MINNESOTA STATE FAIR

You got to love the state fair.

SIGN HERE by Charles de Lint

“Sign Here” is the story of a being named Mr. Parker. Mr. Parker trades power and education for the one thing that human’s value most, or in the case of Robert Chaplin, not at all. Mr. Parker trades in souls.

However, Mr. Parker does not want just anyone’s soul. He is only interested in the souls of those who value them, and not just value them, but care for their souls and provide them with the necessary up keep. Down trodden souls need too much work are worse than useless, they require an immense amount of work kind of like buying the difference between buying a new house and one that is falling down.

The story of begins with Robert and Peter discussing Robert’s relationship problems with Brenda, this on and off again girlfriend, when Peter springs a neat new trick on Robert. Peter can produce a small flame at the tip of his fingers. Peter explains that he has sold his soul to learn the trick and that he will soon learn more.

Peter is at first unconcerned at the sale of his soul. Then with Robert’s help and little non-sequitur, if magic exists then souls exists, Peter realizes his mistake. Robert then helps collect souls to trade for Peters, which Mr. Parker quickly rejects. Meanwhile, Robert becomes jealous of Peter’s increasing power and he too tries to sell his soul. However, Robert’s soul is worthless to Mr. Parker. This does not stop Robert. He tricks Brenda into giving him her soul, which without her permission he uses to enter into a contract with Mr. Parker.

Besides the content and subject matter of the story, the style is excellent. In a class that I had last fall, one of the exercises we tried in order get the creative juices flowing was to write using only dialogue. de Lint’s story is solid dialogue, and you know what, I didn’t even miss narrative description, the dialogue was that good. If you haven’t experienced a short story that uses this technique then this is a great one to start with.

I think that any aspiring writer of short fiction should take a good long look at this story.

de Lint, Charles. “Sign Here.” Tapping the Dream Tree. New York: TOR, 2002. p 381 -395.

NO RIGHT by Jens Rushing

I came across SpaceWesterns.com while reading a NUKETOWN post about Jens Rushing’s newest publication, “No Right.” So, I thought that I’d check it out.

SpaceWesterns.com is a Zine with short stories and articles that pertain to a subgenre of subgenre: Science Fiction – Space Opera – Space Western. For those who are interested, examples of space westerns include, Star Wars, Firefly, and in my opinion Star Trek, which all deal with living a frontier-like life that includes good-guys and bad-guys. What is crazy is that SpaceWesterns.com pays ½ cent per word, maximum $25.00. I thought that kind of thing was dead.

Anyway, on to the story!

“No Right” is very western and edged with space opera. The Main character is an Indig named Lang who has been hired to track down and capture a speeder thief. The plot sticks to the thief’s capture, but the racism against Indig’s and Lang’s personality make the story. It is a quick and entertaining read.

I think that what I liked the most about Rushing’s story is the ending. I thought that Lang was going to be the hero. I thought that he was going to do the right thing. I thought that the ending of the story was going to be happy and that Lang was going to prove to the reader that the opinions of Indigs were unfounded. Instead, the story ends with a drunken Indig and bar brawl.

I don’t get to say this very often because most of what I read is in books, but go read “No Right” online and support a new market for short stories.

Long live the short story market!

Rushing, Jens “No Right.” SpaceWesterns.com ed. N.E. Lilly

THE KILLING SPIRIT by Sean-Michael Argo

Okay, I know what your going to say, “But isn’t that a novel.” Well, I guess it is, but it is a very short one 95 pages, short enough for me, in my opinion to review it here.

I remembered this book after reading An Orc by Any Other Name . . . posted on Scott Oden. I love “The Killing Spirit.” It follows a WARHAMMER like tribe of Orcs as they rally the other warrior races to fight back against the evil humans, dwarves, and elves. Orcs are mighty, smart, agile, and unforgiving. They are destined to rule over the other races.

The main character is Ma-Gur and the book opens as he is receiving his Blooding Mark, a ritual tattoo that all young Orcs get before they earn the right to be called a warrior. He then is off to fight against the other Orcs his age, some will survive and some will not. The proving ground eliminates the weak.

