Dan’s Comments (group member since Aug 20, 2024)

Dan’s comments from the Science Fiction: The Short Stuff group.

I went on to purchase Lamentation by Ken Scholes. I figured if he could write such a strong short story, his novel-writing ability might be worth the additional time investment. I am only on page 19, but the starting premise is wonderful.

It is a fantasy book, not SF. A loud explosion decimates a city. All that is left of it is a black cloud of smoke. We learn this from the perspective of three sets of characters who witness this event from outside the city. It's three separate stories so far from characters in different relationships to the city.

It looks like the story will be about finding out who blew up that city, how and why. And then what these three characters are going to do about it. Scholes' writing style appeals to me. It's easy enough to understand, yet sophisticated.

My copy of Skeleton Crew arrived today. It was a hardback, which surprised me. No dustcover of course, not for the low price I paid. Looking forward to starting it soon.

I ordered Skeleton Crew last week, used, for about $5 including tax and shipping. Then I realized, how silly of me. I could no doubt have requested it be sent me by my local library and I would have had a copy sooner and cheaper. Oh well, looking forward to having a jaunt in a week or so.

Wow! Modern SF authors sure can world build. Unlike in the days of yore they never hit you in the face with it via data dump. They just assume they can impart what the reader needs to know as they go. Written well, they're right. Sam J. Miller makes it look easy.

I must admit I am not much on the eco story. I mean the environment has been a thing ever since the concern started in the '60s. But follower of fashion I've never been. I recognize environmentalism's importance, but that still doesn't make me particularly passionate about the subject. Melting glaciers ruining NYC somehow makes me tired verging on bored. This aspect of the story will probably be appreciated by those who appreciate the gravity of that subject more.

Still, I have to give this story as high a rating as 3.5 stars because there is a human element to bring it together that at first seemed like drama churn to me. Nevertheless, it really captures teenage boys' attitudes well. The verisimilitude of the father's situation, and then the son's, and the tragedy of it all, drew me in even though I didn't want to be.

I just finished this and give it a solid four stars. Basically, it's an ascension story. The king is dying. Who in all the kingdom can take his place and how does he prove himself worthy. Put this in an SF setting. Add in some unexpected twists, awesome world-building, and good writing, and you have this story.

I loved it. I'm going to have to read another Scholes story sometime soon.

The second short story on offer this month is "Calved" by Sam J. Miller. This story first appeared in Asimov's Science Fiction, September 2015, and was nominated for a Locus award. It too can be found in Forever Magazine, Issue 16, May 2016 among other places. It's been anthologized a lot, here: The Very Best of the Best: 35 Years of the Year's Best Science Fiction, for example.

The short story "Calved" is a near-future climate fiction tale about an immigrant father, Dom, who works on an iceboat harvesting freshwater from Arctic glaciers to sell to drought-stricken nations after global flooding has destroyed cities like New York. The story focuses on Dom's strained relationship with his son, Thede, who resents his long absences and struggles to connect with his father amidst this near-apocalyptic world. The narrative explores themes of loss, father-son bonds, the struggle for connection, and the emotional toll of environmental disaster.

Ken Scholes is the author of our first SF short story this month, "Invisible Empire of Ascending Light." It was first published in Eclipse Two (2008). Ken Scholes is mostly an SF short story writer, but does have one series of novels to his credit, The Psalms of Isaak Series: Lamentation, Canticle, Antiphon, Requiem.

According to Publisher's Weekly, ‘Invisible Empire of Ascending Light’ concerns a violent contest to take the place of a dying god. That's about all I could find out about it. Oh, the story was also anthologized here: https://neil-clarke.com/books/galacti.... Check out the company it's in!

I obtained the story for $2.99 by purchasing the eBook Forever Magazine, Issue 16, May 2016. But feel free to get it another way if that one is not for you. Just join us please.

Overview
95% liked this book
"I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" is a post-apocalyptic short story by American writer Harlan Ellison. It was first published in the March 1967 issue of IF: Worlds of Science Fiction.
Originally published: March 1967
Author: Harlan Ellison
Characters: Nimdok, Gorrister, Ellen, Benny, Ted, AM
Genres: Science fiction, Speculative fiction, Biography, Autobiography
Subjects: Memoir
Read and Discussion Time for Group: October 2025

"The Jaunt" is a horror short story by Stephen King, first published in The Twilight Zone Magazine in 1981, and collected in King's 1985 collection Skeleton Crew. The story takes place early in the 24th century and involves teleportation technology. It has potential for a chilling film adaptation with a disturbing ending. We can begin discussing this in October 2025.

