Blossoming of Callisto is a short story, which is not what I normally review, but I was so interested in the author that I had to read something ze wrote. I’m glad I did!
Content warnings for body horror, dissection, and gore.
The story is told from the perspective of a spaceship that is tasked with taking Princess Ariadne to a distant planet to form an alliance with the Prince of the Wastes. The fate of her world depends on it. I won’t say more about the plot since it’s a short story, and I don’t want to give away too much.
The narrative switches between the past and present, as the ship tells us its striking and heartbreaking story filled with love, melancholy, nostalgia, sacrifice and determination.
The story moved me deeply. Not only its originality, but the wistful mood the author created made me feel deeply connected to the characters, even though one of them was a spaceship. It touched my heart and made me look at love from a different perspective. It was unlike anything I’ve read before, and I’m looking forward to Erin’s longer fiction.
If you are in the mood for an imaginative short story and aren’t afraid of some body horror, I highly recommend to read it!
The author
Erin (ze/zir) works as an entomologist that specializes in museums and butterflies. Ze is also an aspiring SFF writer, artist, and dancer. Since zir childhood, Erin has been an avid consumer of speculative fiction. Without science fiction and fantasy, ze would not have been able to come to terms with zir queerness.
Check out Erin’s blog where ze is trying to focus on SFF that features queer, people of color, and own voices content/ narratives.