Fyrewall

by Stefani Cox, LeVar Burton (Narrator)

In a future version of Los Angeles, a woman and her ragtag crew must repair a critical piece of technology or let the city burn to the ground.
Story originally found in Glass and Gardens: Solarpunk Summers

Podcast version narrated by LeVar Burton for LeVar Burton Reads

Genres: Short Stories, Audiobook, Science Fiction, Fantasy, Fiction

15 pages, Audiobook

Published September 4, 2018

About the author

Stefani Cox is a speculative fiction writer, poet, and hopeless bookworm. Her work has been published to LeVar Burton Reads, Black From the Future: A Collection of Black Speculative Writing, and Fiyah, among other outlets. She is based in Colorado, by way of California.

Reviews

[Amy Mills · Rating 2 out of 5]

Some interesting ideas, but I kept being thrown out of the story by the incongruity of the setup. Okay, so, about 120 years before this story begins, someone came up with an idea for a wall of water to protect Los Angeles from fires. Fine, I can buy that. Now, though, no one knows how it works, and the last remaining descendant of the inventor is expected to be able to do all maintenance, etc, by herself. Um, no. Emphatically, no.

We're talking about a wall, a spherical structure, big enough to enclose the entire city of Los Angeles. Hundreds, probably thousands, of people had to have worked to build this thing. There would have been plans for those people to follow. At the very least, we'd need an explanation explaining why those plans no longer exist, and how the last surviving builders had all come down with dementia or something and couldn't help. That's bad enough, but then there's a throwaway line about how LA still shares the tech as a bargaining chip with other cities. HUH?!??!!?? How in the heck does that work if, as is asserted, no one actually understands how the wall works any more?!??!??

So, yeah. The entire premise of the story does not work as sci-fi. However, it might work in a fantasy setting with magic (deleting the tech-sharing bit, as THAT still wouldn't make any sense), so once I started interpreting everything as magic instead of technology, I managed to overcome my antipathy and make it through. Decent characterization, interesting twist ending, once you stop pretending the story is sci-fi.

Note: I'm not saying that sci-fi and fantasy can never mix, just that this particular mix does not make any sense as written.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really really liked this one.

I loved the concept of the fyrewall, I loved the how it's become a living thing.

I'm definitely happy to 1) check out Solarpunk and 2) check out the author Stefani Cox more.

LeVar Burton of course did an amazing job narrating it.

[April · Rating 4 out of 5]

love the opptomistic solution to global warming and California drought/wildfires. Would love to read more of Stefanie's work

[Megan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A clearly-rendered future LA that is interesting and a succinctly-told story that gives us character and plot perfectly proportioned to the short story format.

[Ben · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wonderful, evocative, and far-fetched sci-fi short story. It got my imagination started, and that's the best element of any story, especially sci-fi.

[Courtney · Rating 3 out of 5]

I think I listened to this twice, it’s not bad, it just wasn’t memorable.
I do appreciate the LA setting.

[Emma · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love a good environmental warning story. This one does not disappoint!

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was....okay.

[Tim W.]

Read to me by the Levar Burton Podcast

[Felecia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting characters. It took me a bit to get into this one. I love how what seemed tedious initially was a key in the resolution.

[Ann · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's interesting how she's complaining about too much representation in government when she's a product of nepotism hahaha. That said, it's nice to have more climate fiction in my life.