“The Waves” from The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu (2011)
Review by Owen Capogreco
The stories of our past become the realities of our future in this masterful deconstruction of a traditional space odyssey.
Aboard the Sea Foam—a spaceship tasked with travel to a habitable exoplanet some 400 light years from Earth—Maggie and crew are faced with a choice. Gifted with the knowledge of a procedure that results in immortality, the inhabitants of the ship come into conflict with what it means to be human, and what might lie beyond that. Where do we come from, where are we going, and what is the cost of arrival? One might think that such questions are too large to be unpacked within a mere twenty-five pages, but with all the grace of a master trapezist, Liu deftly navigates those treacherous heights. Through tight prose, a staggering level of foresight, and the courage to ask more questions than he answers, Liu pants a breathtaking picture of the human condition. He has effectively tapped into the eternal conversation of life informing art informing life, and in doing so has touched the heavens.
A brisk read containing eons of wisdom, this story transcends traditional science fiction and instead reaches the height of modern myth.
“Eight Bites” from Her Body and Other Parties: Stories by Carmen Maria Machado (2017)
Review by Dion Gordon
Machado masterfully uses magical realism and body horror to explore the emotional cost of diet culture, self-hatred, and society’s expectations of women’s bodies.
An unnamed narrator undergoes weight-loss surgery after years of believing that becoming thinner will finally make her feel accepted and whole. However, instead of freeing her, the surgery manifests in her discarded body as a haunting physical presence, forcing her to confront parts of herself she tried to erase. Machado suggests that changing the body cannot heal the emotional wounds created by shame and unrealistic beauty standards. The story’s greatest strength is its use of fantastic elements to make internal struggles tangible. Rather than presenting weight loss as a simple success story, Machado examines how women inherit impossible expectations from previous generations and often turn that judgment inward. The haunting ending reinforces the idea that self-acceptance cannot be achieved by rejecting or destroying one’s body.
An unsettling, compassionate, and deeply thought-provoking expression, offering a powerful critique of beauty culture and the lasting psychological effects of body dissatisfaction.