Lone Star Stories #28

Issue #28 of the Lone Star Stories webzine begins with “Remember the Allosaur” by Jo Walton, a very short piece which is essentially built around a joke. Fortunately, it’s a very funny joke: Cedric was a cloned allosaur who was bred for the purpose of acting in movies; then he started talking, and demanding bigger roles… The humour in this story comes not just from the past events described, but also from the way it’s told, as we imagine the narrator, a director, trying to mollify the petulant dinosaur.

“Seeing Other People” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman is also humorous, though more involved and satirical. The story is a fine example of a metaphor brought to life: people are literally “married to stress”— their worries, and the crutches they use to help them get through the day, are personified. We join Gina as she takes her Stress (who is an amalgamation of bills, newspaper headlines, and perceived physical imperfections) to the coffee shop for a heart-to-heart. Gina wants to live life without her Stress—but how will she fare? Hoffman’s tale elicits a wry smile, but also the pleasure of seeing an interesting idea well thought out.

Perhaps because of the amusing tone of the previous two pieces, I was expecting the lighthearted whimsy with which Hal Duncan’s “The Behold of the Eye” begins to continue to the end. But it doesn’t; instead, we have a kaleidoscope of imagination and emotion. The story begins shortly after Flashjack has come into being, as he’s being shown the ropes by another faerie. All humans have a Behold in their eye, a region where they store “the imagos of their appetence”—that is, everything they’ve ever found beautiful. That’s where faeries live, but there’s only room for one faerie in each Behold; and Flashjack’s human is Toby Hunter, aged nine months. As Toby grows, the contents of his Behold change; but Duncan’s remarkable skill as a wordsmith remains throughout, moving from the gently humorous tone of the boy’s early years, through darker times, and beyond. “The Behold of the Eye” tells the story of a human life from a highly unusual angle, and rounds off a marvellous trio of tales.