A few good stories

June has passed in a whirlwind, and things are slowly starting to settle back into order. More posts will be forthcoming shortly, but for now I thought I'd mention a few really good stories I've read recently:

First, even if you're not voting for the Hugos, go and read the Hugo stories. In particular, read the 2 monkey-themed stories in the running: Kij Johnson's "26 Monkeys, Also The Abyss" and Mary Robinette Kowal's "Evil Robot Monkey". I won't give you a plot rundown, but both are poignant, powerful, imaginative tales that I couldn't be more impressed with - as far as I'm concerned, it's a toss-up between the two for the award this year. Besides, you can't beat monkeys for entertainment, can you?

Second, a story I just read in the (lamentably final) 13th issue of Paradox Magazine - "The Place That Makes You Happiest", by T. L. Morganfield. An alternate history tale in which the Mexica civilization (to a non-historian such as myself, essentially the Aztecs) have become dominant, and human sacrifice is still practiced to bless such events as space missions. The setting may be colorful and vastly different from ours, but the scope of the story is intensely personal, dealing with a friendship tried and tested under the severest of conditions. The story succeeds powerfully on that personal, emotional level - I could see the author setting up the emotional arc (something I consciously work to do these days), and it still had an impact on me. See the Paradox website for how to get your hands on a copy of the issue.

Finally, a story from way back: I was flying back from Europe today, and the only printed matter I had with me happened to be a copy of the Oct/Nov 2003 Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction. Among other stories I'd long forgotten, I was happy to rediscover Terry Bisson's piece "Almost Home". Not only is this the perfect story for a flight, complete with the unlikeliest of ramshackle aeroplanes made plausible by the rosy magic of Bradbury-esque nostalgia, but it also has an impressively powerful emotional arc tied to the inner lives of the protagonist children. The ending was a bit too obvious for my taste, too explicit about what actually happened, but that's a slight complaint. The story was reprinted in Year's Best Fantasy and Horror 17, Year's Best Fantasy 4, and Bisson's collection "Greetings, and Other Stories" (and possibly elsewhere that I didn't stumble upon).

Now that I think about it, the one thing that unites all 4 of these stories is emotional punch. They all moved me, which really doesn't happen all that often. Very much recommended.