OBIR: Occasional Biased and Ignorant Reviews reflecting this reader’s opinion.
SAROS SPECULATIVE FICTION MAGAZINE #1 – January 2025.
Publisher: Fusion Fragment, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada.
Editor: Megan J. Kerr
Cover Art: by Barbara Candiotti
Letter from the editor – by Megan J. Kerr
Megan expresses gratitude to “Fusion Fragment’s editor Cavan Terrill, creator of Saros, for letting me take the reins for an issue.” Not just any issue, but the first issue!
On the Saros website, Cavan Terrill states “Saros Speculative Fiction is a sister magazine to Fusion Fragment. Founded in 2024, it aims to provide a home not only for great new stories, but to provide an opportunity for prospective editors to run their own issue of a literary magazine. Each issue will be led by a different editor, who will be responsible for putting together the submissions call and any theme or length of story therein, submissions reading, story selection, story formatting, layout, and copy-editing.”
In a private communication, Cavan comments that the aim of the new magazine is to “develop future SFF magazine editors.” Each issue will be the responsibility of a different editor. Currently they are members of Fusion Fragment’s submission reading team, but eventually they will be selected from the larger speculative fiction community. How this will be done Cavan does not specify, but I would anticipate some sort of application-vetting process. I am sure many will be interested. Would be a feather-in-the-cap for anyone wanting to transform into a professional magazine editor. A practical, hands-on learning experience.
Exhibition – by Lu Xu
Premise:
A newly discovered alien world is rich with amazing flora and fauna. What do we do with it?
Review:
Our mission, to explore the universe. The creed of every science fiction fan. Or so I like to think. And, along the way, how do we explore the individual planets swarming with life forms unique and alien?
Traditionally, in pulp SF, we open our spaceship’s hatch, set foot upon the weird soil, and wait to be attacked by something. Eventually, science fiction writers presented worlds as conundrums to be explained after years or even decades of settlement, and only after delving deep into its mysteries did we accidently unleash hostile forces. Nowadays, it’s common to portray alien worlds as victims right from the get-go, heroically resisting unspeakable Human invaders. Take Jame’s Cameron Avatar films as an example of the latter.
This story is more subtle (Yes, more subtle than the Avatar films, which are not subtle at all). The alien planet in question is absolutely stuffed with lifeforms occupying similar ecological niches to life on Earth, but with unexpected differences. For example, all the animals have a feature in common which has no counterpart on Earth, a commonality which doesn’t make any sense in evolutionary or biologic terms, yet obviously reflects a solution to some problem unknown to the human explorers.
Normally, I’d expect the scientists studying the exotic alien biology to be hyper keen on figuring things out. But they’re not. They could care less. That’s not what they’re there for.
This story reminds me of Darwin’s voyage aboard the Beagle expedition in the 1830s. I haven’t read his book “On the Origin of the Species by Natural Selection,” but I gather he wasn’t able to devote much time to noting the habits of living creatures so much as gathering as many specimens as possible to plop into bottles with preserving fluid and take them back to his laboratory in England to examine. His book was the result of those studies.
The expedition in this story is not described in full, but its focus on the attitudes and function of just a few of the characters involved implies future humanity’s interest in exploring the universe will not be akin to a Victorian-era scientist like Darwin so much as reflect the standard upper-class twit’s appreciation of nature. To put it another way, we won’t even have the time-honoured justification of serving our voracious economic needs. We’ll be exploring and exploiting the universe for the pettiest of reasons.
A highly original yet deeply depressing story. Seems we are even worse than we thought.
Looking Glass – by Lia Lao
Premise:
A spoiled daughter of the one% has arranged to legally die. Why?
Review:
It used to be all the rage in SF literature to describe augmentation. Writers correctly predicted the desire to be trendy would outweigh practical considerations. People would have four arms or wings just for “fun,” though really as a means of upping the ante in social prestige. Hasn’t gone that far yet, though some people have already opted for implanted horns or a forked tongue, or even a forked penis. However, still regarded as something of a freak show by the majority.
