Fictitious Force #5

Fictitious Force #5, published by Jonathan Laden and Michele Barasso, is a singular semi-pro magazine published at unpredictable intervals. As described by the editors on their website, this is more a labor of love than a commercial endeavor, and it shows. From its appearance (a 4 1/2 x 11″ saddle-stapled glossy cover periodical) to its total lack of any commercial content (not an ad or subscription plea or even where to send your money if you do want to subscribe to be found), it is clearly meant as a venue for whatever the editors care to print. An interesting concept and well executed.

First up is “The Game” by Daniel Ausema, an odd, allegorical tale about a town that decides its elections by playing a game similar to king ball, where the opposing sides push and manhandle a ball the size of an elephant across the town. The team that moves the ball closest to their goal wins political control of the government in proportion to how far they advanced. And, like with politics, winning is all, and rules be damned! What makes this tale work is our protagonist, a simple lineman for the Green team, and his experiences as the Greens and Purples muscle and scheme for power. Not surprisingly, we learn that it is the contest itself, not the victory, that drives them all. Absurd, you say? Look at our current presidential campaign. Do you seriously think any candidate honestly believes it makes sense to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to win a job that pays a tiny fraction of that?

“The Dancer’s Gift” by Aliette de Bodard is an odd fantasy set in an imaginary feudal land. Vraneas is the executioner in a world of empaths. All are able to feel the emotions of their fellows except Vraneas and his ilk. They drink their victims’ emotions and memories, leaving them empty shells. Vraneas is sent to punish his former lover, Akanti, who was an accomplice in the murder of an important official. And so the tale evolves as these two explore their old connection, even as they realize their worlds have changed—which, in the end, Vraneas affirms with his final betrayal. A nice dance between former soul mates set in an exotic land.

“Sum Of The Past” by Ian Whates is an unfocused, unfinished tale of a man who has wasted his life pursuing idle pleasure. Our protagonist learns early on that one-night stands with married women are easy, especially for a starship pilot. The glamour of his profession make the conquests easy and the escapes easier, when he is discovered. But at the end of his life, he is forced to examine where he has been and comes up empty. Told in a disjointed first person point of view, the tale ultimately fails to connect, especially as the main character is about as unsympathetic as they come.

In the ghost story “Fetch” by Michael Merriam, we follow a man from youth to old age, pursued by the ghost of a dog he and his teenage buddies killed for fun. Like the Ancient Mariner’s albatross, the ghost dog appears whenever Jason acts badly, a token of his moral failings. But Jason’s understanding of the ghost is all wrong, which leaves the reader at the end with a kind of “huh?” moment. Built around a false assumption foisted on us by the author, I found the ending a disappointment.

“The Gifts We Are About To Receive” by Bruce K. Derksen is a fun tale where the devil (or someone like him) shows up at a wake and tricks folks into signing away their lives. Worried about a slow, painful death? About lingering on long after your will to live has left? Sign a pledge, a statement of your desire to end it all quickly. But of course, there’s a downside to that, and this fellow collects on it. A well written if predictable tale.

“Futures” by Michele Winkler is a cautionary time travel tale. I usually do not like such stories, which are all too rife with “what if” scenarios, and this one suffers from that tendency. Buddy is a loser surfer dude who pisses away his life chasing the big waves. He’s married to a surfer dudette he met along the way, and now they have a house full of little surfers. But even as the bill collectors and truancy officers close in, an old surfer pal of Buddy’s appears. Turns out he’s a time traveler, and he gives Buddy the chance for a redo on his life. Buddy takes him up on it and becomes the typical SoCal power broker, with a Mercedes and mega mansion and rental properties and investments. But guess what? In the end, is Buddy truly happy?

“Learning The Hard Way” by Annetta Ribken is a delightful fairy tale about what bad things may happen when children misbehave. We listen in as Grandmom tells the young ones her frightful tale, better to help them be good children and obey. Of course, we are hit with a zinger at the end that brings the fantasy tale she’s just told home.

“The Dragon Path” by Brian Dolton is a nice oriental fantasy where a seeker of magical power reaches his goal, the Dragon’s lair, where he expects to receive the ultimate power. But even as he berates a holy man he finds there about his desires for power and domination, he is instructed to be careful for what he wishes for. A very zen tale on the distinction between dreaming about and living in the world.

“Rumbling On” by Cheryl McCreary is another unfinished tale, but this time, the missing section occurs before the start. Earth has been conquered by aliens, who see the planet as a resource to be mined, the current residents be damned. Our tale follows a group of humans as they execute a suicide mission against the invaders. But we never learn why they were chosen or what they will achieve with their sacrifice; we only get a blunt telling of the events just prior to their kamikaze raid. We are strung along, getting bits and pieces of what’s about to happen, and the story ends just as they prepare for their defining moment.

“A Convenient Removal” by Mari Ness is a delightful, tongue-in-cheek tale following in he footsteps of such great stories as “Murder, Inc.” Except we see this contracted hit being negotiated with a couple of summer interns, and the mode of elimination is sorcery. Trust me, the dialogue between the trophy wife and these clueless salesmen is priceless.

“No Man’s Land” by Sarah Monette is a bizarre, heavy-handed tale about the evils of war. Cluny awakens to find he’s been mentally transported into the body of one of the soldiers of the opposing side. We follow his struggle to keep his new patrol mates from learning what’s happened, but we are left with no explanation as to how or why this miracle occurred.

“Marbles” by Kurt Kirchmeier is a nice, if unfinished tale about how a loser young fellow is gifted with second sight by a stranger. The setup, magic worked in the form of a game of marbles, is different, as is the protagonist, Michael, a school-aged young man who desperately needs this magic. But the tale ends with Michael realizing what he’s been given, and we’re not told what he subsequently does with this gift.

The last offering, “The Scarlet Wristband” by Michelle Scott, is a predictable tale set in a colony world far from Earth, settled by a restrictive religious cult. We follow a high schooler as he struggles with the ethical dilemma of choosing between protecting his mother, a fallen woman by the leader’s lights, or standing by a female classmate who has transgressed. This tale suffers from several flaws. Told from the second person point of view, we’re left distanced from the action and then presented with an obvious moral choice and asked to ponder which way to go. As the choice has no moral consequences for our hero, I fail to see why we should care.

Overall, this was a fine read, especially as the editors do not seek to shill commercially to pay the way for this magazine. Well and good, but I cannot help but wonder what we would have if this magazine had a solid financial base. I can recommend Fictitious Force to you. Until next time, enjoy.