Stories in Sunstone 162 (March 2011)

.

First, as an aside, I know I know --- I haven't reviewed any Dialogue fiction since getting an online subscription. I know. I intend to.

"The Prophet Claude" by Jack Harrell

This is half of a longer story in Jack's new collection and so I am not a fair judge of what it might be like to come to this story without knowing what's missing. (Incidentally, nothing's really missing in terms of chronology --- there's a pov missing.) So while I do like this title better (the original's: "A Prophet's Story"), I find the story significantly impaired by what is lost.

Again, if I did not know what is lost, I might feel differently.

That said, it's a fascinating look at God moving into someone's life.

And the accompanying art by Galen is quite nice. Perfect for the story.

You know, I sorta discovered her. Thank me.

Borderlands by Eric Samuelsen

Eric's work is always brilliant of course, but I may have an issue with this play. I can't decide.

The conceit is a bunch of Mormons struggling with the faith for various reasons converge on a used-car lot and have conversations. The dialogue is naturalistic and fun and well written. My issue comes with the gay character. Not the gay character himself, but the reactions he receives from the other characters.

These people who are adept at viewing the world in shades of gray suddenly, when confronted with homosekshuality, suddenly become blackandwhitists? Ridiculous.

But, then, the more I thought about it, the more I wondered. In fact, maybe this is true. Maybe I am blinded by geography---?

Speaking of Sunstone, I was at their symposium last weekend (to present on Mormon comics) in Cupertino and the final plenary session was on being gay and Mormon and the confluence of those two communities and I was startled to realize that all the efforts my stake has been making to get these communities together and refriended may not be Typical. This was emphasized later when speaking with a woman lamenting that her Bay Area stake would never reach out and attempt some healing as the Oakland Stake has done.

I don't get this. As Christians, the one place our gay brothers and sisters should feel welcomed is With Us. That this may not be happening troubles me deeply. And that Borderlands may in fact be accurate in its depiction makes me sad.

Anyway, it's a good play. Not his best but truly lovely. If you're in Utah, it's playing soon. Like, next week.