Black Static

"The fiction in this issue begins with one of my favorite new writers, Aliette de Bodard. Her bio tells us that she is half-French and half-Vietnamese, which explains the frequent Asian locales of her stories. 'The Lonely Heart' takes place in modern day China. Chen runs a little curio stall and is unnerved one day when a skinny little girl handles a little statue of a demon. She feels sorry for the girl and more so when an evil-looking man, who is obviously her pimp, takes her away and warns Chen, 'Don't meddle in my affairs.' That night, the girl, whose name is Xia, appears at the door of her home and she takes her in. The story then takes a very surprising, but dark turn. This was my favorite story in the issue."