Lyn Perry on the new edition of Residential Aliens:
It’s that time of month again! Hmm, that doesn’t sound right. But it does mean that 5 new stories have magicamally appeared here at ResAliens – 4 by new-to-this-zine “freshman” authors and 1 returning “zine-ior” (get it?), Fred Warren. Let’s start with his SF piece, a thrilling, and up-lifting, space adventure. But then hold on, the stories following Fred’s get increasingly dark and disturbing, concluding with a subversive bit of fiction by Jeff Parish.
Ready? Okay!
Headlining this month’s issue is Fred Warren’s excellent science fiction novelet, “Of All Things, Seen and Unseen,” based on the Rescue Sisters Universe created by Robert and Karina Fabian and featured in their anthologies, Infinite Space, Infinite God and Leaps of Faith. The stories in the anthologies are about a future order of Catholic nuns who provide search and rescue services to space workers and travelers throughout our solar system’s asteroid belt. “Of All Things” is a very imaginative and superbly written piece of speculative fiction that I commend to you.
Next up is “The Bee Stone,” a seemingly innocent little magical story by Jasmine Giacomo. This fantasy – told in the fairy-tale tradition – is more than a morality tale, so be careful.
Meghan McVey’s mystical Dune-esque science fiction novelet follows. “The Bottled City” is a stand-alone tale but feels like the first episode in an epic cycle of far-future Saharan stories. Maybe it will be.
One of the darker pieces ResAliens has published is Kristen Lee Knapp’s science fiction, “The Assassin, The Star, and The Steel-Faced Man.” This PG-13′ish tale is filled with intrigue, sexual tension, and betrayal. If you like gritty space thrillers, this is for you.
Finally, that subversive bit of fiction I was telling you about. Jeff Parish fuses fantasy, SF, and horror into a disturbingly humorous piece, “Where the Sun Don’t Shine.” Yes, that’s the title. It is an experiment in stretching the boundaries for ResAliens and isn’t particularly “spiritually themed” (as per my guidelines) but is intriguing, and speaks to the human experience of death in light of eternal truths. In other words, it had me thinking about the story long after I finished reading it.
Thanks for reading and thinking with me.
Your Fellow Alien, Lyn
http://www.resaliens.com
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