Plot: The narrator is a writer, looking for ideas to write about the 2030s. His writer’s desk (he has a writer’s desk? Lucky guy!) is full of sticky notes, all inscribed with reminders to write about this time period. But what? It seems like all the best ideas have been used and beaten to death.Continue reading “Review of “Historical Fiction” by Joshua Fagan”
Tag Archives: fiction
Review of “The Monolith Monsters” (1957)
Saturday Pizza and Bad Movie Night: Plot: After a meteorite shatters unnoticed across a remote spot in the desert, geologist Ben Gilbert (Phil Harvey) comes across an odd rock in his travels in the desert and brings it back to the office. He can’t figure out what it is. He turns in for theContinue reading “Review of “The Monolith Monsters” (1957)”
Review of “Fresh Air and Ice Cream” by Rick McQuiston
Plot: Bobby has spent so much time in front of the television playing video games, his face has grown gaunt. He finally talked his mom into buying him the game Extinguish the Light. A brilliant flash of light nearly blinds him. It’s only his mom, pulling back the curtain. She tells him she wants himContinue reading “Review of “Fresh Air and Ice Cream” by Rick McQuiston”
Review of “The Hole” by K. N. George
Plot: James has been having recurring dreams involving six-eyed monsters and his death. These freak him out. He doesn’t know why. Dreams can’t kill, and six-eyed monsters don’t exist. He attributes the nightmares and their effect on him to childhood memories of bullies beating him nearly to death. He tells himself he needs to seeContinue reading “Review of “The Hole” by K. N. George”
Review of “The Unicorn Keeper” by Mary E. Lowd
There is no plot in this short work, only a portrait of a put-upon unicorn keeper. Amilioona, the unicorn, has dainty gleaming, tufted—perfect— hooves which gleam “the same sparkling shade of white as a hillside of snow in the sun.” Those dainty hooves manage to kick the slop bucket over regardless of where the keeperContinue reading “Review of “The Unicorn Keeper” by Mary E. Lowd”
Review of “Kill Switch” by A. P. Howell
This is more of an essay. There isn’t a plot as such. The reader is told that what is referred to as a “kill switch” is more complicated than a single switch. What is referred to as a gene is more complicated than a single gene. “That’s the history of genetics right there. Applying chosenContinue reading “Review of “Kill Switch” by A. P. Howell”
Review of “The Castle of Wine and Clouds” by Jenny Rae Rappaport
Plot: “It begins with the Tyrant,” the reader is told. When the war is over, and a new king is crowned, the people are secure. They overlook the gradual eroding of less consequential rights. People disappear in the night. In the country, among those who work the land, the memory that things were ever differentContinue reading “Review of “The Castle of Wine and Clouds” by Jenny Rae Rappaport”
Review of “Tenure” by Andy Tubbesing
Plot: The Philosopher is out walking up the slate steps up Academy Hill, as she frequently does when puzzling out problems. The path circles the school so she can pace it for hours if need be. A call to wait up comes from the Artisan. “Well, keep up,” the Philosopher grumbles. The Philosopher despises theContinue reading “Review of “Tenure” by Andy Tubbesing”
Review of “The Last Rider of the Apocalypse” by Floris M. Kleijne
Plot: The Four Horsemen of lore—Pestilence, Famine, War, and Death, have destroyed humanity in an Apocalypse, leaving only Porcaleo alive. Porcaleo pursues them with vengeance across the vast expanse of space through Andromeda and the Horsehead Nebula. With the final quarry, a problem arises: how does one kill Death? Thoughts: This was a fun littleContinue reading “Review of “The Last Rider of the Apocalypse” by Floris M. Kleijne”
Review of “The Raleigh Temple of Artemis” by Caroline Diorio
Plot: The reader is told that the Temple of Artemis closes at midnight, and it’s now 11:52. The narrator apologizes to the snake-headed girl in the UNC Chapel Hill sweatshirt who’s cleaning the statue of Artemis. She’s waiting for someone. Not that she has an appointment. She tells the reader she just knows the otherContinue reading “Review of “The Raleigh Temple of Artemis” by Caroline Diorio”
Reviews of Old and New Stories. Mostly Old 