Whilst he wrote novels, too, I always consider Fredric as one of the grand masters of the short - sometimes very short - story, frequently with an surprising twist to it that can turn an entire story on its head and forces the reader to start again. This is not one of those, but the twist is a classic.
For those not familiar with the term, Wikipedia provides the following definition for Solipsism:
from Latin solus, meaning 'alone', and ipse, meaning 'self', is the philosophical idea that only one's own mind is sure to exist. As an epistemological position, solipsism holds that knowledge of anything outside one's own mind is unsure; the external world and other minds cannot be known and might not exist outside the mind. As a metaphysical position, solipsism goes further to the conclusion that the world and other minds do not exist.
Here's a story set in Aliette de Bodard's 'Dominion of the Fallen' universe:
Children of Thorns, Children of Water is set between two novels - The House of Shattered Wings and The House of Binding Thorns. It was a preorder reward for The House of Binding Thorns, and was then made available for free online in issue 17 of the Uncanny Magazine.
It has now, deservedly in my opinion, been shortlisted for the 2018 Hugo Award.
To whet your appetite for the story, which I strongly recommend you read, I shamelessly nick Aliette's own description of her story:
Dragons, creepy magic, cooking (!).
In a Paris that never was, a city of magicians, alchemists and Fallen angels struggling to recover from a devastating magical war…
Once each year, the House of Hawthorn tests the Houseless: for those chosen, success means the difference between a safe life and the devastation of the streets. However, for Thuan and his friend Kim Cuc, — dragons in human shapes and envoys from the dying underwater kingdom of the Seine — the stakes are entirely different. Charged with infiltrating a House that keeps encroaching on the Seine, if they are caught, they face a painful death.
Worse, mysterious children of thorns stalk the candidates through Hawthorn’s corridors. Will Thuan and Kim Cuc survive and succeed?
The story is subtitled 'Working Back from Human Extinction', and does exactly that - provide a list of events and interventions, in reverse chronological order, of the run-up to human extinction. You will not be surprised that it begins in the today, or maybe even the yesterday, with 'Turn off the lights when you are no longer in the room.'
But if the path to hell is paved with good intention, then the path to human extinction is paved with decisions made with the best intentions. At least some of them, the rest of course were made due to greed, other interests than humanity overall, or simply stupidity...
Here's a blast from a past, and a great hope for the future, all in one package!
S. P. Somtow (or Somtow Sucharitkul, which he originally published under), the Thai/American polymath famous for both his writing and as a composer, has re-released The Comet that Cried for its Mother, an Inquestor originally published in Amazing Stories and later, in adapted form, included in Utopia Hunters on Wattpad.
So, firstly, go forth and read, and enjoy - I always appreciated the Inquestor stories for their fantastic Space Opera setting, mixed with a High Values/High Honour culture which could just as well be from a classic Fantasy setting, for its inspirational and evocative language and storytelling.
But, also - this is, as he states, part of the path toward a 5th novel in the series; which he plans to publish in Novella-length instalments as a Zine, with ancillary materials, original stories, and hopefully artwork. And me, for one, cannot wait to get my hands on new (or even previously unseen) material set in this universe.
Here's a little treat for you, and fresh off the press (virtually only, though):
Uncanny Magazine has, in its November/December issue, a story by Karin Tidbeck called The Bone Plain - talking about running away, about finding your own way, or maybe yourself. And about redemption, maybe.
But read for yourself, the story is not very long, but very much worth reading!
Karin Tidbeck is a Swedish writer of Weird Fiction, sometimes, as is the case here, with a hint of Fantasy (or 70s SF art? I could picture the Bone Plain setting as such!), and a new and exciting voice that you should not miss!
