Ramblings on Writing
Reviews, Rants, and Observations on SF/F/H

I am a thirty-something speculative fiction writer. More importantly to this blog, I am a reader of science fiction, horror, and science fiction. Recently it came to my attention that there are very few places reviewing short stories in the genres that I love. I also had the epiphany that I had not been reading enough of these stories. So, an idea was born to address both of these issues.

So, starting in September 2012, this silly little blog of mine that has more or less been gathering dust will be dedicated to looking at and reviewing short form works published both in print magazines and in on-line formats.

Reviews will be posted at least once a month, hopefully more, and stories will be selected completely at my whim. However, if you have read something amazing, thought-provoking, or interesting, please feel free to drop me a recommendation.

Because a big part of the point of this exercise is to improve my own writing by looking at people doing it successfully, I will only be selecting stories to look at from professional or semi-professional markets.

Please note, however, because a big part of the point of this exercise is to improve my own writing by looking at people doing it successfully, I will only be selecting stories to look at from professional or semi-professional markets.

I intend to write honest, and hopefully interesting, reviews to let people know more about the wide variety of fantastic (both in subject and quality) stories out there. There will be no personal attacks on authors and no excoriating hatchet jobs. There is nothing to be learned from reviewing truly bad work and nothing to be gained by being mean. I will not do it and, should I be so lucky as to get readers and commentators, I would ask that they not do so either. Be respectful and everyone gets to have a more interesting conversation.

What I will do is to give my honest and reasoned reactions to stories and try to determine why or why not particular elements worked. I will try to acknowledge my personal biases and to become more open-minded about those things that are not in the realm of my personal preference.

Also, because this is my blog and I can, there may be occasional entries on my own writing process, things I find interesting, or whatever else I feel inclined to add. This may all crash and burn spectacularly, but it's going to be a heck of a lot of fun in the meantime.

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STORY REVIEW: "Iphigenia in Aulis"

Now that the holidays are over I am hoping to not only get back on my regular reviewing schedule but to make up the two missed reviews in the coming months. If I am lucky, this will happen. If I am unlucky my health will continue to drive me to distraction.

All I can say is I'll try.

Also, I am taking a slight detour from my normal fare of stories published in the big magazines. I came across this story in an anthology and it was too good not to share.

"Iphigenia in Aulis" by Mike Carey
AN APPLE FOR THE CREATURE: ALL-NEW TALES OF UNNATURAL EDUCATION edited by Charlaine Harris and Toni L.P. Kelner and published Sept 2012 by Penguin

It is no secret that I read a lot and that as a writer I often like to examine the work of other authors to find ways to improve my own writing. That's even a big part of the motivation behind these reviews. However, every once in awhile something will come along that knocks me completely out of critical mode and straight into slack-jawed wonder. These stories are the ones that both inspire and depress me because they exemplify the power of fiction and remind me how very far I have to go with my own writing. The short story "Blood Music" by Greg Bear is one of these. "Iphigenia in Aulis" is another.

Carey deftly weaves together strong writing, characterization, and details with a though-provoking world and complicated situations. If there were not enough he also adds the parallel of the mythology referenced in the title to enhance the entire conflict. By the end of reading all of the elements have built to a crescendo that is almost unbearably sad and yet strikingly poignant.

While the idea of Iphigenia is important you do not need to know the myth to read this story. In fact, you don't need to know much of anything going in. Just trust that the author will give you the clues you need.

The protagonist is a child who does not understand the details of her situation. This throws the reader into the deep end and adds a palpable sense of unease right from the start. The thing is her situation seems cold and almost abusive for a child and yet she accepts it with such matter-of-factness. This is simply her life, has always been her life.

As the story grows she begins to gather information that helps put her world in context. Because as a reader we have information she doesn't, including the rather meta knowledge that her world exists in an anthology about supernatural creatures, the reader is able to piece together the situation slightly faster than the character herself. This causes even further dread and dissonance.

As this learning process is a large part of the magic of the story I am going to be deliberately vague in regards to the plot. However, what I can say is that Carey deftly weaves together social commentary on large current issues and on education with an exploration of human nature, acceptance, and sacrifice.

There were some minor flaws perhaps in the building and to me the ending was perhaps not as strong as I expected. However, it took my three weeks of considering the story to decide that and it is entirely possible that my feelings on the ending have more to do with the crash of a well-built emotional crescendo and subsequent shock setting in than a fault in the text.

Regardless of any possible small issues it is a thought-provoking and deeply moving story which I highly recommend. This is a story that will stay with you.



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