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The Long List Anthology: More Stories From the Hugo Award Nomination List
The Hugo Award is one of the most prestigious speculative fiction literary awards. Every year, supporting members of WorldCon nominate their favorite stories first published during the previous year to determine the top five in each category for the final Hugo Award ballot. Between the announcement of the ballot and the Hugo Award ceremony at WorldCon, these works often become the center of much attention (and contention) across fandom.
But there are more stories loved by the Hugo voters, stories on the longer nomination list that WSFS publishes after the Hugo Award ceremony at WorldCon. The Long List Anthology collects 21 tales from that nomination list, totaling almost 500 pages of fiction by writers from all corners of the world.
Within these pages you will find a mix of science fiction and fantasy, the dramatic and the lighthearted, from near future android stories to steampunk heists, too-plausible dystopias to contemporary vampire stories.
There is something here for everyone.
Contents:
* Foreword (The Long List Anthology) • essay by David Steffen
* The Breath of War [Universe of Xuya] / (2014) / short story by Aliette de Bodard
* When It Ends, He Catches Her (2014) / short story by Eugie Foster
* Toad Words (2014) / short story by Ursula Vernon [as by T. Kingfisher]
* Makeisha in Time (2014) / short story by Rachael K. Jones
* Covenant (2014) / short story by Elizabeth Bear
* The Truth About Owls (2014) / short story by Amal El-Mohtar
* A Kiss with Teeth (2014) / short story by Max Gladstone
* The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family (2014) / short story by Usman T. Malik
* This Chance Planet (2014) / short story by Elizabeth Bear
* Goodnight Stars (2014) / short story by Annie Bellet
* We Are the Cloud (2014) / novelette by Sam J. Miller
* The Magician and Laplace's Demon (2014) / novelette by Tom Crosshill
* Spring Festival: Happiness, Anger, Love, Sorrow, Joy (2014) / novelette by Xia Jia (trans. of 2044年春节旧事 2013)
* The Husband Stitch (2014) / novelette by Carmen Maria Machado
* The Bonedrake's Penance (2014) / novelette by Yoon Ha Lee
* The Devil in America (2014) / novelette by Kai Ashante Wilson
* The Litany of Earth [The Innsmouth Legacy • 0] (2014) / novelette by Ruthanna Emrys
* A Guide to the Fruits of Hawai'i (2014) / novelette by Alaya Dawn Johnson
* A Year and a Day in Old Theradane (2014) / novelette by Scott Lynch
* The Regular (2014) / novella by Ken Liu
* Grand Jeté (The Great Leap) (2014) / novella by Rachel Swirsky
But there are more stories loved by the Hugo voters, stories on the longer nomination list that WSFS publishes after the Hugo Award ceremony at WorldCon. The Long List Anthology collects 21 tales from that nomination list, totaling almost 500 pages of fiction by writers from all corners of the world.
Within these pages you will find a mix of science fiction and fantasy, the dramatic and the lighthearted, from near future android stories to steampunk heists, too-plausible dystopias to contemporary vampire stories.
There is something here for everyone.
Contents:
* Foreword (The Long List Anthology) • essay by David Steffen
* The Breath of War [Universe of Xuya] / (2014) / short story by Aliette de Bodard
* When It Ends, He Catches Her (2014) / short story by Eugie Foster
* Toad Words (2014) / short story by Ursula Vernon [as by T. Kingfisher]
* Makeisha in Time (2014) / short story by Rachael K. Jones
* Covenant (2014) / short story by Elizabeth Bear
* The Truth About Owls (2014) / short story by Amal El-Mohtar
* A Kiss with Teeth (2014) / short story by Max Gladstone
* The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family (2014) / short story by Usman T. Malik
* This Chance Planet (2014) / short story by Elizabeth Bear
* Goodnight Stars (2014) / short story by Annie Bellet
* We Are the Cloud (2014) / novelette by Sam J. Miller
* The Magician and Laplace's Demon (2014) / novelette by Tom Crosshill
* Spring Festival: Happiness, Anger, Love, Sorrow, Joy (2014) / novelette by Xia Jia (trans. of 2044年春节旧事 2013)
* The Husband Stitch (2014) / novelette by Carmen Maria Machado
* The Bonedrake's Penance (2014) / novelette by Yoon Ha Lee
* The Devil in America (2014) / novelette by Kai Ashante Wilson
* The Litany of Earth [The Innsmouth Legacy • 0] (2014) / novelette by Ruthanna Emrys
* A Guide to the Fruits of Hawai'i (2014) / novelette by Alaya Dawn Johnson
* A Year and a Day in Old Theradane (2014) / novelette by Scott Lynch
* The Regular (2014) / novella by Ken Liu
* Grand Jeté (The Great Leap) (2014) / novella by Rachel Swirsky
499 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 30, 2015
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 93 reviews
June 3, 2016
All dancers knew their springtime was short. A dancer's fate was to break or fade away, a short season of glory, if they were lucky. And Aisa had been lucky, very lucky. Until all the luck went away, for everyone.
this is just your typical zombie/ballet mashup tale.
no but srsly, it's an unexpectedly lovely and successful combination of two things that should never make sense together, like moose and seal!
it starts out with the haunting image of a ballerina dancing alone in a decaying theater, her costume in tatters as she bravely, singlemindedly devotes herself to the dance that once gave her life meaning, before the world fell apart:
The dim shadows were kinder to the theater's dilapidation. A single candle to aid the dirty sheen of the moon through the rent beams of the ancient roof, easier to overlook the worn and warped floorboards, the tattered curtains, the mildew-ridden walls. Easier as well to overlook the dingy skirt with its hem all ragged, once purest white and fine, and her shoes, almost fallen to pieces, the toes cracked and painstakingly re-wrapped with hoarded strips of linen. Once, not long ago, Aisa wouldn't have given this place a first glance, would never have deigned to be seen here in this most ruinous of venues. But times changed. Everything changed.
as she dances, she reflects on the past; all the times she has danced this particular dance, all the ways the world has changed, has forgotten her, and her inability to give up this seemingly pointless ritual.
No matter that the world had turned to chaos, in the end, a dancer danced. It was the only peace, the only sanity that remained.
and then her old partner appears, applauding her from the wings. but he is … changed from how she remembers him, showing signs of the plague that ended everything, turning people into nothing but hunger. but still, in the end, a dancer danced, and despite his condition, she finds he is still her perfect counterpart as they perform to an audience of no one, lost in their shared memories and movements.
and then things turn unutterably, heartbreakingly lovely.
