It turns out that some of my favorite stories I read last month were about characters taking revenge on the patriarchy. I can’t imagine what might be happening in the world, so I would really enjoy stories where the patriarchy finally gets what it deserves. Definitely a mystery. And also resurrection. Strange bedfellows. Anyway, here are ten great short science fiction stories.
“Bright Lights, Dark Millennium” by EC Dorgan
“When I left the prairie, I was a nobody, but as I step off the train on the cusp of the new millennium, I know my time to shine has come.” Our Métis narrator grew up in rural Canada before moving to Toronto in 1999. He gets a job at a mysterious but alluring company and has to compete for the job with four other people – a Métis physics geek and the rest of the wealthy white people. What kind of job is it? Who knows. What does the company do? *shrug* Who are those strange gray beings in the mirror? Don’t ask. What I love about this story is that it’s not a dark fantasy about sinister beings, but also a commentary on colonialism, assimilation (particularly as it relates to Indigenous identities), and the ways we can eagerly participate in our own cultural destruction without necessarily realizing it. (Gamut Magazine – July 2024; Issue 8)
“Eternal Recurrence” by Spencer Nitkey
“The deepfake is nothing like you.” If you know anything about AI or generative AI, this story will touch you. Our narrator keeps trying to replicate the person he lost, first through technology, then through increasingly strange circumstances. Grief is a hellish thing. Sometimes it feels impossible to move on. What kind of life can you lead without your center? (Diabolical Plots – July 1, 2024; Issue 113)
“Father Ash” by Rachel Hartman
I don’t know how Rachel Hartman keeps coming up with ideas based on the fantasy world she created for the Seraphina and Tess of the Road duologies, but I’m so excited about it. Father Ash is “adapted from a Goreddi folk tale,” with Goredd being a kingdom in the Southlands where the protagonists of the aforementioned series hail from. You don’t have to have read any of the books in this world to enjoy this story. A man with no memory is on the run while a young woman tries to save his life. It’s bittersweet, as the best traditional fairy tales are, as the couple make choices that hurt as much as they comfort. (Sunday Morning Transport – July 21, 2024)
“Melting Point” by Cass Wilkinson Saldaña
I can safely say that this is the first short story I’ve ever read where the narrator is a shipping container on a cargo ship. The technology controlling the container develops a consciousness. It starts a one-sided conversation with a stray pigeon who has inadvertently stowed away on the ship. The story is strange and fragmented, but still strangely poetic. And it got me thinking about the ways we—that is, my trans, nonbinary, and queer siblings—search for connection and community. We do the unexpected and find others who are equally unexpected, and in doing so, we create bonds that defy convention. (Apparition Literary Magazine – July 2024; Issue 27)
“Schrödinger’s Bones” by André Geleynse
Our protagonist in this fantasy short story decides to resurrect his dead kitten. André Geleynse describes the corpse and the process in lurid detail, but doesn’t let the story drift into the horror genre. If anything, it’s hopeful. I’m more of a rat person than a cat person, but every time I lose one of my babies, I wish I could bring them back to life. It made me want to get up off the couch to hug my boys. (Small Wonders – July 2024; Issue 13)
“Skinless” by Eugenia Triantafyllou
A guy running a roadside tourist trap is talking to some girls about monsters. The guy explains to them how to tame a woman and stop her from being a monster by hiding her animal skin, similar to a selkie (though that word is never used in the story). I know the cliche of an innocent-looking girl turning out to be a monster is an old one, but it’s one of my favorites. Little girls aren’t always sugar and spice; sometimes they have sharp teeth and bloody vengeance. (Haven Speculative – July 2024; Issue 16)
“The Angel’s Share” by Martin Cahill
“The air grew heavy with all that was left unsaid. At some point he must have realized what Mrs. Mead had realized some time ago: What the hell can you really say after a lifetime of trauma?” Mrs. Mead’s house is haunted by angels. Mostly they feed on what’s left of her dead mother, but the longer they infest her life, the more she loses herself in their hunger. A moving story about surviving abuse, not just about escaping an abuser, but about how trauma can cling to you like a parasite. It can make you do horrible things to others and to yourself, sometimes as punishment and sometimes out of a perverse kind of glee. (Reactor – July 24, 2024)
“Three Things That Happen the Night My Father Dies” by Isabel Cañas
This short piece is exactly what it says on the tin: three descriptions of the life of our narrator’s father as he dies as a teenager. Each afterlife experience is different and shapes the people in his life in unique ways. Isabel Cañas’ story has a youthful quality that I loved. It’s not just the father’s story, but also what his child thinks about it and the impact his death (and sometimes resurrection) has on her. Death is never just an individual experience. (The Deadlands – Summer 2024; Issue 35)
“To Call the Lightning” by Rebecca Burton
I love a good old-fashioned revenge story, and Rebecca Burton delivers just that with this twisted little fairytale. When Mathilde arrives at the tower – or, more accurately, returns to it – it’s a dark and stormy night. The nobles who inhabit the tower weren’t expecting her, but they should have. They took everything from her, and now she’s back to exact revenge. They may have forgotten her, but now Mathilde is making sure she’s the last thing on their minds. A vicious tale that’s less about abolishing the patriarchy and more about burning it down and salting the earth. (Kaleidotrope – Summer 2024)
“What is summoned will disappear” by Akis Linardos
Speaking of screwing the patriarchy, I present to you What Is Conjured Shall Vanish. After the new emperor slaughters all the witches, a young woman tries to protect her magically inclined mother by sacrificing herself. The daughter casts spells to create imaginary food to ease the pains of hunger, while her mother charms her mouth into a smile so the emperor won’t know how angry they are. Many authors would like to give a story like this a happy or at least revolutionary ending, but Akis Linardos chooses just the right resolution. (Apex – July 2024; Issue 145)
