Fungal Gardens by Ekaterina Sedia

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“Fungal Gardens” is a 2009 science fiction short story by Ekaterina Sedia. It is about a college professor and his cop partner who discover a deadly fungus affecting geeks!

There is a Fungus Among Us!

David is a biology professor at the local community college – nothing too exciting about that. But when his partner Johnny, who works for the police force, discovers a dead man killed by a mysterious fungus David is called in to help solve the case. Soon afterwards solitary people start dying in some strange place all around the world. Even more strange is what they are doing when they die. Eventually the CDC gets involved and David discovers a very weird connection between all the cases – hopefully he’ll figure something out in time to save his friend!

My Two Cents…

• I am a huge fan of ants – aren’t they just so cool? I am always amazed by what they can accomplish by working so well together. Needless to say, this story really appealed to my insect-loving side.
• “Fungal Gardens” contains a bit of technical jargon related to microbiology. It adds an air of authority to the story, but can be a little much when trying to figure out the relationship between all the different types of fungus.
• The characters of David, Johnny and Alan really surprised me. They were very cool, down-to-Earth kind of guys who figured out something amazing.

Interesting Tidbits About This Story:

• Page Count: 11
• Word Count: 6,144
• My Rating: 4.0 out of 5
• Learn more about Russian-born Ekaterina Sedia at her web site.

Where You Can Find “Fungal Gardens”:

• This story first appeared in September 2009 on the Apex Book Company web site , where you can still read it online for free.

Craving More Stories?

If you liked “Fungal Gardens” then you might also enjoy The Giving Plague by David Brin – about a member of a famous research team that discovers a virus with a peculiar method of transmission.

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