I just finished this again for the second time, and it was really good. Five stars easily. We have read 44 works for this group so far and I wondered how many others had received my 5-star rating. The answer? Just two. H.G. Wells The Time Machine, and The Cold Equations by Tom Godwin. I have lots of four-star ratings, but it takes a bit of storytelling magic to get my five-star. This novella has it. The novel version, which I've also read, should only get four. The novel is good too, but different, and those differences mostly subtract. It has more emphasis on the scene Up Front and the politics.

At first I was a bit disappointed in one aspect of the story. They find the new arriver's journal, read it, and fail to reach the obvious conclusions all us readers instantly see. First, who would write a journal in these circumstances? That breaks the first principle of Spycraft 101. Obviously it's going to be found and read. Second, how could the readers of the journal fail to see who Hahn so obviously is?

However, by the end of the story there were enough twists that all was forgiven. At least by me. Others may have more lingering problems with these apparent plot holes.

Please nominate up to two group-read worthy SF works shorter than a novel for us all to read together in November 2025.

I am about halfway through my reread of this. It's even better this time.

Men get sent back in time to a penal colony that is located before even the age of dinosaurs. This far back, they can live out their lives and die affecting no one. These guys are mostly political prisoners. The fact Silverberg wrote this during the Cold Wat shows. These political prisoners seem to have Marxist, pro-Soviet leanings. One cannot write SF in a vacuum. It is inevitable that concerns of the time at writing must show through. I forgive Silverberg this minor blemish and just convert to the fact these guys are leftists.

Then someone new shows up who doesn't seem political at all, who has no news to bring back of societal developments "Up Front". What's his agenda? Honestly, I have sort of forgotten since my earlier read and look forward to rediscovering what it was.

I finished this short story in the early part of this month. It was really good, though I think I would have enjoyed it more had I encountered it before 2016. My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I finished my reading of this novelette in the first half of the month and just reread it. It's a decent story, but better to listen to than read. Here's my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

I will nominate "Invisible Empire of Ascending Light" (2008) by Ken Scholes and "Calved" (2015) by Sam J. Miller. Both can be found in the ebook Forever Magazine, Issue 1, February 2015. The latter story took third place in the 2016 Asimov's Readers awards.

This novella was first published in the August 1967 issue of Galaxy Magazine. It proved immensely popular, and Silverberg expanded and published it as a novel the following year. I have read both versions and consider them both to be excellent, five stars each. The additional material really changes the story considerably. We are only considering the novella in this group.

The story is about a penal colony like Australia was, a place one could send criminals to in order to remove them from society. Only in this case the criminals are sent back in time to a period when dinosaurs ruled the Earth. There are no other humans these criminals can mess with, just themselves.

If you try to buy the novella for Kindle under the Silverberg name you won't get it. You'll get the novel instead, which although very good, is very different as well. You'll also pay at least $7.49 for that pleasure. Instead, I recommend getting the novella. It's published for Kindle in a magazine titled Forever Magazine, Issue 16, May 2016, which is available for just $2.99. I think you will find it well worth the price.

"A hanged corpse is found dangling in the street, unnoticed by many passers-by."

This month's short story group read selection is another audio story narrated in The Lost Si-Fi Podcast. In fact, it's the first (or earliest) one of the podcast. Check it out; the reader really does this one justice. The story itself is vintage, paranoid Dick, a version of Invasion of the Body-Snatchers. Set in the 1950s this story is so dated it has become modern, if one equates the aliens to MAGAs.

September's novelette group read is Never Gut-Shoot a Wampus by Winston K. Marks. I selected this novelette having recently encountered it on the The Lost Sci-Fi Podcast. It's a really good story to listen to. Despite that, I have mixed feelings about this podcast. I've only listened to four or five episodes so far, but every single one is in the realm of soft SF, not hard SF. In fact, the podcaster is choosing only stories that have something to do with heterosexual lust, male on female, and this story is the third or fourth example of that in a row. The SF seems to be a trapping only for the protagonist to get his perv on.

This is the first I have ever heard of this particular author. The one photo I know of that exists of him is featured on our group home page this month. He wrote approximately 60 short stories for the pulps, all but four of these published between 1953 and 1959. The other four were from 1940, 1941, 1967, and 1968. Marks had a career and writing was just something he did on the side, except perhaps for that 1950s period.

I plan to give this story a close read. It first appeared in the February 1955 issue of Imagination and has been made into a Project Gutenberg free (or very low cost) chapbook available for Kindle.

Looks good, David. At first I was going to disqualify the Stephen King entry, but I looked up some info about the story and see it takes place in the 24th century. Say hi to Buck Rogers for me! That's therefore inarguably SF. It's funny. I read Skeleton Crew in the 1980s, but sure don't remember that story! Thanks for the nominations.

Please nominate up to two works of science fiction shorter than a novel that you think our group would enjoy reading and discussing together this October. Since it's October, I want to add a restriction: let's look for horror-based SF, something like "Alien" scary. Deadline: the end of September 15, 2025.