My favorite section is towards the end as the Angir tribe’s wizard created a berserker to help sack an Elvin stronghold. The berserker is a killing machine host for the tribe’s god. The host will die after, but during the god’s sprit is strong and kills any Orc, human, or Elf that gets in its way. It has only one thing on it mind, kill—kill them all.

Anyone who loves the brutal Orc, this story is for you.

Argo, Sean-Michael. The Killing Spirit: A Savage Tale of Orcs. Baltimore: Publish America, 2004.

EXCITEMENT FOR WHAT IS TO COME

Publisher Weekly has put out their fall list of Galleys that will appear at trade shows in the upcoming months.

The two novels that looks exciting to me is World Made by Hand by James Howard Kunstler and Blasphemy by Douglas Preston. Sadly, I did not see any short story collections listed.

PW Galley List

FYI out to Fantasy Debut, there is an entire section of debut novels.

HELP!

I’ll be honest: I want into the review game!

It seems that many of you, A Dribble of Ink, Fantasy Book Critic, Fantasy Debut, Graeme"s Fantasy Book Review, Pat"s Fantasy Hotlist, Sandstorm Reviews, The Gravel Pit, and (with much love) The Fantasy Review, have successfully courted publishes who send you review copies or Advanced Reader Copies.

I know that I only review short fiction on The Soulless Machine Review. My agenda is to bring back the noise one story at a time. However, I am not against reviewing an entire collection of short stories and highlighting one or two out of that collection.

How a have some of you gone about getting publishers' attention. Did you contact them or wait to be contacted.

If you have advice that you would like to share, please leave it as a comment on this post.

Thanks in advance,

Aaron

WAR NO. 81-Q by Cordwainer Smith

I like this story a lot. It is about a possible future of war. I think a positive one, a future that I want now.

War in Smith’s future is played out by first petitioning The Universal War Board for a permit. The two countries, in this case America and Tibet, which can find no diplomatic resolution to their disagreement, go before The Universal War Board and the Board grants a War permit with limiting conditions that must be followed for the war to be considered legal. The conditions are many, a few highlights: The War Territory must be rented and paid for by the loser, the War Territory will cost 40 million per hour, the War will last two hours max, and each side will provide five 22,000 ton air ships. The list goes on achieving what looks like a very human and respectable war.

The story is short and does not allow for character development or much plot. The little plot there is provides the needed context for America and Tibet to go to war, something about Radiant Heat revenue and both parties calming that it belongs to them.

Again with this short-short story, I don’t mind the sparse characters a minimal drama. The story is not about those things. The story is trying to show a way forward. If war is not avoidable, then let this be the type of war we wage.

Smith, Cordwainer. “War No. 81-Q (original version).” The Rediscovery of Man. Farmingham, MA: NESFA, 1993. p. 613 – 616

THE EVOLUTION OF HUMAN SCIENCE by Ted Chiang

This is a strange cautionary tail that does not so much as warn against something but encourage resilience.

One of humanities greatest scientific achievements was the creation of the Sugimoto gene therapy. If a human embryo were to be treated before neurogenesis, the child would be born a Metahuman.

Metahumans are now the greatest scientists and engineers. They are have made breakthroughs that no human could ever concoct. However, there is a draw back. The Metahumans have discovered that they can communicate via DNT (Digital Neural Transfer). This new language, due to its specific medium, is incomprehensible to humans. There are translations, but as any translation, from one language to another, are far from complete.

The beauty of this story is in the way it is told. The story reads like a peer-reviewed science journal paper or article. The author of the paper questions, in light of Metahuman scientists, is there a reason for human scientists. The short answer is, yes. The paper concludes that because there is a cultural gap between Humans and Metahuman that Metahumans might over look something that Humans would find important.

This is a great little number. No real characters, other than the assumed author of the paper, no plot, no action, but still a very enjoyable read.

Chiang, Ted. “The Evolution of Human Science.” Stories of Your Life and others. New York: TOR, 2002. p. 241 - 244

AN INCIDENT AT THE LUNCHEON OF THE BOATING PARTY by Allen M. Steele

When and if you get the chance to go back in time, please try not to influence history too much. The narrator of this story is a employee of the Chronospace Research Center has traveled back in time to witness and record an important moment in time, the rise of the French Impressionist Movement. The chosen moment is the painting of The Luncheon of the Boating Party by Pierre-Auguste Renoir.

