Time: Marked and Mended

Graff #3

by Carrie Vaughn

Graff isn’t quite human. His people move through the galaxy collecting memories and experiences, recording their lives and passing them on. Then, one day, he breaks: he discovers a chunk of his memory is missing. This should be impossible—he’s never forgotten a moment in his life. Now, he has to learn to forget, and to remember, and this has consequences for all his people, his culture, and his whole world.

Genres: Science Fiction, Short Stories, Fiction, LGBT, Space Opera, Queer, Speculative Fiction

24 pages, ebook

First published January 11, 2023

About the author

Carrie Vaughn is the author more than twenty novels and over a hundred short stories. She's best known for her New York Times bestselling series of novels about a werewolf named Kitty who hosts a talk radio advice show for the supernaturally disadvantaged. In 2018, she won the Philip K. Dick Award for Bannerless, a post-apocalyptic murder mystery. She's published over 20 novels and 100 short stories, two of which have been finalists for the Hugo Award. She's a contributor to the Wild Cards series of shared world superhero books edited by George R. R. Martin and a graduate of the Odyssey Fantasy Writing Workshop.

An Air Force brat, she survived her nomadic childhood and managed to put down roots in Boulder, Colorado, where she collects hobbies.

Visit her at www.carrievaughn.com

For writing advice and essays, check out her Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/carrievaughn

Reviews

[Daren]

#3 in the Graff short story sci-fi series by Carrie Vaughn.
In this one Graff (who is part machine, part human) is experiencing a malfunction, in that there is a small period of his memory missing - something that should be impossible. Captain Ransom and Graff are separated from the Visigoth and the crew as they must return to Graff's home planet to sort out the anomaly.
These stories are too short to share much more.
Free from Tor.com (which has changed name) here.

3.5 stars, rounded up.

[Alina]

Time: Marked and Mended by Carrie Vaughn - 3.5+/5★
Nice to read some more of Graff and this world, the idea behind the story is good, and it left me wanting more.

“Like so many things […], it started as a joke and then stuck. Too late to change it now.”
“The thing about life is, when you find a mistake you can’t go back and fix it before turning it in. As if the whole mess is a project that’s going to be graded.”

Can also be read on Tor.com.

[Jen]

Time: Marked and Mended by Carrie Vaughn

You know what? I’m going full 5 stars on this. Short, but gets the point across and you get a feel for all of the characters involved without them being stereotypes. I love the world building, even in such a short time, the reader gets sucked in and up to speed quite quickly.

This is #3 of a stories that follow Graff. I will be hunting down the rest for sure. The space sci-fi stuff makes me think of MurderBot, though Graff is more human than not and has emotions and is able to express them without discomfort. Must read more!

[Laura]

This made my heart happy because more Graff is always a very good thing.

[Jane]

First time reading this author

This is a bit of space opera and mystery rolled into one. A species that have perfect memories through their data processors finds a bit of their memory is missing.
What happened to this memory how was it removed, will he survive finding out.
I loved the characters and just the moments between him and the captain. A nice cozy mystery, scfy to easy the day.

[ana]

i would die for ransom actually. and for a full-length novel about the visigoth’s adventures.

[Quỳnh]

Time: Marked and Mended (Mốc thời gian: Đánh dấu và sửa chữa): Graff không phải một người bình thường: Anh chưa bao giờ quên bất cứ khoảnh khắc nào trong đời. Nhưng vào ngày nọ, anh phát hiện ra mình bị khuyết một đoạn ký ức - một điều bất khả thi! Giờ đây, Graff phải tìm hiểu được chuyện gì đã xảy ra, vì toàn bộ việc này đe dọa đến tính mạng anh lẫn sự an nguy của nền văn hóa của anh.

“Time: Marked and Mended”, tập thứ ba của series, giống với tập đầu “Sinew and Steel and What They Told” hơn là tập thứ hai “An Easy Job”, nghĩa là thiên về triết lý nhân sinh hơn là hành động kịch tính. Mình thích chủ đề của tập truyện này, khai thác ý nghĩa của việc “trải nghiệm và chia sẻ trải nghiệm” trong cuộc sống cá nhân và đời sống tập thể, cùng cách mà một nền văn hóa được xây dựng dựa trên cơ sở đấy. Một lần nữa, Ransom, một nhân vật phụ thú vị từng xuất hiện trong các tập trước, lại có cơ hội tỏa sáng.

Ngoài ra, sau khi hoàn thành “The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet” của Becky Chambers, mình liền chuyển qua truyện ngắn này. Và mình chợt ngộ ra một điều: hai series, một ngắn một dài, có nhiều điểm tương đồng đến lạ. Ta hoàn toàn có thể phóng dàn nhân vật của “Graff” sang vũ trụ của “Wayfarers” mà họ vẫn hòa nhập ngon ơ. Thuyền trưởng Ransom gần như là anh em cùng cha khác ông nội với thuyền trưởng Ashby. Graff có thể dễ dàng trở thành một chủng tộc mới bên ấy. Văn phong, cách kể chuyện, cách các nhân vật tương tác với nhau... cũng không bị khớp mấy. Không rõ đây là sự trùng hợp hay tác giả Carrie Vaughn chịu nhiều ảnh hưởng từ Becky Chambers.

“Ban đầu, trẻ sơ sinh không thể tập trung, không thể hiểu được ranh giới giữa mình và thế giới này. Vì vậy, trí nhớ trong vài năm đầu đời chủ yếu là một chuỗi các cột mốc, các khám phá mà người trưởng thành khó có thể hiểu được vì họ coi những thông số đó là đương nhiên. Song người dân của tôi dành sự quan tâm và cảm thông sâu sắc cho những sinh linh nhỏ bé ấy, vì chúng tôi nhớ được rằng thế giới từng khó hiểu đến thế nào.”

