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I got quite a bit of reading done this week, much of it short stories that have either already been reviewed (Bolo by Keith Laumer) or ones that will be reviewed later (Apex Magazine Issue #20). But I did manage to read a few short stories this weekend that I wanted to share with you tonight.

“Pride and Prometheus” ~John Kessell

–January 2008, Fantasy & Science Fiction
–57 pages
–8/10 Great classic read

Mary Bennett, nearly 30, remains unmarried and sees no prospects on the horizon. Though she doesn’t possess the beauty of her older sisters, nor the impetuous flirtation of her younger sisters, her desires for love and companionship mirror theirs and her plain features mask a marked intelligence. On a chance encounter she meets a brilliant but troubled doctor who appears to see more in Mary than anyone has before.

This story was last week’s read for the Classic Science Fiction Book Club. It is a “mash-up” of characters from Jane Austen’s book, Pride and Prejudice, and the classic horror novel, Frankenstein. Like me, your first thoughts may be that this is merely one of those Pride and Prejudice and Zombies creations. It is not. Instead it is an intelligent and interesting merging of some very well known characters. John Kessell does an admirable job capturing the Regency style while working in a few modern sensibilities. I really enjoyed this novelette, my first experience with Kessell’s writing. Largely because of the Pride and Prejudice film starring Keira Knightley, I pity Mary and her plight (which may be a little hard to imagine considering she is being played by the rather beautiful Talulah Riley). John Kessell does right by her in telling a bittersweet story that I believe also reflects on Jane Austen herself. 8/10*

*In discussing this story in the book club, it is apparent that a working knowledge of Pride and Prejudice is essential to getting the most out of it. The Bennett family is given very little introduction and that familiarity with the characters is what draws out the empathy in the reader.

The author and publisher, Small Beer Press, have released John Kessell’s collection The Baum Plan for Financial Independence, for download under the Creative Commons License. It is the last story in the collection and can be found here.
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“The Baum Plan for Financial Independence” ~John Kessell

–March 2004, Scifiction
–14 pages
–6/10 Great, until…

An ex-con and the woman who led him down the path to incarceration hook up yet again when the woman, Dot, overhears a conversation about hidden money while cleaning for a rich family. They drive out to the allegedly abandoned vacation home with the hope of the big score. While searching the house they discover a small door hidden in a closet, entering it they find what appears to be an underground subway. Driven by curiosity, and greed, they enter the first vehicle that comes along and travel to a place as apparently lucrative as any in their wildest dreams. Is it too good to be true? And what would it mean if it isn’t?

From start to near end this was a fascinating story. It built with a steady suspense and the reader was just as confused yet curious as the protagonists about just what might be going on. And then…

it just ended and I wasn’t really sure what I was supposed to have gotten out of it. Don’t misunderstand me, the ending wasn’t ambiguous, it was just…”blah.” I couldn’t believe when the dust settled that such an interesting story could turn out to have such a blase, unambitious ending. Based on these two stories I will be reading more John Kessell. I just hope more of his stories are like “Pride and Prometheus”.
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“Missle Gap” ~Charles Stross

–2007 Locus Award Winner for Best Novella
–66 pages, Wireless Collection
–8/10 Disconcerting Cold War fun

On October 2nd, 1962 everything changed. Suddenly, without warning the Earth upon which mankind lived was changed. Spread across a disk with billions of times more surface area than it contained spherically speaking, and relocated to a different part of space, the fates of man changed. While stuck in the same Cold War era politics, suddenly there were great distances between the east and the west, with numerous other unexplored continents and the hint that not only was some alien race responsible for this change, but perhaps thousands more alien races existed among us.

Stross captures the distrustful, suspicious, espionage-filled spirit of the Cold War era and mixes it with hard science fiction to create a challenging, unsettling tale. “Missle Gap” is composed of several character threads woven together, chapter by chapter, until the startling truth is revealed. My only other experience with Stross was his novel Halting State, which I enjoyed very much. This being the first story in the Wireless collection, Charles Stross has set the bar very high.

Originally commissioned by Gardner Dozois for his anthology, One Million A.D., this novella was later released in a now-sold-out special edition from Subterranean Press. Subterranean Press and Charles Stross, in response to an event hosted by author Jo Walton, decided to post this novella online in its entirety. It can be found at the Subterranean Press site here.
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“A Song for Lya” ~George R.R. Martin

–1975 Hugo Award for Best Novella
–June 1974, Analog
–75 pages (Nightflyers collection)
–9/10 Wistful and thought-provoking

The Shkeen are an alien race that appear to be committing mass suicide in a religious ritual as old as the race itself. When human beings start to join in these rituals, Robb and Lya, humans with psi- abilities, are called in to investigate in the hopes understanding and ultimately stopping this ritual, at least as far as humans are concerned. Robb and Lya have similar yet different abilities to “read” others, which makes them something a step above normal human beings as well as different from the Shkeen race. The more they spend time among the Shkeen, the more unsettled they become, despite the fact that they appear to have discovered a people who can love more wholly and deeply than any human being is capable of.

“A Song for Lya” is a powerful story that churned a great deal of turmoil in me as I read it, a feeling echoed in both characters, although I found myself identifying more with Robb, mostly because of the male connection. Through characters both human and alien George R.R. Martin examines love and culture and religion; he examines ideas of God and of acceptance and connection. At the same time I believe he points a light on selfishness and fear and the cost of life decisions, for the person making the decision and also for the person(s) affected by their decisions. If anyone has read it, or any of these stories, I would love to discuss it more in the comments. Please make sure you put SPOILERS at the head of your comment so as not to ruin the story for anyone else. The story excited me and disturbed me, frustrated me and thrilled me at the same time. “A Song for Lya” can be dowloaded from Amazon and Barnes and Noble for $2, and it is well worth it, although I would also encourage you to track down a copy of the Nightflyers collection. I’ve read three stories from it thus far and they are top-notch.
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That is all for this weekend’s short story reading.

What have you read this weekend?