Short Thoughts on Short Fiction Vol. 4

Brian started a column on short fiction a short while ago and I thought is was such I good idea that I’d better ste… err… borrow it from him. I am not a fan of reading of a screen but with short fiction I can manage without getting a headache and if you care to look for it there is a wealth of short fiction offered for free on the Internet. I more of less randomly picked five that looked interesting for my first contribution to this column. The title of the story links to the site where you can find the stories online. All of these sites offer a great deal more in stories and sample chapters, in the case of Baen even a free library, so have a good look around while you there. And now for my short thoughts on the following stories….

The Gambler by Paolo Bacigalupi – Read here
Firstborn by Brandon Sanderson - Read here
Laws of Survival by Nancy Kress – Read here
The Dry Spell by James P. Blaylock – Read here
Exhalation by Ted Chiang – Read here

    
The Gambler by Paolo Bacigalupi

I greatly enjoyed Paolo Bacigalupi’s collected short fiction in Pump Six and Other Stories so when I found this story, that is not included in the collection, on the Pyr website it jumped to the top of my to read list right away. The Gambler is a the story of a young Laotian who flees his country ahead of the dictatorial government’s police forces after his father, politely, pointed out the flaws of their rule. After attending university he gets permission to work in the US for a news agency. There he finds out that news is what people want to read, not what they should be informed about.

It’s a good story but not one his best. The main character goes through a pretty severe culture shock and that part of the story is where Bacigalupi excels. The homesickness, the anger at the world for not caring what is going on in his country and amazement at the trivial interests of people in the US are very convincing. I must admit that some of the setting seemed a bit over the top though. The rapper named double DP (don’t think about that name too long, it sounds painful) and the scandal he end up in in particular.

The story contains several elements Bacigalupi likes the write about. His story usually contains some kind of social or environmental issue. A number of them are also set in Asia, through which he has extensively travelled. If you liked this previous work you’ll most likely enjoy this one. I don’t think it is quite as good as some of his other stories though. Good but not great.

    
Firstborn by Brandon Sanderson

On Tor.com I found this story by Brandon Sanderson. I’ve read his Mistborn series and Elantris but here he tries his hand at science fiction. In fact the story has a bit of a space opera feel to it. The main character is Dennison, an imperial nobleman brought up to take a command post in the fleet. He has always stood in the shadow is his brilliant brother, a general who is willing battle after battle in the Reunification War. No matter how hard he tries, without exception he fails where his brother succeeds. When the war is about to end the brilliant general is faced with the question of whether or not to take it all. It is now that Dennison must show his worth to the empire.

This story is probably the least in the batch. Not because it is poorly written but simply because it is dreadfully predictable. Where Sanderson manages the surprise his readers with the ending of his novels I could see the way the plot would unfold a mile off in this story. It is also a bit on the long side at just over 14,000 words. I think we could have done with a little less introspection (read complaining) on Dennison’s part. I haven’t read any of Sanderson other short stories, he doesn’t seem to have published many, but judging from this I suspect his writing is more suitable for novel length works.

    
Laws of Survival by Nancy Kress

Ever since reading her collection Nano Comes to Clifford falls and Other Stories I keep an eye out for Nancy Kress’ short fiction. I came across this story on the Baen website. The story is set in a refugee camp where survivors of a nasty war, the origins of which are not discussed, try to survive on the garbage that is delivered daily to the camp. The war seems to have included aliens, who after the end of the war erected domes in several locations on earth. For three years now, Jill has survived in the camp by adhering the her five laws of survival. One day, she discovers that the aliens in the dome will trade food for dogs. A very profitable trade for Jill, but one with far-reaching consequences when she makes it into a habit. Before she knows it, she is training dogs under the supervision of a lethal robot.

This story is not about dogs of course, probably a good thing since I am not a dog person. It is what one will do, must do, to survive. Jill is forced to look at her laws of survival again after her circumstances change. She is traumatized, suppressing memories that would get in the way of survival. But you can’t keep it bottled up forever. The dogs offer her an outlet. I must admit thought the character was younger than she really is in the first part of the story. That made the reason behind law #5 a surprise for me.

Laws of Survival is one of those stories that could well have been written without the science fiction setting. It is not about aliens, or robots, or a post apocalyptic event. The story is completely centred on human emotion. You could even say that the puzzle the aliens pose to the reader is distracting. On one hand I like this story very much. Jill is a very strong character. On the other, the alien motivation of the aliens remains so unclear that they are not much more than a means for the author to steer the story. All in all this story is a bit disappointing.

    
The Dry Spell by James P. Blaylock

This story by James P. Blaylock is featured in the 2009 winter edition of Subterranean Magazine. I haven’t read anything by Blaylock before by I have been hearing good things about him. The Dry Spell is a story about, well, a draught in California. The main character, a man by the name of Harper, is absolutely obsessed by the lack of precipitation. The promise of rain and the subsequent clearing of the skies frustrate him to no end. He decides to force the issue and shame mother nature.

I wasn’t quite sure what to make of this story at first, the main character obviously seemed obsessed, a little mad even. But as the story progressed you begin to doubt more and more if this really is all there is too it. It is very subtlety done really. I do think the author takes a bit too long though. Quite a few readers will have given up on this story before the direction becomes clear. That’s a shame. Stick with it and the story will grow on you.

    
Exhalation by Ted Chiang

This Hugo nominated story by Ted Chiang is available for free on the Night Shade Books download page. It is really clever bit of writing, this story. The story takes the form of a report by a scientist who, faces with the inexplicable speeding up of a number of time keeping mechanisms stars an investigation into on of the big mysteries facing science, the working of his own brain. The experiment reveals that what powers his own brain and his society is in fact a finite source, that one day will run out. A source that will reach equilibrium and rob the universe of it’s engine.

The scientist Chiang describes in the story is quite obviously a more mechanical creature. On of the challenges Chiang sets the reader is visualizing this being. He is very detailed in the descriptions of the experiments he performs but on the other hand, the fails to describe what he sees as obvious. A thing that has frustrated countless generations of historians. Although what he describes a the universe is obviously quite different from ours there seems to be a parallel with one of the debates in physics, the ultimate fate of our universe. One of the theories is not so different from the one Chiang describes.

As you can see the story is quite scientifically oriented, so it will probably appeal mostly to people who like hard science fiction. Personally I enjoyed it a great deal but I have my doubts about whether is appeals to enough people to actually get that Hugo. Still, highly recommended.

That’s it for this round. I can’t promise to do this one a weekly basis but I will be back with more short thoughts on short fiction in the future.