Status Updates From The Best American Science F...

"The Last Four Things" by Christopher Rowe
This was an exhausting one. The plot is hard to describe. I think the best description would be: What if James Joice and Catholic Cateshism would have a post-human child. Exhausting but not entirely unenjoyable. 2,5/5.

"Resurrection Highway" by A. R. Capetta

This short story was by far the worst one I have read so far in this anthology. The plot is decent enough. A redemption story set in a Mad Max setting, but with car necromancy. However, the thing is written in simple present and the second person singular making it a self insert narrative. I didn't know I could dislike a choice of narrative so much. 1,5/5. 1,5 points for plot.

"Form 8774-D" by Alex Irvine

This story was a definite highlight of the anthology. It follows the daily work life of a desk clerk who has to make sure, that the registration paperwork of every human, who possesses an emergent superpower, is in order. Everything is here, from the weird and funny over the wholesome to the menacing and escalating. The typical life of a lower government official. Very good. 4/5

"The Blade and the Bloodwright" by Sloane Leong

An elite team of warriors "escorts" a sort of flesh magician to the city centers of the enemy where she proceeds to kill everyone by turning them all into body horror flesh clouds. In the end, she and the other protagonist are eaten by the god of death who emerges from the waves. Brilliant! A lot of trans-human topics going on there. Thought about that a lot. 4/5

"Calypso's Guest" by Andrew Sean Greer

It's the story of Odysseus stranding on Calypso's island...BUT IN SPACE. The island is a planet and O's ship is a space ship. Calypso is also a dude who was imprisoned by a mighty (one might even say godly)precursor race for betraying his race. This story is about the depression of loneliness and the curse of monotinous eternity. A very melancholic one. 3/5

"Falling Bodies," by Rebecca Roanhorse; some exciting sci-fi world building around a narrative of revolution. "If Someone You Love Has Become a Vurdalak," by Sam J. Miller; the undead as a metaphor for co-dependence and addiction.

"Once Upon a Time at The Oakmont," by P. A. Cornell; a lovely time travel romance; previously read: "How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub" by P. Djèlí Clark

"Bruised-Eye Dusk," by Jonathan Louis Duckworth, a witch-hunt mystery with some serious local color made of gators and skeeters, an interesting take on good magic vs. evil, and a wandering gunslinger "spellbreaker" which I'd gladly follow across a whole anthology of more mysteries.

"Emotional Resonance" by V. M. Ayala; a love story between two corporate murder robots. It's cool to see another young, emerging writer featured in these anthologies.

"The Ankle Snatcher" by Grady Hendrix; legit a monster-under-the-bed story but with a sociological twist. This one was good.

"The Four Last Things" by Christopher Rowe. Probably brilliant, but I found it almost insufferably pretentious. If your content is enigmatic, I think your prose should be clear. If your prose is enigmatic, I think your content should be clear. And if both your prose and your content are enigmatic, it better be worth it. Some really good stories were excluded so this one could be part of this volume.