And when it ends, he catches her.
read it for yourself here:
http://dailysciencefiction.com/fantas...
this is just your typical zombie/ballet mashup tale.
no but srsly, it's an unexpectedly lovely and successful combination of two things that should never make sense together, like moose and seal!
it starts out with the haunting image of a ballerina dancing alone in a decaying theater, her costume in tatters as she bravely, singlemindedly devotes herself to the dance that once gave her life meaning, before the world fell apart:
The dim shadows were kinder to the theater's dilapidation. A single candle to aid the dirty sheen of the moon through the rent beams of the ancient roof, easier to overlook the worn and warped floorboards, the tattered curtains, the mildew-ridden walls. Easier as well to overlook the dingy skirt with its hem all ragged, once purest white and fine, and her shoes, almost fallen to pieces, the toes cracked and painstakingly re-wrapped with hoarded strips of linen. Once, not long ago, Aisa wouldn't have given this place a first glance, would never have deigned to be seen here in this most ruinous of venues. But times changed. Everything changed.
as she dances, she reflects on the past; all the times she has danced this particular dance, all the ways the world has changed, has forgotten her, and her inability to give up this seemingly pointless ritual.
No matter that the world had turned to chaos, in the end, a dancer danced. It was the only peace, the only sanity that remained.
and then her old partner appears, applauding her from the wings. but he is … changed from how she remembers him, showing signs of the plague that ended everything, turning people into nothing but hunger. but still, in the end, a dancer danced, and despite his condition, she finds he is still her perfect counterpart as they perform to an audience of no one, lost in their shared memories and movements.
and then things turn unutterably, heartbreakingly lovely.
And when it ends, he catches her.
read it for yourself here:
http://dailysciencefiction.com/fantas...
November 1, 2015
Who knew that poignant and zombiepocalypse could go together so well?
"When It Ends, He Catches Her," nominated for the 2014 short story Nebula, is about two ballet dancers, still loving their art and trying to maintain it when everything around them has fallen to pieces.
To say much more would be to spoil it. But the first time I read it I was all, whoa, and the second time I got all choked up.
4.5 stars. Go read it. It's free online here at Daily Science Fiction.
"When It Ends, He Catches Her," nominated for the 2014 short story Nebula, is about two ballet dancers, still loving their art and trying to maintain it when everything around them has fallen to pieces.
When the last stages and theaters in the artists' district had barred their doors, when all the performances had gone forever dark, Aisa had found this place, this nameless ghost of a theater. So ramshackle to be beneath the Magistrate's attention, so ruinous that no one had bothered to bolt the doors, it had become her haven, the place she fled to so she could dance by herself in the darkness and the silence. No matter that the world had turned to chaos, in the end, a dancer danced. It was the only peace, the only sanity that remained.I felt the plight of Aisa and the joy she still takes in her talent.
To say much more would be to spoil it. But the first time I read it I was all, whoa, and the second time I got all choked up.
4.5 stars. Go read it. It's free online here at Daily Science Fiction.
December 12, 2015
http://dailysciencefiction.com/fantas...
Lovely. The passion of a dancer.
Lovely. The passion of a dancer.
June 3, 2016
The dim shadows were kinder to the theater's dilapidation. A single candle to aid the dirty sheen of the moon through the rent beams of the ancient roof, easier to overlook the worn and warped floorboards, the tattered curtains, the mildew-ridden walls. Easier as well to overlook the dingy skirt with its hem all ragged, once purest white and fine, and her shoes, almost fallen to pieces, the toes cracked and painstakingly re-wrapped with hoarded strips of linen. Once, not long ago, Aisa wouldn't have given this place a first glance, would never have deigned to be seen here in this most ruinous of venues. But times changed. Everything changed.
"What is it? What's the matter?"
"I came to dance with you, Aisa."
"Of course you did."
"But I'm not the same as I once was."
Was he afraid his technique had declined, that she would spurn him for missteps, mistakes in tempo or timing?
"We are neither of us as we once were," she said. Scrabbling with an old man for a crust of bread in the gutter, the brittle crunch of a cockroach between her teeth. "But there was never a better partner for me than you, Balege." Aisa lifted her arm in the formal language of dance, her fingers held out to say, simply, Dance with me.
She twirled in his arms and skipped away, springing like a gazelle back again. He steadied and braced her, always there, the inverted complement of her movements. They danced, and she reveled in the strength of his arms around her, the metered cadence of his legs, the matched beat of two bodies moving in seamless fluidity.
"What is it? What's the matter?"
"I came to dance with you, Aisa."
"Of course you did."
"But I'm not the same as I once was."
Was he afraid his technique had declined, that she would spurn him for missteps, mistakes in tempo or timing?
"We are neither of us as we once were," she said. Scrabbling with an old man for a crust of bread in the gutter, the brittle crunch of a cockroach between her teeth. "But there was never a better partner for me than you, Balege." Aisa lifted her arm in the formal language of dance, her fingers held out to say, simply, Dance with me.
She twirled in his arms and skipped away, springing like a gazelle back again. He steadied and braced her, always there, the inverted complement of her movements. They danced, and she reveled in the strength of his arms around her, the metered cadence of his legs, the matched beat of two bodies moving in seamless fluidity.
November 2, 2015
I was going to give this three stars instead of four until I got to the ending. Very nice.
Read it here.
July 6, 2016
I listened to one novellette & 4 stories. I either disliked or wasn't impressed by any of them. The best was "Makeisha in Time" by Rachael K. Jones" & that was just OK. "The Breath of War" took way too long to make its point & I could never get my suspension of disbelief going. "When it Ends, He Catches Her" was short, at least. Ditto for "Toad Mouth". "Covenant" by Bear never grabbed me either. None of them did. The points were obvious & just not presented to my taste.
It's pretty obvious that the editor &/or those nominating the stories & I have different tastes in what comprises a good story. That's a shame. I have this book in 3 types of media since I contributed to the Kick Starter campaign & thought it was a great idea. I also nominated it for a group read here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Maybe I'll go through the paper book & see if any of the stories grab me at a later date.
It's pretty obvious that the editor &/or those nominating the stories & I have different tastes in what comprises a good story. That's a shame. I have this book in 3 types of media since I contributed to the Kick Starter campaign & thought it was a great idea. I also nominated it for a group read here:
https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...
Maybe I'll go through the paper book & see if any of the stories grab me at a later date.
March 1, 2016
This is a breathtakingly good anthology, full of powerful stories that were definitely award-worthy.
"The Breath of War" by Aliette de Bodard is at the same time universal (the protagonist's concerns include family and personal risk) and particular. It raises the question of how our creations embody our own conflicts.
"When It Ends, He Catches Her" by Eugie Foster is that astonishing thing, a zombie story that I don't dislike, and it does something truly powerful and moving.
