I enjoyed that very much - it's the sort of meditative sci-fi I really go for (and write myself sometimes too). With the hint of timelessness and philosophy within.
One thing I've often loathed about sci-fi is stuff that is blatantly about the present day but pretends not to be (if it is about today but says so explicitly that's ok). That's not what I want. I want somewhere else and somewhen else. You succeeded in capturing that there. Great piece.
I will definitely check it out. You may like my entry to the LA SF thing. At least I hope you will. I have no faith whatsoever in the guy who judged it. As far as I can see so far, having read about a third of them, the ones he chose are the worst!
Ha, well, I can't speak to the judge there! I've only entered the Lunar Awards one other time and I think their tastes are just very different from mine.
THIS IS TERRIFIC. I genuinely think this might be my favorite piece of fiction that I’ve encountered on Substack so far. I love every piece of this — the shifting, tangling body, Echo, the concepts, the language, the fleshiness. I was ecstatic reading it.
If I highlighted every line that I loved it would just be the whole story, but here are a few that I made special note of:
“and we prayed for it to, even if it meant the end” hooked me in the very beginning.
“One of us knows. One of us must still know.”
“pressing our face to feel the otherside of what she must feel, willing the sensation of skin on skin.”
“We begin to slough away”
“And so be keyed into the genesis”
“We watch the gravity of an infant world growing like a blastula”
“For a light year” ahh, such a fascinating interchange of time and distance here.
Yeah. I’m SO glad I found this while trawling the comments section of the Lunar Awards submission post. This is a real gem.
I enjoyed that very much - it's the sort of meditative sci-fi I really go for (and write myself sometimes too). With the hint of timelessness and philosophy within.
One thing I've often loathed about sci-fi is stuff that is blatantly about the present day but pretends not to be (if it is about today but says so explicitly that's ok). That's not what I want. I want somewhere else and somewhen else. You succeeded in capturing that there. Great piece.
Thanks for the kind words!
This is my favorite kind of story as well. You may like my novel Glossolalia if you liked this story!
I will definitely check it out. You may like my entry to the LA SF thing. At least I hope you will. I have no faith whatsoever in the guy who judged it. As far as I can see so far, having read about a third of them, the ones he chose are the worst!
Ha, well, I can't speak to the judge there! I've only entered the Lunar Awards one other time and I think their tastes are just very different from mine.
Here's a link to Glossolalia: https://www.amazon.com/Glossolalia-dont-scream-mountain-rathke/dp/B0BGCM31ZB
THIS IS TERRIFIC. I genuinely think this might be my favorite piece of fiction that I’ve encountered on Substack so far. I love every piece of this — the shifting, tangling body, Echo, the concepts, the language, the fleshiness. I was ecstatic reading it.
If I highlighted every line that I loved it would just be the whole story, but here are a few that I made special note of:
“and we prayed for it to, even if it meant the end” hooked me in the very beginning.
“One of us knows. One of us must still know.”
“pressing our face to feel the otherside of what she must feel, willing the sensation of skin on skin.”
“We begin to slough away”
“And so be keyed into the genesis”
“We watch the gravity of an infant world growing like a blastula”
“For a light year” ahh, such a fascinating interchange of time and distance here.
Yeah. I’m SO glad I found this while trawling the comments section of the Lunar Awards submission post. This is a real gem.
Thanks for the kind words! Glad you enjoyed it so much!
It's always been one of my favorite stories too