A scientist is forced to reconsider the implications of his efforts to rehabilitate his father’s invention when its effects on his own son become clear. Told in the form of a brief…
Author: Michael Hartford
“Exhalation” by Ted Chiang
A race of pneumatically-powered androids must come to terms with the fact that their very consciousness is built upon the variation in air pressure in their universe, and that the inevitable equilibrium…
“The King’s Teacup a Rest” by Michael Andreasen
The King of Retired Amusements takes possession of Liebling’s Sunday Morning Carnival and Midway, and is undone by expired hot dogs and faulty rides while his entourage pursue their own quests. A…
“What’s Expected Of Us” by Ted Chiang
A toy triggered by future actions proves that there is no free will, resulting in despair and catatonia. Less a story than a thought experiment with terrible implications; and it’s more than…
“The Fifth Stone” by Simon Strantzas
Over the course of her life a woman collects and discards five stones that both fascinate and torment her, and in the end discovers that they can unlock her nightmares. This a…
“Yoda” by Brian Doyle
A man finds a newborn, apparently abandoned by his teenage neighbor. This is an odd, short little story, very much a character sketch.
“Collision” by J. S. Breukelaar
Multiverses collide, and alternate versions of people and lives are entangled and then ripped apart. This is an interesting and twisty take on the multiverse trope, with a heartfelt and heartrending core…
“In the Tall Grass” by Simon Strantzas
A widow tries to find a place for the man-tree who may be her son to belong. This is an odd story that feels a bit like a fairy tale despite its…
“Skinder’s Veil” by Kelly Link
A graduate student watches a secluded house with two important rules: any friends of the owner who come to the back door are to be let in, but under no circumstances may…
“Annunciation” by Lauren Groff
A young woman uproots herself from her life and moves to San Francisco, where her life becomes entangled with her garrulous landlady and secretive co-worker. Much more character than plot driven, this…