User Profile

A lovely tale of an orc woman who, in the prelude, does one last adventure and, with the treasure she obtained, now goes to lead a totally different life: running a coffee shop in a city that has no idea what coffee is.

With the aid of people she discovers as she sets up shop and runs it, her business grows and expands. But it attracts the wrong kind of attention from a local group of extortionists and from a former acquaintance who also has his eye on her treasure. Against them, she only has the new people she has met and some former members of her adventuring group. When a major crisis happens, she has no choice but to re-evaluate what is important to her and to decide what she wants to do with her life and who she wants to live the life with.

A light, entertaining fantasy and an easy read. I might also consider it as an urban fantasy as some modern trappings, like a coffee making machine, ice, an 'electric' guitar and (later) amplifier makes an appearance, presented as advanced technology or thaumaturgy.

A better than average issue, with interesting stories by Dominica Phetteplace and Carrie Vaughn, with two emotional pieces, one humorous, one saddening, by David Ebenbach and Jana Bianchi.

• "The Officiant" by Dominica Phetteplace: an official is asked to officiate at a wedding on an alien planet. But her requests for more information to perform the task are blocked until she grants them a 'vision'. That, she would not do, until she learns more about the nature of the visions, which she has been getting since childhood, and has affected society on her original planet and may be connected to the wedding of the aliens.

• "Vast and Trunkless Legs of Stone" by Carrie Vaughn: Aliens request a first contact with humans, but only involving one individual. What takes place would be unexpected and involve what would represent humanity to the aliens.

• "Day Ten Thousand" by Isabel J. Kim: various tales about the death of a person who died thousands of years ago, followed by his present day cloning and the repercussions to the cloned person.

• "Imagine: Purple-Haired Girl Shooting Down the Moon" by Angela Liu: starting what a prompt for AI image generator, the story follows the down-and-out life of a girl who paints images for 'orb' that can change a person's character for a living and who also 'services' men at a house. Both converge when a customer requests a special painting that would change her life in a way she would not like.

• "The Moon Rabbi" by David Ebenbach: the entertaining tale of a Rabbi who, emotionally disgusted with the state of the world, goes to the moon, where he is to do the first Passover on the moon. But a special moment with the world he wants to run away from would change him emotionally just before the ceremony.

• ". . . Your Little Light" by Jana Bianchi: an incident on a spaceship leaves only two survivors, a pregnant woman and an alien, who now have to struggle to survive. Things get even more critical when the woman gives birth and life support on the ship starts to fail. In the end, the woman and alien comfort each other in this rather emotional story about facing the end with the baby you love.

• "To Helen" by Bella Han: two women meet to discuss their lives, in a world where people can now 'freeze' their ages but at huge financial and social costs.

• "Mirror View" by Rajeev Prasad: an alien entity arrives at Earth and takes the form of a mirror that can subtlety change the reflections of people. It is looking for a reason for why it is 'wasting' away, but learns more about life from a pregnant girl who takes an interest in the entity.

A better than average issue, with good stories by Fawaz Al-Matrouk, Matthew Hughes, Kiran Kaur Sain, Ferdison Cayetano and Fatima Taqvi.

• "On The Mysterious Events at Rosetta" by Fawaz Al-Matrouk: via a series of letters, a story is told during the time of France's conquest of Egypt, of the discovery of a mysterious Egyptian tomb, and the curse that is unleashed when the tomb was opened.

• "The Dire Delusion" by Matthew Hughes: an investigation into the theft of religious relics, taken from thieves who had stolen them from various temples in the city, leads to the discovery of a plot that might unsettle the city.

• "Amrit" by Kiran Kaur Saini: a story of an elderly man who is reluctantly assigned a robot helper and housekeeper named Amrit. Amrit gradually changes the grumpy mood of the old man, but apparently goes too far when Amrit suggest he reconnects to his estranged son. What happens next would change the character of the old man and Amrit.

• "In Time, All Foxes Grieve Westward" by Lark Morgan Lu: a fantasy story about a magical fox who, with a human, returns to his ancestral land to settle the affairs of her fox mother before she dies. But it is tense, with the mother disagreeing with the son over his modern lifestyle while he has to deal with her hoarding things over the century that he now has to deal with.

