Category: short story

I was in tears through the second half of "Still Life (A Sexagesimal Fairy Tale)" by Ian Tregillis, available to read online at Apex magazine. This fantasy story takes place in a town that exists outside of time. It had slipped into the chasm between tick and tock, to land in its own instantaneous eternity. And so its residents occupied their endless moment with pageants and festivals and reveled in century-long masques, filled forever with decadent delights. They picnicked in the botanical gardens, made love in scented boudoirs, danced through their eternal twilight. And they disregarded the fog that shrouded their city with soft grey light. And Time didn't care. Time left the city alone, except for one woman, the woman Time loves. But because Time cared for her, adored her, she was the only person in the town to age. She was also unique in that she was a clockmaker, although her timepieces were not always conventional. She is the only...

I read another Nebula nominee today, "Ponies" by Kij Johnson, available on-line here at Tor.com. It's an awful little story, not because it's badly written, but the end made me cover my mouth in horror. In this world, every girl has a pony with wings, a unicorn horn and a voice. A time comes, as the girl gets older, when she and her pony are invited to a cutting-out party, where the girl has to cut out two of her pony's three gifts. It's more like cutting a doll; it doesn't seem to physically hurt the ponies. Barbara and her pony Sunny are looking forward to their cutting-out party, but what happens is just devastating. I understand that it's a story about growing up, about the pressures to fit in and the tendency for girls to be downright cruel at times, but I almost wish I hadn't read it. It's well-written but so disturbing. 1,255 words Tor.com 11/17/10 5 out of 5 stars John hosts...

I know I've fallen in love with characters in a few of the books I've read over the years. But then the story's over and I move on to my next crush. It's not so in "The Green Book" by Amal El-Mohtar. The piece starts out with a description of a book, perhaps part of an inventory. But after that brief introduction, the remainder is a letter copying what the writer found in The Green Book. The writer, Dominic, is an apprentice to Leuwin who has a library and spends his time collecting and learning. The Green Book is given to him because it is so special, so unusual. Dominic transcribes the writing in the book, writing done by four people throughout the years, although the two at the heart of the story are Leuwin and Cynthia. Cynthia is trapped in the book, a living death she can never escape. Leuwin falls in love with her, and is desperate to release her. The...