Review: Silence and Starsong edited by Joseph W. Knowles
Katie Roome- October 29, 2024
Silence and Starsong is a magazine anthology featuring ten short stories in a range of sci-fi and fantasy flavors. Edited by Joseph W. Knowles, this Spring 2023 issue (Vol1, No1) engages openly with the supernatural, including themes of faith and Christianity in particular.
Here at the Periapsis Press blog, we only post reviews of works we recommend, so you already know I enjoyed Silence and Starsong. I encourage you to check it out!
Disclaimer: We received a copy of this book from the author for the purpose of review. This in no way influences our opinions. (You can request a review here.)
This review contains minor spoilers.
Silence and Starsong Publisher Description:
The inaugural issue of Silence and Starsong Magazine contains stories in a variety of genres from science fiction and horror to fantasy and action/adventure. There are authors you already know and love as well as promising newcomers.
All share a common goal: to inspire wonder and awe through stories of high strangeness and other modern fairytales for grown-ups.
Complete List of Stories:
“A Matter of Honor” by Jason McCuiston
“A Wanderer of Ur” by Gaston Nerval
“Archangel” by Frederick Gero Heimbach
“The Two Godly Fishmongers: A Tale of Strange Providences” by Kevin White
“Free Lunch” by S. Kirk Pierzchala
“Have Ye Offered Unto Me” by Zachary Grafman
“The Gamer” by Nathan Karnes
“The Secret of Phelim Darke” by S. Kirk Pierzchala
“The Shadow of the Stain” by Patrick Lauser
“Hidden Empire” by T.R. Alexander
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Review:
Science and the Supernatural
This first issue of Silence and Starsong lacks a foreword, but Knowles concludes the collection with a nice Editor’s Note where he criticizes the modern obsession with materialism.
He asserts, “The human soul is under siege. We are surrounded by an army of nihilistic, materialist orcs.” He continues, “The solution is to drop the orc way of thinking. Drop the science fiction materialism and the loser-heroes….Consider the true meaning of the physical reality.”
While I don’t agree entirely with his treatment of science as materialism, it is a breath of fresh air to find a collection of stories that does not shy away from a genuine treatment of the supernatural and from faith in particular.
And, of course, this collection delivers great entertainment. The back of the magazine states, “Inspiring wonder and awe through stories of high strangeness and other modern fairy-tales for grown-ups.”
Wonder and Awe
The very first story in the magazine “A Matter of Honor” by Jason McCuiston embodies this well. Like many of the indie short stories I’ve enjoyed, it delivers a complete adventure—beginning, middle, and end—without subverting expectations in a “gotcha” twist that denies resolution. But it is also a uniquely Christian story: the characters are Christians of different denominations and nationalities clashing at the end of the Thirty Years War. The plot hinges on the question of “true faith” and the recitation of the Lord’s Prayer.
And this is not the only tale like it in the anthology. “The Two Godly Fishmongers” by Kevin White deals with unrepentant sin in a way that is clearly meant for a Christian audience, and “The Shadow of the Stain” by Patrick Lauser references faith as the solution to inherited cycles of sin.
Yet none of these stories would have appeared in a stereotypical “Christian” collection. The message is not their purpose. It is not essential to the authors or the editor that the reader should come away with theological understanding or new conviction, but rather “wonder and awe.” They accomplish this by delivering good stories first and foremost.
High Strangeness
Silence and Starsong certainly delivers on the strangeness. During the book discussion we hosted for this collection, it was not uncommon for us to debate a basic “what happened in this story?”
“Archangel” by Frederick Gero Heimbach, for example, offers a bewildering series of scenes that grow increasingly phantasmagorical. A Russian submarine carrying demon-laden missiles can go very wrong, and like some of the best indie fiction, the story really goes off.
“Have Ye Offered Unto Me” by Zachary Grafman has a similar occult fiction tone, with an unfortunate academic forced to play hero against a demonic professor. Once again, a complete adventure is delivered, and he even gets the girl!