• "A Conjure-Horse in San Ouvido" by Ferdison Cayetano: set in the time of the American occupation of the Philippines, it tells the story of a black soldier facing racism and second thoughts as the white soldiers of his company abuse the natives. Then one native reaches out to him, and they find a connection, for they both have magic and use it to bond and connect to deal with the soldiers.

• "Highway Requiem" by T. R. Napper: in a future where truck driving is becoming a dying job due to automation, one of the last truck drivers is struggling to make a delivery and keep his job. Then a crisis on his latest job forces a reevaluation of what is important to him while doing the job.

• "The Lucky Star" by Dr. Bunny McFadden: on Titan, one person in charge of mapping an area balks at the task when it would reveal the secret of a bar. But as it turns out, its secret isn't so secret after all.

• "For the Benefit of Mr. Khite" by Zig Zag Claybourne: an intelligence in charge of an artificial orbiting station ponders the meaning of living.

• "Time And Art" by Barbara Krasnoff: and old lady gets her wish for more time to do what she wants to do; but at a price.

• "I Paint the Light with My Mother’s Bones" by K. J. Aspey: a disturbing, horror story of a girl who wanted to hide away from everybody and gets her wish. But now she wants out.

• "We Are Happy to Serve You" by Margaret Dunlap: workers grumble at the 'smart' food dispenser which serves out what the workers don't really want. Until, one day, the dispenser has had enough.

• "Titan Retreat" by Ria Rees: a woman who used to see the dark skies with her children now wants to get away from it, and goes to the only place where that is possible.

• "Knotty Girl" by Melissa A. Watkins: a variation on the fairy tale about a girl who stays in a high tower and lets down her hair for a magical person to enter. At first, the relationship appears affectionate. But as she grows older and gains knowledge of the outside world via books, she realizes the relationship is not to her advantage. And then, one day, she gets the chance to escape and, perhaps, to regrow the world she knows.

• "A Truth So Loyal and Vicious" by Fatima Taqvi: a story that starts with a mother that gives birth to twins, one fated to be fortunate, the other to be unfortunate. As the story develops, you start to wonder who are really the fortunate and unfortunate ones.

A better than average issue, with a lovely Bot 9 story from Suzanne Palmer, an interesting one about social engineering by Naomi Kritzer and a good story by An Hao.

• "Better Living Through Algorithms" by Naomi Kritzer: a new smartphone app appears, suggesting to people things to do to lead happier lives. But the motives of the people behind the app become suspect and, as with most apps, scammers begin to take it over, its popularity falls. But maybe by then, people have learned to lead happier lives anyway.

• "Through the Roof of the World" by Harry Turtledove: creatures living in a place when there is a bottom and a roof to their world are startled to hear what appears to be a giant creature grinding its way down to them through the roof. Those familiar with speculations of life in other parts of our Solar System may recognize where the story is probably set.

• "To Sail Beyond the Botnet" by Suzanne Palmer: another story involving Bot 9 and Ship, who are still on their journey back to Earth. But now, hostile aliens have taken over their ship, and Ship was forced to eject Bot 9 into space towards another alien ship in hopes of getting help. What Bot 9 finds will test its sense of individuality and group coordination as it puts together a plan to save itself and Ship with the help of the aliens it finds.

• "LOL, Said the Scorpion" by Rich Larson: two people go on holiday, wearing special biological suits that only allow approved compounds through it. But as one wearer discovers, the suits also come with some extreme protection measures.

• "Sensation and Sensibility" by Parker Ragland: two droids enter a human café for a meal and a discussion over what they can sense from the meal and whether it is sensible for droids not to be equipped with all the human senses.

• "The Giants Among Us" by Megan Chee: two intelligent species from a planet are at war with each other. But their researchers work together, exchanging information about how various other species on other planets live with each other. That exchange may save one of the species at the end of the war.

• "Action at a Distance" by An Hao, translated by Andy Dudak: an asteroid with a strange kind of material is found. Equipped with a strange crystal 'transmitted' from the asteroid from a previous mission, one person would learn more of its secrets, after a change in his way of seeing.

• "The Fall" by Jordan Chase-Young: an astronaut on the moon has an encounter with another astronaut from an earlier time; or does she?

An interesting book with four connected stories set in a world where people of certain skills can affect the world by mentally playing with various elements (earth, water, metal, etc.), known as Slackcraft. It is also a world with fluid gender identities and romantic relationships that may or may not put off certain readers.

