Bren MacDibble - Children's & YA Writer

Reviews

SF	Young Adult
A Complete Refabrication - Orb 7 Last Short Story (Tansy Rayner Roberts): "MacDibble is another one of those rising Australian writers who is really starting to hit her stride in short story land. This one really stunned me with its originality and brilliance - it's about online "afterlife" communities for the recently-deceased, and the struggles of a wife and mother to hang on to a some kind of a relationship with her loved ones through a computer screen. It's sad and weird and funny, and made me want to both cry and cheer." Horrorscope (Mark Smith-Briggs): "MacDibble creates a gentle and often amusing story about grief and loss when a son creates a cyber afterlife for his mother. Using a clever mix of humour and action to keep the story rolling, the real strength is the author’s ability to subtly explore the effects of grief in such a bizarre environment. The invading computer virus (in the form of Jesus Christ converts) is a clever touch." Overland (Andrew Macrae): "Bren MacDibble’s ‘A Complete Refabrication’ is a clever and light-hearted feminist angle on cyberpunk science fiction in which a mother wakes up dead in a digital reanimatarium and is rescued by her teenage hacker son. It features a lobster, a knitting machine and multiple white-robed Jesuses." Not Free SF Reader: "Dead uploaded mum rescued from fundamentalist rekillers and a Neighbours overload thanks to game geek son, and a knitting machine. 4 out of 5"	Being Bella Wang - SHiNy - Issue 4 The Fix (Sherwood Smith): "...MacDibble expertly evokes an exotic locale full of magic, as well as vivid, interesting characters with a strong bond." AS If (Alexandra Pierce): "...'Being Bella Wang' is set in that quintessentially Aussie exotic locale – Bali – and is focussed on Sienna, a clone of Bella Wang, a golf pro. For those of us who put up with excess parental pressure to be, to do, to accomplish… this will probably make you feel better. At least you aren’t your parent. MacDibble nicely ties in the science fiction element – which isn’t particularly overt, and is treated quite casually – with a fantasy element that fits its location nicely. The conclusion, while seemingly light-hearted, became darker and more threatening upon reflection." Last Short Story (Tansy Rayner Roberts): "... this emerging Australian writer has really hit her stride and found her voice in this marvellous YA story which touches on cloning, teen girl self esteem and Balinese mythology. Angsty, thoughtful and with a lovely sense of black humour, this is a definite must-read." The Elephant Forgets (Rich Horton): "... I liked Bren MacDibble's "Being Bella Wang", about various clones of a harsh and ambitious woman struggling to find their own identity." Cool Shite (Dirk Flinthart): "Issue Four sees a return from Bren MacDibble, in 'Being Bella Wang.' A tale of identity, sibling rivalry, and the struggle to escape parental domination, the prose crackles nicely, and it takes advantage of an unusual setting to play some nice cross-cultural games. I liked this one a lot."
Collecting Whispers - Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine Issue 30 ASIF (Alexandra Pierce): "A very clever use of ancient Egypt in “Collecting Whispers”, by Bren MacDibble, that didn’t try to recreate the place in entirety, but used aspects - like the gods - to great effect." Not Free SF Reader (Blue Tyson): "Egyptian underground god game. 3 out of 5" Lost Property - Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine Issue 14 Locus Magazine (Rich Horton): "In the August-September issue of Australia's ASIM I was particularly impressed by Bren MacDibble's Lost Property, a neat SF horror short story about an unethical lost property merchant who claims a potentially valuable box, always carried by certain aliens when they negotiate. Of course, he is unable to resist opening it... The secret is appropriate and nicely sprung." ASIF (Lorraine Cormack): "“Lost Property”, by Bren MacDibble was another thoroughly good read. Rassmussen Moustafen runs a lost and found store on a space station. Sometimes the items that he stocks have been, shall we say, found a little prematurely - before they were actually lost. Usually he restores them to their rightful owner for a moderate fee. But when he comes into possession of a Khalladian box, he is tempted beyond all bearing by the prospective of solving the mystery of the contents of the box. The setting and characterisation were well drawn, and the plot held my interest throughout." Not Free SF Reader: "Cardboard headcase. 3 out of 5"	Blurred Horizons - Shiny - Issue 2 AS If (Rachel Holkner): "Once again Shiny leaves the best until last. Bren MacDibble's 'Blurred Horizons' was my favourite of the issue. In 2032 Tash and her mother manage a service station and take care of a small forest in isolated desert conditions. An unexpected visitor (aren't they always?) asks a difficult favour, and for no apparent reward. Tash is a spunky protagonist and the environmental theme is topical without being heavy. The backstory is left mostly unexplained, a change from the frequent unrelenting infodumps common to speculative fiction." Cool Shite (Dirk Flinthart) "...Bren MacDibble’s well-composed and unusual time-travel tale 'Blurred Horizons' rounds out the issue." The Fix (Daniel Ausema): "My favorite in this issue is the science fictional 'Blurred Horizons' by Bren MacDibble. It’s a straightforward story of a youth who has grown up early and finds she must accomplish something even she might not be able to do. Young Tash—her age is never mentioned, but probably early teen—lives with her mother at a remote fueling station that won’t support them much longer. She’s proud of her ability to handle jobs the adults think someone her age, and especially a girl, shouldn’t be expected to do. Her greater pride, though, is in the forest that is her father’s legacy. In that forest, she finds a time traveler and agrees to help him save the world. I tend to be leery of time-traveler stories, and especially save-the-world time-traveling stories, but that’s the adult reader in me. Ignoring that bias, I found a lot of fun in this story, definitely the type I would have loved when I was in my teens and even earlier. My only real complaint is that it was supposedly set only about 25 years from now, but the desolate fueling station and Mad-Max-type decay of the aging transports felt considerably farther into the future."

