Last month, I realized that I never actually talked about any of the short stories I’ve read. There is no shortage of good short fiction out there, and today I’m here talk about the stories (and other miscellaneous articles) I read in March.
**Note: the titles are linked to the respective stories**
La Bête by Leah Bobet (Strange Horizons, Issue: 9 March 2020)
I always love a good story about a house. Especially when the place seems to be a character of its own, described in vivid detail, with mysterious rooms and equally enigmatic doors. La Bête by Leah Bobet checked all of those boxes. It had a little bit of a mystery, and the château had a very gothic feel to it. The story itself was a little eerie and haunting, and I found that it was extremely easy to get lost in it from beginning to end. All-in-all, La Bête was a great read.
The Touch Pool by Lisa Nan Joo (Strange Horizons, Issue: 16 March 2020)
The next story I read was The Touch Pool by Lisa Nan Joo. Oh gosh, how do I describe this one? To begin with, I loved it. Joo’s language is engaging and vivid in its imagery. The story was told in alternating pieces split between a present that was near the past—which was revealed over the course of the story. There were themes of love, loss, and letting go intertwined with descriptions of a house and land that, over time, was steadily being consumed by the sea. At times, The Touch Pool could be a little eerie and surreal, but it was an experience and an excellent read.
A Series of Steaks by Vina Jie-Min Prasad (Clarkesworld, Issue 124, January 2017)
I also reread one of my favorite short stories: A Series of Steaks by Vina Jie-Min Prasad. It came out a few years ago, and it left a lasting impression. It has such an interesting premise too, with a forger who creates counterfeits of pricey cuts of meat. It was a fascinating choice considering that the counterfeit products weren’t something that lasted for long, or even stuck around after dinner.
From Around the Web...
So those were the stories I read last month. Now here are a couple of other miscellaneous articles I read in March.
- The Appeal of Gothic Horror (Seanan McGuire; Tor.com, October 28, 2019)
- Beyond Cinderella: Exploring Agency Through Domestic Fantasy (Marissa K. Lingen; Tor.Com, March 16, 2020)
- Why Don’t SFF Characters Ever Read The Manual? (James Davis Nicoll; Tor.com, January 1, 2020)
