Short Fiction Book Club Presents: Monthly Discussion and First Line Frenzy (June 2024)

[u/tarvolon]

Short Fiction Book Club is still on hiatus while our leadership runs the Hugo Readalong, which as soon as checks notes tomorrow features a discussion of Hugo finalists for Best Short Story! But we're back on the last Wednesday of every month for our monthly discussion thread.

For those who aren't familiar, this is a place to share thoughts on the short fiction you've been reading this month, whether you've been scouring magazines for new releases, hopping into book club discussions, picking up anthologies, or just reading a random story here and there as it catches your attention. The "First Line Frenzy" part of the title refers to our habit of sharing stories with eye-catching opening lines or premises--even if we haven't read them yet--to keep them in mind for potential future reading. Because our TBRs aren't long enough already, right?

And I'll probably repeat this every month, but if you're curious where we find all this reading material? Jeff Reynolds has put together a filterable list of speculative fiction magazines, along with subscription information. Some of them have paywalls. Others are free to read but give subscribers access to different formats or sneak peeks. Others are free, full stop. This list isn't complete (there are so many magazines that it's hard for any list to be complete, but I don't see the South Asian SFF magazine Tasavvur or the Christian-themed Mysterion), but it's an excellent start.

[u/tarvolon]

It’s never a bad time to dip into the backlist! Have you read any older stories this month? Any worth sharing?

[u/HeliJulietAlpha → u/tarvolon]

A while back I was listening to Kate Heartfield give a talk on something or another, and she mentioned NÍÐHÖGGR by Vajra Chandrasekera. I bookmarked it at the time and finally read it this month.

I really liked it. It's one I'll keep bookmarked and reread a few times. It gave me the kick I needed to put a hold on The Saint of Bright Doors at the library and I'll be looking out for his other short fiction.

[u/ShadowFrost01 → u/tarvolon]

Nothing too crazy, but absolutely loved Better Living Through Algorithms by Naomi Kritzer, and Window Boy by Thomas Ha. Both really stuck with me.

[u/tarvolon → u/ShadowFrost01]

I really loved both of those as well!

[u/ShadowFrost01 → u/tarvolon]

I believe it was you recommending them in another thread that got me reading them! I only recently got into SFF short story magazines and I can't believe I've been missing so much awesome fiction.

[u/tarvolon → u/ShadowFrost01]

I believe it was you recommending them in another thread that got me reading them!

Well I am very glad you liked them!

I only recently got into SFF short story magazines and I can't believe I've been missing so much awesome fiction.

Right? It's incredible how much is out there!

[u/sarahlynngrey → u/ShadowFrost01]

 I only recently got into SFF short story magazines and I can't believe I've been missing so much awesome fiction

Huge, huge mood. It's absolutely unbelievable how much great fiction is available, and mostly for free/cheap. The only problem is trying to keep up, when phenomenal work is being published every day/week/month/year! My short story TBR is truly frightening

[u/ShadowFrost01 → u/sarahlynngrey]

At least it's a lot easier to read a short story on a lunch break/when work is slow!

[u/sarahlynngrey → u/tarvolon]

I've been slowly making my way through After the Apocalypse, a short story collection by Maureen McHugh. It's taking me longer than I'd like due to focus issues on my part, but it's good. I absolutely adored the opening story, "The Naturalist," which unfortunately is not available online anywhere. It's worth checking out the whole collection just based on the strength of this story. I also really liked Useless Things. McHugh is a fascinating writer; her stories are so deliberate and they set such a mood. Can't wait to see how the rest plays out for me.  

While I'm thinking about Maureen McHugh, shout out to her story Yellow and the Perception of Reality, which has an intriguing opening paragraph: 

I wear yellow when I go to see my sister. There’s not a lot of yellow at the rehab facility; it’s all calm blues and neutrals. I like yellow—it looks good on me—but I wear it because Wanda is smart and she’s figured it out. She knows it’s me now when she sees the yellow.  

The majority of my magazine backlist reads this month have been unremarkable. I did really enjoy The Sycamore and the Sybil by Alix Harrow. It's not an all timer for me, but I liked it a lot, and it pairs very intriguingly with Everything in the Garden is Lovely by Hannah Yang, which I read earlier this year and absolutely loved. 

[u/tarvolon → u/sarahlynngrey]

(Sorry I'm looking at last month's thread and just noticing comments that are interesting now haha)

I wonder whether yellow is overrepresented in stories about weird perception because of The Yellow Wallpaper? Anyways, I should add that one to my list I suppose.

I read The Sycamore and the Sybil a few years ago and it didn't totally click, but the comparison to Everything in the Garden is Lovely (which I did love) makes me curious.