“Don’t use words too big for the subject. Don’t say ‘infinitely’ when you mean ‘very’; otherwise you’ll have no word left when you want to talk about something really infinite.”
–C.S. Lewis
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More short stories from Daily Science Fiction! Last week when these stories were e-mailed, one of the days Daily Science Fiction mentioned my blog, as well as the blog Songs of Eretz. Both of us review their stories, so they just gave us a nice plug. Very appreciative! What a privilege!
Onto the stories!
April 22, 2013
Snippets
by k. b. dalai
The story is written by a husband and wife team, and I must say that they started this story off with such anticipation of what was to come next, it reeled me right in! Roger’s an intercept analyst who works for NRO. One night his boss visits his home and drops an attaché case in front of him and lets him know that whatever he discovers, he is to report it directly to the president.
After that, it kind of dwindled. I didn’t understand why Roger would show the information to someone without clearance, and the ending of the story didn’t seem to end. It just appeared to trail off. Which would have been fine, as some stories work better that way, but I didn’t feel that this story presented anything other than a question. You can read Snippets by clicking here.
April 23, 2013
Grief in the Strange Loop
by Rhonda Eikamp
Quite a story. It involves time travel, and it gives a twist to a father being absent in the household, which I believe does have bearings on how the family is as a whole. While I liked the intertwining of multiple aspects of the story (absent father, father complex, a son you never knew) it seemed more summary to me than story. Perhaps because the author introduced so much potential for a larger piece of fiction. There is a lot more story that could be told. You can read Grief in the Strange Loop by clicking here.
April 24, 2013
Swan Song
by Melissa Mead (her website)
Melissa Mead is a skillful writer and very imaginative. I could say that all day. This story, however, I didn’t connect with. It felt so much like exposition and not really a story. There were characters but they didn’t come off as people. And I don’t know what fairy tale this is a derivative of either (but that’s on me). You can read Swan Song here.
April 25, 2013
The Lady Electric
by Gary B. Phillips (his blog)
This story wasn’t bad. The tone was mellow but it wasn’t boring. The story was slow but it didn’t drag. I think it was a very good balance. It’s a story about a lady who is basically electric, and a man named Edison gets hold of her and puts her in his laboratory, powering cities with her power. The main character, a man the reader only knows as “Mr. Atwood,” knew her before her captivity, loves her, and wants to see her free. Worth checking out! You can read The Lady Electric here.
April 26, 2013
Chasing Unicorns
by Terra LeMay (her website)
Starting the story mentioning unicorn hunters? WIN! Immediately afterwards being introduced to six people in three paragraphs? Rather off-putting. The story isn’t for the faint of heart, as it really does deal with hunting unicorns. It’s a bit on the graphic side, but I personally didn’t think it was overly so. Anyways, the main character is Shay, a guy who knows his way around processing illegal substances. And unicorn horn (and therefore hunting unicorns) is not legal, even though it is an antidote to poison and not a drug. One thing I liked about this story is the analogies used and the fact that unicorn hunting is not so simple. The unicorns have a very interesting defensive mechanism that appeals to people’s emotions. Worth the read if you’re not squeamish. You can read Chasing Unicorns here.
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