The Short Story Thread

That was a very good story indeed.

Starting reviews of this anthology:

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"The End of the World" by Eugene Mouton (translation of "La fin du monde," 1872) -- Essay which imagines the destruction of all life on the planet due to overheating caused by industrialization. Seems to have written a bit tongue-in-cheek, as a satiric account of late 19th century progress.
 
"The Comet" by W. E. B. Du Bois (1920) -- Earth passes through the poisonous tail of a comet, leaving only a black man and a white woman alive in New York City. A bit like the movie The World, the Flesh, and the Devil (without the third survivor) but mostly about the relationship between the races.

"The Pedestrian" by Ray Bradbury (1951) -- Famous and frequently reprinted story about a man who is the only person who goes for a walk at night. Mostly a satire on the impact of television on society.

"No Morning After" by Arthur C. Clarke (1954) -- Advanced aliens use telepathy to contact a scientist on Earth with a warning for humanity, with unexpected results. Ironic.

"Upon the Dull Earth" by Philip K. Dick (1954) -- Very strange story which just keeps getting weirder as it goes on. A young woman is able to contact beings from some other realm of existence by attracting them with animal blood, with the intention of eventually joining them. Then things get really bizarre. A compelling story.

"2 B R 0 2 B" by Kurt Vonnegut, Jr. (1962) -- Darkly satiric story of a future where the population is controlled by encouraging voluntary euthanasia. A variation on the author's better known story "Welcome to the Monkey House."

"I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" by Harlan Ellison (1967) -- Very famous story about a handful of people tortured for eternity within the computer they created. Intense.

"The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" by Ursula K. LeGuin (1973) -- Equally famous allegorical fantasy about a utopian city whose happiness depends on the misery of a single child. Powerful.
 
"The Engineer and the Executioner" by Brian M. Stableford (1975) -- Mostly a dialogue between the fellow who designed an entirely new ecosystem inside an asteroid and the robot who has come to destroy it as potentially dangerous. Imaginative.

"The End of the Whole Mess" by Stephen King (1986) -- The narrator relates how his genius brother came up with a way to eliminate human violence, with unintended consequences. Has the typical down-to-earth King style.

"Tight Little Stitches in a Dead Man's Back" by Joe R. Lansdale (1986) -- After a nuclear war, the narrator and his wife are among the survivors in an underground shelter. They emerge to confront the strange and very dangerous world above. Somewhat surreal blend of science fiction, horror, and psychological drama, with some stuff which seems like pure fantasy or else the delusions of an unreliable narrator.
 
"Judgment Engine" by Greg Bear (1995) -- Many billions of years in the future, the final bit of energy in the universe is about to run out. Beings composed of group minds made up of the stored consciousness of human beings from the past revive one of their individual components. Pretty mind-blowing SF, with concepts so far out that they seem surrealistic.
 
"Automatic" by Erica L. Satifka (2007) -- Set in a future after a plague that wiped out most of humanity and left many of the survivors with weird body distortions. Then energy beings from Ganymede come along and take over parts of all of the survivors' bodies in return for goods. Lots of concepts in a very short story.

"The Black Mould" by Mark Samuels (2010) -- Account of an organism which eventually spreads to take over all of the universe (and other universes as well) in its endless, futile quest to free itself from its nightmares. Narrated without characters or dialogue, and in what seems to be a deliberately old-fashioned, decadent style which reminds me of Clark Ashton Smith or some other writer of weird fiction.
 
"The Pretence" by Ramsey Campbell (2013) -- Takes place in the present or very near future, when a cult has spread the story that the world will come to an end on a certain date. The day comes and goes, and all seems normal, but then things become slightly odd. A subtle novella, whose mood reminds me a bit of Robert Aickman.

"Inventory" by Carmen Maria Machado (2013) -- Takes the form of a series of paragraphs about the people the narrator has had sex with during her life. In the background to her encounters is an increasingly devastating viral illness. Might be seen as an allegory of AIDS.

And that's the end of that anthology.
 
Well, there are some genuine classics in the book. It's hard to pick among the Bradbury, the Ellison, and the Vonnegut. But among those I had read before, I'd have to go with the LeGuin. Among the ones I had not read before, I found the Dick to be fascinatingly bizarre and the Campbell to be very effective.

So, best classic = "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas"

Best old, unfamiliar story = "Upon the Dull Earth"

Best new, unfamiliar story = "The Pretence"
 
THE BONE KEY: THE NECROMANTIC MYSTERIES OF KYLE MURCHISON BOOTH by Sarah Monette

Our protagonist is Kyle Murchison Booth, last son of a once respected New England family and now a senior archivist in the Department of Rare Books for the Samuel Mather Parrington Museum. As the result of a brush with necromancy Booth has developed sensitivity to the proximity of the odd and macabre, becoming a locus for supernatural entities and events. The ten stories in The Bone Key detail his unwanted adventures, episodes that terrify and sometimes scar him, psychically if not physically, but which he cannot ignore out of a sense of decency, duty and an inherent inability to let any puzzle remain unsolved. Herein Monette merges her fascination and enjoyment of the stories of M. R. James with a similar fascination and enjoyment of the work of H. P. Lovecraft, finding a basis for her antiquarian by employing an actual museum staff member.

