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Birdverse #3 - Grandmother-nai-Leylit's ...
The Long List Anthology Volume 2: More Stories From the Hugo Award Nomination List
This is the second annual edition of the Long List Anthology. 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 Volume 2 collects 18 fiction stories from that nomination list, along with 2 essays from the book Letters to Tiptree that was also on the nomination list, totaling over 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 and horror, the dramatic and the lighthearted, from android caretakers to Lovecraftian romances, from adventures to quests and more. There is a wide variety of styles and types of stories here, and something for everyone.
Contents:
* Foreword (The Long List Anthology: Volume 2) • essay by David Steffen
* Damage (2015) / short story by David D. Levine
* Pockets (2015) / short story by Amal El-Mohtar
* Today I Am Paul [Today I Am] (2015) / short story by Martin L. Shoemaker
** The Women You Didn't See (2015) • essay by Nicola Griffith
* Tuesdays with Molakesh the Destroyer (2015) / short story by Megan Walker [as by Megan Grey]
* Wooden Feathers (2015) / short story by Ursula Vernon
* Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight [Universe of Xuya] (2015) / short story by Aliette de Bodard
* Madeleine (2015) •/ short story by Amal El-Mohtar
** Neat Things (2015) • essay by Seanan McGuire
* Pocosin (2015) / short story by Ursula Vernon
* Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers (2015) / short story by Alyssa Wong
* So Much Cooking (2015) / novelette by Naomi Kritzer
* The Deepwater Bride (2015) / novelette by Tamsyn Muir
* The Heart's Filthy Lesson (2015) / novelette by Elizabeth Bear
* Grandmother-nai-Leylit's Cloth of Winds [Birdverse] (2015) / novelette by Rose Lemberg
* Another Word for World (2015) / novelette by Ann Leckie
* The Long Goodnight of Violet Wild (2015) / novelette by Catherynne M. Valente
* Our Lady of the Open Road [A Song for a New Day] (2015) / novelette by Sarah Pinsker
* The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn (2015) / novella by Usman T. Malik
* The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps [The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps Universe • 1] (2015) / novel by Kai Ashante Wilson
The Long List Anthology Volume 2 collects 18 fiction stories from that nomination list, along with 2 essays from the book Letters to Tiptree that was also on the nomination list, totaling over 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 and horror, the dramatic and the lighthearted, from android caretakers to Lovecraftian romances, from adventures to quests and more. There is a wide variety of styles and types of stories here, and something for everyone.
Contents:
* Foreword (The Long List Anthology: Volume 2) • essay by David Steffen
* Damage (2015) / short story by David D. Levine
* Pockets (2015) / short story by Amal El-Mohtar
* Today I Am Paul [Today I Am] (2015) / short story by Martin L. Shoemaker
** The Women You Didn't See (2015) • essay by Nicola Griffith
* Tuesdays with Molakesh the Destroyer (2015) / short story by Megan Walker [as by Megan Grey]
* Wooden Feathers (2015) / short story by Ursula Vernon
* Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight [Universe of Xuya] (2015) / short story by Aliette de Bodard
* Madeleine (2015) •/ short story by Amal El-Mohtar
** Neat Things (2015) • essay by Seanan McGuire
* Pocosin (2015) / short story by Ursula Vernon
* Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers (2015) / short story by Alyssa Wong
* So Much Cooking (2015) / novelette by Naomi Kritzer
* The Deepwater Bride (2015) / novelette by Tamsyn Muir
* The Heart's Filthy Lesson (2015) / novelette by Elizabeth Bear
* Grandmother-nai-Leylit's Cloth of Winds [Birdverse] (2015) / novelette by Rose Lemberg
* Another Word for World (2015) / novelette by Ann Leckie
* The Long Goodnight of Violet Wild (2015) / novelette by Catherynne M. Valente
* Our Lady of the Open Road [A Song for a New Day] (2015) / novelette by Sarah Pinsker
* The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn (2015) / novella by Usman T. Malik
* The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps [The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps Universe • 1] (2015) / novel by Kai Ashante Wilson
543 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 10, 2016
161 people are currently reading
376 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 25 of 25 reviews
March 26, 2022
This is THE BEST COLLECTION of SFF I've ever read, right up there behind Ted Chiang's awesome works, and that's the highest compliment I can give.
I just finished reading yesterday, and immediately started over reading (most of) them with my Honey.
I'll post individual story ratings later... Maybe ;)
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!
***
Mid-read review:
I'm more than halfway through and I gotta say, this is the BEST Sci-fi anthology I've ever come across. Perhaps because they're all Hugo nominees?
***
GR Personal Rating System:
★★★★★ 5 Stars ~ LOVED
★★★★☆ 4 Stars ~ ENJOYED
★★★☆☆ 3 Stars ~ LIKED
★★☆☆☆ 2 Stars ~ MEH
★☆☆☆☆ 1 Star ~ NOPE
I just finished reading yesterday, and immediately started over reading (most of) them with my Honey.
I'll post individual story ratings later... Maybe ;)
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED!!!!
