There comes a point we all tire of the daily grind, isn't that so, folks? Voluntarily separated from everything that gives life meaning, reluctantly self-sacrificed on an alter of necessity. Do we even know any longer what it is we lack? Helpfully, Melanie Bell pulls back the veil. The solution might be nothing more than rethinking what it is we choose to do.
Many years ago, while doing research for a screenplay, the editor stumbled across the tradition of 'couvade', in which a father-to-be undergoes a symbolic childbirth as the expectant mother delivers their child. The ritual I read about sounded somewhat more intense (and potentially less voluntary) than what Wikipedia presently describes… perhaps Tim Borella's researches took him down a similar rabbit hole.
Some stories arrive in their perfected form, others evolve between submission and publication. 'The Loneliest Dog on the Moon' is one that took its time, but while the journey to release was a long one, Alya Marchenko's piece was heartfelt from the start - even under its original title, 'The Tail End Policy', which I liked as much as its final one!
Another instance of workplace stress driving motivation, but this time we get the flipside: What's going to give when the tempting urge to just say 'To hell with it' and head for the door crashes you into the bitter reality of responsibilities, commitments, and the forever need for cold hard cash? It might just be your self-respect. Returning contributor Aaron Emmel sugar-coats nothing.
When overwhelming grief strikes, you have little choice but to endure, to whatever extent you are able to. Some might need companionship. Some might need space. Julia Tilford gives her protagonist both, if you'll forgive a small pun at an inappropriate time. And speaking of which, they say time heals all wounds, but when your whole universe comes crashing down you'll find there is none of that in your new singularity.
AI stories are nothing new in sf, though for some reason the subject does seem to have been on people's minds a lot recently. In any case, this isn't exactly 'an AI story', though it does feature what increasingly threatens to be a central implication of them. No, this is another example of what the editor thinks of as speculative employment fiction, which maybe isn't a proper subgenre at all. Gordon Graham and I can debate it later.
Perhaps you're unaware, but Bill Ryan is years deep into a fairly astonishing project: paired reviews of books from his heaving shelves, one each by authors familiar and unfamiliar to him, always delivered in his switchbacking conversational style. They don't wade into the speculative genres often, but he's always welcome here when that itch needs a scratch. And there's a link at the end of this one you may want to follow.
The customary closer: a set of short reviews that bring together three stories that caught on the editor's mind while reading through the year. This time they're somewhat unbalanced, two very short ones and one considerably longer; the first pair of passing similarity, the latter not remotely. But all interesting, and free to read at the links you'll find waiting.
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