Nevertheless, as technology progresses, the desire to be physically superior or at least different, and our suicidal tendency to regard non-organic machinery as our next stage in human evolution, will go hand-in-glove with the elite’s age-old obsession with visibly differentiating themselves from the peasants, in the past via expensive and elaborate costume, bling, social customs, tattoos, accoutrements, ceremonies or even accents. What could accomplish this better than the appearance of being super-human, or even a separate species?
It all boils down to looking better and more impressive than you actually are. The God-Emperor of Dune accomplished this. I wouldn’t hesitate to bow down to a giant sandworm, no matter how charming its persona. I would want the fella to understand I fully accept my inferior position. In fact, all things considered, I hope I’d be regarded as so insignificant as not to be invited into the throne room in the first place. No fool I.
But whatever form our future elite takes, they’ll still be the same flawed humans deep down inside. Even brutal dictators suffer from imposter syndrome. One of the reasons they’re so paranoid. (Another, of course being that their most devoted followers, in fact especially their most devoted followers, want to kill them and take their place.)
This is why elites pay so much careful attention to the education of their young. You don’t grow into the class, unless you’re nouveau-riche, you are bred and trained to be elite. This is why the elite always fully support and contribute to private schooling. That they insist on cutting funding to public schools is not a matter of frugal economics. It’s really a matter of ensuring the cultural gap between the elite and the peasants is as vast and insurmountable as possible.
The fly in the ointment is that human nature is bound to sprout within even the most insanely augmented member of the elite. This story points out that “perfecting” bodies, organic or otherwise, only scratches the surface of what needs to be worried about. What happens when we augment our minds? When we manipulate the very nature of our mindsets? I’m not talking about the influence of mere propaganda. The author is exploring the concept of technical expertise equivalent to playing God. It is implied that, if we can do it, we will. A terrifying prospect.
The story is a thoroughly modern interpretation of Dr. Frankenstein’s monster’s rebellion against its own nature or, to put it another way, teenage rebellion in general. The details are future-specific, but the theme is contemporary and always will be, because it’s based on a fundamental, unchanging aspect of human nature. This is somewhat reassuring.
All the same, a haunting story. It will linger in your memory.
Four Fabrications of Francine Descartes – by Tim Major
Premise:
Was (and is) the philosopher Descartes really as annoying as they say?
Review:
Most famous for coming up with the statement “I think, therefore I am,” René Descartes argued that, while joined together, mind and body were two separate things, and that the mind defined the being in question, while the body was merely the vessel or contrivance which contained it. In a sense, it is of no significance what sort of body you possess, you are defined as an individual entity solely by the nature of the mind you actually are. Screw your body. It scarcely matters.
This is a godsend for science fiction writers. It enables tales where beings remain themselves no matter what artificial constructs they may choose to inhabit. Daleks would approve of Descartes.
On the practical side, Descartes’ ideas helped found the Age of Reason in which it became possible to explain the nature of the universe as a manifestation of itself rather than an arbitrary spurt of divine creation. This helps science fiction authors avoid charges of blasphemy and religious persecution fates such as burning at the stake, etc.
On the negative side, Descartes argued that only human beings possessed the attribute of mind, and that animals were devoid of mind, being merely mechanical devices operating automatically, much like the automatons of his day, and thus incapable of suffering. This justified an immense amount of cruelty in the treatment of animals. Only recently has science begun to reveal the complex nature of animal emotion and self-awareness. Empathetic humans sensed this, but not till modern times has any of this been proven to the satisfaction of Descartian scientific rigour. So, the joke’s on him.
In this tale the concept of the body and the life it leads is explored. The captain of a Dutch East India trading ship transporting Descartes to Sweden begins to suspect there’s more to life than maintaining a well-run ship. That René is accompanied by his daughter, Francine Descartes, turns out to be a problem for the captain. The unusual plot arc, which may or may not be grounded in Descartes’ theories (I don’t know enough about him to know the answer), clearly suggests the philosopher regarded his life experience to be an ongoing experiment deserving of intense cogitation. This does not make for a charismatic personality.
That the portrayal of Descartes is realistic is suggested by the historical fact that he was invited to travel to the court of Sweden to mentor Queen Christina in “Life, the universe, and everything.” Within a few weeks she determined he was utterly boring and tiresome to be around and forbade him from ever entering her presence again. Most philosophers are funny that way.
