★★★☆☆ Honorable Mention
(SF Horror) As part of a trade deal, aliens implant their young in human volunteers, but being a pregnant man comes with a lot of stigma, so naturally there’s a support group. (5,300 words; Time: 17m)
Recommended By: 👍KBurnham+1 👍STomaino+1
"Three Meetings of the Pregnant Man Support Group," by James Beamon [bio] (edited by Jason Sizemore), appeared in Apex Magazine issue 109, published on June 5, 2018.
Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)
Review: 2018.325 (A Word for Authors)
Pro: This is more of an idea story than anything else, and by the end of it, we understand everything that's happening. Calling it pregnancy is quite a euphemism.
Although the experience sounds really horrible, it has its compensations. So much so that people who’ve been through it feel worthless afterwards.
There’s probably a parallel with female pregnancy (or maybe with raising children and feeling empty when they’ve moved out).
The Sacculina described in the story are real. The crabs actually have it worse than the men in the story.
Con: We don't end up having much sympathy for the characters in the story.
It’s a bit odd that an alien fetus that couldn’t figure out not to drink from the toilet was able to figure out what a gun was and felt obliged to protect others of its kind.
The idea that humans would be suitable hosts for any sort of alien parasite is far-fetched.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 109)
James Beamon Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
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Pro: This is more of an idea story than anything else, and by the end of it, we understand everything that's happening. Calling it pregnancy is quite a euphemism.
Although the experience sounds really horrible, it has its compensations. So much so that people who’ve been through it feel worthless afterwards.
There’s probably a parallel with female pregnancy (or maybe with raising children and feeling empty when they’ve moved out).
The Sacculina described in the story are real. The crabs actually have it worse than the men in the story.
Con: We don't end up having much sympathy for the characters in the story.
It’s a bit odd that an alien fetus that couldn’t figure out not to drink from the toilet was able to figure out what a gun was and felt obliged to protect others of its kind.
The idea that humans would be suitable hosts for any sort of alien parasite is far-fetched.
Other Reviews: Search Web, Browse Review Sites (Issue 109)
James Beamon Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline
Follow RSR on Twitter, Facebook, RSS, or E-mail.
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