As much as we have discussed Kathe Koja's work in this group, I am surprised to find no discussion topic devoted to next month's author. I correct that oversight forthwith.
I'm also writing to review the second work I have read by this author, another short story. The first short story was "The Neglected Garden," briefly reviewed elsewhere by Merl, as well as me, in this group.
The story I just got my hands on today is "Happy Birthday, Kim White" (1987). Her first published story, it appeared in a magazine called SF International and has (to the best of my knowledge) never been reprinted elsewhere. That magazine only lasted two issues. I now have both of them. They are difficult, but not impossible to find. Copies can still be located for under $20, but not under $10. Mine came from East Sussex, so I had to pay a very high British tax rate (funny how they're still nailing us with taxes 250 years later) and ludicrous postage fees to obtain it. After I ordered and paid for it, I found a copy available in the U.S. for slightly less, including reasonable tax and shipping. Oh well. It was still worth it. Not only for the Koja story, which is wonderful, but for all the other stories too. The magazine is a somewhat amateur effort and has plenty of typos, but the stories and the authors are well selected. There are translations of authors we never would otherwise see in the U.S. For example, only in the last ten years are Tais Teng's stories (not his novels though) finally being frequently translated into English, but he's been writing at Asamovian levels in Dutch for years. The issue even has a Steve and Melanie Tem short story, "The Sing." Sorry, I digress.
The Koja story was a very pleasant surprise, easily five stars. She really ought to collect and reprint it. Although it is pure science fiction, it has elements of Weird in it too because it keeps aside what is really going on until the end, a Weird technique. Call it 80/20 percent. The three stories most like it I have read or seen are The Handmaid's Tale, the TV series The Colony, and Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," all condensed down to seven pages.
The protagonist is a boy named Kim White who when his twelfth, or thirteenth, birthday approaches has to make a difficult choice: serve his society as a neuter (like a handmaid) or take his chances on being deported to The Colony. Yep, Koja should sue for copyright infringement. If he chooses to be a neuter, and serve, the matriarchs (this is the direct opposite vision of the future than Atwood's) will bless him. If not, ruh-roh.
And that's all I want to say of the plot. Hopefully, it's not too much. This story would make a wonderful opening chapter to a novel.
I'm also writing to review the second work I have read by this author, another short story. The first short story was "The Neglected Garden," briefly reviewed elsewhere by Merl, as well as me, in this group.
The story I just got my hands on today is "Happy Birthday, Kim White" (1987). Her first published story, it appeared in a magazine called SF International and has (to the best of my knowledge) never been reprinted elsewhere. That magazine only lasted two issues. I now have both of them. They are difficult, but not impossible to find. Copies can still be located for under $20, but not under $10. Mine came from East Sussex, so I had to pay a very high British tax rate (funny how they're still nailing us with taxes 250 years later) and ludicrous postage fees to obtain it. After I ordered and paid for it, I found a copy available in the U.S. for slightly less, including reasonable tax and shipping. Oh well. It was still worth it. Not only for the Koja story, which is wonderful, but for all the other stories too. The magazine is a somewhat amateur effort and has plenty of typos, but the stories and the authors are well selected. There are translations of authors we never would otherwise see in the U.S. For example, only in the last ten years are Tais Teng's stories (not his novels though) finally being frequently translated into English, but he's been writing at Asamovian levels in Dutch for years. The issue even has a Steve and Melanie Tem short story, "The Sing." Sorry, I digress.
The Koja story was a very pleasant surprise, easily five stars. She really ought to collect and reprint it. Although it is pure science fiction, it has elements of Weird in it too because it keeps aside what is really going on until the end, a Weird technique. Call it 80/20 percent. The three stories most like it I have read or seen are The Handmaid's Tale, the TV series The Colony, and Shirley Jackson's "The Lottery," all condensed down to seven pages.
The protagonist is a boy named Kim White who when his twelfth, or thirteenth, birthday approaches has to make a difficult choice: serve his society as a neuter (like a handmaid) or take his chances on being deported to The Colony. Yep, Koja should sue for copyright infringement. If he chooses to be a neuter, and serve, the matriarchs (this is the direct opposite vision of the future than Atwood's) will bless him. If not, ruh-roh.
And that's all I want to say of the plot. Hopefully, it's not too much. This story would make a wonderful opening chapter to a novel.