Richard Parks, “The Sorrow of Rain.” Beneath Ceaseless Skies, October 2, 2014.
This is the second Richard Parks story, again from Beneath Ceaseless Skies and the last story on the list to come from that magazine. If you like traditional fantasy, this may be the magazine for you because all of these stories have been interesting at the very least. “The Sorrow of Rain” is no exception, a story of Lord Yamada and his friend the priest Kenji coming to hunt down some demon or ghost keeping the summer rains going over the village of Aoiyama but finding something else entirely.
I’m certain whether this is meant to be set in historical Japan or a fantasy analogue, or whether it matters. A somewhat bittersweet love story and Parks is somebody I’d like to read more off.
Shannon Peavey, “Dogs From Other Places” (audio only). Orson Scott Card’s InterGalactic Medicine Show, Issue 38, March 2014.
I didn’t read this because this was only available as an audio book and I can’t stand those.
Robert Reed, “Pernicious Romance.” Clarkesworld, November 2014.
A typically complex and thought provoking Robert Reed story about what seems to be a terrorist attack during a football game which sent the entire stadium in what looked to be a coma and killed a couple of dozen people. Things get strange however when the victims start to wake up and tell stories of living weeks to entire lives in other worlds.
It’s told as some sort of government report or scientific study, which I’m a sucker for. No real explenation for the event is given, though strong hints are dropped.