Three short stories
Quick! Before the day closes.
"Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather," by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny March–April 2021)
I came to this via![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
purlewe (thank you!) It's done as posts on LyricSplainer, a site for talking about folksongs--in this case, the folksong "Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather," which has many variants (of course), across all of which a man's literal heart is taken out and replaced with an acorn... Dr. Rydell wrote a paper about it back in 2002 and posted more about it on his blog, was even investigating a town that might have been the site of the original story ... but then he seems to have disappeared from the world of scholarship and the interwebs. So reports Henry Martyn, one of the commenters on LyricSplainer, who is following in Dr. Rydell's footsteps ... though one of the other commenters remarks that Henry Martyn's own last post to the site seems to have been a couple of years ago...
I enjoyed all the fun ballad-adjacent handles the LyricSplainer site users had, like Rhiannononymous, BarrowBoy, and BonnieLass67. Also, the author Sarah Pinsker is also a singer-songwriter, and among the links to [fictional] versions of "Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather" by groups like Steeleye Span and the Decemberists, there's one actual live link to a version by a group called Moby K. Dick. Nice touch, Ms. Pinsker. If you enjoy folksongs and all the paraphernalia surrounding them, this is a story for you. All you folks who were reviewing Ellis Peter’s Black is the Colour of My True-Love’s Heart, if you haven't read this already, give it a try!
"Letters From Mt. Monroe Elementary, Third Grade," by Sarah Pauling (Diabolical Plots 3 September 2024)
Beginning in 1967, "a mere five years after Beacon Day," when Earth first received notice that a generation ship was heading its way from a faraway star, kids in an elementary school in Michigan have been writing letters to the Pilgrims, as the aliens are known. The letters extend to 2024 (the Pilgrims aren't due to arrive until 2090), and it's funny and touching to see the various preoccupations and stances of the children over time--also fun to see younger siblings appearing. One third-grader from 1967 later becomes the class teacher. One child describes a book she found in her mom's car that features a romance between a Pilgrim and a woman whose evil husband is trying to take over her ranch:
But maybe most touching of all is the fact that in spite of the suspiciousness of some of the kids' letters, the framing of the story is such that we understand the coming of this generation ship has NOT been met with an all-out scramble of military preparedness. The assertion, never directly articulated, that we might--just possibly--welcome an alien generation ship is a beautiful statement of faith in humanity.
"A Theory of Missing Affections," by Renan Bernardo (Clarkesworld, September 2024)
Vanessa Fogg put me onto this story when she described it as a "fascinating story that considers big questions and ideas." The author describes it as "a tale about two sisters separated by distance, by their conflicting views on life, and by the devices left by an extinct alien species." One sister is into scientific investigation of the aliens; the other is an adherent of a religion that worships them as gods. The story is told from the first sister's perspective, and I confess I was waiting with bated irritation to see what was going to happen. But the author neatly dodged a facile ending, coming up with one that was emotionally satisfying. Similarly, the extinct aliens, who we're initially told "cherished torture" evolve in our consciousness as the viewpoint sister comes to understand them better. It's a carefully built story--nicely done.
"Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather," by Sarah Pinsker (Uncanny March–April 2021)
I came to this via
purlewe (thank you!) It's done as posts on LyricSplainer, a site for talking about folksongs--in this case, the folksong "Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather," which has many variants (of course), across all of which a man's literal heart is taken out and replaced with an acorn... Dr. Rydell wrote a paper about it back in 2002 and posted more about it on his blog, was even investigating a town that might have been the site of the original story ... but then he seems to have disappeared from the world of scholarship and the interwebs. So reports Henry Martyn, one of the commenters on LyricSplainer, who is following in Dr. Rydell's footsteps ... though one of the other commenters remarks that Henry Martyn's own last post to the site seems to have been a couple of years ago...I enjoyed all the fun ballad-adjacent handles the LyricSplainer site users had, like Rhiannononymous, BarrowBoy, and BonnieLass67. Also, the author Sarah Pinsker is also a singer-songwriter, and among the links to [fictional] versions of "Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather" by groups like Steeleye Span and the Decemberists, there's one actual live link to a version by a group called Moby K. Dick. Nice touch, Ms. Pinsker. If you enjoy folksongs and all the paraphernalia surrounding them, this is a story for you. All you folks who were reviewing Ellis Peter’s Black is the Colour of My True-Love’s Heart, if you haven't read this already, give it a try!
"Letters From Mt. Monroe Elementary, Third Grade," by Sarah Pauling (Diabolical Plots 3 September 2024)
Beginning in 1967, "a mere five years after Beacon Day," when Earth first received notice that a generation ship was heading its way from a faraway star, kids in an elementary school in Michigan have been writing letters to the Pilgrims, as the aliens are known. The letters extend to 2024 (the Pilgrims aren't due to arrive until 2090), and it's funny and touching to see the various preoccupations and stances of the children over time--also fun to see younger siblings appearing. One third-grader from 1967 later becomes the class teacher. One child describes a book she found in her mom's car that features a romance between a Pilgrim and a woman whose evil husband is trying to take over her ranch:
she was out riding her horse and when they started kissing all the rain turned into space diamonds that let them read each other’s minds. Do you think that will happen a lot when you get here?
But maybe most touching of all is the fact that in spite of the suspiciousness of some of the kids' letters, the framing of the story is such that we understand the coming of this generation ship has NOT been met with an all-out scramble of military preparedness. The assertion, never directly articulated, that we might--just possibly--welcome an alien generation ship is a beautiful statement of faith in humanity.
"A Theory of Missing Affections," by Renan Bernardo (Clarkesworld, September 2024)
Vanessa Fogg put me onto this story when she described it as a "fascinating story that considers big questions and ideas." The author describes it as "a tale about two sisters separated by distance, by their conflicting views on life, and by the devices left by an extinct alien species." One sister is into scientific investigation of the aliens; the other is an adherent of a religion that worships them as gods. The story is told from the first sister's perspective, and I confess I was waiting with bated irritation to see what was going to happen. But the author neatly dodged a facile ending, coming up with one that was emotionally satisfying. Similarly, the extinct aliens, who we're initially told "cherished torture" evolve in our consciousness as the viewpoint sister comes to understand them better. It's a carefully built story--nicely done.