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A review by zana_reads_arcs
Clarkesworld Magazine, Issue 111, December 2015 by Tamsyn Muir, Neil Clarke, Neil Clarke, Cixin Liu
Union by Tamsyn Muir
4/5 stars
A bunch of futuristic farmers receive wives, who might or might not be sentient? Honestly, I have no idea what goes on in Tamsyn Muir's stories more than half the time, but the vibes are always there.
And the vibes were definitely there with this short story. I expected sci-fi vibes, but surprisingly, I received sci-fi horror vibes and I'm totally here for it. For a short story where I only understood 30% of what was happening, this delivered (in that strange, can't-tear-my-eyes-away Tamsyn Muir-style).
How did she manage to make me care about a group of futuristic farmers and their maybe/maybe-not sentient wives? (In 5510 words, no less.) I honestly have no clue.
When We Die on Mars by Cassandra Khaw
2/5 stars
I loved Khaw's The Salt Grows Heavy. I thought the writing was exquisite and the vibes were definitely peak dark fantasy horror.
But this short story... It's full of purple prose. I'm not sure what the point is supposed to be. A bunch of people go to Mars to colonize it or work out colonization logistics?
Nothing much actually happens. I think it's supposed to be a feel-good story, but there's barely even a hint of conflict to make it interesting, other than a woman who was a teen mom meeting her daughter that she had adopted out. Idk. It didn't work for me.
4/5 stars
A bunch of futuristic farmers receive wives, who might or might not be sentient? Honestly, I have no idea what goes on in Tamsyn Muir's stories more than half the time, but the vibes are always there.
And the vibes were definitely there with this short story. I expected sci-fi vibes, but surprisingly, I received sci-fi horror vibes and I'm totally here for it. For a short story where I only understood 30% of what was happening, this delivered (in that strange, can't-tear-my-eyes-away Tamsyn Muir-style).
How did she manage to make me care about a group of futuristic farmers and their maybe/maybe-not sentient wives? (In 5510 words, no less.) I honestly have no clue.
When We Die on Mars by Cassandra Khaw
2/5 stars
I loved Khaw's The Salt Grows Heavy. I thought the writing was exquisite and the vibes were definitely peak dark fantasy horror.
But this short story... It's full of purple prose. I'm not sure what the point is supposed to be. A bunch of people go to Mars to colonize it or work out colonization logistics?
Nothing much actually happens. I think it's supposed to be a feel-good story, but there's barely even a hint of conflict to make it interesting, other than a woman who was a teen mom meeting her daughter that she had adopted out. Idk. It didn't work for me.