Young Adult

A Complete Refabrication - Orb 7

Last Short Story (Tansy Rayner Roberts):
"MacDibble is another one of those rising Australian writers who is really starting to hit her stride in short story land. This one really stunned me with its originality and brilliance - it's about online "afterlife" communities for the recently-deceased, and the struggles of a wife and mother to hang on to a some kind of a relationship with her loved ones through a computer screen. It's sad and weird and funny, and made me want to both cry and cheer."

Horrorscope (Mark Smith-Briggs): "MacDibble creates a gentle and often amusing story about grief and loss when a son creates a cyber afterlife for his mother. Using a clever mix of humour and action to keep the story rolling, the real strength is the author’s ability to subtly explore the effects of grief in such a bizarre environment. The invading computer virus (in the form of Jesus Christ converts) is a clever touch."

Overland (Andrew Macrae): "Bren MacDibble’s ‘A Complete Refabrication’ is a clever and light-hearted feminist angle on cyberpunk science fiction in which a mother wakes up dead in a digital reanimatarium and is rescued by her teenage hacker son. It features a lobster, a knitting machine and multiple white-robed Jesuses."

Not Free SF Reader: "Dead uploaded mum rescued from fundamentalist rekillers and a Neighbours overload thanks to game geek son, and a knitting machine. 4 out of 5"

Being Bella Wang - SHiNy - Issue 4

The Fix (Sherwood Smith): "...MacDibble expertly evokes an exotic locale full of magic, as well as vivid, interesting characters with a strong bond."

AS If (Alexandra Pierce): "...'Being Bella Wang' is set in that quintessentially Aussie exotic locale – Bali – and is focussed on Sienna, a clone of Bella Wang, a golf pro. For those of us who put up with excess parental pressure to be, to do, to accomplish… this will probably make you feel better. At least you aren’t your parent. MacDibble nicely ties in the science fiction element – which isn’t particularly overt, and is treated quite casually – with a fantasy element that fits its location nicely. The conclusion, while seemingly light-hearted, became darker and more threatening upon reflection."

