See The Unseeable, Know The Unknowable, by Maria Dahvana Headley

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(Modern Fantasy) A circus comes to town, but the tickets are for fifty years ago or fifty years from now. (4,983 words; Time: 16m)

Rating: ★★☆☆☆ Not Recommended

Recommended By: SFRevu:4

"See The Unseeable, Know The Unknowable," by Maria Dahvana Headley [bio] (edited by John Joseph Adams), appeared in Lightspeed Magazine issue 76, published on September 1, 2016.

Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)

This story is very confusing. On the surface, it appears that Wren comes to town to die, and this "circus" corresponds to something taking her soul. But she's a murderer--why does she get such a comfy afterlife? And what's with the birds that don't sing? Or the plague that makes people mute? And what exactly happened to make Wren flee to this place? We never know.

Another issue is that there's not a scrap of dialogue nor any character development in this story. Everything is told through narration.

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