“Bringing Helena Back”: Booth’s college roommate, Blaine, is as gregarious as Booth is withdrawn. Booth was present when Blaine met his wife, Helena, but never felt comfortable with her and tried to warn Blaine about her selfishness, rupturing their friendship. But several years later, after Helena dies, Blaine tracks Booth down and asks him to decode the contents of his newest book acquisition. Booth recognizes the book and its power, a book along the lines of the infamous Book of Whispers: Blaine’s objective is bringing Helena back. This story has echoes of Lovecraft’s “The Statement of Randolph Carter.”

“The Venebretti Necklace”: While exploring a basement storage room Mr. Lucent and Booth see finger bones. Maybe not unusual in a museum, but their position indicates the owner had been trying to claw through the back brick wall. In spite of the gruesome discovery, this story signals the appearance of a wry sense of humor in Monette’s handling of the genre. For me, “Necklace” recalls M. R. James’ stories like “Casting the Runes” and “Oh, Whistle, and I’ll Come to You, My Lad”.

“The Bone Key”: Booth’s cousin intends to continue the family by marrying Booth off to her friend, who is quite happy to sacrifice herself. Literally sacrifice herself, since a curse on Booth’s mother’s family greatly shortens their marriages to people from outside the family. Booth demurs and his cousin insists on having the Bone Key, the source of power for the family’s women, and that may be more dangerous.

“Wait for Me”: Even accepting donations is dangerous for Booth, as when a dead teenager has attached herself to her old room. Monette is adept at portraying her characters’ guilt and anguish over past deeds and mistakes, and this in turn reflects on Booth and his situation.

“Drowning Palmer”: Forced to attend his prep school reunion and recruit a famed explorer/archeologist for the Parrington, Booth is further tortured by dreams reenacting scenes of the past, of the harassment of a young boy and his drowning in the school’s pool. But who watches without helping?


More when I get a chance to write them.


Randy M.
 
More from The Bone Key by Sarah Monette

“The Inheritance of Barnabas Wilcox”: Reminded of his existence by their school reunion, Barnabus Wilcox engages Booth to evaluate and catalog his late uncle’s library, a condition of the uncle’s will. When Booth recognizes one book as the infamous Book of Whispers he knows there’s danger and he must act.

“Elegy for a Demon Lover”: What happens when you meet someone who makes you perfectly happy, who is your perfect lover, whose only wish is to please you, and you know he’s killing you?

“The Wall of Clouds”: Longest story in the collection and my favorite since it's a variation of the English country house mystery. When Booth is found prostrate on the floor of his office, running a fever and when roused, incoherent, Dr. Starkweather arranges a stay at a convalescent hotel. After many weeks Booth finally recuperates but of course it’s not that easy. Odd occurrences begin, like massive urns tipping over on the stairwell and plates and glasses smashing in the dining room, some of it apparently centering on a desperate young woman tied economically to her demanding aunt. To avoid socializing and at the manager's request, Booth organizes the hotel's library and uncovers disturbing references to deaths and disappearances over the years, his suspicions strengthened by his own instinctive wariness of the elevator. Two old women who have taken up residence at the hotel have some answers and a secret, and provide the reader with some amusement as they natter on.

“The Green Glass Paperweight”: Throughout the book there are allusions to Booth’s contentious relationship with his guardians, the Siddons. When Eleazar Siddons dies, Booth is surprised to learn he was named a co-executor of Siddons’ will. To emphasize his disdain, Siddons leaves Booth the choice of one possession, price not to exceed fifty dollars. But some objects come at a greater cost than money, like being reminded of some things about yourself you would rather not remember.

“Listening to Bone”: When a young boy demands help, Booth has little choice but to help. Given a bone by the boy, Booth has to try to learn who he is and find his home. No easy task when almost everyone the boy knew in life has long since passed.


By the end of the collection the reader has a pretty good grasp of Booth the person and his environment, so that if the collection doesn't quite have the impact of a novel, it still ends as more than the sum of its parts.


Randy M.
 
Recently I read an essay by HP Lovecraft on horror and he mentioned the author Fitz James O'Brien. I looked up his work, specifically What Was it? A Mystery---a short story about an invisible creature---and The Diamond Lens (which Lovecraft was particularly fond of).
Both are quick reads but stick in the memory.
 
I also really liked "Remote Presence." The stories you mention in Beneath Ceaseless Skies have been good, but not outstanding enough for my own recommended list, but the Tony Pi story in the newest issue is excellent.
 
Thanks for the links J-Sun. I just read Seven Permutations of My Daughter by Lina Rather - very good, I agree. I don't read much current short fiction these days, but I enjoyed that.
 
Victoria Silverwolf said:
I also really liked "Remote Presence." The stories you mention in Beneath Ceaseless Skies have been good, but not outstanding enough for my own recommended list, but the Tony Pi story in the newest issue is excellent.
Click to expand...

Based on your review, it sounds like we saw the same story in "Rain," at least. Good stuff in a cliched framework and I just weighted the "good stuff" more and the "framework" less. Speaking of "Remote Presence," I also noticed we were on the same page, basically, with the idea that there was some SF in the F and some F in the SF in that Lightspeed (and with some other stories this month, generally). :) Either way, it's nice to see "Presence" getting good reviews. (RSR also really liked it.)

Bick said:
Thanks for the links J-Sun. I just read Seven Permutations of My Daughter by Lina Rather - very good, I agree. I don't read much current short fiction these days, but I enjoyed that.
Click to expand...

Hooking up readers and good stories is what it's all about. I'm really glad you enjoyed it! :D
 
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