This series focuses on stories that are both well-written and do something that I find interesting from a technical perspective. This week, would you like to play a game?
I’m not sure if this story is technically SFF, but it’s interesting enough that I thought it was worth bringing to your attention. “Queendom’s Harvest,” by Hannah Thurman and published in Pinball, asks some tough questions about the nature of growing up and what’s really important in life. It certainly cast light on some choices I’d made that I’m not proud of, and I suspect it will do the same for most readers.
It’s not that this story is insanely depressing, though. It’s more like Puff the Magic Dragon. Sure, it’s sad, but sad in a way that will help you appreciate life more.
From a technical perspective, I’d like to highlight this author’s good use of third-person present. Present-tense is difficult to use without readers hating you. (The most common response on the Absolute Write forum to questions like “What’s the best way to use present-tense narration?” is “Don’t.”) This story uses it to good effect, though. It’s almost a part of the story itself, emphasizing the difference between the “now” of the narrative and the past the main character left behind. I recommend a careful reading of this story to anyone who is dead set on using present-tense in their own work.