It was time. Time to try and get back on the blogging horse. Specifically time to get back to rounding up a collection of short speculative fiction I enjoyed and hope you will too. The Short Fiction Rec Roundup. Most stories this week are not of the happy variety. Seems fitting enough with the general mood going on these days. Still, there is some fun here, some cool, some spooky and tragic beauty. Hopefully there is something for you.

“Men in Cars” by Lisa M. Bradley from Anathema Magazine #9

This is the sort of horror story that’s hard to say too much about, because you don’t want to give anything away. I will say it was delightful for me to try and figure out which classic trope it was playing with only to realize at the end that perhaps I had limited the scope of my imagination a little too much. At one point I thought it might make a good Supernatural episode. But later I figured early seasons X-files might be better. CW: Story references sexual abuse and violence.

“Green Tunnels” by Taimur Ahmad from Fireside Magazine January 2020

So. I originally intended to get back to these roundups about a month ago. Most of these stories were read around then. At the time, this sad story about a family in exile, looking out to earth, their lost home, read like what I assume it was meant to be: a tale of a possible hard future if we don’t get our act together regarding taking care of this planet we all share. A look at the future conversations that our kids or grandkids might have to have with their children because of our failures. It is still that. But in the current climate of isolation and distancing and trying to find solutions to worldwide problems it’s hard not to focus on the loneliness and loss, and the hard conversations many of us parents are having right now. In that light, this story takes on a cathartic tone for me. Sometimes sad is what you want in sad times.

“Ngozi Ugegbe Nwa” by Dare Segun Falowo from The Dark Magazine #57

Dark seems to be the general theme of this round up so it seems fitting that our third tale is from The Dark. It feels like a fairy tale to me. The old, original kind with the magic, yes, but also all the blood and tragedy left in. There is something comforting about the fact that no matter the country or culture, if you find yourself in a story, avoid buying anything from mysterious strangers you meet on the road. Especially if they seem extra unpleasant. And especially if they know your name.

“Remembrance of Worlds Past” by Andrew Wilmot from Augur Magazine #2.3

Another sad tale of loss. Where my mind was at when I read these weeks ago seems quite clear now and like some of the other stories in this round up it takes on a new feeling when looked at through the lens of the world today. Here a personal loss, which happens slowly, is couple with a world-changing event, which also occurs slowly. And as each inevitable event moves closer to realization the weight of the former becomes so great that the effect of the later is almost afterthought. And isn’t that always the way? Not matter how big an event is, not matter how world shaking, it will always be the small personal stories and tragedies that affect us most deeply. We are not well equipped as a people to fully grapple with things of enormous scale. But the small, the intimate, those things can break us.

“The Transition of Osoosi” by Ozzie M. Gartrell from FIYAH Magazine #13

Here we have something that is once again, a bit dark, at times, but also quite cool. Here Ozzie M. Gartrell spins an afrofuturist cyber punk novelette with a world that is soaked in all the cool and slick tech that cyberpunk demands, but with the awareness that the extreme capitalism run amok of such settings as a projection of our own timeline will bring their corporate and societal boots down hardest on the people they have always brought them down on. Here is a society of second class citizens and the abuse of police and the legal system codified into law. And in such a world is there really such thing as going too far to smash the system? Are any sacrifices too great? It’s hard not to cheer on our protagonist and the hacktivist cyber gods who are his potential patrons when they seem to answer no. Definitely one of those stories where I would do a little dance of joy to hear it were being turned into an HBO series. This I would most definitely watch.

And that is all for the first short fiction rec roundup of 2020. If you enjoy any of these stories yourself I hope you’ll share them too and support the authors and publications by spreading the word about the stories they’ve given us. If you’d like to see the full list of previous Roundups and the authors included in each you can find that here.