In this world lies the Protectorate, with a powerful woman, the Protector, who rules the Protectorate with an iron fist. The stories in the book deals with the rise, the rule and the end of the Protector, as told through the eyes of two of her children and the people who were involved with them.

• The Black Tides of Heaven: the High Priest of a monastery meets with the Protector, who has to fulfil her end of a bargain for asking for his help. But it is done in an unexpected way, and he ends up with two of her children. One would grow up questioning authority, while the other would change the world in her own way with her visions. The majority of the story stays with the rebel, who gets involved in a rebellion who are fighting against the Protector. But in the end, a tragedy would force him to reunite with his sister and confront their mother in a way that would change all their lives.

• The Red Threads of Fortune: this story focuses on the sister who, after the tragedy at the end of the first story, has left the monastery and now works as a dragon hunter. But the latest dragon hunt would lead to an unexpected new relationship and much danger, when the dragon turns out to be much larger than expected and is wrecking a lot of havoc. Dealing with the dragon would require her to learn new Slackcraft skills, deal with her emotions over the tragedy, and possibly alter the future.

• The Descent of Monsters: a story set as a series of reports as told from the viewpoint of a Protectorate Investigator tasked with finding out what has caused a massacre at an isolated secret laboratory. The investigation would lead to the discovery of a secret plan involving a Protectorate experiment on children to develop a special skill that could surpass that of the sister from the previous stories.

• The Ascent to Godhood: set as a story told by a leader of the rebellion against the Protector, it goes back in time to tell the story of how the Protector raised to her position of power, with the help of the leader who was then the Protector's personal maid. But events and a revealed subterfuge would cause her to defect to the rebellion. The story ends with the final fate of the Protector, tied to the special skill that was developed by a child in the previous story.

An interesting story that starts off being told in three separate parts before coming together at the end in a tale of being who you should be and on having friendships with others.

In one tale, Jin Wang is one of a few Asian-Americans in a school and gets picked on by other non-Asian students, as well as facing racist stereotypes. He eventually makes a good friend, another Asian student, and even gets involved in a relationship with a classmate. The another is the story of the Monkey King, who gets picked on by the other celestials for being a monkey. The third is about Danny, who has to suffer the agony of a visit from his very stereotyped cousin, Chin-Kee.

All three tales collide at the end when Danny lashes back at Chin-Kee, revealing the connection between the three tales and what Danny has to do to try to put things right.

So, an interesting story about being an out-of-place teen (as well as a Monkey King) going through relationship emotions and also low-level bullying, before learning acceptance and finding their way among peers.

An average issue, with interesting stories by L Chan, Andrea Kriz, Shi Heiyao and Rajan Khanna.

• "Re/Union" by L Chan: in a future where departed relatives are recreated digitally for a family reunion, arguments over the quality of meals made by descendents are still a flash point. But maybe not this time, courtesy of a 'ghost' in the machine.

• "There Are the Art-Makers, Dreamers of Dreams, and There Are Ais" by Andrea Kriz: in a future where art generating AIs are banned and only approved human artists can create original art, one to-be artist struggles to get approval to imitate an artist. But maybe imitating another artist may not be what the artist should stuff to do, after seeing what her house AI and other self aware AIs could do.

• "Rake the Leaves" by R.T. Ester: in a place that seems slightly out of kilter, a man has a conversation with a professor about hidden messages in a song by 'Dinah Ross'. It is only later when the man and others attempt a trick with a drone that sucks up raked leaves do they realise just what is off with the place they are in.

• "Keeper of the Code" by Nick Thomas: a person discovers a packet of data that should not be there. Upon reading it, he discovers it contains a plea for help but it may be over her may not have the power to fulfill.

• "Happiness" by Octavia Cade: all the various ways you could die happy, based on your choices.

• "Stranger Shores" by Gregory Feeley: a post human works on a document on humanity's journey to space in the past while it seems to complete its own journey in the present.

• "The Librarian and the Robot" by Shi Heiyao, translated by Andy Dudak: a librarian fleeing her destroyed home world goes to Earth to recover and preserve old books. There, she finds a war robot. Reactivated, the robot is given the task of helping her preserve and find more old books. The robot learns and, eventually takes over her job, ready to pass on knowledge to whoever comes next.