"Toad Words" by T. Kingfisher takes a fairytale trope and places it in a realistic context, to good effect.
"Makeisha in Time" by Rachael K. Jones addresses the suppression of women's stories via a girl who finds herself time travelling to other lives at random moments. Despite the detached present-tense narration and very little dialog, it manages to be moving.
"Covenant" by Elizabeth Bear is one of the best stories in an excellent volume, for me, with a serial killer who's had his brain repaired and his body changed to a female one confronting another serial killer, this time as the victim.
"The Truth About Owls" by Amal El-Mohtar is in a form I don't love, in which snippets of scientific fact are used to introduce each scene and have some tenuous connection to the fiction parts. It's otherwise well done.
"A Kiss With Teeth" by Max Gladstone I read in another anthology (The Best From Tor.com), and it was so good I read it again in this one. Even knowing how it turns out, the suspense and creeping horror are powerful.
"The Vaporization Enthalpy of A Peculiar Pakistani Family" by Usman T. Malik didn't completely work for me somehow. It's another science-fact-intro-snippet story, and the fiction part was a bit of a miss for me. A couple of homonym errors ("steppes" for "steps" and "leeched" for "leached") didn't help.
"This Chance Planet" by Elizabeth Bear is another excellent story (damn, that woman can write). Completely different from the other Bear story in this collection, but with the same emotional depth and insight into toxic relationships.
"Goodnight Stars" by Annie Bellet is post-apocalyptic (or maybe peri-apocalyptic), a genre which is not to my taste, but the author does a good job with it, making the story personal rather than epic.
"We Are The Cloud" by Sam J. Miller has the kind of broken-down-hopeless-existence setting that I usually avoid, but is well depicted and well imagined. The premise is that the rich are using the poor as nodes in a living server farm. I didn't feel the ending was as well prepared for as it could have been.
"The Magician and Laplace's Demon" combines SF and fantasy seamlessly, in a deadly fight between magicians and an AI.
"Spring Festival" by Xia Jia is a series of small vignettes drawing on Chinese cultural practices. Because it wasn't a single coherent story, it lost some impact for me, but it was interesting. The translator, Ken Liu, made a few copy editing errors along the way, including a comma splice.
"The Husband Stitch" by Carmen Maria Machado is a magical-realist story that, like many such stories, ultimately didn't make a lot of sense to me, though it's well-written.
"The Bonedrake's Penance" by Yoon Ha Lee is a tale of motherhood, independence, redemption and how difficult it is to create peace.
"The Devil in America" by Kai Ashante Wilson was another I'd read before in the Tor.com collection. This one I didn't reread, because I found it too harrowing the first time. It's very good; I just didn't want to repeat the intensity of the experience.
"The Litany of Earth" by Ruthanna Emrys is another from Tor.com, and this one I read again. It's always refreshing to see the Cthulhu Mythos treated in a way that doesn't require overwrought prose, and really this story uses the Mythos as a background to explore themes of oppression and collaboration.
"A Guide to the Fruits of Hawai'i" by Alaya Dawn Johnson is also about oppression and collaboration, but this time it's the vampire apocalypse. Pulls off the difficult feat of creating a sympathetic character who never actually does the right thing.
"A Year and a Day in Old Theradane" by Scott Lynch is his usual delightful combination of fantastical sword-and-sorcery with a clever heist. The setting is wonderfully strange.
"The Regular" by Ken Liu is a mystery story with spec-fic elements, the central one of which is highly unlikely if you think about it much (for reasons of data storage capacity). However, if you don't think too hard about that, the story is a good one.
"Grand Jete (The Great Leap)" by Rachel Swirsky is a beautifully rendered story of a dying young girl being translated into an android body, and all the conflicts that surround such a process, with an extra layer of immigrant Jewish culture for flavour. Like several of the other stories, it uses an art form (in this case dance) as a way to intensify the emotion of the narrative.
Overall, an encouraging collection, showing that SFF is far from finished exploring strange new worlds in innovative ways while telling powerful human stories.
"The Breath of War" by Aliette de Bodard is at the same time universal (the protagonist's concerns include family and personal risk) and particular. It raises the question of how our creations embody our own conflicts.
"When It Ends, He Catches Her" by Eugie Foster is that astonishing thing, a zombie story that I don't dislike, and it does something truly powerful and moving.
"Toad Words" by T. Kingfisher takes a fairytale trope and places it in a realistic context, to good effect.
"Makeisha in Time" by Rachael K. Jones addresses the suppression of women's stories via a girl who finds herself time travelling to other lives at random moments. Despite the detached present-tense narration and very little dialog, it manages to be moving.
"Covenant" by Elizabeth Bear is one of the best stories in an excellent volume, for me, with a serial killer who's had his brain repaired and his body changed to a female one confronting another serial killer, this time as the victim.
"The Truth About Owls" by Amal El-Mohtar is in a form I don't love, in which snippets of scientific fact are used to introduce each scene and have some tenuous connection to the fiction parts. It's otherwise well done.
"A Kiss With Teeth" by Max Gladstone I read in another anthology (The Best From Tor.com), and it was so good I read it again in this one. Even knowing how it turns out, the suspense and creeping horror are powerful.
"The Vaporization Enthalpy of A Peculiar Pakistani Family" by Usman T. Malik didn't completely work for me somehow. It's another science-fact-intro-snippet story, and the fiction part was a bit of a miss for me. A couple of homonym errors ("steppes" for "steps" and "leeched" for "leached") didn't help.
"This Chance Planet" by Elizabeth Bear is another excellent story (damn, that woman can write). Completely different from the other Bear story in this collection, but with the same emotional depth and insight into toxic relationships.
"Goodnight Stars" by Annie Bellet is post-apocalyptic (or maybe peri-apocalyptic), a genre which is not to my taste, but the author does a good job with it, making the story personal rather than epic.
"We Are The Cloud" by Sam J. Miller has the kind of broken-down-hopeless-existence setting that I usually avoid, but is well depicted and well imagined. The premise is that the rich are using the poor as nodes in a living server farm. I didn't feel the ending was as well prepared for as it could have been.
"The Magician and Laplace's Demon" combines SF and fantasy seamlessly, in a deadly fight between magicians and an AI.
"Spring Festival" by Xia Jia is a series of small vignettes drawing on Chinese cultural practices. Because it wasn't a single coherent story, it lost some impact for me, but it was interesting. The translator, Ken Liu, made a few copy editing errors along the way, including a comma splice.
"The Husband Stitch" by Carmen Maria Machado is a magical-realist story that, like many such stories, ultimately didn't make a lot of sense to me, though it's well-written.
"The Bonedrake's Penance" by Yoon Ha Lee is a tale of motherhood, independence, redemption and how difficult it is to create peace.
