It’s been awhile, but the short fiction roundup is back! I’ve been mulling over this one for awhile and finally realized I needed to just pull the trigger and put it out there. Only four stories this time, but it’s better to share four good stories with you than none. And to start rebuilding that momentum so 2019 can be a great year of reading and sharing short fiction. So take a look below, and enjoy!
“The Duke of Riverside” by Ellen Kushner from Uncanny Magazine
Our first story this week happens to be a revised reprint and an interesting introduction to a world I’d like to spend some more time in. Thankfully I can, as Ellen Kushner has both novels that comprise her Riverside series and a prequel serial over at Serial Box (which is my newest favorite way to enjoy fiction).
Of course, when I started reading this story I knew none of that. I had no previous knowledge of this world of Ellen Kushner’s; I was simply looking for a story to read and this one seemed worth a try. As I’m including it in the Roundup and looking to dive further into this world, clearly I think it was. The story itself might suffer a bit from being only a taste of a larger world, but it gives us a setting and host of characters that is fun. Riverside is the poor part of town, The Hill the wealthy area. Many problems are settled in this place by sword duels and when the story isn’t painting a picture of this city for us it is focusing on a very unexpected relationship that grows up between the best swordsman in the city, and a strange, unruly, and quite probably depressed young man who has seemingly exiled himself from wealthy society. Kushner brings all of this to life so vividly in this story that it truly laughs in the face of those who would advise writers to limit their cast and scope when tackling the shorter story forms.
Definitely recommended for anyone looking for a taste of a world that might just pull them in as it has me.
“Lord Serpent” by Mary Soon Lee from Fireside Fiction
This is a fun flash piece written in the flavor of myth or folk tale. In it we learn the fate of the titular Lord Serpent, who is one of four demons to descend upon the middle kingdom and lay siege to the Purple Forbidden City. A great little story it hits all of its notes perfectly, including the use of the phrase “meat patties”. As a bonus the story includes a gorgeous piece of art from Galen Dara, and an audio version narrated by C.S.E. Cooney.
“Circus Girl, The Hunter, and Mirror Boy” by Neon Yang from Tor.com
Moving from flash to something quite a bit longer the third story I enjoyed and want to share with you this week is a novelette from Neon Yang. Yang’s Tensorate novella series has been a part of my TBR pile for awhile now; after reading this (which to my knowledge has nothing to do with that series) it’s moving to the priority pile. The worldbuilding here is wonderful with subtle details built up one atop the other until we are left with a complex and fascinating world. The process of it is so wonderful I don’t want to give out details here, it feels too much like spoilers. There is also an interesting use of shifting POV, corresponding to the characters named in the title, that works in a way I’ve not encountered before myself with each section of the story told from a different POV and being shorter than the last. With a satisfying ending as the cherry on top this is a very good story from the hand of a particularly adroit writer.
“Notes on The Plague” by Shamar Harriott from FIYAH Issue #9
This is a powerful, meditative, painful story. It’s the kind of story that sits with you. The kind of story that has to come last in a roundup of short fiction because it just wouldn’t feel right to have anything else after it. The story is laid out quite clearly in the blurb from the table of contents:
A mysterious plague is killing black people. Amidst this tragedy, a small group of hopeful survivors tries to figure out how to retain their will to survive without the ability to touch—or trust.
It’s also important to mention that it carries with it a trigger warning for suicide.
EDIT: After posting this I went and read Charles Payseur’s review of the story and realized quite immediately that he has most surely hit much closer to the mark of what the author intended with this story. I’ve left my thoughts below because, frankly, part of experiencing any art is what the artist intends but also what we bring with us to our experiencing of that art. Art and stories are conversations and will evoke different things for different people. I feel, however, you would be very well served to go read Charles’ review of this one too. His conversation with this story is an important one.
Clearly, I approach a story like this as an outsider. Yes it is an incredibly human story that will pull at the emotions of anyone with a shred of empathy. But it is also, I suspect (remember: outsider here) an especially relevant story for Black people living through what I can only imagine must sometimes feel like a plague ridden world. A place where no action, however normal and milquetoast can lead to a confrontation with people authorized to use deadly force anytime they feel afraid. I see it said often in the people I follow on social media, a simple phrase or variation on it: “I’m tired. Aren’t you all tired?”
The characters in this story are tired. Exhausted even. It is not a fun read, but it is a very damn good read. Depending who you are I would not be surprised if you feel tired when it’s done too. Or you might feel seen. Either way, if you feel up to it, it gets my highest of recommendations.
And that’s going to be it for our first roundup of 2019. It took almost a quarter of the year to get here, but that’s ok. There’s a lot of year left and more great stories to read than any one person could handle. We are (and have been for awhile now) living in a golden age of short fiction. Go out and enjoy it and support the writers and markets putting it out there for us in whatever way you are able.