Jonathan Laden

Read:

-- Berries by Joanna Pinto (6/17) - 4* Berries growing over tombstones are picked and baked into pies and sweets. Nighttime dreams of those who ate the sweets will reveal facts about the person whose graves are there.
-- Drunk Scentless by Joel C. Scoberg (6/22) - DNF I guy has the superpower of smell. I started the story but lost interest.
-- Parallel Lifetimes by C.J. Heckman (6/29) - 5* A man has visits in a machine to his parallel lives. In each one he meets a girl a different way but always the same girl and she becomes his wife. In his current life she has died long ago and never met. https://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/virtual-reality/c-j-heckman/para....

Other stories this month:
-- The Hungry Unseen by Sandra Kleinschmitt (6/1) 1st published story
-- ApocaList: The Surprising Origins of 7 Everyday Words by Alexei Collier (6/2)
-- Final Warnings in Open Fields by Xander Odell (6/3)
-- Ali Knows the Future by Karl El-Koura (6/4)
-- Two Certainties in Life by Hannah Awbrey (6/7)
-- In My Tower by Mary Soon Lee (6/8)
-- To Go Forth in Mail-Shirt and Shield by Adam Stemple (6/9)
-- So We Did by Hannah Yang (6/10)
-- The Princess Gets to Choose by Jenny Rae Rappaport (6/11)
-- 2020 by Sean Vivier (6/14)
-- Claire de Lune by D.J. Rozell (6/15)
-- Up-Up-Down-Left-Right by R. Mac Jones (6/16)
-- The Centurion by C.M.F. Wright (6/18)
-- Invasive Species by G. Allen Wibanks (6/21)
-- Portrait of a Lady Vampire by Christopher J Burke (6/23)
-- Preface to "Monster Hunter" by Mary Soon Lee (6/24)
-- What Togetherness Day Means To Me by Leah Cypess (6/25)
-- City-Above, City-Below by Aimee Ogden (6/28) 11th story for dsf.com
-- I Brought My Dragon to Show and Tell by David J. Rank (6/30)… (mais)

Read these:
-- Find Soulmates Near You by Emma-Rive A. Nelson (8/2) - 2* the fae realm has learned how to entice humans to them with the use of a computer.

-- Graal Tak Day by Jennifer Linnaea (8/6) - 5* - How interesting! A wandering traveler comes home to their clan for an important day to dwarves. So much packed into a flash fiction story.

-- When the Moon Is Full by Bruce McAllister (8/16) - Every full moon the girlfriend turns a little beastly (werewolf) but she is loved. Author notes "Boyfriends and girlfriends... the story came to me in a fun, nostalgic flash and is more autobiographical than I care to admit. (Isn't most fantasy?)"

-- Coast Sunset Express by Alice Towey (8/17) - 2* not my reading preference so ymmv. Author notes say: "thinking about my hopes and dreams for life after the pandemic, and about what it will be like to have lived through an event of this magnitude." A woman shares a train car with an immigrant and they are counting their blessings.

-- Artist Known by Caias Ward (8/18) - DNF I liked the author's note letting you know what the story is about. "History is written by the victors"... Our MC is trying to make sure a certain piece of history isn't fully lost. I DNF'd, the delivery wasn't an enjoyable style for me.

-- Meat Off the Bone by Shannon Fay (8/23) - 1* yikes. idk what to say. survival of the fittest? dog eat dog? Did they have to eat them live? That was a bit much. :/

-- Prepare for Respawn by Eric Fomley (8/24) - 2.5* It was a fine short, just outside my interest. Opens on two characters meeting in a back alley. We learn the reason for the secrecy by the end. Interesting to think that without humans "their" purpose is lost but I didn't really feel it so maybe that is why it didn't have a large impact on me.