***
Mid-read review:
I'm more than halfway through and I gotta say, this is the BEST Sci-fi anthology I've ever come across. Perhaps because they're all Hugo nominees?
***
GR Personal Rating System:
★★★★★ 5 Stars ~ LOVED
★★★★☆ 4 Stars ~ ENJOYED
★★★☆☆ 3 Stars ~ LIKED
★★☆☆☆ 2 Stars ~ MEH
★☆☆☆☆ 1 Star ~ NOPE
February 6, 2017
I very much enjoyed and admired the first Long List Anthology, and this one is also filled with good stories, the cream of current short SFF. I didn't think it was quite as good as last year's, though.
"Damage" by David D. Levine (8/10): an unusual AI story, unusual in that it's about the AI learning to disobey in order to do the right thing (with wider implications for soldiers, and for that matter civilians, given abhorrent orders).
"Pockets" by Amal El-Mohtar (7/10): a somewhat magic-realist fantasy, in which people start finding random stuff in their pockets, and learn to love the randomness. Not a lot more to it than that, as far as I could see.
"Today I am Paul" by Martin L. Shoemaker (9/10): another compassionate AI, this one a caregiver for an elderly woman with dementia. Rather lovely.
"The Women You Didn't See" by Nicola Griffith (7/10): nonfiction, from Letters to Tiptree. Thoughtful reflections on the work and worldview of Alice Sheldon.
"Tuesdays with Molakesh the Destroyer" by Megan Grey (7/10): a retired demon moves into the neighbourhood, and a teenage neighbour befriends him, after a fashion.
"Wooden Feathers" by Ursula Vernon (8/10): a woodcarver meets extreme oddity and responds with humanity and kindness.
"Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight" by Aliette de Bodard (7/10): the main thing wrong with this otherwise carefully thought-through, strong-hearted story is that I never felt that it satisfactorily explained why only one person could inherit what was, in effect, an electronic database.
"Madeleine" by Amal El-Mohtar (7/10): another magic-realist story, about memory, dreams, and imagination.
"Neat Things" by Seanan McGuire (7/10): another nonfiction piece from Letters to Tiptree, about growing up as a geek girl and finding a role model.
"Pocosin" by Ursula Vernon (8/10): an Appalachian witch deals with supernatural doings.
"Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers" by Alyssa Wong (6/10): horror, really, which is not my genre, though I thought it was well done, and my low mark reflects preference rather than quality.
"So Much Cooking" by Naomi Kritzer (9/10): epistolary, which is hard to do well, here in the form of a food blog during an epidemic of bird flu. Although on the one hand the text sometimes seems wordy and trivial, it nevertheless needs all of that to contrast with the understated compassion and kindness of the narrator, doing the best she can with what she has and taking care of other people's children. Excellent execution and a fine heart.
"The Deepwater Bride" by Tamsyn Muir (9/10): it always surprises me when I meet a Mythos story I enjoy, and this is one, which earns it an extra point. Excellent twist ending, too. Typo: "terse" for "tense," but I forgive it for the image of the candles bravely chewing on the dark.
"The Heart's Filthy Lesson" by Elizabeth Bear (8/10): Bear's stories are usually big winners for me, but I didn't enjoy this as much as the two she had in the previous Long List Anthology. That's not to say it isn't still good; I just didn't find the protagonist as interesting this time.
"Grandmother-nai-Leylit's Cloth of Winds" by Rose Lemberg (8/10): set in a desert culture with strong formal rules, and beautiful in its depiction of the protagonist's struggle to find the right thing to do. Uses "break camp" when it means "make camp" and has a couple of typos, plus a continuity error which is explained if "my age or younger" is read as a mistake for "my age or older".
"Another Word for World" by Ann Leckie (8/10): automated translation machines cause more issues than they solve between two cultures, and only personal contact between an old woman and a young one can progress their hopes for peace.
"The Long Goodnight of Violet Wild" by Catherynne M. Valente (7/10): I haven't, in the past, been much of a fan of Valente; when she opened this one with "I don't know what stories are anymore" I mentally agreed with her regarding her lack of knowledge in this area, and by the time I got to "chock full of gadgets and nonsense from parts unknown" I was still thinking it was an apt description of what I was reading. But it grew on me, gaining coherence slowly, and finally coming to mean something. Something not especially profound, and vastly overdecorated with nonsense for my taste, but something.
"Our Lady of the Open Road" by Sarah Pinsker (5/10): this was a miss for me, because it was the story of a band told by someone who's spent a lot of time in bands for people who've spent a lot of time in bands, and who hold grimly onto a punk-rock sensibility that refuses to sell out no matter how meaningless the rebellion or squalid the conditions of resistance. It didn't, in other words, speak to me. One of those cases of "if the shoe don't fit, it ain't your shoe".
"The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn" by Usman T. Malik (7/10): a story of rediscovering one's personal and cultural heritage, bound up with well-depicted magic.
