Beneath Ceaseless Skies #400, February 8, 2024
“Doctor Souvenir” by Elly Bangs
“The Sunset Suite” by Matthew O. Fromboluti
“The Rug-Maker and the Wonder Collector” by Emily McIntyre
“Hiyannet” by Phoenix Alexander
Reviewed by Chuck Rothman
Beneath Ceaseless Skies is celebrating 400 issues and the stories of this double issue are interesting additions to their list of fiction.
Elly Bangs starts this issue out with “Doctor Souvenir.” It’s set in a future where people are functionally immortal and live in a place called “The Globe.” People periodically flush their earlier memories, but the protagonist goes to Doctor Souvenir to find a way out of the Globe. He has recordings of various people’s memories to sample, and the protagonist tries to use them to get their request filled. Interesting concept but I didn’t really warm to it.
“The Rug-Maker and the Wonder Collector” by Emily McIntyre is a short work about Gen, some kind of being—I get the impression of an android—who has been sent out by the company XCorp to gather wonders on other worlds. The narrator—the Rug-Maker of the title—has developed a romantic relationship with her. But soon Gen will be called back, the memory of the wonders erased, including the memory of Gen. Nice mood piece with an ending that deals with the issues of memories.
Phoenix Alexander’s “Hiyannet” is told from the point of view of Ibliss, a member of the Ssurang, an alien race that seems a mixture of insect and lizard. It is ruled with an iron hand by the Prime. Ibliss is worrying about his wife and son, who escaped from their society and fled to live with the humans across the sea. Ibliss wants to find her. But the Prime has forbidden it, and Ibliss has to give up a lot to get what he wants. Very good worldbuilding, especially on the biological end. The story engaged me despite the complexity of the world—a very good thing.
Wolfgang, the protagonist of “The Sunset Suite” by Matthew O. Fromboluti, shows his egotism from the very first sentence. The story is set in a world filled with clones and cloning after a war, and the various artists duplicate themselves to perform new works of art. Wolfgang resents Ling-Na, who he believes is a hack who doesn’t appreciate his genius. The society here is extremely baroque (though perhaps not entirely logical) and the story is watching Wolfgang rail against what doesn’t fit his mindset. Good characters and an engaging read.
Overall, a fine set of stories.
Chuck Rothman’s novels Staroamer’s Fate and Syron’s Fate are available from Fantastic Books. He will be running programming for the Buffalo NASFiC in July.