Deniable mecha - "Rafi" by Amal Singh
BogiReads brings you the daily speculative reading recommendation of editor Bogi Takács.
Today's recommendation -
Author: Amal Singh
Title: “Rafi”
Venue: Clarkesworld, October 2023 (ed. Neil Clarke)
Type: Short story – 6110 words
Themes: Science fiction, mecha, simulated reality, plants, dissent, house demolitions
Where to read: Text free online + Audio free online + Subscribe here
I think I said already that Amal Singh has had so many great stories lately, I have trouble choosing one – and I try not to do author repeats more frequently than 3 months. (Some authors are making this hard!) He has a debut novel coming up, but can we also get a debut short story collection somehow?!
I finally made up my mind on which of his stories to choose, I think the house demolitions aspect of this story resonates with yesterday’s poem even though the setting and context is very different. One thing that really stood out to me here was the physicality of the authoritarian regime, with the destruction and the plausible deniability of it – I think many SFF stories ultimately shy away from the former, and authors are sometimes insufficiently aware of the dynamics of the latter to include it. “Allow me to extend my apologies for the mecha rampage at your home—that was a rogue unit. Which might have been triggered by a dip in your social score—you didn’t express discontent with our policies that day, did you?”
Yet, with all the destruction, the story is still hopeful, and includes a singing plant.
Take care,
Bogi.