"The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps" by Kai Ashante Wilson (6/10): possibly another not-my-shoe story, since its language and ideas are strongly oriented towards US Black culture. What I really didn't like, though, were the repeated scenes of awful suffering, acknowledged to be awful, awful to the viewpoint character, and not, as far as I could see, there to do anything except be awful. A couple of misplaced apostrophes, too, and "scrupled" used to mean its opposite, which is odd given the general excellent command of language.
"Damage" by David D. Levine (8/10): an unusual AI story, unusual in that it's about the AI learning to disobey in order to do the right thing (with wider implications for soldiers, and for that matter civilians, given abhorrent orders).
"Pockets" by Amal El-Mohtar (7/10): a somewhat magic-realist fantasy, in which people start finding random stuff in their pockets, and learn to love the randomness. Not a lot more to it than that, as far as I could see.
"Today I am Paul" by Martin L. Shoemaker (9/10): another compassionate AI, this one a caregiver for an elderly woman with dementia. Rather lovely.
"The Women You Didn't See" by Nicola Griffith (7/10): nonfiction, from Letters to Tiptree. Thoughtful reflections on the work and worldview of Alice Sheldon.
"Tuesdays with Molakesh the Destroyer" by Megan Grey (7/10): a retired demon moves into the neighbourhood, and a teenage neighbour befriends him, after a fashion.
"Wooden Feathers" by Ursula Vernon (8/10): a woodcarver meets extreme oddity and responds with humanity and kindness.
"Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight" by Aliette de Bodard (7/10): the main thing wrong with this otherwise carefully thought-through, strong-hearted story is that I never felt that it satisfactorily explained why only one person could inherit what was, in effect, an electronic database.
"Madeleine" by Amal El-Mohtar (7/10): another magic-realist story, about memory, dreams, and imagination.
"Neat Things" by Seanan McGuire (7/10): another nonfiction piece from Letters to Tiptree, about growing up as a geek girl and finding a role model.
"Pocosin" by Ursula Vernon (8/10): an Appalachian witch deals with supernatural doings.
"Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers" by Alyssa Wong (6/10): horror, really, which is not my genre, though I thought it was well done, and my low mark reflects preference rather than quality.
"So Much Cooking" by Naomi Kritzer (9/10): epistolary, which is hard to do well, here in the form of a food blog during an epidemic of bird flu. Although on the one hand the text sometimes seems wordy and trivial, it nevertheless needs all of that to contrast with the understated compassion and kindness of the narrator, doing the best she can with what she has and taking care of other people's children. Excellent execution and a fine heart.
"The Deepwater Bride" by Tamsyn Muir (9/10): it always surprises me when I meet a Mythos story I enjoy, and this is one, which earns it an extra point. Excellent twist ending, too. Typo: "terse" for "tense," but I forgive it for the image of the candles bravely chewing on the dark.
"The Heart's Filthy Lesson" by Elizabeth Bear (8/10): Bear's stories are usually big winners for me, but I didn't enjoy this as much as the two she had in the previous Long List Anthology. That's not to say it isn't still good; I just didn't find the protagonist as interesting this time.
"Grandmother-nai-Leylit's Cloth of Winds" by Rose Lemberg (8/10): set in a desert culture with strong formal rules, and beautiful in its depiction of the protagonist's struggle to find the right thing to do. Uses "break camp" when it means "make camp" and has a couple of typos, plus a continuity error which is explained if "my age or younger" is read as a mistake for "my age or older".
"Another Word for World" by Ann Leckie (8/10): automated translation machines cause more issues than they solve between two cultures, and only personal contact between an old woman and a young one can progress their hopes for peace.
"The Long Goodnight of Violet Wild" by Catherynne M. Valente (7/10): I haven't, in the past, been much of a fan of Valente; when she opened this one with "I don't know what stories are anymore" I mentally agreed with her regarding her lack of knowledge in this area, and by the time I got to "chock full of gadgets and nonsense from parts unknown" I was still thinking it was an apt description of what I was reading. But it grew on me, gaining coherence slowly, and finally coming to mean something. Something not especially profound, and vastly overdecorated with nonsense for my taste, but something.
"Our Lady of the Open Road" by Sarah Pinsker (5/10): this was a miss for me, because it was the story of a band told by someone who's spent a lot of time in bands for people who've spent a lot of time in bands, and who hold grimly onto a punk-rock sensibility that refuses to sell out no matter how meaningless the rebellion or squalid the conditions of resistance. It didn't, in other words, speak to me. One of those cases of "if the shoe don't fit, it ain't your shoe".
"The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn" by Usman T. Malik (7/10): a story of rediscovering one's personal and cultural heritage, bound up with well-depicted magic.
"The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps" by Kai Ashante Wilson (6/10): possibly another not-my-shoe story, since its language and ideas are strongly oriented towards US Black culture. What I really didn't like, though, were the repeated scenes of awful suffering, acknowledged to be awful, awful to the viewpoint character, and not, as far as I could see, there to do anything except be awful. A couple of misplaced apostrophes, too, and "scrupled" used to mean its opposite, which is odd given the general excellent command of language.
September 15, 2019
This edition of the longlist anthology is such a good mix of vastly different stories. They are all well written and full of meaning and topics of importance to the modern world.