Last Short Story (Tansy Rayner Roberts): "... this emerging Australian writer has really hit her stride and found her voice in this marvellous YA story which touches on cloning, teen girl self esteem and Balinese mythology. Angsty, thoughtful and with a lovely sense of black humour, this is a definite must-read."

The Elephant Forgets (Rich Horton): "... I liked Bren MacDibble's "Being Bella Wang", about various clones of a harsh and ambitious woman struggling to find their own identity."

Cool Shite (Dirk Flinthart): "Issue Four sees a return from Bren MacDibble, in 'Being Bella Wang.' A tale of identity, sibling rivalry, and the struggle to escape parental domination, the prose crackles nicely, and it takes advantage of an unusual setting to play some nice cross-cultural games. I liked this one a lot."

Collecting Whispers - Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine Issue 30

ASIF (Alexandra Pierce): "A very clever use of ancient Egypt in “Collecting Whispers”, by Bren MacDibble, that didn’t try to recreate the place in entirety, but used aspects - like the gods - to great effect."

Not Free SF Reader (Blue Tyson): "Egyptian underground god game. 3 out of 5"

Lost Property - Andromeda Spaceways Inflight Magazine Issue 14

Locus Magazine (Rich Horton): "In the August-September issue of Australia's ASIM I was particularly impressed by Bren MacDibble's Lost Property, a neat SF horror short story about an unethical lost property merchant who claims a potentially valuable box, always carried by certain aliens when they negotiate. Of course, he is unable to resist opening it... The secret is appropriate and nicely sprung."

ASIF (Lorraine Cormack): "“Lost Property”, by Bren MacDibble was another thoroughly good read. Rassmussen Moustafen runs a lost and found store on a space station. Sometimes the items that he stocks have been, shall we say, found a little prematurely - before they were actually lost. Usually he restores them to their rightful owner for a moderate fee. But when he comes into possession of a Khalladian box, he is tempted beyond all bearing by the prospective of solving the mystery of the contents of the box. The setting and characterisation were well drawn, and the plot held my interest throughout."

Not Free SF Reader: "Cardboard headcase. 3 out of 5"

Blurred Horizons - Shiny - Issue 2

AS If (Rachel Holkner): "Once again Shiny leaves the best until last. Bren MacDibble's 'Blurred Horizons' was my favourite of the issue. In 2032 Tash and her mother manage a service station and take care of a small forest in isolated desert conditions. An unexpected visitor (aren't they always?) asks a difficult favour, and for no apparent reward. Tash is a spunky protagonist and the environmental theme is topical without being heavy. The backstory is left mostly unexplained, a change from the frequent unrelenting infodumps common to speculative fiction."

Cool Shite (Dirk Flinthart) "...Bren MacDibble’s well-composed and unusual time-travel tale 'Blurred Horizons' rounds out the issue."

The Fix (Daniel Ausema): "My favorite in this issue is the science fictional 'Blurred Horizons' by Bren MacDibble. It’s a straightforward story of a youth who has grown up early and finds she must accomplish something even she might not be able to do.
Young Tash—her age is never mentioned, but probably early teen—lives with her mother at a remote fueling station that won’t support them much longer. She’s proud of her ability to handle jobs the adults think someone her age, and especially a girl, shouldn’t be expected to do. Her greater pride, though, is in the forest that is her father’s legacy. In that forest, she finds a time traveler and agrees to help him save the world.
I tend to be leery of time-traveler stories, and especially save-the-world time-traveling stories, but that’s the adult reader in me. Ignoring that bias, I found a lot of fun in this story, definitely the type I would have loved when I was in my teens and even earlier. My only real complaint is that it was supposedly set only about 25 years from now, but the desolate fueling station and Mad-Max-type decay of the aging transports felt considerably farther into the future."