Short Fiction...umm, Wednesday

I knew exactly what I was going to mention this week in short fiction, but then things snowballed last night and I ran out of time. So here, a bit late, are some comments on the short fiction I read this past week.

The main story I want to recommend is Kage Baker's "The Bohemian Astrobleme." I'd already had the story open in a tab of Chrome when I heard the news that Kage Baker died of cancer this weekend. So it seemed fitting to make sure I read the story right away. It's a story of a secret society of scientists investigating the source of a strange rock or meteorite origin. There's a...I was trying to put my finger on how to describe the tone of the story, and the best I can do right now is a certain distance to the voice, a quaint distance. Not like it's completely removed from the story, but a hint of a story recounted after the fact, perhaps in some drinking establishment for England's intellectuals. It makes for an entertaining story.

I also enjoyed the two-part Theordora Goss story "The Mad Scientist's Daughter," which concluded last week. Much of the fun was in the references to the famous stories (and the way this undermined them or tweaked our understanding of them). I did have to Google "Rappaccini's Daughter" (though once I did, I realized that I'd read that as well), and I wasn't able to identify Helen Raymond/Meyrinck. Anyone have any insight on what story she is pulled from?

Anyway, sorry I was late this week, but hopefully those stories are worth the wait.