Sure, there are two I didn't care for, but most of the stories really impressed me: Feelings and thoughts were provoked, I also had a really good time reading them. Some stories are from authors I already knew I liked, but I also discovered some possible new favourites.
This anthology is filled with fascinating ideas and creative ways to portray the various subjects.
I really think these are stories worth checking out for everyone who is into Sff.
Sure, there are two I didn't care for, but most of the stories really impressed me: Feelings and thoughts were provoked, I also had a really good time reading them. Some stories are from authors I already knew I liked, but I also discovered some possible new favourites.
This anthology is filled with fascinating ideas and creative ways to portray the various subjects.
I really think these are stories worth checking out for everyone who is into Sff.
July 6, 2017
Damage: a great story about an AI with an ethical quandary.
Pockets: a sweet lil' tale about accepting life as it comes.
Today I am Paul: a medical care robot, who impersonates (with their permission) family members, cares for an ailing woman. Very good.
The women you didn't see: A non-fiction letter to Tiptree Jr./Alice Sheldon. Crushing.
Tuesdays with Molakesh the Desroyer: an ailing demon is sent to die in a small town. Did not care for this one.
Wooden Feathers: about carving something perfect. OK.
Three Cups of Grief, By Starlight: dealing with the loss of a loved one (repeatedly). Excellent.
Madeleine: About a woman having vivid 'flashbacks'. It's fine.
Neat Things: the second letter to Tiptree/Sheldon.
Pocosin: a great lil' story about a witch in a marsh, and a dying possum-god.
Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers: A sin-eater feasts. not my favourite, but still wonderful.
So Much Cooking: Loved this! A pandemic as told through a food blog.
Deepwater Bride: Cthulhu Mythos in which a watching-type witch tries to discover the fell lord's bride.
Heart's Filthy Lesson: A Venusian trek. Did not care for it.
Grandmother-nay-Leylit's Cloth of Winds: about change of every sort. Found it touching.
Another word for world: About the perils of improper translation. Good enough.
Long Goodnight of Violet Wild: I bailed.
Our Lady of the Open Road: a bunch of travelling punks, post-pandemic. Not for me.
The P{auper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn: A grandson investigates his grandfather's stories of the "Mughal princess" who sold tea. I am biased against the kinds of third acts we see here, but it was lovely up until then.
The Sorceror of the Wildeeps: An African diaspora tale, in a world where the diaspora didn't happen, set in a fictional world that honestly reminded me vaguely of The Book of the New Sun. Mostly works well, although sometimes the prose seems to miss its mark.
Pockets: a sweet lil' tale about accepting life as it comes.
Today I am Paul: a medical care robot, who impersonates (with their permission) family members, cares for an ailing woman. Very good.
The women you didn't see: A non-fiction letter to Tiptree Jr./Alice Sheldon. Crushing.
Tuesdays with Molakesh the Desroyer: an ailing demon is sent to die in a small town. Did not care for this one.
Wooden Feathers: about carving something perfect. OK.
Three Cups of Grief, By Starlight: dealing with the loss of a loved one (repeatedly). Excellent.
Madeleine: About a woman having vivid 'flashbacks'. It's fine.
Neat Things: the second letter to Tiptree/Sheldon.
Pocosin: a great lil' story about a witch in a marsh, and a dying possum-god.
Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers: A sin-eater feasts. not my favourite, but still wonderful.
So Much Cooking: Loved this! A pandemic as told through a food blog.
Deepwater Bride: Cthulhu Mythos in which a watching-type witch tries to discover the fell lord's bride.
Heart's Filthy Lesson: A Venusian trek. Did not care for it.
Grandmother-nay-Leylit's Cloth of Winds: about change of every sort. Found it touching.
Another word for world: About the perils of improper translation. Good enough.
Long Goodnight of Violet Wild: I bailed.
Our Lady of the Open Road: a bunch of travelling punks, post-pandemic. Not for me.
The P{auper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn: A grandson investigates his grandfather's stories of the "Mughal princess" who sold tea. I am biased against the kinds of third acts we see here, but it was lovely up until then.
The Sorceror of the Wildeeps: An African diaspora tale, in a world where the diaspora didn't happen, set in a fictional world that honestly reminded me vaguely of The Book of the New Sun. Mostly works well, although sometimes the prose seems to miss its mark.
December 2, 2017
A decent collection of fantasy and sci-fi stories. I didn't notice it when I had obtained the book, but the majority of the stories are written by women. I realized this whenever I was surprised by plot twists I had not anticipated that upon reflection were based on perspective, not events. This was refreshing! The collection has quite a variety of fantasy and science fiction stories, as would be expected in an anthology this large.
Recommended: 3 stars.
Number of pages: 584
Number of my highlights: 11
My favorite quote(s):
"You can either practice service by shoveling our neighbor's driveway, or you can spend tonight writing an essay on ten reasons why service is important."
She looked settled, if dissatisfied.
the air was fresh but full of teeth
Not a comely man, nor kind, either; he was fabulously rich, though, and dressed in the bright-dyed shit of worms.
