Reviews and Comments

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 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.

An exciting and emotional conclusion to the story that continues some time after the conclusion of the previous book. Xingyin, the daughter of the Moon Goddess, leads an idyllic existence on the moon with her mother while being assiduously courted by the prince of the Celestial Emperor. But she is also occasionally meeting with the man who betrayed her in the previous book, leading to conflicted feelings in a three-way love triangle.

But that existence swiftly comes to an end when an antagonist moves against her and her family to gain control of an unusual form of magic on the Moon. They are forced to flee and later discover what the magic can do. Old enmities have to be put aside as they put together a desperate plan to get rid of the magic and to stop a madman who may destroy both the mortal and immortal realms.

Much of what takes place in this book (the situations and relationship between Xingyin and various other characters) develops from the previous book, especially her conflicted feelings with the two people who are the most important to her in the book. Her character is further developed and changed as she witnesses the death of people close to her. She is also forced to examine the actions of her father, who caused the death of the sunbirds, beloved of the Sun goddess, to save the Mortal realm as mentioned in the previous book.

In the end, her heart is settled. But in a fitting close, the peace and happiness that she seeks will have to wait for another time.