The narrator sneaks up to the canvas while Renoir away. She gets caught up in the conversation of the painting’s models who are lounging at fully laden table on a balcony. This assignment had a very low risk assessment, a Class-3 mission, the narrator confides in the reader, not like Class-1 mission, The Battle of Little Bighorn or the Titanic.

Yet, as it turns out, one of the female models, Alphonsine, was late and the other models impatient. The narrator is soon asked to fill in, taking Alphonsine’s place on the balcony railing. No excuse will save our narrator from being fired when she returns to the 24th century, but she always be remembered for her place in one of the most famous paintings ever as the woman who could be Alphonsine or a mysterious other.

In my opinion, time travel stories are hard to pull off. This is a very good example of a one that does not try to do too much or over explain. It stays in the moment or the present action of the story and unapologetically moves forward assuming an intelligent reader.

Thank you! This story was marvelous!

Steele, Allen M. “An Incident at the Luncheon of the Boating Party.” The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. December 2005, Vol. 109, No. 6. p. 60 - 66

SEVEN by Edwidge Danticat

So, I have found a new way to pass the time as I walk to work. I have been listing to stories that I have taken from CDs and added them to my MP3 player. The walk is about 30 minutes and most of the stories are between 25 and 45 minutes long, just the right length. I think that I will look to see if I can find Science Fiction short stories on CD. If you have any suggestions, leave them comments on this post.

“Seven” is about love, distance, and immigration. The story is split into two points of view, or Duel. Both the perspective of the husband and the wife were given equal time and importance.

The story begins with the husband reading his apartment’s room for the coming of his wife. He has over stayed his Visa and it has taken seven years for his request of a green card to be processed and granted. In that time, he has been rooming with three other men in the same situation.

The point of view of the wife is the most interesting, to me at least. She is coming from Port-au-Prince through Customs at JFK. The Customs Officer is searching her things and tosses all the fruit and organic material that she knew her husband would love. It has been seven years since she married her husband and he left for the United States. Then she is greeted warmly by her husband and rushed home where they re-consummate their marriage seven times.

The part that I enjoyed most about this story is when the two of them begin to remember how they met and the circum stances of their courtship and marriage. I don’t want to ruin it for you, but it has to do with a carnival where, sometimes, men and women cross dress and introduce themselves as married until someone takes notices of the gender swap.

A great read! …I mean listen!

Danticat, Edwidge. “Seven.” The Best American Short Stories 2002 (Audio Version). Ed. Sue Miller. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2002

ALONG THE FRONTAGE ROAD by Michael Chabon

This is a story about a father and a son and loss. It begins with the narrator recounting his memories of time long gone. When he was a child he would watch his father carve the Halloween pumpkin with the precision and the passion that only a surgeon possesses.

The story then flashes back to the present. The narrator needs to get out of the house for a while with his son. Halloween is still a few weeks off, but he decides that a trip to the frontage road pumpkin patch would be a good distraction for them both.

The scene at the pumpkin patch is touching and heartbreaking. The reader learns that they have escaped their home which is decorated for funeral. The narrator’s son picks out a small pumpkin and begs him to not cut it up but let live, and oh can we call it Kate for the baby that did not live.

I can’t really do justice to this story here. You really must find a copy of it and read it. Or listen to it on a long car ride as my wife and I did. The writing is full of small dramas that are complicated by choices that the characters make, the most important of which happens at the end. The narrator chooses to let his son greave by rescuing a baby pumpkin.

Chabon, Michael. “Along the Frontage Road.” The Best American Short Stories 2002 (Audio Version). Ed. Sue Miller. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2002

FLYBOYS by Tobias Wolff

This is a story about fitting in and misunderstandings between young boys. I don’t know about you, but when I was young, I tried to fit in. This fitting in meant that sometimes old friends that were not cool any longer got left behind for the new flashy-cool friends. However, when push comes to shove, those old friends ended up being the best friends a kid could have.

“Flyboys” is about that, cool friends and un–cool friends. The real sad part is that the coolness has a lot to do with parents. Clark is the cool new friend. He has big ideas and is a talented artist. Freddy is the old friend with parents that fight, are unemployed, and sometimes mean.