"The Devil in America" by Kai Ashante Wilson was another I'd read before in the Tor.com collection. This one I didn't reread, because I found it too harrowing the first time. It's very good; I just didn't want to repeat the intensity of the experience.
"The Litany of Earth" by Ruthanna Emrys is another from Tor.com, and this one I read again. It's always refreshing to see the Cthulhu Mythos treated in a way that doesn't require overwrought prose, and really this story uses the Mythos as a background to explore themes of oppression and collaboration.
"A Guide to the Fruits of Hawai'i" by Alaya Dawn Johnson is also about oppression and collaboration, but this time it's the vampire apocalypse. Pulls off the difficult feat of creating a sympathetic character who never actually does the right thing.
"A Year and a Day in Old Theradane" by Scott Lynch is his usual delightful combination of fantastical sword-and-sorcery with a clever heist. The setting is wonderfully strange.
"The Regular" by Ken Liu is a mystery story with spec-fic elements, the central one of which is highly unlikely if you think about it much (for reasons of data storage capacity). However, if you don't think too hard about that, the story is a good one.
"Grand Jete (The Great Leap)" by Rachel Swirsky is a beautifully rendered story of a dying young girl being translated into an android body, and all the conflicts that surround such a process, with an extra layer of immigrant Jewish culture for flavour. Like several of the other stories, it uses an art form (in this case dance) as a way to intensify the emotion of the narrative.
Overall, an encouraging collection, showing that SFF is far from finished exploring strange new worlds in innovative ways while telling powerful human stories.
November 1, 2015
A short story I "found" through a night owly friend here. ;)
As with comics, I'm also new to short stories and only started because of Neil Gaiman. Then I found Mary Robinette Kowal and was equally impressed. However, when being spoilt by all the good stories, I get very suspicious whenever the next is being recommended. I'm always afraid something will ruin the experience for me.
Aaaaanyway!
This story is about ballet.
It's also about the zombie apocalypse. That is a very peculiar mix! So yeah, I was very suspicious too. I mean, I like the ballet every now and again and think it's a beautiful (yet cruel) artform but I'm not that much into it. And the combination is odd indeed.
However, the author did a splendid job in interweaving the creepyness of the end of the world with the passion of a young woman. This story is deeply psychological but very poetic at the same time. One can almost feel the joy throughout the dancing while being unable to shake that very bad feeling.
This is not a "loud" story. There are no explosions. There are no battles.
This story is quieter but still has profound impact. I think ballet gave the perfect setting for this.
As with comics, I'm also new to short stories and only started because of Neil Gaiman. Then I found Mary Robinette Kowal and was equally impressed. However, when being spoilt by all the good stories, I get very suspicious whenever the next is being recommended. I'm always afraid something will ruin the experience for me.
Aaaaanyway!
This story is about ballet.
It's also about the zombie apocalypse. That is a very peculiar mix! So yeah, I was very suspicious too. I mean, I like the ballet every now and again and think it's a beautiful (yet cruel) artform but I'm not that much into it. And the combination is odd indeed.
However, the author did a splendid job in interweaving the creepyness of the end of the world with the passion of a young woman. This story is deeply psychological but very poetic at the same time. One can almost feel the joy throughout the dancing while being unable to shake that very bad feeling.
This is not a "loud" story. There are no explosions. There are no battles.
This story is quieter but still has profound impact. I think ballet gave the perfect setting for this.
March 17, 2018
"The Long List Anthology" edited by David Steffen [3.75/5]
The stories in this anthology were very different in content, genre, and in how much I enjoyed them. I think the stories in this anthology were all well chosen though as I think everybody will find stories in this one as they're so different.
"The Breath of War" by Aliette de Bodard [4/5]
The setting in this story is really good. It has kind of a fantastic vibe but this story is a science-fiction story. The main character is also really likeable and she has an amazing personality. the ending was also really good. But I think the story is a bit too long in some parts.
"When it Ends, He Catches Her" by Eugie Foster [5/5]
Oh my god, this one is one of my favourite stories in this anthology and I had all my friends read it because I was that amazed. It is atmospheric, the style is amazing and this plot-twist ending...woah. This story is everything I love about short stories.
"Toad Words" by T. Kingfisher [3.5/5]
This story is really short but I think this is good because it is an idea-based story and they tend to get boring when they are too long.
"Makeisha In Time" by Rachael K. Jones [4.5/5]
The idea behind this story is amazing and I am guilty to wish to have this kind of time travelling ability. The writing style is also amazing and the story had exact the right lenght. The conflicts in this story are also understandable but to me the end was kind of meh...
"Covenant" by Elizabeth Bear [3/5]
I have to say I did not get the point of this story and that makes me a bit sad. But the story is well crafted and it wass a thrilling read. I don't know if the flashbacks are necessary but I think they kind of belonged to the story? I am not a big fan of flashbacks in short stories.
"The Truth about Owls" by Amal El-Mohtar [2/5]
Another story I missed the point of.
It is cute and the writing style is beautiful but I cannot say much of the story.
"A Kiss with Teeth" by Max Gladstone [5/5]
I already knew (and loved) this story and I happily read it again. I love this kind of vampire story and sometimes it is serious, sometimes it is hilarious. I dig this kind of stories and this twist on Vlad Dracula makes the character so much more likeable. And I love his wife and son too.
"The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family" by Usman T. Malik [4.5/5]
The only problem I have with this story is that I had to google a lot of words I was not familiar with. This is not really the fault of the author but it diminished my love of the story a bit. The story is gripping and I shivered a lot. I like the relevance of the story and how it gives you hope for everything will be better some day.
"This Chance Planet" by Elizabeth Bear [3.5/5]
This one has a strong message and I would say this is worth a read if you like the story itself or not. Most of the time I am not a fan of message heavy stories but this one is executed quite well. I also love the setting in this one but this is much more on the magical realism end on the speculative fiction spectrum.
"Goodnight Stars" by Annie Bellet [5/5]
This story was taken from an anthology about apocalypse and I really enjoyed its idea how the apocalypse comes upon earth. But everything is good in this story; the main character, the realistic actions of the characters, and how there is both white and black in a world like that. but the point I love most about this story is how it shows family.
"We are the Cloud" by Sam J. Miller [4/5]
The characters in this one are really interesting (one of them has also a well implented linguistic disorder). The POV was chosen well by the author and you get really invested in theme of this story.
"The Magician and Laplace's Demon" by Tom Crosshill [4/5]
This story is really weird. I have expected something entirely different but this is a good story. The POV is different from your typical POV and I think most authors would have picked the magician as the POV but I really like this choice of the A.I.
