"Remembering Light," by Marie Brennan

[Scott H. Andrews]

This thread is to discuss "Remembering Light," a Driftwood tale by Marie Brennan, which appears in BCS #44 (http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/toc.php?s=44) from June 3, 2010.

Feel free to post a comment even if you haven't yet registered on the BCS Forums--you can reply to the thread as an unregistered Guest.

[Unregistered]

I haven't been reading BCS for very long, but this is my favorite story I've read here. Fantastically dense, rich, and immersive--without being longer than it needs to be :)

[Scott H. Andrews]

Very glad you liked it!

Make sure you also check out her earlier Driftwood story that we ran last April, "Driftwood" (http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/forums/../story.php?s=29). It features one of the same characters and a different yet still very compelling exploration of that world.

[unregistered]

That was AMAZING

[Unregistered]

excellent story, just reread it. the world of Driftwood is very compelling yet melancholy. i hope the author returns there soon. more short stories, or perhaps even a novel? please? :)

[mbrennan]

There's "Driftwood" (the original story) in the archives here at BCS, and "A Heretic by Degrees" in issue #10 of the Intergalactic Medicine Show (http://www.intergalacticmedicineshow.com/). I'm unlikely to ever do a novel in the setting -- it just runs counter to the whole feel of Driftwood, to do a single, coherent story, rather than fragments -- but if I can assemble enough short stories, I would love to do a collection someday.

[Unregistered]

thanks. would you share the inspiration for the world of Driftwood? It made me think of soap bubbles in a drain.

[mbrennan]

Somebody mentioned the Borderlands series during a meeting of my (then) writers' group. Driftwood is, of course, nothing like the Borderlands setting, but the word flipped a switch in my head, and I started thinking about a place that was essentially nothing BUT borders: little fragments of worlds, all jammed up against one another. Then I decided they were the last fragments of universes that had gone through their Ragnarok or what-have-you; I scribbled down the first few paragraphs of what became the opening scene of "Driftwood," and figured out who the character talking was, and everything else proceeded from there.

BTW, I forgot to mention that there's also a flash (short-short) story I posted as a freebie on my website: "Smiling at the End of the World." (http://www.swantower.com/stories/driftwood/smiling.html) So that's a few hundred words more of Driftwood for you.

[Unregistered]

thank you for sharing that. Beautiful story.