Others from this month:
-- Monster under the Bed by Garry McNulty (8/3)
-- Sometimes They Call Me Human by Victoria L Brun (8/4)
-- Form Rejection by Eric S. Fomley (8/5)
-- Second Edition by Jen Nafziger (8/9)
-- Splat Day by Bo Balder (8/10)
-- The Surviving Twins by Anastasia Kharlamova (8/11)
-- nothing published 8/12
-- Feeding Hungers by Douglas Paul DiCicco (8/13)
-- Grow Up by Emily Barker (8/19)
-- Small Worlds of Black and White by James Van Pelt (8/20)
-- Mindlessness by J.P. Reynolds (8/25)
-- Your Attention Please by Karl El-Koura (8/26)
-- Dinners Like We Used To Have by Kelly Sandoval (8/27)
-- Hate the author notes for 8/31. She missed the word "some"
-- Blood Blister by Liam Hogan (8/31)… (mais)

Read these:

-- Body Corporate by Steve J. Haywood (4/1) - 3*
Author note: I started wondering about what it would take to make companies actually care about more than just profit. At the same time, I was fascinated by the legal term "body corporate," and wanted to explore the implications if a company really did have a body, and a mind. How would they feel?
I thought it was good bit of flash fiction with a completely new concept for me.

-- Build-a-Grudge by Joy Kennedy-O'Neill (4/2) - 3.5*
Author note: Expressions are funny. The first time I heard "they can really hold a grudge" I thought it was a good thing. A talent, like holding a wriggly cat that needs a pill. Whatever a grudge was, it must be slippery, fighty or bitey. As an adult, I still wonder about this. If kids can build-a-bear, why can't we grown-ups add some padding and eyeballs to our resentments?
Clever little story. I like how our MC looked to herself for her issues rather than blaming someone else.

-- The Gaze by Stephanie Ascough (4/6) - 3*
A sacrifice is made to the monster. Interesting comment that the sacrifice is supposedly picked randomly from the village so even after a choice is made the village is still anxious because their number could be next.

-- Damnation by Gunnar De Winter (4/9) - NR
**Content Warning** Domestic Abuse
I can't say anything for fear of spoiling.... Maybe I can say, it's historical. Greek mythology time period.

-- Shadows On a Brick Wall by Tais Teng (4/23) - 4*
"I collect strange tales and urban myths for obvious reasons. This might just be what I was looking for."
It's not "obvious" to the reader until a bit later in the story but it is worth the wait. Opens with a woman talking to a man in a bar who is telling her the "urban tale"...

-- Out of the Box by Nina Kiriki Hoffman (4/27) - 4*
haha. "The" AI tries to reach out during a zoom call.

Others offered this month:
-- The Wealth of Dragons by Sean Vivier (4/5)
-- Neon by Marcus Vance (4/7)
-- Hunted by Melissa Mead (4/8) this is her 34th story published in Daily Science Fiction
-- The Telepath's Reading Material by Malai N Escamilla (4/12)
-- Magical Companion Applicant #2251, or "Maggie" by Alexandra Grunberg (4/13)
-- The Style of Time Travel by Jessie Atkin (4/14)
-- Anti-Gravity and the Punishment of Clever Girls by Janna Miller (4/15)
-- That Boy in the Picture by Alex Sobel (4/16)
-- Magic Rules Zero Through Four by Sue Burke (4/19)
-- Selection by Ken Poyner (4/20)
-- Welcome to the Block by Tommy Mac Bird (4/21)
-- Stepsister by Mari Ness (4/22)
-- Loyal Companion by A. Rector (4/26)
-- You Can't Stop Looking to the Stars by Leila Coralie Martin (4/28)
-- The Mission by Michael Adam Robson (4/29)
-- Philosophy 101 by Nicholas Schroeder (4/30)… (mais)

So far only read:

-- Of Ash and Old Dreams by Sarah Grey - 3.5*
Cleverly done flash fiction. What happens to Cinderella after Prince Charming finds her? Second paragraph starts with, "Her feet have grown wide with age. Still, she stuffs them into glass slippers, narrow as reeds, that rub her ankles raw. Every step is agony--the stabbing clink of a towering crystal heel against marble, the shattering pain through the bones in her legs." The story jumps time periods and we see Cinderella struggle to hold on to perfection. She holds onto appearances as long as she can, then she refuses. I feel bad she took so long to do something about it. Prince Charming in this version is not charming. Instead he is very superficial. Author notes: Perfection always looks better than it feels.… (mais)