Redemption Song

by Quan Barry

The ancient myth of Pandora’s box reimagined in a haunting, post-apocalyptic future...

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Adult

41 pages, ebook

First published July 16, 2025

About the author

Born in Saigon and raised on Boston’s north shore, Quan Barry is a professor of English at the University of Wisconsin–Madison and the author of four poetry books; her third book, Water Puppets, won the AWP Donald Hall Prize for Poetry and was a PEN/Open Book finalist. She has received NEA Fellowships in both fiction and poetry, and her work has appeared in such publications as Ms. and The New Yorker. Barry lives in Wisconsin.

Reviews

[Alex Sarll]

I didn't think this was bad, but the mystery of how exactly the world was put together wasn't enough to carry me through all the poisoning and slow degenerative death that felt all too reminiscent of the here and now.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

A cool shirt story with interesting world-building and excellent pacing

[Katherine · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oof. This wasn't very good at all. I only finished it because it was pretty short. The prose felt amateurish, and weirdly thirsty. Not sure how this made it past the editors.

[S.A Reidman · Rating 3 out of 5]

🤔 I'm tempted to say "every book deserves a second chance" but I have 1159 books on my TBR (and counting)so...yeah, maybe not possible unless they figure out immortality in the next 80 years. suffice it to say I had a weird nightmare which comprised of elements of this book meaning my brain was playing back what I had read at a rapid pace so I came back and re-read it.🧐

Update on a Re-Read:
This small room, this beautiful woman, her phosphorescent eyes, this Old-Order instrument in his hands, his soul about to escape his mouth. Dio takes a deep breath and does what no man has done in an arch-age. He strums the first chord. G major. Sola gasps but remains silent, utterly rapt.

His name is Dio, one letter shy of God and the moment he strums the guitar - he connects with the language of soul. We're headed into The Helican System, to the Old World 🌎... upon the second reading, I wonder, are collective unconscious traumas enduring? The rise and fall of ancient civilizations, Slavery, Holocausts, Raiding, old wars, new wars all of it. When does the next level, the next iteration of civilization improve or are we just this massive self-sabotaging collective on cycle ...who knows what number repeating the same old shyte once again?

First Review-ish
Gotta be honest I totally forget I read this. So that's a 2.5, I'm rounding up because of the depiction of Pandora and the Helian System.
RTC

[I'mogén · Rating 3 out of 5]

Actual rating: 3.5 / 5

I haven't read a Tor original short fiction in a hot minute, so scrolling through their selection, I thought I'd give this one ago. The title was intriguing (thinking back, I think it's because earlier in the day I was looking at a painting called 'no woman no cry', so Bob Marley was on the mind), the illustration cover art by Jun Cen caught my eye and the short synopsis of a sci-fi spin on Pandora's Box truly sealed the deal.

I also hadn't read from this author before, so I thought that starting with this piece was as a good a start as any.


This was quite moving for only 41 pages. Not only was it science fiction, but the themes on how civilization has destroyed the original earth and how history is written by the lions, not the antelopes, was so very telling for the direction our real world is rapidly approaching.


It was emotive, thought provoking and intriguing and the ending left me stunned.


You can read the novelette for yourself here: Redemption Song - Reactor https://share.google/jKJSFLU9ZLg3L9Bzc


Pick it up, give it a go & enjoy!

[Kam Yung Soh · Rating 3 out of 5]

A story set in a future where humanity has spread far and wide in the universe via work done a subgroup of humans (disparagingly called Geckos) to terraform the worlds. Due to their work, this subgroup has become toxic to the rest of humanity, being isolated by air filters and barriers.

As the story starts, a group of these people have revolted against their work conditions and hijacked a ship and a pilot to go to the planet Pandora. Things get complicated when the pilot develops feelings for one of the Geckos. But together, they have to crack the puzzle that is Pandora, for they need to access what Pandora has access to.

After solving the puzzle and getting access, they reach their target. And it is there that puzzles and mysteries about how the Geckos and the spread of humanity really happened start to be answered. And the answers they find are not expected, and will overturn their entire worldview and their own history: but it will show a way to reunite humanity again and remake their working conditions.

[Arimi Reads · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's a sci fi story that has lots of world building but the world building has been ridiculously reduced and unless you're ready to unravel the secrets of the universe it gets very confusing very quickly. It was a quick read, and a fun one, so I suppose you're probably wondering why I've rated it two stars?

It's too damn short. The world building is there. In essence. Which is very rare to see in books, much less in short stories. The basis of a brilliant, vibrant and colourful world is there, but this book is more of an idea rather than a fully fletched tale. I would love for this to be expanded into a fully fledged book. I want to know about this world, the creatures in it, and I want the world expanded massively so. This was just too short, and most of the lore was crammed ridiculously short and you just roll with it.

I didn't want to roll with it, I wanted the secrets of this universe spelling out to me.

[Thia Reads A Lot · Rating 3 out of 5]

3*

A bit heavy-handed to me

Summary: Dio is kidnapped by Geckoes (mutated people who are toxic to the Soil Breathers), forced to lead them to an old planet (Earth), where they "replant" earthworms with a virus that will produce oxygen. Dio is asked by Pandora to tell a story using one word to get access to the destination galaxy, he says "home". He falls in love with Sola, learns to play Redemption Songs by Bob Marley on a guitar for her, she falls in love with him. Everyone is surprised that he is not dying. While exploring the ruins on Earth, they find out the Geckoes were never toxic.

[Maura Heaphy Dutton · Rating 1 out of 5]

Clumsy, derivative and very lightly edited. World-building consists almost entirely of giving obscure, techie names to mundane things.

The author thinks "non-plussed" means exactly the opposite of what it means .... It was at that point that I almost gave up on this. But it's short, and I paid for it ....

[Radwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the slow revelations, but this story ended too soon.

It had a lot of parallels with our real world, and the mixture between the myth of Pandora's box with slavery and human greed manifested was quite intriguing.

[g · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5/5. the pacing was dog shit and the main dude starts racist against aliens with a cool ass alien partner he hates and then he somehow becomes a Cool Dude™ and now his alien partner is reduced to nothing more than his simpering lover. dog shit.

[Shannon · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was really clunky. So many made up words that it was just annoying. There really wasn't a mystery. A bit of plot, but it was ultimately unresolved. And the "relationship" between Sola and Dio was cringey. Don't recommend.

[CapesandCovers · Rating 4 out of 5]

loved this, there was so much to unpack within such a brief word count that it's quite impressive. i'd love to see this written out as a full length novel!

[Per · Rating 4 out of 5]

https://reactormag.com/redemption-son...

[Tiffany | Booktok · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a short, allegorical scifi wrapped in an enemies-to-lovers narrative. In ‘Redemption Song’ Barry leans into the genre to explore deeper themes of prejudice and power.

I’m not much of a romance person, but I found the approach interesting. This story wasn’t for me personally, but overall it was well crafted.