Recommended: 3 stars.
Number of pages: 584
Number of my highlights: 11
My favorite quote(s):
"You can either practice service by shoveling our neighbor's driveway, or you can spend tonight writing an essay on ten reasons why service is important."
She looked settled, if dissatisfied.
the air was fresh but full of teeth
Not a comely man, nor kind, either; he was fabulously rich, though, and dressed in the bright-dyed shit of worms.
April 11, 2017
Fabulous!
This is absolutely the best anthology I have ever read. Stories filled with sparkling imagination and perfectly crafted! I encourage every reader of science fiction to treat yourself to this experience.
This is absolutely the best anthology I have ever read. Stories filled with sparkling imagination and perfectly crafted! I encourage every reader of science fiction to treat yourself to this experience.
March 19, 2018
It's a book full of short stories nominated for the Hugo, what more do ya want? Of course some are better than others and that will vary depending on your personal preference, but they are all well written and I enjoyed each of them.
Read
March 4, 2024I picked this up for the Tamsyn Muir piece but decided to read works from other authors I know as well.
Pockets - Amal El-Mohtar
A little too cutesy for me. The letter at the end pushed this into OTT, mawkish territory. It reminded me why I wasn’t so enamored with This is How You Lose the Time War.
3 stars
Madeline - Amal El-Mohtar
I really adored this one. A restrained yet moving story about a lonely woman in a clinical trial. She starts to have odd hallucinations and makes a connection with a stranger.
4 stars
Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers - Alyssa Wong
I’ve never read anything by Wong but have seen this short story mentioned elsewhere before.
It started very promising but began to fall apart for me in the second half. I think reading it sandwiched between El-Mohtar’s and Muir’s wonderful stories didn’t do it any favors. Still enjoyable, though.
3 stars
The Deepwater Bride - Tamsyn Muir
This was macabre and unexpectedly sweet. I predicted the ending, but the hints are so well placed, mostly hidden in snarky comments or throwaway jests. A truth in every joke, indeed!
Muir does character voice so well. Her teenage protagonist was wonderfully rendered and really embodied what I remember of being a teen (“There was no anticipation. Duty removed ambition. I was apathetically lonely.")
I think there's some Lovecraftian mythos mixed in, though I'm not well-versed enough to have an informed take on the influence and homage paid.
Overall, this felt more Locked Tomb-coded than any Muir short story I've read so far apart from "The Magician's Apprentice." Imagine Coronabeth and Harrowhark spend a summer together in the suburbs and you'll get some idea of the vibes of this story.
Definitely my favorite of the lot.
4.5 stars
The Long Goodnight of Violet Wild - Catherynne M. Valente
Twee, absurdist and nearly incomprehensible. Maybe I’d enjoy this while very high? With nothing more than a glass of prosecco in me, however, I found it painful to read.
You can’t say Valente doesn’t take big swings with her writing, but this one was a miss for me.
1.5 stars
Pockets - Amal El-Mohtar
A little too cutesy for me. The letter at the end pushed this into OTT, mawkish territory. It reminded me why I wasn’t so enamored with This is How You Lose the Time War.
3 stars
Madeline - Amal El-Mohtar
I really adored this one. A restrained yet moving story about a lonely woman in a clinical trial. She starts to have odd hallucinations and makes a connection with a stranger.
4 stars
Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers - Alyssa Wong
I’ve never read anything by Wong but have seen this short story mentioned elsewhere before.
It started very promising but began to fall apart for me in the second half. I think reading it sandwiched between El-Mohtar’s and Muir’s wonderful stories didn’t do it any favors. Still enjoyable, though.
3 stars
The Deepwater Bride - Tamsyn Muir
This was macabre and unexpectedly sweet. I predicted the ending, but the hints are so well placed, mostly hidden in snarky comments or throwaway jests. A truth in every joke, indeed!
Muir does character voice so well. Her teenage protagonist was wonderfully rendered and really embodied what I remember of being a teen (“There was no anticipation. Duty removed ambition. I was apathetically lonely.")
I think there's some Lovecraftian mythos mixed in, though I'm not well-versed enough to have an informed take on the influence and homage paid.
Overall, this felt more Locked Tomb-coded than any Muir short story I've read so far apart from "The Magician's Apprentice." Imagine Coronabeth and Harrowhark spend a summer together in the suburbs and you'll get some idea of the vibes of this story.
Definitely my favorite of the lot.
4.5 stars
The Long Goodnight of Violet Wild - Catherynne M. Valente
Twee, absurdist and nearly incomprehensible. Maybe I’d enjoy this while very high? With nothing more than a glass of prosecco in me, however, I found it painful to read.
You can’t say Valente doesn’t take big swings with her writing, but this one was a miss for me.