The “fairy-tales for grown-ups” included “Free Lunch” by S. Kirk Pierzchala and “The Shadow of the Stain” by Patrick Lauser, among others. But then there was “The Gamer” by Nathan Karnes, which takes place within a sort of video game multiverse.
I could honestly list every story in the magazine in this section. Each one was unique and, yes, strange!
Check Out Silence and Starsong!
The first issue of Silence and Starsong is full of supernatural sci-fi and fantasy stories that deliver good entertainment. It is an excellent introduction to many of these authors, and I look forward to trying more from them all!
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We (and other readers) want to hear your thoughts!
Like with all anthologies there are some you’re going to like and some you’re not. What I appreciate about the work here is that the editor along with the authors are understanding a world in which the modern wasteland of of sci-fi is offering little of value and the types of stories offered in this anthology series by indie authors are able to author readers heroes to root for, tropes to respect, and a world created that is taken seriously. Without spoiling much or going too far into the details of what each is about the follow are my assessment:
– A Matter of Honor – a haunted house story during the Middle Ages with men of different religions of the Christian variety from opposing armies must rely on each other to escape. There is some good church history and military history here. Characters are quickly established and done so very, very well. The ideas of honor and glory ring out among the benefits of friendship and brotherhood. A good ending to be had as well.
– A Wanderer of Ur – a good setting and character. Really enjoy settings pre-Flood or post-Flood immediate as there is a lot you can do there. What’s weak here is the story after the set up happens too quickly and is ends without enough to make me care. I would like to see more here but there is not enough here for me to demand it or search it out.
– Archangel – oh boy. This was THE best story out of all of them. The story of demon indwelt nukes on a Russian submarine where priests are needed to make sure nothing happens as a way to have the biggest threat against the United States is the story. Ya know what? You have me. You have me by the toes or the ears or whatever part needs me to listen to this story. It starts off perfectly and draws you in. The amount of buildup and exposition are done so well in the small space of this short story. Putting the story into Russian military setting adds a mind picture even more clear of greys and bleak and dread. The madness writing for the characters reminded me quite a bit of Ellison’s “I Have No Mouth and I must Scream”. A great ending as well. I don’t usually call for short stories to be made into their own thing but if this story came out in a 7 book series – I’m buying the hard covers on day 1.
– The Two Godly Fishmongers – A Tale of Strange Providences – This was my second favorite story and involves a couple of simple characters in the colonial days who find themselves accidentally abducted by an alien. This is a lovely story where the lesson doesn’t get lost in the sci-fi and the sci-fi doesn’t get lost in the lesson. The ideas of brotherly love, repentance, and the universal nature of God and His providence (even among those among the stars) offered up a great story here.
– Free Lunch – This was fine and fun. A vacationing family who stumbles upon the house they think they rented find a meal set up so they partake – all except skeptical Sally, the daughter. The trickster reveals and the biggest problem I have here is that I need to understand about why or how Sally knows what happens when the reveal is done. That would have put this into the great stories in the collection.
– Have Ye Offered Unto Me – a very rushed story that didn’t really explain what’s going on with the characters and if some more details could be added to the demonic aspect of academia this could have been a good story with a fun ending.
– The Gamer – a meta-lit-RPG that’s kind of ho-hum because there’s not much of an establishment of either where we are at or the stakes of what’s happening.
– the Secret of Phelim Drake – I’m kind of torn on this because the twist at the end was good but if the story before it happens doesn’t really make the twist make that much sense. The perfect love of a woman’s life goes missing and she is forlorn – until he returns and reveals what he was up to. If a few more aspects to our female character would have been inserted that made the twist happen more logically, I would have really enjoyed this.
– The Shadow of the Stain – this story about two sisters and witchcraft and revenge just did not leave any impact on me.
– Hidden Empire – Could you even believe a story about the government being taken over by demons? There’s a lot to like here in this story. The letter writing style is a bit of an odd choice rather then just telling the story. After the turning point of the story it would have been nice to reveal a little bit more behind the curtain. However, overall, this was a good story.
I really appreciated editor Knowles note at the end (although it should have been at the beginning). I will be checking out his other collections in this series and back any others he puts out. Final Grade – B+