Short SF Marathon Day 21: An Owomoyela, Susan Palwick, K. J. Parker

An Owomoyela, “And Wash Out by Tides of War.” Clarkesworld, February 2014.

This is a story about a woman growing up without her mother because her mother has gone off to war and what happens when she comes back. One of the qualities a good science fiction writer should have is the ability to imply a much larger world than is shown in their story and make it look natural. Owomoyela has that ability in spades.

Susan Palwick, “Weather.” Clarkesworld, September 2014.

Every now and then I still have a dream in which Sandra’s alive and in that dream I both know she’s alive and know she isn’t. I always wake up stressed and depressed The idea of giving the dead a virtual afterlife, of having them interact with their friends and family left behind fills me with dread. That seems like the worst of both worlds, having them there but out of reach, never quite getting closure.

Not a new idea in science fiction, but Susan Palwick gives it a new twist and makes this a deeply humane story about love and regret and wanting to make up for mistakes made when it’s probably already too late.

K. J. Parker, “Heaven Thunders the Truth.” Beneath Ceaseless Skies, October 2, 2014.

I said Yoon Ha Lee had the most stories in this list, but K. J. Parker equals him. Parker is a veteran SFF writer I’ve never read anything by, one of those writers who’s there but never discussed much. As an introduction to their writing, “Heaven Thunders the Truth” would be difficult to improve. Set in a vaguely African country, it’s a story about a wizard and a king and the virtue of telling the truth at all times.

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