“Behind the Mirror,” by Yoon Ha Lee (2007) E

Date read: 8.10.09
Read in: Coyote Wild
Reviewer: Emera

Yoon Ha Lee’s flash fiction (I did a word count out of curiosity – 223) “Behind the Mirror” is lovely, sad, and unsettling, and has one of the most memorable single lines I’ve read, that could be a poem all by itself. The story has an appropriately vanishing feel to it, a sort of silvery evanescence. I found one paragraph a little overwritten, which is troublesome in such a short piece, but it doesn’t really hurt the story as a whole.

“Behind the Mirror” appears in the first issue of online speculative fic/poetry quarterly Coyote Wild. Take a minute out of your day to enjoy Lee’s story. (That’s why I love short fiction – you can pop one in here and there so easily.)

Go to:
Yoon Ha Lee

2 thoughts on ““Behind the Mirror,” by Yoon Ha Lee (2007) E”

  1. My goodness! Years ago I was involved in a PBeM RPG that Yoon Ha was running. It was a very short-lived affair (I think I made 2-3 posts before the RPG fizzled out) but I’ve never forgotten it. Shazrad is still up there, as is my character. Good to note that Yoon Ha is still writing!

  2. Somehow I’m entirely not surprised to hear that! You two do seem to have compatible interests. :) I actually first encountered her name in a magazine for which she wrote an article about Interactive Fiction a good number of years ago, so I was tickled myself to find her work again online. A lot of her short fiction seems to be based on mathematics & music, so I’m betting you’d like it, too.

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