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In previous short fiction posts I have mentioned that there was one story in particular that I was longing to share with you, a story that had not yet made its way to a free online venue. That story was “Mono no aware” by Ken Liu and was recently released this week in the current issue of Lightspeed magazine. Liu is a short-fiction magician, a wizard with words whose work has been featured all over the place over the last few years. This is one of Liu’s more accessible stories, exploring the concept of an individual’s importance in relation to those around them.

“Mono no aware” tells the story of Hiroto, a twenty-five-year-old Japanese youth aboard the generation ship Hopeful, bound for a new star, a place for humanity to rise from the disaster that befell Earth. Liu’s story alternates between Hiroto’s present timeline his childhood, when the Earth was in the course of impending doom and Hiroto and his family were waiting to board one of the Japanese starships.

What follows is a spoiler-filled discussion of the story. I recommend taking the time to read this before following the rest of the post or reading any of the comments. The emotional impact of the story comes from a fresh reading, unspoiled by details. Follow the link here to read the story and then come share your thoughts.

Continue reading “Mono no aware” by Ken Liu →

Today over on SF Signal I review the latest issue of Clarkesworld Magazine, and it is a good one. It features three original and two reprint works of science fiction, all very accessible to readers. The first story, “The Urashima Effect” by E. Lily Yu, is a particularly poignant story that feels as if it is in the same wheelhouse as Ken Liu’s “Mono no Aware” which we will be discussing in detail here this Sunday (don’t miss out!). Jacob Clifton’s “This is Why We Jump” was written for author Cathrynne M. Valente. If you have read Valente’s work you will see her inspiration in Clifton’s language.

All 5 stories are available free online and the two mentioned above are currently available in audio podcast on the Clarkesworld site as well. Head over to SF Signal to check out my full review.

Hope everyone has a good weekend ahead. I start the summer running season with a short 2.8 mile Summer Intro run sponsored by the Trail Nerds tomorrow morning. I’m being joined by my friend and web guru, James, who is participating in his first race! I am giddily excited about this, the first of three weekends in a row where I will be doing runs. Hope to see you Sunday for a discussion of “Mono no aware”.