What’s On The Banks Of Table River: (Planet Lucina, Andromeda Galaxy, AD 2319) all about?:

The final story in this collection is set in the future on Planet Lucina and is told from the point of view of one of the beings living there exploring their relationship with love, death and Earthlings.

What did I think?:

The stories in I Am An Executioner have been an absolute delight to read and On The Banks Of Table River was another example of an outstanding piece of fiction that I was thoroughly immersed in and didn’t want to end. His stories might not be for everyone, they’re a bit quirky, downright strange in points and of course, as with every short story collection, some are better than others. If like me however, you like your fiction a bit different and exciting, Rajesh Parameswaran is the way to go. Particularly as this is his debut collection which is so unbelievably strong that I am assured he will be doing amazing things in the future.

I Am An Executioner: Love Stories (to give it the full title) focuses on love and often death in each narrative (hence the executioner part!). Some of the stories in this collection are narrated by animals, others by quite unreliable narrators and even one from a painting but they’re all unique and special in their own way. On The Banks Of Table River is another blinder. It is set in the future on an alien world, Planet Lucina which humans are welcomed to visit, live or mate with the local species, depending on your tastes! Our story is narrated by one of the local species, an insect-like creature with a proboscis, feelers and six legs but increased in size compared to your regular bug.

Our narrator, Thoren has a daughter called Nippima and she is causing him no end of grief, in the typical teenage fashion. She is moody, distant, keeps disappearing without telling him and worse of all has starting exhibiting quite human behaviours like wearing the latest Earth fashions (miniskirts made for six legs) and offering tours of the planet to any humans eager and willing. She becomes quite attached to one particular male human and is devastated when he sees what her father does for a living as like some fascinating science experiment. Her father prepares corpses of the native species that have died and arranges funerals for them, much like a mortician in our world. Things start to go a bit wrong after the meeting between Nippima and the human and her father reminiscences about the time when Nippima was conceived bringing a whole new meaning to the phrase “love you to death!”

This strange little bit of science fiction was the perfect way to end an absolutely amazing collection of stories that has to be one of my favourites so far in my Short Stories Challenge. I loved the way the author transported us to a different planet where WE were the alien species and we learned about love and death in a whole new fashion. The story is told so beautifully and with so much passion, you could be forgiven for thinking that the author had been acquainted with one of these insect-like beings beforehand! I also loved the relationship between Thoren and his daughter Nippima which was startlingly similar to parent/child relationships here on Earth. It came so, so close to getting the full five stars from me – ever so close! I just think the ending could have done with slightly more clarification…. I think I know what happened but it turned a bit vague and had so much potential to end with a bang.

Would I recommend it?:

But of course!

Star rating (out of 5):

NEXT SHORT STORY: The Passenger by Kevin Brockmeier from the collection Things That Fall From The Sky