soph (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sophia_sol) wrote2020-11-27 07:41 pm
sophia_sol) wrote2020-11-27 07:41 pm
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10 short story recs!!!
Is it SHORT STORY REC TIME again? It might be!! (It might be later than intended. Look. We all know this has been a bit of a year.)
Anyway reading good short stories to transport you to a different world is where it's at sometimes, so here's my top 10 sff stories I read in the last yearish. They might not all take you to a better world but at least it's not the one we've been living in for the past too-many-months.
1. The Peppers of GreenScallion - Myung-hoon Bae
I love this way of framing the larger society-wide issues going on through the lens of two kids obsessed with arguing with each other. The dynamics between the kids is perfect and delightful, and the way that they make even their efforts towards genuine help towards each other's sides adversarial is great. Also: foooooooood.
2. Gephyrophobia - Rykie Belles
A story about what it's like to return home after a portal adventure. It packs a lot into a very short story, telling you the important stuff through implications rather than spelling everything out, in a way that really works for me!
3. The Moon Is Not a Battlefield - Indrapramit Das
A decommissioned space soldier and a journalist talk of the old days, when the Moon was a base for war, and what it meant for the soldiers and the future of humans and the universe when a peace treaty was finally signed. Thoughtful and bittersweet, it's excellent.
4. Every Tiny Tooth and Claw (or: Letters from the First Month of the New Directorate) - Marissa Lingen
An epistolary story told via letters between a couple who have been separated, and must communicate despite censors potentially intercepting their post in a politically chaotic time. They are perhaps a little too obvious at times in what they're saying but I suppose they have to be for a reader like me to be able to properly follow between the lines, and I did find it highly enjoyable!
5. Martian Cinema - Gabriela Santiago
Kids engaging in imaginative play on Mars. About the power of stories, and connection! And probably aliens.
6. Heard, Half-Heard, in the Stillness - Iona Datt Sharma
An astronaut goes home for Diwali and thinks about the future. Beautiful scene-setting, drawing the reader into the moment, and a beautiful ending.
7. Compassionate Simulation - Rachel Swirsky and P. H. Lee
A young woman dies in a car accident, and her relationship to her father is revealed through the reactions of an AI simulation of her brought back to provide comfort to her grieving family. Ouchy and real feeling.
8. Power to Yield - Bogi Takács
A story centering the experience of aro-ace neuroatypical characters in a fascinating way. The main character develops a special interest in a difficult person, and everything else follows from that. Non-romantic relationships getting to be focused on in all the complexities that can develop is not as common as I'd like, and I loved reading this one. Unsettling but in a good way.
9. Haunted House, by Elizabeth Wein
About the relationship between a girl and a house. So lovely!
10. Many-Hearted Dog and Heron Who Stepped Past Time - Alex Yuschik
I love this!??!? About an undefined relationship that is nonetheless vital to the characters involved, and also time travel. Stylish and sharp and immersive. AMAZING.
Anyway reading good short stories to transport you to a different world is where it's at sometimes, so here's my top 10 sff stories I read in the last yearish. They might not all take you to a better world but at least it's not the one we've been living in for the past too-many-months.
1. The Peppers of GreenScallion - Myung-hoon Bae
I love this way of framing the larger society-wide issues going on through the lens of two kids obsessed with arguing with each other. The dynamics between the kids is perfect and delightful, and the way that they make even their efforts towards genuine help towards each other's sides adversarial is great. Also: foooooooood.
2. Gephyrophobia - Rykie Belles
A story about what it's like to return home after a portal adventure. It packs a lot into a very short story, telling you the important stuff through implications rather than spelling everything out, in a way that really works for me!
3. The Moon Is Not a Battlefield - Indrapramit Das
A decommissioned space soldier and a journalist talk of the old days, when the Moon was a base for war, and what it meant for the soldiers and the future of humans and the universe when a peace treaty was finally signed. Thoughtful and bittersweet, it's excellent.
4. Every Tiny Tooth and Claw (or: Letters from the First Month of the New Directorate) - Marissa Lingen
An epistolary story told via letters between a couple who have been separated, and must communicate despite censors potentially intercepting their post in a politically chaotic time. They are perhaps a little too obvious at times in what they're saying but I suppose they have to be for a reader like me to be able to properly follow between the lines, and I did find it highly enjoyable!
5. Martian Cinema - Gabriela Santiago
Kids engaging in imaginative play on Mars. About the power of stories, and connection! And probably aliens.
6. Heard, Half-Heard, in the Stillness - Iona Datt Sharma
An astronaut goes home for Diwali and thinks about the future. Beautiful scene-setting, drawing the reader into the moment, and a beautiful ending.
7. Compassionate Simulation - Rachel Swirsky and P. H. Lee
A young woman dies in a car accident, and her relationship to her father is revealed through the reactions of an AI simulation of her brought back to provide comfort to her grieving family. Ouchy and real feeling.
8. Power to Yield - Bogi Takács
A story centering the experience of aro-ace neuroatypical characters in a fascinating way. The main character develops a special interest in a difficult person, and everything else follows from that. Non-romantic relationships getting to be focused on in all the complexities that can develop is not as common as I'd like, and I loved reading this one. Unsettling but in a good way.
9. Haunted House, by Elizabeth Wein
About the relationship between a girl and a house. So lovely!
10. Many-Hearted Dog and Heron Who Stepped Past Time - Alex Yuschik
I love this!??!? About an undefined relationship that is nonetheless vital to the characters involved, and also time travel. Stylish and sharp and immersive. AMAZING.