"Spring Festival: Happiness, Anger, Love, Sorrow, Joy" by Xia Jia [4/5]
The characters in this story are all unique and offer interesting inside in their life's perspective. It also allowed insight in a different culture. And it is wonderfully atmospheric.
"The Husband Stitch" by Carmen Maria Machado
I don't want to say anything to this as I don't think Goodreads is a platform to discuss political views.
"The Bonedrake's Penance" by Yoon Ha Lee [4/5]
Another story that is different than I expected. But it is also very atmospheric and i love the family theme in this. But it takes a bit of time for the story to really begin.
"The Devil in America" by Kai Ashante Wilson [4/5]
The storytelling in this is amazing. The writing style of the author grabs you and does not allow you to not finish this story. The turning points of this story are really interesting and the characters have multiple-layers. The writing is atmospheric and all.
It is sometimes a bit confusing but what I really do not like about the story is that you need to know french to understand every part of the dialogue and I don't know any french exept "bonjour".
"The Litany of Earth" by Ruthanna Emrys [4.5/5]
I love Lovecraft's Cuthulhu mythology so when I realised this is a lovecraftian story I was very happy. this is kind of the prequel story to Emrys's lovecraftian novel (and after loving this story you better be sure I will pick up the book). This story is interesting and atmospheric and I love all the references to Lovecraft's work.
"A Guide to the Fruits of Hawaii" by Alaya Dawn Johnson [3/5]
The setting is quite interesting. This is the second vampire centric story in this anthology but it is quite different from Gladstone's "A Kiss with Teeth". In Johnson's stories the humans are not longer the dominant species but the vampires are. The characters are well crafted and the amount of worldbuilding in this story is amazing.
But I do not like the development of Key's character and the female character called rachel was annoying me to no end.
"A Year and a Day in Old Theradane" by Scott Lynch [5/5]
This is a story you expect from the man who writes the Gentlemen Basterds series. A con and amazing characters and a detailed world building.
"The Regular" by Ken Liu [4/5]
The amount of character background is fantastic for the investiagtor and it blends really well with the story. The setting is a bit cyber-punky i guess and I like how it feels like near future scincefiction. I like there are two POVs in this story. The pacing is a bit slow but that is okay.
"Grand Jeté (The Great Leap) by Rachel Swirsky [2/5]
I think I understand why people might like this story but I am not the right audience for this story. I appreciate the characterisation and the well crafted story but I am not the type of reader who likes to read about illnesses that exist in the real world and I couldn't connect with the religious themes in this story.
The stories in this anthology were very different in content, genre, and in how much I enjoyed them. I think the stories in this anthology were all well chosen though as I think everybody will find stories in this one as they're so different.
"The Breath of War" by Aliette de Bodard [4/5]
The setting in this story is really good. It has kind of a fantastic vibe but this story is a science-fiction story. The main character is also really likeable and she has an amazing personality. the ending was also really good. But I think the story is a bit too long in some parts.
"When it Ends, He Catches Her" by Eugie Foster [5/5]
Oh my god, this one is one of my favourite stories in this anthology and I had all my friends read it because I was that amazed. It is atmospheric, the style is amazing and this plot-twist ending...woah. This story is everything I love about short stories.
"Toad Words" by T. Kingfisher [3.5/5]
This story is really short but I think this is good because it is an idea-based story and they tend to get boring when they are too long.
"Makeisha In Time" by Rachael K. Jones [4.5/5]
The idea behind this story is amazing and I am guilty to wish to have this kind of time travelling ability. The writing style is also amazing and the story had exact the right lenght. The conflicts in this story are also understandable but to me the end was kind of meh...
"Covenant" by Elizabeth Bear [3/5]
I have to say I did not get the point of this story and that makes me a bit sad. But the story is well crafted and it wass a thrilling read. I don't know if the flashbacks are necessary but I think they kind of belonged to the story? I am not a big fan of flashbacks in short stories.
"The Truth about Owls" by Amal El-Mohtar [2/5]
Another story I missed the point of.
It is cute and the writing style is beautiful but I cannot say much of the story.
"A Kiss with Teeth" by Max Gladstone [5/5]
I already knew (and loved) this story and I happily read it again. I love this kind of vampire story and sometimes it is serious, sometimes it is hilarious. I dig this kind of stories and this twist on Vlad Dracula makes the character so much more likeable. And I love his wife and son too.
"The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family" by Usman T. Malik [4.5/5]
The only problem I have with this story is that I had to google a lot of words I was not familiar with. This is not really the fault of the author but it diminished my love of the story a bit. The story is gripping and I shivered a lot. I like the relevance of the story and how it gives you hope for everything will be better some day.
"This Chance Planet" by Elizabeth Bear [3.5/5]
This one has a strong message and I would say this is worth a read if you like the story itself or not. Most of the time I am not a fan of message heavy stories but this one is executed quite well. I also love the setting in this one but this is much more on the magical realism end on the speculative fiction spectrum.
"Goodnight Stars" by Annie Bellet [5/5]
This story was taken from an anthology about apocalypse and I really enjoyed its idea how the apocalypse comes upon earth. But everything is good in this story; the main character, the realistic actions of the characters, and how there is both white and black in a world like that. but the point I love most about this story is how it shows family.
"We are the Cloud" by Sam J. Miller [4/5]
The characters in this one are really interesting (one of them has also a well implented linguistic disorder). The POV was chosen well by the author and you get really invested in theme of this story.
"The Magician and Laplace's Demon" by Tom Crosshill [4/5]
This story is really weird. I have expected something entirely different but this is a good story. The POV is different from your typical POV and I think most authors would have picked the magician as the POV but I really like this choice of the A.I.
"Spring Festival: Happiness, Anger, Love, Sorrow, Joy" by Xia Jia [4/5]
The characters in this story are all unique and offer interesting inside in their life's perspective. It also allowed insight in a different culture. And it is wonderfully atmospheric.
"The Husband Stitch" by Carmen Maria Machado
I don't want to say anything to this as I don't think Goodreads is a platform to discuss political views.
"The Bonedrake's Penance" by Yoon Ha Lee [4/5]
Another story that is different than I expected. But it is also very atmospheric and i love the family theme in this. But it takes a bit of time for the story to really begin.
"The Devil in America" by Kai Ashante Wilson [4/5]
The storytelling in this is amazing. The writing style of the author grabs you and does not allow you to not finish this story. The turning points of this story are really interesting and the characters have multiple-layers. The writing is atmospheric and all.
It is sometimes a bit confusing but what I really do not like about the story is that you need to know french to understand every part of the dialogue and I don't know any french exept "bonjour".
