I teach 9th grade English and I just completed a unit on short stories in the Science Fiction genre. With my mind already focused on such a specific category of literature for the last several weeks, I decided to carry it over into a review and search for an indie, Science Fiction short story. Preferably contemporary, just to shake things up a bit further. I was happy to find Michelle Browne’s The Stolen: Two Short Stories (The Meaning Wars).
Brown’s two stories, “The Fields” and “The Word Thieves” are both tales of censorship and repression in each female lead’s separate dystopian world. “The Fields” is an account of Clarice’s stay in a moral reform prison. Clarice is a fighter, and she keeps her spirit from breaking by continuing to enjoy brief conversations with other prisoners and her own sexuality, despite the fact that it could get her killed, or worse. This story was very short in length, but packed a punch through the narrator’s vivid description of her longings, her enslavement, and her eventual escape. “The Word Thieves” was more a novella in form, and was a beautifully written account of the rebellious young Sarah. Sarah lives in a pristine, futuristic world where all of her most important rights are controlled: her rights to read, write, and speak freely. Her fight against this oppression focuses primarily on her feelings and decisions, which much like Clarice, get her in frightening trouble.
I really enjoyed Browne’s writing and characterization. The main ladies and their desire to learn, grow, and seek pleasure is the focus of each story. Contrasting from typical Science Fiction, Browne spares the intricate details of the surrounding worlds and the powers that be. She did not try to squeeze too much into a small space, and I found it refreshing.
Though I won’t be recommending this read to my 9th graders (mostly because of Browne’s open love of masturbation and the “F” word), I would spend another afternoon reading her work. She has authored three other Science Fiction pieces (And the Stars Will Sing, The Underlighters, and The Loved, The Lost, The Dreaming). All are available on Amazon.
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