Lately I’ve been making an effort to read more short fiction since I’ve been on an almost exclusively novel diet for a couple of years. But now that online magazines are making it easy for me to read them on my eReader or phone or tablet, I will do my bit by actually reading them.
Last month I started in earnest, so here’s a list of the stories I read and loved in April.
- An Early Adoption by Rahul Kanakia
- I really enjoyed the descriptions of the impossible, unreal things in the virtual world. I don’t know that I identify with the main character’s reaction to them, but then I’ve always wanted to live in a holodeck.
- The Second Card of the Major Arcana By Thoraiya Dyer
- Interesting interpretation of the Sphinx. I like the clash between ancient and modern and the unrelenting nature of the main character.
- Electric Rains by Kathleen Ann Goonan
- Due to the setting and a sort-of similar theme, this reminded me a lot of The Drowned Cities, except I like it a lot more. Dystopian, post-apocalyptic, very personal and close and sad.
- Mother Ship by Caroline M. Yoachim
- I’m not such a big fan of stories that offer resonance and not a real resolution, but the pull of the character in this one really grabbed me.
- Sunlight Society by Margaret Ronald
- Very interesting read, especially when juxtaposed with the new Avengers movie. It’s not actually about superheroes. Not really…
- My She by Mary Rosenblum
- Really liked this story when I read it in Federations. Quiet and affecting meditation on technology and humanity.
Visit my Favorite Fiction stack to see all the other short stories I’ve liked so far this year.
Also of note: just finished N. K. Jemisin’s The Killing Moon and it’s amazingly good. You’ll love it if you liked her Inheritance trilogy. I also got hooked into E. C. Myers Fair Coin even though I already read that book long ago. Yet somehow it completely sucked me in. I guess this is why io9 called it pure, awesome crack ;)
You have that as your icon. XD