ResAliens #4, a Review

Residential Aliens, a "speculative fiction [magazine] from the Seven Stars," is a bi-monthly publication that caters mostly to an electronic audience.  The niche ResAliens has is that it is a spiritually infused magazine, and its stories have a "moral or spiritual thread that appeals to the broad and varied interests of fans of speculative fiction."  (Note, this doesn't mean that the authors are Christians, as is commonly associated with the word spiritual, but the stories themselves deal with this motif.)

"Fishing the Moons of Jupiter," by Jason Rizos, tells an interesting and entertaining story on a deep-space fishing trip.  Morris, the protagonist, used to be a crab fisherman back on earth, but through various circumstances, wound up getting a job with a space crew to do some fishing work for an elusive worm.  The Hephaestus Worm has a liquid-hot, magma belly, and it is highly sought after because of its ability to produce a clean source of incredible power.  Unfortunately, the worm is also very difficult to catch.

The dialogue between Morris and his team is quick paced and realistic.  In parts, it's like watching an episode of Deadliest Catch (as mentioned in the opening note from Editor John Ottinger III), and the reader gets a great sense of how well these characters like and know each other.

Overall, this short story was intriguing enough to make me wonder about the current state of the world and how advanced it was if it is doing deep-space research now.  The worm was fascinating, and the fishing scenes were tense and enjoyable.  Plus, the ending was great.  This is an excellent quick read, and possibly my favorite from the collection.

"Overgrown," by Stoney Setzer, reads just like a standard, pulp sci-fi story.  Pink goo from outer space and a curious scientist make an unconventional, but deadly, monster.  This story was fun to read, but I found it lacking compared to the excellent first one.

"Immortals," by Leah Darrow, was frustrating to read because I so wanted to know more about what was going on.  The story never reveals why some things are, but then again, in the end, it's not important.  This was a very enjoyable read, focusing on the idea of immortality and a society where death is almost a thing of the past.

"End of Eden," by Shane Collins, is a straightforward post-apocalyptic short story that deals with two survivors trying to eke out their way to safety.  The prose was vivid and tragic, the pace quick, the science ingenious, and the overall gist a gritty ride.  I really enjoyed this piece.

"Salieri," by Marina Julia Neary, could almost be true.  It's a beautiful story with many themes going on, and in some ways it reminded me of Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.  Two young pupils at the University are both at the top of their class, and their relationship is... interesting.  I think this may be my second favorite story from this collection.

"The King of Infinite Space," by Jason Reynolds, seems odd and out of place in this volume.  It was certainly my least favorite read, in part due to the almost contrived ending, surely familiar to anyone with an ear for urban legends.  Also, the speculative aspect of this story fell very flat in respect to the rest of the included stories.  Perhaps if this was in a different collection or first in the table of contents then I wouldn't have been as disappointed, but as it is, I wasn't too impressed with this, even though it was smart and well-written.

The final story, "The Testament," by Michael C. Lea, is another great one.  Through court testaments, we learn of the events that led to the death of a researcher and why her death matters (and to whom).  This piece was fascinating and kept me hooked up through the ending.  This story definitely makes the reader think, and it was a fun tale to read and discover what was going on.

Overall, ResAliens #4 is a highly enjoyable collection of spiritually sci-fi stories.  Most had me thinking about different things after I finished, and that's one thing I look for in fiction, especially short fiction.  While I want to be entertained, I also want to think, and these stories do both very well.  If you're hungry for some good, short fiction, why not try Residential Aliens?  I think it's easily worth the asking price of $2 for the digital download (click here if interested). 

*FTC thingy and a Note:  I received a general email from ResAliens #4 guest editor and acclaimed blogger John Ottinger III, of Grasping for the Wind, if I'd be interested in reviewing the current issue, and I happily agreed, intrigued by the web-zine's premise.  Thus, I paid nothing for this collection of stories.  Also, I was not asked to endorse the magazine or praise the stories, but I felt both were worthy of it.