The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror 2017 edited by Paula Guran, part 2
Seasons of Glass And Iron
An okay fairytale which is basically a MeToo tale. Two women have had bad social contact with those who can’t respond appropriately.
The Future Is Blue
There are painful reminiscences in this scifi tale. A girl faces needless abuse and different levels of aggression on a daily basis in a ruined world. The abuse is ferocious and persistent and way out of proportion to what caused it. She saved everyone to no thanks. This was very good and sad.
Best Line:
“Hellpromise.”
Grave Goods
By Gemma Files. I’ve read this before. Quarrelsome archaeologists conduct a discordant dig and face Lovecraftian horrors. This was excellent; there is no dignity, moderation or liberal values demonstrated in the face of unrepentant horror.
The Ballad Of Black Tom
A tale of the making of a monster. This has overpowering prolonged rage, destructive behaviour and certitude. This was a wholly unsatisfactory tale of macabre chaos.
Our Talon’s Can Crush Galaxies
A short and excellent tale of a harpy.
An Ocean The Colour Of Bruises
This is a hopelessly misjudged tale of zombies or something that is especially unsatisfactory.
The Iron Man
An incoherent tale of a future with a very different social structure.
The Blameless
A couple are invited to a teenage girl’s exorcism. This was deeply unsatisfactory.
Birdfather
By Stephen Graham Jones. A good tale of grief, resurrection and unfulfilled obligations.