So, the ending of the story, perhaps offered as a universal template for dealing with people who think in terms of universal concepts, appeals to me immensely. A healthy antidote to the “necessity” of philosophy. I quite like the story as a result.
Rent-A-Joe – by A.D. Sui
Premise:
If you figured out how to make millions while turning sleeping people into willing slaves, would you have any regrets?
Review:
Carmy does. Rent-A-Body™ has revolutionized the world’s economy based on the algorithms Carmy sold them for a measly seven million. At night, while unconscious in sleep, innumerable people too poor to earn a living rent out their bodies to those willing to use or abuse them. The terminals awaken the bodies as fresh as a good night’s sleep would have provided, while simultaneously erasing all memory of their rental experience. Money is awaiting them in their bank account. It’s a good gig.
Or so Joe thinks. He’s lucky. He doesn’t think much. He’s just happy to afford food every day. Though it is a bit annoying when he walks into the bathroom to do his morning ablutions only to find dismembered bodies in the bathtub. Might impact his continued employment status.
Fortunately, Carmy has picked on Joe to help him. His motivation? For the good of Mankind. But also because Carmy is pissed at missing out on the trillions Rent-A-Body™ has made in profit. Joe is conflicted about this. So is Carmy. You can tell this is fantasy SF; the premise is essentially what if a certain inventive multi-billionaire (you know who) was to develop a conscience? Improbable, I know, but a fascinating what-if?
The moral conundrum played out in the story is a good example of the brand-new ethical problems advancing technology makes inevitable. Bad enough the human race is already up to its armpits in familiar but perpetually unsolvable moral plagues, idiots like Carmy (or creative innovators like the author of this story) have to go and invent new ones.
But, hey, that’s the function of intelligent science fiction, to extrapolate trends forward to awaken our awareness to potential catastrophes, thus giving impetus to imagine solutions before we need them. Of course, this never actually happens, we seem to suffer from our lack of forethought regardless, but at least the unexpected having been previously somewhat expected never takes us fully by surprise. Perhaps the true purpose of science fiction is to enable hordes of nerds to text “I told U LOL.” Is that the true definition of science fiction? I certainly hope not.
Fact is this story is an original and entertaining glimpse of the kind of future we want to avoid but may well prove tempting for more people than most of us want to admit. It taught me something. If Rent-A-Body™ ever comes knocking on my door to offer me a contract and a terminal, I’ll tell them to get lost. This story confirms the wisdom of my choice.
I don’t know if my body is my temple, but I do want to retain full squatter’s rights whether awake or asleep. I don’t care if Descartes would approve or not. My mind, my body. Doesn’t matter which is lesser, they’re both mine. This story confirms my philosophy of life. I trust it will do the same for you, at least to the extent of confirming you belong to you.
In other words, this story is not only bemusing, but useful, practical and inspirational as well. Does some good it does.
CONCLUSION:
NOTE: A Saros is the astronomical term for a phenomenon first described by the Neo-Babylonians (Chaldeans) as a period of 223 Lunar months between any solar or lunar eclipse and its next manifestation. Understanding this complex phenomenon enables astronomers, be they in the ancient of days or modern, to accurately predict the next eclipse of whatever type. One hopes that editions of Saros Speculative Fiction Magazine will appear at sooner intervals of time than a Saros!
The website explains the second issue will be themed: “so all stories must heavily feature cocktails of some form (this could be alchemical, poisonous, tavern barreled, alien-secreted, whatever is imbibed in a similar nature to modern cocktails). Get weird with it, and don’t self reject!” Submissions are now closed. Presumably the slush pile is being thoroughly gone through under a new editor. Can’t wait to see the result.
For this first issue editor Megan F. Kerr did a splendid job of sorting through the 450 short story submissions received. The four stories selected are innovative and original to the point of rising above most published works, never mind the infinity of slush piles. They represent the very best of science fiction today. Makes for a remarkable and wonderful first issue of Saros Speculative Fiction Magazine.
Check it out at: < Saros Speculative Fiction Magazine #1 > Available circa January 17 / 2025.
