Some reviews have started to hit the net following the publication of my story “The Glorious Aerybeth” in On Spec magazine, issue #97. Reviewer Colleen Chen from Tangent Online says:
“During my first read-through of this story, I was completely confused. It introduces a race of beings and a sort of technology with little that readers can identify with. During my second read, though, I became engrossed in the intricacies of this world Fischer has built. I wasn’t sure of my interpretation, but I also noted embedded within the story a possible connection to Earth’s future seen from an alien standpoint that I found fascinating.
I did think that the aliens here seemed a bit too much like humans in terms of emotions and behavior, which seemed odd given how physically different they are from humans, but then again if they’d been any more alien I couldn’t have found a place to begin to relate. Overall, a rich story with a protagonist whose character is wonderfully flawed, giving us a glimpse into a xenopsychology as relating to a completely foreign culture.”
Full review can be read here: http://www.tangentonline.com/print–quarterly-reviewsmenu-261/on-spec-reviewsmenu-73/2560-on-spec-97-summer-2014
Over at Locus Online, here’s what reviewer Lois Tilton had to say:
“The characters here belong to an alien species obsessed with personal status, as measured by their plumage, and their technology is biological. Gannet is a high-status ship-breeder who has suffered a career setback, for which he is sent on a mission to report on the possibility of alien life that may have been discovered by the eponymous blood-ship. Gannet’s people and their creations are not very nice.
This one could have read as either horror or humor, but the humor prevails, making it difficult to take the horrific aspects of the tale seriously. Those not overly-sensitive should find it imaginatively entertaining.”
The rest of her short story reviews can be read here: http://www.locusmag.com/Reviews/#onspec2014su
Many thanks folks! Reviewing is a hard road to hoe, and it amazes me just how much material the average reviewer actually gets through. You’re the unsung heroes of publishing 🙂