This month's audio fiction is Spar written Kij Johnson and read by Kate Baker.
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2009 Nebula Award Winner, 2010 Hugo Award Nominee, 2010 Locus Award Finalist
Kij Johnson
Since her first sale in 1987, Kij Johnson has sold dozens of short stories to markets including Amazing Stories, Analog, Asimov's, Duelist Magazine, Fantasy & Science Fiction, and Realms of Fantasy. She has won the Theodore Sturgeon Memorial Award for the best short story and the 2001 Crawford Award for best new fantasy novelist. Her short story "26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss" was a nominee for the 2008 Nebula and Hugo awards.
Her novels include two volumes of the Heian trilogy Love/War/Death: The Fox Woman and Fudoki. She's also co-written with Greg Cox a Star Trek: The Next Generation novel, Dragon's Honor. She is currently researching a third novel set in Heian Japan; and Kylen, two novels set in Georgian Britain.
Website:
www.kijjohnson.com
A wonderful, dispassionate reading of a very difficult but amazing story. Thank you for this!
I was both stunned and unsettled by this; it reset my expectations as to what was possible in SF. I agree with the narrator that perhaps "enjoyed" is not the right phrase, but I was glued to the story and absolutely amazed by what transpired in it. An exploration of a completely alien "mind" (if it can be called that?) as well as a penetrating examination of the limits of the human mind as well.
First off, this was well read. Thank you for that. Good dynamics and pause breaks.
The story. It was something, wasn't it? There was so much pain and loss. The idea of being trapped in this lifeboat. Left by your loved ones. Trapped with an alien and all you can do about it is...well...what they do the entire story. Fuck.
But more to the point, they partake in an activity, even while feeling the mixture of lust and disgust and rage with that activity, because in the end, doing that one thing is better than looking at the world that surrounds them.
Beautifully done.
A terrific story and an excellent reading. Thank you.
And yes, I did "enjoy" it, as great art is always something that one enjoys, whether it's a pretty picture or not.