"The Litany of Earth" by Ruthanna Emrys [4.5/5]
I love Lovecraft's Cuthulhu mythology so when I realised this is a lovecraftian story I was very happy. this is kind of the prequel story to Emrys's lovecraftian novel (and after loving this story you better be sure I will pick up the book). This story is interesting and atmospheric and I love all the references to Lovecraft's work.
"A Guide to the Fruits of Hawaii" by Alaya Dawn Johnson [3/5]
The setting is quite interesting. This is the second vampire centric story in this anthology but it is quite different from Gladstone's "A Kiss with Teeth". In Johnson's stories the humans are not longer the dominant species but the vampires are. The characters are well crafted and the amount of worldbuilding in this story is amazing.
But I do not like the development of Key's character and the female character called rachel was annoying me to no end.
"A Year and a Day in Old Theradane" by Scott Lynch [5/5]
This is a story you expect from the man who writes the Gentlemen Basterds series. A con and amazing characters and a detailed world building.
"The Regular" by Ken Liu [4/5]
The amount of character background is fantastic for the investiagtor and it blends really well with the story. The setting is a bit cyber-punky i guess and I like how it feels like near future scincefiction. I like there are two POVs in this story. The pacing is a bit slow but that is okay.
"Grand Jeté (The Great Leap) by Rachel Swirsky [2/5]
I think I understand why people might like this story but I am not the right audience for this story. I appreciate the characterisation and the well crafted story but I am not the type of reader who likes to read about illnesses that exist in the real world and I couldn't connect with the religious themes in this story.
March 29, 2016
This is a short story which I read as part of The Long List Anthology: More Stories from the Hugo Awards Nomination List. It's probably the sweetest zombie story I've ever read.
October 10, 2020
Anthologies are always hard to rate, since of course you won’t like every story, but with this one I find it especially difficult. There is a good chunk of stories that are phenomenal and really deserve to be nominated for prices, that have great, creative SFF ideas and execute them in a meaningful, emotional way, but then there are stories that I think belong more into the genre of contemporary, with tagged on speculative elements that in some cases didn’t affect the plot or the core of the conflict. Some of them I still enjoyed, with topics of identity and coming of age executed well, but it´s just not what I like to read about and apart from that, often they didn’t deliver a very unique take on it. There was a variety of styles and subjects in this collection, but the theme of “pretty much a YA/New Adult contemporary story” stood out.
Highlights include the stories by Alaya Dawn Johnson, Xia Jia, Eugie Foster and Yoon Ha Lee, just to name a few, and I’m settling on a 4 star rating, since there are so many I would award 5 stars that they just pull the collection up. However, there is enough that for me just didn’t fit (which of course isn’t the editors fault since this was a long list for the Hugo Award) and didn’t do much for me, while additionally there will always just be stories that one doesn’t particularly connect to even if there’s not much wrong with them.
Highlights include the stories by Alaya Dawn Johnson, Xia Jia, Eugie Foster and Yoon Ha Lee, just to name a few, and I’m settling on a 4 star rating, since there are so many I would award 5 stars that they just pull the collection up. However, there is enough that for me just didn’t fit (which of course isn’t the editors fault since this was a long list for the Hugo Award) and didn’t do much for me, while additionally there will always just be stories that one doesn’t particularly connect to even if there’s not much wrong with them.
September 5, 2015
This is a story that would have been on the 2015 Hugo ballot but for the Sad Puppies/Rabid Puppies slating.
Aisa is a dancer, or former dancer, dancing on an empty stage in an abandoned, decaying theater. She's dancing one of her favorite leading roles, except that in the last dance number, she should be dancing with partner, who is not there. The final, triumphant leap must be omitted, because Balege is not there to catch her.
And then there is applause from an audience of one.
The time and place are not clear. What is clear is that this is a society in collapse. Many have died; many are starving. Aisa is hungry. But Balege is there now; he's got the death plague, but they dance again. And Balege prods her memory,
There's a quiet horror here, as we discover what the real conditions are. There's also a victory of love, in the face of it.
Recommended.
Aisa is a dancer, or former dancer, dancing on an empty stage in an abandoned, decaying theater. She's dancing one of her favorite leading roles, except that in the last dance number, she should be dancing with partner, who is not there. The final, triumphant leap must be omitted, because Balege is not there to catch her.
And then there is applause from an audience of one.
The time and place are not clear. What is clear is that this is a society in collapse. Many have died; many are starving. Aisa is hungry. But Balege is there now; he's got the death plague, but they dance again. And Balege prods her memory,
There's a quiet horror here, as we discover what the real conditions are. There's also a victory of love, in the face of it.
Recommended.
July 14, 2017
Only two stories I liked here, Max Gladstone`s, A Kiss With Teeth, an original ideea about a vampire in our time - and I`m not usually into vampire stories- and from Rachael K. Jones, Makeisha In Time, about a girl that can travel back in time, but with disastrous effects for her present life.
From the other texts I didn`t like the ideea, the style or the execution of the stories.
So, this peculiar Anthology was definitely not in my zone of interest.
From the other texts I didn`t like the ideea, the style or the execution of the stories.
So, this peculiar Anthology was definitely not in my zone of interest.
April 16, 2015
Find it free here:
http://dailysciencefiction.com/fantas...
A 2014 Nebula Award nominated short story. A different sort of zombie tale, very short, & poignant.
http://dailysciencefiction.com/fantas...
A 2014 Nebula Award nominated short story. A different sort of zombie tale, very short, & poignant.
August 28, 2015
In a world without Puppies throwing temper tantrums, this would have been nominated for a Hugo in 2015. This story deserved to win. It gave me shivers it was such a beautiful taIe. I wouldn't normally read this genre, so I'm glad I didn't know what it was. It snuck up on me and surprised me: there ARE still interesting stories to be told about this type of character.
June 4, 2016
Splendid, very short story: dance & the transmutation of pain into perfection.
When It Ends, He Catches Her
When It Ends, He Catches Her
June 12, 2019
This review is for "When It Ends, He Catches Her" by Eugie Foster. I liked this story. I love post-apocalyptic fiction of all kinds but I didn't find it as intriguing as many others did. I did enjoy the exploration of what memories we hold on to and keep and what is lost in death.
April 3, 2021
3,5 ster
Zitten een paar hele interessante en goeie verhalen tussen en een paar mindere. Vond het verhaal over de vampier in mid-life crisis echt grappig. Het verhaal van de zwarte vrouw die plots opeens naar het verleden reist en er in de toekomst achterkomt dat ze uit de geschiedenis is gewist was ook echt heel heel cool en speelt al dagen achter in mn hoofd. Ook mooi dat de verhalen heel divers zijn en homoseksuele of niet-engels sprekend hoofdpersonen hebben bijvoorbeeld.
