an odd little story. It’s a series of short daily menus, with commentary by the narrator. And it involves time travel (of some sort.) The unnamed narrator is a gay man, sharing a home with his boyfriend, Frankie. The narrator works nights and Frankie works days, so they rarely see each other. Each day the narrator comes home, there is food waiting for him – food made with ingredients that he hasn’t bought yet. But this doesn’t appear to trouble the narrator too much – he’s more interested in nattering on about how he feels and his relationship with Frankie. So, while technically this is a time-travel story, it’s really just an excuse to explore the relationship between the narrator and Frankie. There is no real story arc, and not much happens. It’s an interesting concept, but that’s about all.