Lukas Deicke’s Reviews > The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2024 > Status Update

"If Someone You Love Has Become a Vurdalak" by Sam J.Miller

A neat tragic story about a pair of twins. One of them has become a Vurdalak (a variant of Vampire who only can feast upon people who love it). It's also a story about addiction and loving an individual who is an addict. It was written well and the end was ambiguous. Overall a solid ending for this anthology! 3/5

"Falling Bodies" by Rebecca Roan horse

Geez, this was depressing...but well, this is the result when you combine sci-fi with a depiction of modern day imperial politics, media and ideology. To someone out there who still thinks that recent attempts of deletion of culture such as the Ukraine War and Gaza are not as bad as people think: Read this story and you will understand the people who are suffering better. 4/5

"How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub" by P. Djèlí Clark

Read more Jules Verne!! This was surprisingly good! I did not expect this kind of story when I read the title. A funny short story set in Victorian London with surprisingly interesting world building telling a post-imperial narrative. The best is the world-building which leans heavily into the stories of Jules Verne. Ma boi Captain Nobody is also there. 5/5

"Once Upon a Time at The Oakmont" by P. A. Cornell

I really liked this one! This short story tells the story of a female resident of the high-rise building called the "Oakmont" in New York City. This building is built on a weird location which puts it out of the natural time flow. Because of that, people from different eras are living, interacting, and falling in love with each other in this building.

4/5

"Bruised-Eye Dusk" Jonathan Louis Duckworth

This one was okay. Nothing more nothing less. Taking place in the post-apocalyptic, post-literal USA this story tells the story of a witch-hunter and spell breaker who is riding on an alligator (literally the best part of the story). He is asked to hunt down a witch who is plaguing a swamp village. But something is not right with this job...

2,5/5

"Emotional Resonance" by V. M. Ayala

This one was straightforward narratively and thematically speaking. Two battle robots with human souls fall in love with each other over the span of a thousand years in a universe dominated by mega corporations. These mega corps put the souls of their deptors into various machines. A hopeful transhuman story about eternal love. I enjoyed the writing style and story well enough. 3

"Ankle Snatcher" by Grady Hendrix

This was a straightforward horror short story about a young man who has a monster under his bed and gets realistically incriminated for the death of the human snacks the Ankle Snatcher is yoinking. It was well written, but nothing that really stuck with me. Anyway, neeeext please!
3/5

"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.

"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