Can You Tell Me How to Get to Apocalypse?, by Erica L. Satifka

[Interzone]

★★★☆☆

(Apocalypse Horror) Since there are no real kids left in the world, a kids’ show uses computer-animated corpses instead. (4,786 words; Time: 15m)

The Fate of the World, Reduced to a Ten-Second Pissing Contest, by Erica L. Satifka

[Interzone]

★★★☆☆ Average

(Alien Abduction) The aliens abducted Lucky’s bar and everyone in it. They’ve been trapped in some twisted part of space-time, and the narrator despairs of ever getting home. (924 words; Time: 03m)

The Big So-So, by Erica L. Satifka

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(Post-Apocalypse) Syl thinks people ought to at least try to put civilization back together—not just sit around moping about how great the alien drugs that destroyed it were. And she worries about her friend who wants to break into the aliens’s compound and steal some. (5,200 words; Time: 17m)

Rating: ★★★★☆ Strong Characters in an Interesting Setting

The Goddess of the Highway, by Erica L. Satifka

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(Dystopia) Since the mist came down, people are sorted into castes based on metal plates screwed into their temples which determine how much thinking they’re allowed to do. A girl from the top wants to break the system, and a man from the bottom may give her the means. (12,548 words; Time: 41m)

Rating: ★★★★☆ Complex, Mysterious, Uplifting

After We Walked Away, by Erica L. Satifka

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(Portal Fantasy) Blank and Cipher walked away from Solution City for moral reasons, but once they see what our world is like, they have regrets. (3,700 words; Time: 12m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

Recommended By: SFRevu:4

Bucket List Found in the Locker of Maddie Price, Age 14, Written Two Weeks Before the Great Uplifting of All Mankind, by Erica L. Satifka

Lightspeed Magazine, June 2015; 660 words
Rating: 3, Good, ordinary, story  Recommended By: io9  SFRevu:4

Maddie's list of things to do before the end of the world tells a sad, sweet story.

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

Pro: The items struck out are things she managed to do. The others are things she didn't get around to before she left. This makes the last line particularly touching.

Con: We really can't decide whether something really terrible happened or not. Worst of all: were her parents part of a cult? (In which case, this wasn't SF at all.)

Loving Grace, by Erica L. Satifka

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In a near future where all work is automated, a man's wife is drafted to be "employed" by the system, and he struggles to find meaning in life without her. (3,781 words; Time: 12m)

Rating: ★★★★☆ Recommended