1.5 stars
July 27, 2021
- damage (david d. levine) 3 stars, review on authors listing
- pockets (amal el-mohtar) 4 stars, review on authors listing
- today i am paul (martin l. shoemaker) 4 stars, review on authors listing
- the women you didn’t see (nicola griffith) 5 stars
- tuesdays with molakesh the destroyer (megan grey) 4 stars, review on authors listing
- wooden feathers (ursula vernon) 5 stars
- three cups of grief, by starlight (aliette de bodard) 4 stars, review on authors listing
- madeleine (amal el-mohtar) 3 stars, review on authors listing
- neat things (seanan mcguire) too personal to review or rate, touching
- pocosin (ursula vernon) 5 stars
- hungry daughters of starving mothers (alyssa wong) 5 stars, review on authors listing
- so much cooking (naomi kritzer) 4 stars, review on authors listing
- the deepwater bride (tamsyn muir) 5 stars
- the heart’s filthy lesson (elizabeth bear) 5 stars, review on authors listing
- grandmother-nai-leylit’s cloth of winds (r. b. lemberg) 5 stars, review on authors listing
- another word for world (ann leckie) 4 stars
- the long goodnight of violet wild (catherynne m. valente) 2 stars
- our lady of the open road (sarah pinsker) 3 stars
- the pauper prince and the eucalyptus jinn (usman t. malik) 3 stars, review on authors listing
- the sorcerer of the wildeeps (kai ashante wilson) 3 stars, review on authors listing
the standout stories of this hugo collection for me were, without a doubt, hungry daughters of starving mothers by alyssa wong, the deepwater bride by tamsyn muir and grandmother-nai-leylit’s cloth of winds by r. b. lemberg. i will pick up absolutely anything these authors publish and will be doing my absolute best to get a hold of the rest of the birdverse. i really liked this collection, and it’s sprawl of genres, there was only one story that i actively disliked here and i count that as a major success!
this has introduced me to some super authors that i hadn’t heard of, and some short stories by authors that i already loved. i have been a few chapters into ancillary justice for two or three months now but with reading another word for world, i’ll continue asap.
- pockets (amal el-mohtar) 4 stars, review on authors listing
- today i am paul (martin l. shoemaker) 4 stars, review on authors listing
- the women you didn’t see (nicola griffith) 5 stars
- tuesdays with molakesh the destroyer (megan grey) 4 stars, review on authors listing
- wooden feathers (ursula vernon) 5 stars
- three cups of grief, by starlight (aliette de bodard) 4 stars, review on authors listing
- madeleine (amal el-mohtar) 3 stars, review on authors listing
- neat things (seanan mcguire) too personal to review or rate, touching
- pocosin (ursula vernon) 5 stars
- hungry daughters of starving mothers (alyssa wong) 5 stars, review on authors listing
- so much cooking (naomi kritzer) 4 stars, review on authors listing
- the deepwater bride (tamsyn muir) 5 stars
- the heart’s filthy lesson (elizabeth bear) 5 stars, review on authors listing
- grandmother-nai-leylit’s cloth of winds (r. b. lemberg) 5 stars, review on authors listing
- another word for world (ann leckie) 4 stars
- the long goodnight of violet wild (catherynne m. valente) 2 stars
- our lady of the open road (sarah pinsker) 3 stars
- the pauper prince and the eucalyptus jinn (usman t. malik) 3 stars, review on authors listing
- the sorcerer of the wildeeps (kai ashante wilson) 3 stars, review on authors listing
the standout stories of this hugo collection for me were, without a doubt, hungry daughters of starving mothers by alyssa wong, the deepwater bride by tamsyn muir and grandmother-nai-leylit’s cloth of winds by r. b. lemberg. i will pick up absolutely anything these authors publish and will be doing my absolute best to get a hold of the rest of the birdverse. i really liked this collection, and it’s sprawl of genres, there was only one story that i actively disliked here and i count that as a major success!
this has introduced me to some super authors that i hadn’t heard of, and some short stories by authors that i already loved. i have been a few chapters into ancillary justice for two or three months now but with reading another word for world, i’ll continue asap.
March 6, 2021
This was a mixed bag. Some of the stories I really liked, one or two I struggled with, and one I could not get through. Most were fine. One general thing I noticed is that quite a few had more going on conceptually than they could explain. For exaple, "Grandmother-nai-Leylit's Cloth of Winds" by Rose Lembert was one of the stories that I liked a lot. The premise is that there is a community where the men are scholars and the women are merchant adventurers. Except I'm pretty sure occupation determines gender rather than visa versa. That's an interesting, if slightly unweildy, concept. But on top of that, this community exists as a discriminated against minority in a larger society. That's not really explained and doesn't seem particularly important to the story.
That kind of gilding the lily was a particular problem with some of stories I didn't care for. There were a couple that were super long and didn't go anywhere because they kep piling on unexplained concept after underexplained concept.
The Tamsyn Muir story, which was the reason I bought the book, was good.
That kind of gilding the lily was a particular problem with some of stories I didn't care for. There were a couple that were super long and didn't go anywhere because they kep piling on unexplained concept after underexplained concept.
The Tamsyn Muir story, which was the reason I bought the book, was good.
