Hub #31 - 34

Hub #31’s fiction selection is “Sleepless, Nameless” by Brett Tallman. After being forced by clever means to return to Chicago, twenty-two-year-old Christopher Fish is told by Mr. Nine that he’s a construct from the imagination of a man who’s been in a coma for twenty-two years. Mr. Nine is an interesting villain, with magical teeth and an assortment of flutes hanging from his belt that do his bidding.

“Sleepless, Nameless” got off to a great start; Tallman’s fine, exacting prose makes the world come alive. Near the middle, I was a bit overwhelmed by one incredibility piled upon another, but because the author writes so well, he pulled me along and made me believe it. This is the sort of fantastical story I love to read: witty, inventive, and well written. I was expecting this to end with a “winner takes all” or “winner takes nothing,” but Tallman saves his best for last with a heartfelt, poignant ending.

In Hub #32, “T ME” by A.H. Jennings tells the tale of Joan Ellen; her husband, Pieter; and their gifted son, Patrick. When Patrick is ten years old, he writes a college level essay called “What Comes After Science?” Then he begins having epileptic fits, and Joan Ellen’s world goes askew. This is well written, but for some reason, I could never get on board with the characters. Joan Ellen is a frustrated fiction writer trying to overcome writer’s block. Call it personal prejudice, but I seldom like reading stories where the main character is a fiction writer. You may.

James S. Dorr tells an off-world SF adventure tale in Hub’s #33’s “The Game.” Spaceman Michael Warren wins big at a casino game he’s not supposed to win, as the odds are always against his kind. He’s a former member of FleetCen, now a member of the merchant space corp. After leaving the casino with his winnings, the conflict gets underway with attempted muggings and an encounter with Angela in a smoky bar where the smoke erases human memories.

This is a fairly good adventure tale. Perhaps it’s unfair of me to have such expectations, but I thought the prose could have been more expressive, Gibsonesque perhaps. An engaging piece, but not quite “resplendent” enough to have a modern feel.

In Hub #34, the fiction selection is “The Flag Game” by Marianne de Pierres, the story of a woman who comes to the Carmine Island and a young couple she’s become acquainted with, Katrin and Lauren. Lauren is nearly blind and they talk of the flag game to be played. Various subplots and backstory ensue, but I never could relate to the conflict. Like the tranquil island paradise setting, this was too sedate for me. You may enjoy it.