Short Story of the Week (January 2013)

 

(Tinkoo declined giving me a picture so he is being represented by one of my favorite video game characters Shadow (center) from Final Fantasy VI (called Final Fantasy III here in America). Also pictured are Strago on the left and Relm on the right. The artwork comes from Tigerfog  

Each week at the Classic Science Fiction Message Board we read a short science fiction piece (short story, novelette or novella). These stories are always available for FREE online so that anyone can participate in the discussion. The stories are chosen by a different member every month, so that we get to read a variety of stories. January's stories are being picked by Tinkoo Valia. Tinkoo, an engineer by education and a programmer by vocation, runs Variety SF (a science fiction short story blog) as a hobby and lives in Bombay, India.

Week #1  Shirley Temple Three by Thomas Pierce    

I will be choosing short fiction this month. Even though I read more older short stories than recent ones, I will attempt to choose relatively recent stories - there are only 4 to be chosen this month. But only stories that worked for me, at some level.

This one appeared in The New Yorker on 24 December 2012. When "mawmaw" got a cute resurrected prehistoric animal as a pet...

Week #2 Loyalty Beyond Seasons by Mohsen H Darabi

A very unusual romance...

Week #3 Picnic With Ants by Mark W Moffett

First published: Nature, 16 February 2012. Funny diary of an insect researcher's field work... I'm including it because if I were to make a list of "my best of 2012", this story will certainly make it to the list.

Week # 4 Stumpy by Sheila Adamson    

First published: Cosmos, November 2012. Don't cry wolf in jest...

This one reminded me of Piers Anthony's classic "Toaster". It's not quite in Toaster's class, but I was amused.