The summer burns hotter now. Is that fascism I smell? What do you read in times like this?
THE FINAL POGROM by Dan Simmons
Could the title be a reference to Michael Moorcock’s The Final Programme, one of my all-time favorites? Got my interest, but no. The story is mondo dangerous, and more relevant than ever, even though there are signs it was written long ago. Viruses are developed as tools for genocide. Holocaust, anyone? Makes High Aztech look cozy. And there is no humor.
INTERMEZZO 7: THE SPACE BETWEEN THE OBVIOUS by D.M. Rowles
Yeah, a bit of a breather was needed after ‘Pogrom’ still a good bit of flash fiction.
FALLING FROM GRACE by Ward Moore
Time renders everything incomprehensible. Memory has its limits. The lesson of the story of Atlantis, and all of archaeology is that your civilization will someday be lost. It’s sad, but the story is hilarious. Laughing can be dangerous.
FIRST SIGHT by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Still another variation on that classic trope of first contact. Clever ideas, but talky.
INTERMEZZO 8: PROOF by D.M.Rowels
Another short, intense gut punch. This time about blood and guts.
BINARY SYSTEM by Kay Hartenbaum
The awful truth is, space travel ain’t gonna be what science fiction fans think. Heresy, but true. Will working on a spaceship be best suited for people who’ve been stripped of both their identity and humanity? Hmm. Maybe this one is more dangerous than I first thought.
DARK THRESHOLD by P.C. Hodgell
A metaphor for death. As I get older, I don’t find death to be so dangerous. Ho hum.
THE DANHANN CHILDREN LAUGH by Mildred Downey Broxon
Not a bad story. Well written, but rather routine. A retarded (yeah, we’re not supposed to use the word, but they haven’t come up with a suitable replacement—as if it’s the very concept that they want to eliminate) child turns out to be a changeling. I have a brother with that affliction, and growing up with him made me more human.
JUDAS ISCARIOT DIDN’T KILL HIMSELF: A STORY IN FRAGMENTS by James S.A.Corey
Straczynski says this is “the most dangerous of all.” Pretty damn close. What would humanity become if we could switch bodies? Is utopia possible? What would it do to taboos? Didn’t quite blow my mind, but then, I’m me.
Whew! There they are, all the stories. Oddly enough, I still have things to say, so next time I’ll discuss the Afterword, and few other things . . .
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