Zitten een paar hele interessante en goeie verhalen tussen en een paar mindere. Vond het verhaal over de vampier in mid-life crisis echt grappig. Het verhaal van de zwarte vrouw die plots opeens naar het verleden reist en er in de toekomst achterkomt dat ze uit de geschiedenis is gewist was ook echt heel heel cool en speelt al dagen achter in mn hoofd. Ook mooi dat de verhalen heel divers zijn en homoseksuele of niet-engels sprekend hoofdpersonen hebben bijvoorbeeld.
May 23, 2022
What a beautiful compilation of science fiction stories. Very empowering characters, like princesses, vampires, serial killers, astronauts, artificial intelligences hunting wizards, environmentalists and much more.
June 12, 2023
It was pretty fifty/fifty on if I read the entire story or ended up skipping it. The standout works are - Toad Words (T Kingfisher), Makeisha in Time (Rachael K Jones), A Kiss With Teeth (Max Gladstone), and This Chance Planet (Elizabeth Bear)
November 4, 2024
Awesome authors, awesomer stories
Read
January 28, 2025Some I liked, some I skipped.
November 1, 2018
Short Stories
★★★★☆ The Breath of War by Aliette De Bodard
★★★☆☆ When It Ends, He Catches Her by Eugie Foster
★★★★☆ Toad Words by T. Kingfisher
★★★☆☆ Makeisha in Time by Rachael K. Jones
★★★★☆ Covenant by Elizabeth Bear
★★★★☆ The Truth About Owls by Amal El-Mohtar
★★★☆☆ A Kiss With Teeth by Max Gladstone
★★★★☆ The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family by Usman T. Malik
★★★★☆ This Chance Planet by Elizabeth Bear
Goodnight Stars by Annie Bellet
Novelettes
★★☆☆☆ We Are the Cloud by Sam J. Miller
★★★☆☆ The Magician and Laplace’s Demon by Tom Crosshill
★★★★☆ Spring Festival: Happiness, Anger, Love, Sorrow, Joy by Xia Jia, Translated by Ken Liu
The Husband Stitch by Carmen Maria Machado
The Bonedrake’s Penance by Yoon Ha Lee
The Devil in America by Kai Ashante Wilson
★★★★☆ The Litany of Earth by Ruthanna Emrys
A Guide to the Fruits of Hawai’i by Alaya Dawn Johnson
A Year and a Day in Old Theradane by Scott Lynch
Novellas
The Regular by Ken Liu
Grand Jeté (the Great Leap) by Rachel Swirsky
★★★★☆ The Breath of War by Aliette De Bodard
★★★☆☆ When It Ends, He Catches Her by Eugie Foster
★★★★☆ Toad Words by T. Kingfisher
★★★☆☆ Makeisha in Time by Rachael K. Jones
★★★★☆ Covenant by Elizabeth Bear
★★★★☆ The Truth About Owls by Amal El-Mohtar
★★★☆☆ A Kiss With Teeth by Max Gladstone
★★★★☆ The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family by Usman T. Malik
★★★★☆ This Chance Planet by Elizabeth Bear
Goodnight Stars by Annie Bellet
Novelettes
★★☆☆☆ We Are the Cloud by Sam J. Miller
★★★☆☆ The Magician and Laplace’s Demon by Tom Crosshill
★★★★☆ Spring Festival: Happiness, Anger, Love, Sorrow, Joy by Xia Jia, Translated by Ken Liu
The Husband Stitch by Carmen Maria Machado
The Bonedrake’s Penance by Yoon Ha Lee
The Devil in America by Kai Ashante Wilson
★★★★☆ The Litany of Earth by Ruthanna Emrys
A Guide to the Fruits of Hawai’i by Alaya Dawn Johnson
A Year and a Day in Old Theradane by Scott Lynch
Novellas
The Regular by Ken Liu
Grand Jeté (the Great Leap) by Rachel Swirsky
August 23, 2015
A rather lovely short-short story, whose genre is not immediately apparent (but is spoilered in some of the other reviews here). The story's thoughts on death take on an extra poignancy when one knows that the author was terminally ill when writing it, and died the day after publication.
This is one of several stories that should have been on the Hugo ballot this year, were the awards not hijacked by fascists. It's better than anything that made the list.
This is one of several stories that should have been on the Hugo ballot this year, were the awards not hijacked by fascists. It's better than anything that made the list.
April 18, 2016
As per most anthologies, the ratings for the stories within vary. Some were great, some were meh, but overall this was worth reading.
May 28, 2016
I liked almost everything in this collection, but my favorite story was "A Kiss with Teeth" by Max Gladstone.
November 10, 2017
Ballet y zombies, curiosa mezcla. Se lee en unos minutos y se aprecia la calidad de la escritora. Pero tampoco me ha parecido gran cosa.
September 11, 2022
A very satisfying anthology. Even if not to my taste, I could see that each story was very well-written and thoughtful, with some nice SF ideas and wonderful diversity, of authors and subject matter. I suppose it should be, as it includes the long-listed stories and novellas from the 2015 Hugo list, the ones that didn't make it to the short list, but I've learned to be dubious about the claims of anthologies and their editors.
But here, while every story didn't blow me away, each one gave me something to chew on. Did some nice world building. Offered some pretty sparky metaphors. Well-written and readable. (NOT always the same thing, have you noticed?)
The story that did blow me away, in its charming fable-like simplicity and its lovely, quite positive take on the effects that future hi-tech might have on human traditions was "Spring Festival: Happiness, Anger, Love, Sorrow, Joy" by Xia Jia, translated by Ken Liu. It's one that's going to stay with me for a long time, with it's dryly amusing vignettes showing how future tech could wreck havoc (or perhaps, work quite nicely) with traditional Chinese celebrations and traditions. What's nice is that, while the specifics of each celebration are unique to China (and therefore very interesting to learn a little about), the overall situations are universal. The birthday party for an adorable 1-year-old, thrown by his earnestly aspirational mummy and daddy, works out in a way you don't quite expect. A young woman's experience with a dating service (aided by her VERY persistent Mom -- how universal is that?) is frighteningly efficient. There's a high school reunion that Stephen King would be proud of, a little story about fighting back against intrusive social media and reality TV. And a story in which a lady celebrating her 100th birthday learns that virtual connections might be nice, but real life moments are still the best.
I loved it. I've love to see more by this author.
Of the others, I wasn't surprised that I enjoyed authors I was familiar with: Aliette de Bodard's "The Breath of War" walks a fine line at the edges of fantasy, SF and fable: completely illogical, but feels emotionally true. "Covenant" by Elizabeth Bear was an unusual redemption story.