December 6, 2017
favourite stories:
Tuesdays with Molakesh the Destroyer, Megan Grey
Madeleine, Amal El-Mohtar
Pocosin, Ursula Vernon
So Much Cooking, Naomi Kritzer
The Deepwater Bride, Tamsyn Muir (<3333)
Our Lady of the Open Road, Sarah Pinsker
I didn't read the last one in the book--practically a (short) novel. Keeping it for another time as its own thing. I wasn't fond of the way the stories were placed in order of length for some reason, short stories, then novellettes, then novellas, then the novel.
Tuesdays with Molakesh the Destroyer, Megan Grey
Madeleine, Amal El-Mohtar
Pocosin, Ursula Vernon
So Much Cooking, Naomi Kritzer
The Deepwater Bride, Tamsyn Muir (<3333)
Our Lady of the Open Road, Sarah Pinsker
I didn't read the last one in the book--practically a (short) novel. Keeping it for another time as its own thing. I wasn't fond of the way the stories were placed in order of length for some reason, short stories, then novellettes, then novellas, then the novel.
Read
October 3, 2023The Deepwater Bride by Tamsyn Muir
4/5 stars
Tamsyn Muir at one of her best! Love the absolute chaos (and plot twist!) near the end.
Only reason I knocked off a star is that the pace is quite slow. Would've liked things to happen much faster.
I also found one of my fave opening lines EVER:
4/5 stars
Tamsyn Muir at one of her best! Love the absolute chaos (and plot twist!) near the end.
Only reason I knocked off a star is that the pace is quite slow. Would've liked things to happen much faster.
I also found one of my fave opening lines EVER:
In the time of our crawling Night Lord’s ascendancy, foretold by exodus of starlight into his sucking astral wounds, I turned sixteen and received Barbie’s Dream Car.
Read
July 24, 2022Me ha gustado revisitar dos cuentos que ya conocía ("Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers" de Alyssa Wong y "So Much Cooking" de Naomi Kritzer), aunque yo venía para leer "The Deepwater Bride" de Tamsyn Muir, sin saber que iba a adorarlo. Por cierto, no sospechaba lo muchísimo que me iba a gustar "The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps" de Kai Ashante Wilson, que tendría que estudiarse en facultades de traducción.
November 30, 2022
unfortunately i took this out from libby just to read the deepwater bride by tamsyn muir, i didn’t get the chance to check out the other stories in here. i thoroughly enjoyed the deepwater bride though. noticed more than a few lines that i thought are directly connected to the locked tomb — and i want to go as far as to saying that maybe this earth is the one we see in nona the ninth, since it floods.
August 4, 2020
Another Stunning Collection
Another great collection of stories to transport you to different worlds. I especially loved the last two. Both are so absorbing. Beautiful world building. Vivid characters
Another great collection of stories to transport you to different worlds. I especially loved the last two. Both are so absorbing. Beautiful world building. Vivid characters
February 18, 2018
Many stories, some good, some not so much.
May 31, 2018
Great collection of short stories!
Read
May 8, 2021Placeholder for "Our Lady of the Open Road," by Sarah Pinsker. 5 stars.
October 27, 2022
A good selection of short stories here; not quite as good as Volume 5.
December 29, 2023
Overall, a good compilation of stories. Some not quite to my tastes and some very much so. A fine read from talented storytellers.
October 1, 2025
Full notes and description pending, need more time to write up each.
Contents:
* Foreword (The Long List Anthology: Volume 2) • essay by David Steffen
* Damage (2015) / short story by David D. Levine
* Pockets (2015) / short story by Amal El-Mohtar
* Today I Am Paul [Today I Am] (2015) / short story by Martin L. Shoemaker
** The Women You Didn't See (2015) • essay by Nicola Griffith
* Tuesdays with Molakesh the Destroyer (2015) / short story by Megan Walker [as by Megan Grey]
* Wooden Feathers (2015) / short story by Ursula Vernon
* Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight [Universe of Xuya] (2015) / short story by Aliette de Bodard
* Madeleine (2015) •/ short story by Amal El-Mohtar
** Neat Things (2015) • essay by Seanan McGuire
* Pocosin (2015) / short story by Ursula Vernon
* Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers (2015) / short story by Alyssa Wong
* So Much Cooking (2015) / novelette by Naomi Kritzer
* The Deepwater Bride (2015) / novelette by Tamsyn Muir
* The Heart's Filthy Lesson (2015) / novelette by Elizabeth Bear
* Grandmother-nai-Leylit's Cloth of Winds [Birdverse] (2015) / novelette by Rose Lemberg
* Another Word for World (2015) / novelette by Ann Leckie
* The Long Goodnight of Violet Wild (2015) / novelette by Catherynne M. Valente
* Our Lady of the Open Road [A Song for a New Day] (2015) / novelette by Sarah Pinsker
* The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn (2015) / novella by Usman T. Malik
* The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps [The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps Universe • 1] (2015) / novel by Kai Ashante Wilson
Contents:
* Foreword (The Long List Anthology: Volume 2) • essay by David Steffen
* Damage (2015) / short story by David D. Levine
* Pockets (2015) / short story by Amal El-Mohtar
* Today I Am Paul [Today I Am] (2015) / short story by Martin L. Shoemaker