[S.M.]

I'm trying to be chill about this BUT I NEED MORE.

[༶ Laura ༶]

3.5

[Joe Pranaitis]

Author Carrie Vaughn brings us the next adventure for Graff, the human who isn't but who records everything that he sees and hears. This time Graff is stricken with loss of time. It turns out that while he was on a mission he encountered someone who knew what he was but as they ran through the space station they had learned from each other. But just the loss of time on Graff's part made his race think that he was broken. But his good friend and ship captain defied orders and took him to his homeworld where they fixed him. This is a great short story and I highly recommend it especially if you've read the the first short stories in this series.

[Dana]

I really liked Sinew and Steel and What They Told when I read it a couple of years ago. I hoped there would be more with Graff, so this has made me happy. I agree with the others that this is the kind of story that needs expansion, even if it’s not book-length but a series of short stories here.

I also appeared to have missed the prequel, so off to read that now.

[Diane]

I was delighted to see a brand new Graff story. I have loved both previous ones (which I just happily reread, leading up to this one), but this may be the best yet, with a truly new — and frightening — experience for his people, and Ransom playing the role of a protective friend, offering an outsider perspective. Although I wish we got to see a bit more of Graff's homeworld, the way it played out makes sense.

Memory is a very different phenomenon for them, and it is literally impossible for Graff to simply accept a gap in his. Even if they prevent a terminal failure, will he ever be able to share (download/upload) again, or must he be isolated, quarantined, prevented from engaging in his raison d'être — and if so, what life will he lead?

There is a satisfying resolution to the immediate crisis, but the answer sets up an intriguing further puzzle. I hope this series continues for a long time, in short or maybe someday long form.

Again, this is a Gen story, though the lover whom Graff fears he'll never get to see again is also male. Also, there is a non-binary character who uses "they".

It's a Tor.com Original available to read free at www.tor.com/2023/01/11/time-marked-an... or purchase for Kindle at www.amazon.com/Time-Marked-Mended-Tor...

[Corrie]

Time: Marked and Mended by author Carrie Vaughn is the 3rd short story in the Graff series, you can read for free on the Tor.com site https://www.tor.com/2023/01/11/time-m...

Graff isn’t quite human. His people move through the galaxy collecting memories and experiences, recording their lives and passing them on. Then, one day, he breaks: he discovers a chunk of his memory is missing. This should be impossible—he’s never forgotten a moment in his life. Now, he has to learn to forget, and to remember, and this has consequences for all his people, his culture, and his whole world.

My ongoing quest to get current with the Tor short stories. This was a great addition to the series and I would happily read a novel size adventure with these characters. Maybe it will happen at some point.

4 Stars

[Daniel]

Excellent. Like Sinew and Steel and What They Told this is much higher stakes and personal than An Easy Job and consequently much more engaging. It does set up some questions which suspect have yet to be answered in the existing stories though. :( On to #4.

[Kevin Groosalugg]

Nice stand alone side story for what I assume is a main character from a series. Graff is part human and has a perfect memory, but discovers a gap. He is broken and must be returned to his home world so they can determine what to do. He is scared and things are progressing quickly, maybe like being rushed to a hospital.

[Theresa]

Time: Marked and Mended
by Carrie Vaughn
The events of Graff and how he relates to the universe as a recorder of humanity is tested by an anomaly in his memory. He can remember everything but above a three hour gap made him ill. The story shows the heights of friendship, and love of his crew and friends. The story shows the nature of the memory, and how it can be rebuilt.

[lnich]

I've enjoyed this series a lot so far. Each entry is so unique, adding something completely new to the world, and this one is no exception. It hooked me right away! I couldn't possibly guess what's next for Graff, but I'll eagerly read more if Vaughn chooses to continue.

[Katherine]

Another great entry in the Graff series. It took me a bit of time to remember what had happened before, but once it clicked in, I really enjoyed it. Great to see more of this develop - I hope that Vaughn develops this into a whole book.

[Faye Carr]

Well, I'm Hooked! Where do I get the next one?

I love a story that moves along. Pulling me into that world. And I really appreciate a gentle cliff hanger.
The cracking of a door rather than a, well off a cliff.

[annapi]

As part machine, Graff can perfectly remember everything, but one day he realizes he is missing a chunk of memory.

Very interesting development for Graff! A bit confusing, but we get to find out more about his background.

[umainthewild]

Finished reading this and though "I'd read a whole series with these characters."
Turns out there IS a whole series of short stories in this world and with the same characters. Going to binge them all.

[Eric]

I've now read all of the Graff stories that are currently available, and they're all great. I love short serialized works that can be read stand-alone but make for something more interesting when they're put together, and this series is perfect for that.

This story was interesting as it dealt with Graff suffering from memory loss — something he's not supposed to be capable of experiencing due to his modifications — and figuring out the story behind how and why it happened.

[Cheryl]

An engaging stand alone novelette that I enjoyed on Tor.com. I will look for more about Graff.

[Patty]

Another story I read on Tor.com. Love Graff.

[Emy]

Oh yes, I like this! Certain Murderbot vibes, but not in a bad way, and I DEFINITELY want to read more about Graff and his people.

[Pers]

Good stuff.

[Samrat]

entirely readable without reading any of the others, and makes me want to read the rest.

[Anny Barros]

once again asking for carrie vaughn to expand this series into a novella, i desperately need to know more about this story and its characters!!!

[Adam G]

Top notch tale about memory, experience, and extraterrestrials.

[John E]

Quick good read

I don't know if the characters are part of a series but if so, I will read them. Just in the few pages, not only is a data oriented race introduced, but a compelling mystery of lost time along with characters I want to learn about.