"A Kiss with Teeth" by Max Gladstone was a nice little domestic drama about a vampire's mid-life crisis.
After a break, I carried on and finished the collection. Out of the second half, three stories really clicked, for me. "The Regular" by Ken Liu is proof-positive that the SF and detective mystery blend can work, when done properly. And "Grand Jeté (The Great Leap)" by Rachel Swirsky an unbearably touching SF take on the Jewish legend of the Golum. Heartbreaking reflection on the effects of the impending loss of a terminally ill child (from perspective of both parent andchild), and the lengths a parent would go to, to hold on ...
But I was also deeply affected by "The Devil in America" by Kai Ashante Wilson. Unsparingly sad, with understandable undertones of white-hot rage, it's a story that demonstrates that, when it comes to race relations in the USA, the Devil has had all the "best" tunes, and that racism and cruelty has been dancing to his beat ... A story that should be read by every high school student in America -- but won't, because the Teacher who suggests it would immediately be fired ...
An anthology well worth getting your hands on ...
But here, while every story didn't blow me away, each one gave me something to chew on. Did some nice world building. Offered some pretty sparky metaphors. Well-written and readable. (NOT always the same thing, have you noticed?)
The story that did blow me away, in its charming fable-like simplicity and its lovely, quite positive take on the effects that future hi-tech might have on human traditions was "Spring Festival: Happiness, Anger, Love, Sorrow, Joy" by Xia Jia, translated by Ken Liu. It's one that's going to stay with me for a long time, with it's dryly amusing vignettes showing how future tech could wreck havoc (or perhaps, work quite nicely) with traditional Chinese celebrations and traditions. What's nice is that, while the specifics of each celebration are unique to China (and therefore very interesting to learn a little about), the overall situations are universal. The birthday party for an adorable 1-year-old, thrown by his earnestly aspirational mummy and daddy, works out in a way you don't quite expect. A young woman's experience with a dating service (aided by her VERY persistent Mom -- how universal is that?) is frighteningly efficient. There's a high school reunion that Stephen King would be proud of, a little story about fighting back against intrusive social media and reality TV. And a story in which a lady celebrating her 100th birthday learns that virtual connections might be nice, but real life moments are still the best.
I loved it. I've love to see more by this author.
Of the others, I wasn't surprised that I enjoyed authors I was familiar with: Aliette de Bodard's "The Breath of War" walks a fine line at the edges of fantasy, SF and fable: completely illogical, but feels emotionally true. "Covenant" by Elizabeth Bear was an unusual redemption story.
"A Kiss with Teeth" by Max Gladstone was a nice little domestic drama about a vampire's mid-life crisis.
After a break, I carried on and finished the collection. Out of the second half, three stories really clicked, for me. "The Regular" by Ken Liu is proof-positive that the SF and detective mystery blend can work, when done properly. And "Grand Jeté (The Great Leap)" by Rachel Swirsky an unbearably touching SF take on the Jewish legend of the Golum. Heartbreaking reflection on the effects of the impending loss of a terminally ill child (from perspective of both parent andchild), and the lengths a parent would go to, to hold on ...
But I was also deeply affected by "The Devil in America" by Kai Ashante Wilson. Unsparingly sad, with understandable undertones of white-hot rage, it's a story that demonstrates that, when it comes to race relations in the USA, the Devil has had all the "best" tunes, and that racism and cruelty has been dancing to his beat ... A story that should be read by every high school student in America -- but won't, because the Teacher who suggests it would immediately be fired ...
An anthology well worth getting your hands on ...
July 9, 2018
Solid anthology, though the audiobook seems to only have half the stories that the internet tells me the ebook contains.
If I were rating the stories individually, only one would be less than four stars ("This Chance Planet" by Elizabeth Bear, which wasn't bad or anything but just didn't click for me), and there are a handful of true stand-outs:
"Makeisha In Time" by Rachael K. Jones
This had a particularly fascinating premise that I'd love to see explored in a novel. (Which isn't to say that the short story was insufficient or somehow lacking, because it wasn't. It was just interesting enough that I want more. :-) )
"Toad Words" by T. Kingfisher
A new spin on an old, familiar fairytale. Both the premise and the prose are wonderful.
"The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family" by Usman T. Malik
I have no idea what to say about this, other than that I really liked it and I'm going to see what else the author has written.
"The Magician And Laplace’s Demon" by Tom Crosshill
I'm going to have to listen to this again and maybe sit down and read it from the ebook, because there's a lot to absorb here — much of it merely implied and suggested — and I feel like I've only scratched the surface after the first listen.
If I were rating the stories individually, only one would be less than four stars ("This Chance Planet" by Elizabeth Bear, which wasn't bad or anything but just didn't click for me), and there are a handful of true stand-outs:
"Makeisha In Time" by Rachael K. Jones
This had a particularly fascinating premise that I'd love to see explored in a novel. (Which isn't to say that the short story was insufficient or somehow lacking, because it wasn't. It was just interesting enough that I want more. :-) )
"Toad Words" by T. Kingfisher
A new spin on an old, familiar fairytale. Both the premise and the prose are wonderful.
"The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family" by Usman T. Malik
I have no idea what to say about this, other than that I really liked it and I'm going to see what else the author has written.
"The Magician And Laplace’s Demon" by Tom Crosshill
I'm going to have to listen to this again and maybe sit down and read it from the ebook, because there's a lot to absorb here — much of it merely implied and suggested — and I feel like I've only scratched the surface after the first listen.
August 7, 2017
4 stars. For those of you who don't follow news about the Hugo awards closely: For the past several years, there has been a group of people upset that science fiction has been moving away from adventure-style stories to more literary fiction. Specifically, they did not like that the Hugo awards have been going to more women, LGBTQ folks, and POC. In 2015, this group exploited a weakness in the Hugo nominating process and filled some of the categories on the ballot entirely with their own nominations, resulting in several Hugo categories on the ballot that ranged from mediocre to horrible. The short fiction categories were among the ones most affected by this.
This anthology is a kickstarter project that pulls together stories with the most nominations after the five stories in each category that ended up on the ballot in 2015. There are 21 stories, so I'm guessing it is the next 7 stories in the short story, novelette and novella categories.
I enjoyed the stories in this anthology very much. It included stories by several long-standing favorite authors of mine and introduced me to some new authors as well.
This anthology is a kickstarter project that pulls together stories with the most nominations after the five stories in each category that ended up on the ballot in 2015. There are 21 stories, so I'm guessing it is the next 7 stories in the short story, novelette and novella categories.
I enjoyed the stories in this anthology very much. It included stories by several long-standing favorite authors of mine and introduced me to some new authors as well.
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