** The Women You Didn't See (2015) • essay by Nicola Griffith
* Tuesdays with Molakesh the Destroyer (2015) / short story by Megan Walker [as by Megan Grey]
* Wooden Feathers (2015) / short story by Ursula Vernon
* Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight [Universe of Xuya] (2015) / short story by Aliette de Bodard
* Madeleine (2015) •/ short story by Amal El-Mohtar
** Neat Things (2015) • essay by Seanan McGuire
* Pocosin (2015) / short story by Ursula Vernon
* Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers (2015) / short story by Alyssa Wong
* So Much Cooking (2015) / novelette by Naomi Kritzer
* The Deepwater Bride (2015) / novelette by Tamsyn Muir
* The Heart's Filthy Lesson (2015) / novelette by Elizabeth Bear
* Grandmother-nai-Leylit's Cloth of Winds [Birdverse] (2015) / novelette by Rose Lemberg
* Another Word for World (2015) / novelette by Ann Leckie
* The Long Goodnight of Violet Wild (2015) / novelette by Catherynne M. Valente
* Our Lady of the Open Road [A Song for a New Day] (2015) / novelette by Sarah Pinsker
* The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn (2015) / novella by Usman T. Malik
* The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps [The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps Universe • 1] (2015) / novel by Kai Ashante Wilson
March 13, 2017
I liked just about everything in this one (though I didn't reread "Sorcerer of the Wildeeps"), but I think "The Deepwater Bride" by Tamsyn Muir was my favorite, if only because I was delighted partway through to realize that I was reading about Normal-chan and Other-Girls-sempai.
February 18, 2019
(I wish I could shelve and rate the stories I enjoyed individually but I can't so)
Pockets - Amal El-Amin - 4/5
Madeline - Amal El-Amin 5/5
Pockets - Amal El-Amin - 4/5
Madeline - Amal El-Amin 5/5
February 2, 2017
Lots of good stories in here, some of my favorites being....
"Pockets," by Amal El-Mohtar -- Mostly fun as a "concept" story, as opposed to actual plot.
"Tuesdays with Molakesh the Destroyer," by Megan Grey -- Very satisfying.
"The Deepwater Bride," by Tamsyn Muir -- This didn't seem like one I was going to like at all when I started it, but I ended up being pleasantly surprised.
"The Long Goodnight of Violet Wild," by Catherynne M. Valente -- A fantastically synesthetic romp through colors and emotions.
"The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn," by Usman T. Malik -- Felt considerably longer than it needed to be, but a great story of a man's encounter with infinity.
Only one could I not even finish, and that was the final novella, "Sorcerer of the Wildeeps," by Kai Ashante Williams. He hasn't grasped the art of writing dialect so that it's both evocative and readable. And even the narration has a quality whose exact cause is hard to pin down but which makes it feel like reading through a fog. I read a chunk of it, stopped when my lunch break was over, and could never muster the motivation to go back to a hundred-something more pages of it.
"Pockets," by Amal El-Mohtar -- Mostly fun as a "concept" story, as opposed to actual plot.
"Tuesdays with Molakesh the Destroyer," by Megan Grey -- Very satisfying.
"The Deepwater Bride," by Tamsyn Muir -- This didn't seem like one I was going to like at all when I started it, but I ended up being pleasantly surprised.
"The Long Goodnight of Violet Wild," by Catherynne M. Valente -- A fantastically synesthetic romp through colors and emotions.
"The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn," by Usman T. Malik -- Felt considerably longer than it needed to be, but a great story of a man's encounter with infinity.
Only one could I not even finish, and that was the final novella, "Sorcerer of the Wildeeps," by Kai Ashante Williams. He hasn't grasped the art of writing dialect so that it's both evocative and readable. And even the narration has a quality whose exact cause is hard to pin down but which makes it feel like reading through a fog. I read a chunk of it, stopped when my lunch break was over, and could never muster the motivation to go back to a hundred-something more pages of it.
April 19, 2022
Another great long list anthology! I really enjoyed volume 1 and I'm glad volume 2 has kept that going as well as adding in a few new things like the Tiptree essays. Collections are always hit-and-miss according to tastes and I think that's why these long list ones are so valuable - you can read a bunch of stories other people have considered excellent and see what works for you. My favourites, by far, were "Pocosin" and "The Deepwater Bride", with an honourable mention to "Our Lady of the Open Road".
My only criticism is that the final, longer stories didn't really grab me so I stalled for days not finishing this before I realised the problem. That's a matter of taste more than any criticism on the ordering of the collection or the pieces themselves, though.
Well worth acquiring and definitely worth keeping your eye out for the Kickstarters behind these volumes. Here's hoping for a Volume 3!
My only criticism is that the final, longer stories didn't really grab me so I stalled for days not finishing this before I realised the problem. That's a matter of taste more than any criticism on the ordering of the collection or the pieces themselves, though.
Well worth acquiring and definitely worth keeping your eye out for the Kickstarters behind these volumes. Here's hoping for a Volume 3!
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