shattered prism #2

Editors: Carmelo Rafala & Amir Naaman

I’ve got this from netgalley in exchange for an honest review, and oh boy it was terrible in terms of reading due to incomprehensive format. On my kindle every fourth or so paragraph lacked gaps between words, so I had to decipher part of the text. It was frustrating and often got in a way of me thoroughly enjoying some stories.

1. The Last Word on the Last Pantheon - Tade Thompson & Nick Wood
Ok, I can’t give it any stars mostly cuz it’s non-fiction bout african superheroes and comics. Neither the theme nor the presentation was particularly interesting for me, so that’s a definite skip.

2. Notes Toward a Performance: The Narrow Bridge, December 2001 - Vajra Chandrasekera 1/5
Maybe I was still struggling with the merged words in the sentences, or I am just not the target audience, but I didn’t get this story at all. Even if I was in a haze trying to put together pieces of information author presented here, in the end all I was left with is just a hint of frustation and dissapointment. What was this all about, anyway?

3. The Froglover - Cynthia Wood 1/5
Well, that’s more like it - at least this story has a setting that I can relate to. Not very distant future where people coexist with frogalike aliens (are they invaders? inconclusive). There are values that are forever carved in your heart and the shiny things that make you forget who you are. In the end Wood touched really sensitive spot of mine with the grandma’s rings. Still, the whole story seemed pointless and non-inspiring.

4. Quinta Essential - Bradley P. Beaulieu 3/5
There’s a fifth element that courses through every organism in the universe and connects everything - in a sense, something similar to the SW Force. There’s an alien form of life whose puprose being on a planet is unknown. Two scientists, one of them is genious and other is irreparably traumatized and blessed at the same time. Saving the world and expanding the core undestanding how the universe works. It was actually decent in terms of story development and the premise.

5. Down Beneath the Bridge Yet Unbuilt - Sarah Pinsker 4/5
That was gloomy and totally unexpected for a sci-fi magazine. The numbers are dancing in the eyes of a girl who is struggling to live another day. The setting is quite harsh and unforgiving, and for the most part I was sure it was gonna end tragically, especially with a consonant, almost delicate handling of numbers - they were definitely gonna kill everyone off, oblivious to anything other than cold calculation. Best piece in the collection.