Consolation Songs: Optimistic Speculative Fiction For A Time of Pandemic

Storm Story by Llinos Cathryn Thomas
Quote: For a while, we just slept or ate or told stories when it wasn't too loud. The only way to know time was passing was by how hungry we got.
First-person tale with a nameless narrator, who seems very young. Dark times, with a hint of a light at the end of the erm… storm on a water-logged world.

Girls Who Read Austen by Tansy Rayner Roberts
Quote: All Scylla wanted from a college roommate was someone who wasn't too messy or too tidy. Maybe, if she was really lucky, she might get someone she could hang out with.
Scylla’s an absolute monster. But she’s a monster who reads books.

Upside the Head by Marissa Lingen
Quote: The sweetest patient we have and the most law-abiding cop I've ever met got into a fight in the patients' lounge today.
Hmmm… I didn’t really understand the point of this story.

Bethany, Bethany by Lizbeth Myles
Quote: There was a strangeness about Beth, but it was a strangeness that only Emily noticed.
Nice little story about two sisters, one of whom is adopted.

Seaview on Mars by Katie Rathfelder
Quote: Lulu lives in a world where restaurants are a possibility; a world where food is relatively plentiful and people might go somewhere to eat, just because they can.
Having lived on Mars and raised two children to adulthood, Miyu and her wife are ready to retire. I loved this heartwarming story so much. I’m really hoping Rathfelder develops a longer story in this world.

A Hundred and Seventy Storms by Aliette de Bodard
I adore de Bodard’s writing — her elaborate world-building, her intricate characters. But I’m not sure that lends itself easily to short stories. There’s too much I didn’t understand. It left me needing more, which is different than wanting more.

Low Energy Economy by Adrian Tchaikovsky
Quote: But then all of our experiences are, when you get down to it, just in our head. That's how experience works.
Tobler is a contract claim-staker. He’s been crammed into a tiny shop for hundreds of years. Doing this work is a one-way trip — but at least the company will look after his family. Sort of a cyberpunk tale — sort of a micro space opera. I really enjoyed this one.

Four by Freya Marske
Quote: 'Then what?' Felicity demands.
Molly shrugs, aware of the smallness of her offerings. 'Donate money. Donate your time. Organise. March.'
Molly and Tahlia move into a house Molly inherited from her grandmother. I’m not really sure what I just read, but it was an enjoyable ride.

St Anselm-by-the-Riverside by Iona Datt Sharma
Quote: For all Audrey was content with where life had taken her, there was a small voice in the back of her head that wondered if … she'd just turned out unlovable.
Audrey is a nurse in a hospital that isn’t Guy’s. She’s happy with her life — but then she meets new people. I thought I knew what was going on in this story, but it threw me for a loop. A lovely story.

This Is New Gehesran Calling by Rebecca Fraimow
Quote: This is New Gehesran calling, so don't change the channel, because we're bringing you the freshest tunes, hottest issues, furious debates.
This story was tough — too much background, way too many characters, and not enough details. I like the writing; I was fascinated by the world in which it exists. What I saw of the many characters, I liked. It was just too much in too few pages.

Of a Female Stranger by Jeannelle M. Ferreira
Quote: What'll you have me say, that I fished you up, I dragged you, I stole you from Lady Death? Met is more polite, is it not?
Theo reinvented herself after she was the lone survivor of a deadly shipwreck. And then she meets an enigmatic stranger.

Love, Your Flatmate by Stephanie Burgis
Quote: I understand that you didn't actually believe there would be a lockdown when you agreed to let your friend's daughter stay at my flat for just a week.
Emmeline is frustrated by her inhuman houseguest — and rightfully so. Maxi is equally frustrated by Emmeline. Can they find common ground?