• "Voices Singing in the Void" by Rajan Khanna: on various planets and environments, builders create settlements for their Creators and send back queries to their Conductor for help and feedback. But the Conductor does not reply for reasons of its own.

A retelling of the story of David and Goliath, as told from the viewpoint of Goliath, who turns out to be mainly an administrator in the Philistine army, but was cast into the role of a Champion of the Philistines by a captain, eager to win the favour of the king.

Put into a badly made outfit of metal, he then has the task of sending his challenge to a battle with the champion of the armies of Israel, with the captain believing that the challenge would go unanswered due to Goliath's size. While waiting for a challenger, Goliath decides to stay in the desert, contemplating his life.

Of course, the challenge is finally answered and is a foregone conclusion. But the retelling, in excellent cartoon format by Gauld, shows that some stories may not be what they seem, and the characters involved may have been forced into their roles by others who may not have to suffer the life and death consequences.

An average issue with interesting stories by Tade Thompson, Jonathan Louis Duckworth, Nuzo Onoh, Eleanor Arnason, Mathew Lebowitz, Kathleen Jennings and an unusual urban fantasy piece by Peter S. Beagle.

• "The Sweet In The Empty" by Tade Thompson: a fantasy story involving a quest by a father and his son for a fabled oasis. But what they do there would involve freedom, sacrifice and, later, vengeance.

• "The Station Master" by Lavie Tidhar: a short episode in the life of a station master in charge of a small train station on Mars.

• "Spookman" by Jonathan Louis Duckworth: an interesting tale of a man who can see and talk to ghosts, who is given the job of finding the son of a local bullying leader in an unusual forest. In there, he finds plenty of horror, but also a boy who does not want to return home. Resolving the dilemma would take some violence.

• "The Weremouse Of Millicent Bradley Middle School" by Peter S. Beagle: a fascinating tale of a teacher whom the narrator believes is a witch. As it turns out, she is one and casts a curse on the narrator's sister after a confrontation. And now, they have to figure out a way to remove the curse and, possible, get rid of the teacher.

• "Piggyback Girl" by M. H. Ayinde: a story of a future where people will pay to get inside the head of social media influencers and other people, leading to consequences when the access is done illegally.

• "Mnemonic Longings" by Marlon Ortiz: set far in the future, a spaceship wakes up its passenger, a soldier, and together they try to find out what happened to the enemy they were fighting and what should they do if there is no more enemy to fight.

• "Moonlight, Wing-Wake In Fog" by Rick Hollon: a short tale telling an episode of a violent encounter between men and various shapeshifting inhabitants on an island who choose to fight back, rather than hide.

• "The Madding" by Nuzo Onoh: the story starts with a cursed area in a town before going back to tell the story of how it came about from the point of view of a child with unusual hair. As the story progresses, we learn of the tragedy that would come that would be the result of witchcraft of a dark kind.

• "Mr. Catt" by Eleanor Arnason: a light fantasy piece about a wealthy cat named Mr. Catt who decides one day to get a dragon. The search who lead to finding a dragon in a dangerous part of town and make Mr. Catt relook his desire for a dragon as a pet.

• "Escape Velocity" by Amanda Dier: a degenerative disease robs a pilot of a role in a spaceship. A radical solution resolves the problem, but only time will tell if it also robs the pilot of her ability to still make friends with her crew.

• "Pantoum On A Generation Ship" by Lauren Bajek: on a ship travelling through space, a worker prepares for the arrival of another generation.

• "The Subway Algorithm Is Half-Constructed" by Marie Vibbert: a socially awkward graduate student working on an AI for train routing meets another student working on another AI. A misunderstanding leads to a falling out. It would require an explanation by a professor involving another AI to let to a better understanding.

• "Solar Boy" by K. C. Ahia: a deckhand on a solar sailing spaceship comes up with a solution to save the launch of a ship and, perhaps, some people's dreams.

• "Ouroboros" by Mathew Lebowitz: a virtual reality headset, possibly coupled with hallucinogenics, sends a user into an alternate possible virtual reality. Or perhaps it is the real reality and his real life was just a dream.

• "The Five Lazy Sisters" by Kathleen Jennings: a fairy tale about five sisters who don't wish to continue doing what their grandmother does. So they go into the woods to entice a giant to do their work for them.

• "Remembered Salt" by E. Catherine Tobler: a house with chicken legs for in search of her witch, based on her longing for a place with salt.