The narrator used to have fun with Freddy. They even travel down memory lane a little over lunch. Clark does not like Freddy and does what any cool friend does to un-cool friends, points out the un-cool. However Freddy has what the narrator and Clark need. See, Clark and the narrator want to build an airplane. Clark has drawn up the designs and now all they need are the parts and Freddy has a jet canopy.

There is much more to this story and the boys’ relationships than being cool: there is guilt and there is shame and there is a lot of mud, but you will have to find the story and read it to find out more.

Wolff, Tobias. “Flyboys.” The Night in Question: Stories New York: Vintage, 1997. p 57 - 73

THE GATES by Judith Guest

Guest has taken a large wealthy and very inclusive suburb of Minneapolis, Edina, and taken feelings of localism to an extreme in the character of Archie Trebold. Archie is very out spoken about his love for Edina. He hates seeing commuters race through his otherwise quiet neighborhood trying to circumvent HWY 62 and HWY 35W.

Archie has to do something to save Edina. So, he proposes and helps pass an ordnance to erect a gate around the entire suburb, a gate to keep out the unwanted traffic and vagabonds that drift through his little piece of paradise. However, this same gate has unwanted side effects.

“The Gates” is very tightly written and character driven. It should be a reminder to us all that even through we love our little slice of the heaven, that same slice will wither and die if cut off from the rest of the world.

Guest, Judith. “The Gates.” The Silence of the Loons. Ed. Minnesota Crime Wave. Minneapolis: Nodin Press, 2005. p. 50 - 55

THE GRAVITY MINE by Stephen Baxter

Wow. “The Gravity Mine” is a wild ride. I just finished it while riding on the light rail. It is very heady and surreal. It begins with the birth of the first individual consciousness in who knows how many millenniums. Matter has long since ceased to exist and humanity has left the restrictions of flesh behind to become a strange soup of data that feeds on the swirling energy of black holes.

Anlic knows her name and knows that she is different from the others that she can sense in the turbulent sea of minds that dance in the gravity mine they all call home. Anlic is told by Gaedor that she is unique, but cannot exist on her own in the void of space. Anlic needs to rejoin the collective to survive. She believes Gaedor.

Time passes. Anlic wakes a few more times and breaks away to become her own individual pulse. Each time Gaedor sways her to rejoin, except for the last time. The energy sucking parasite that humanity has become has exhausted the every bit of power that the expanding universe has to offer. Anlic goes off her own, leaves the dying, dissipating collective, knowing why she is different and with a mission.

“The Gravity Mine” is not a quick read. It might be only a few pages long, but it is densely rich with quantum theory. The writing is music and distant from the characters as the narrator spins a story about the end of things and the beginning of things. At the end of the story, I am left with hope; the hope that life finds a way to survive and continue down the river of time.

Baxter, Stephen. “The Gravity Mine.” Beyond Flesh. Ed. By Jack Dann & Gardner Dozois. New York: Ace, 2002. p 211 - 221

CHARLES SIMIC NAMED POET LAUREATE

Charles Simic, Surrealist With Dark View, Is Named Poet Laureate
By MOTOKO RICH
Published: August 2, 2007
Charles Simic, a writer who juxtaposes dark imagery with ironic humor, is to be named the country’s 15th poet laureate by the Librarian of Congress today.
---New York Times

Charles Simic is my 2nd favorite poet (right behind 9 to 5 Poet)! I discovered him in college and I have used several lines from his dark and strange poems as epigraphs to my short stories and creative non-fiction.

He is a must read! My favorite collection is Hotel Insomnia.

THE SOULLESS MACHINE REVIEW July 2007

THE TALE OF THE THREE BROTHERS by Beedle the Bard
TOWERS by Sheila O’Connor
PICKMAN’S MODEM by Lawrence Watt-Evans
The WATER WORKS by E.L Doctorow
CATALOG OF WOE by Mindy L. Klasky
BLOOD MUSIC by Greg Bear
MOONWALK by Susan Power
GREAT SEX by Alice Adams
SQ by Ursula Le Guin
SECOND PERSON, PRESENT TENSE by Daryl Gregory