Short fiction

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The short story “Paused” by Priya Sarukkai Chabria was published for the first time in 2020 by Future Fiction within the anthology “Avatar. Contemporary Indian Science Fiction”.

An entity that is still growing is trying to manage not only its own development but above all the processes that must lead to a new life development. Chaotic memories of the past and genomes to be used for rebirth are among the complications. The entity is among the ones created by the Shell Beings, who knew the stories of the Hairy Ones and the Earth’s death.

Radicalized by Cory Doctorow

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The novella “Unauthorized Bread” by Cory Doctorow was published for the first time in 2019 as part of the anthology “Radicalized”.

Salima is a refugee who managed to arrive in the USA, where she lives in a building with other people in the same situation. Her apartment is equipped with smart appliances whose use must comply with a rather strict contract. When two of the companies that produce those appliances go bankrupt, their products stop working.

On the dark side of the Internet, Salima finds unauthorized and absolutely illegal solutions to make her appliances work again and without limitations. She helps her neighbors reprogram them and teaches the kids in the building how to do it but after a while, she discovers that if they get caught they could be evicted and even go to jail.

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The short story “Mother” by Shovon Chowdhury was published for the first time in 2020 by Future Fiction within the anthology “Avatar. Contemporary Indian Science Fiction”.

Mother takes care of people by paying attention to their health, their needs but also arranging good romantic encounters so that everyone will find if not a soulmate at least a good combined marriage. However, if someone misbehaves, she can be a strict Mother.

The DrugTech trilogy by Marcel Sahade

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The anthology “DrugTech – The Final Dose” by Marcel Sahade was published for the first time in 2021. It’s the third book in the DrugTech trilogy and follows “DrugTech – The Deep State Deepens”.

DrugTech seems untouchable yet there are people who believe they have the means to break the power it has accumulated. In this clash of powers that can also include mystical ones, a crucial step would be to obtain the acquittal of a man on trial.

The Battle of Lepanto is about to decide whether the Holy League formed by the European powers will succeed in preventing the Ottoman Empire from obtaining total dominion of the Mediterranean Sea. Müezzinzade Ali Pasha, at the command of the Ottoman fleet, is convinced he can get an easy victory but in the Christian fleet, the commander Don John of Austria isn’t the only one who has some tricks up his sleeve.

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The short story “Upgrade” by Manjula Padmanabhan was published for the first time in 2020 by Future Fiction within the anthology “Avatar. Contemporary Indian Science Fiction”.

Sameera bought her grandmother, Mrs Ganapathy, a robot servant that cooks, cleans and washes her clothes, all of which the elderly woman can no longer do on her own because it’s hard for her to get out of her wheelchair. Mrs Ganapathy would like a human servant and her daughters tried to send several women but none of her lived up to her demands. The beginning is difficult with the robot too but after some time Mrs Ganapathy finds the best setup.