ORBIT – Otherworldly Reads, Bold Ideas, and Tales. SF & F Short Stories and Novelettes discussion

Actually, the link above is only to the second book of a bunch of anthologies and 3 novels that I have been planning to read for a long time. I finally got this one book (from a Goodwill in Seattle!) last week because it has never been reissued in ebook form.

Most of these are short stories and the order is here at their own dedicated website: https://www.thebordertownseries.com/s...

The order actually is (I believe)

Borderland
Bordertown
Life on the Border
Elsewhere. -- novel
Nevernever. -- novel
Finder --novel -- (by Emma Bull, an author I have liked before)
The Essential Bordertown (not out in ebook)
Welcome to Bordertown

Elsewhere, NeverNever and Finder are novels, all others are short story anthologies with different authors participating.

Anyway, I plan to do this next year whether anyone joins me or not. Plus, they say that you can start anywhere. So I suppose that means you could skip the novels if you wanted.

Let me know if there are any participants, and I will set a more formal schedule. If not, I will do it on my own. I am expecting to fit these books in around the others that I will be reading next year, and I doubt that I will start before next year.

Discuss? I would particularly like your opinions if you have read some of these. Apparently they are an underground sensation.

Ive previewed a little of these and have the anthologies on my to do list . ill give it a go if you'll remind...

Andrew wrote: "Ive previewed a little of these and have the anthologies on my to do list . ill give it a go if you'll remind..."

Sounds good. I will put on my calendar sometime in January. I need to get "The Laundry Files" dates firmed up first

OK, Andrew, here is my plan.

I'm going to hopefully start in January, but it won't be at the beginning of the month. Tentative schedule is

Borderland -- Jan 15
Bordertown -- Feb 15
Life on the Border -- March 15
Elsewhere. -- novel -- April 15
Nevernever. -- novel -- May 15
Finder --novel -- June 15
The Essential Bordertown (not out in ebook) -- July 15
Welcome to Bordertown -- August 15

The short story collections are apparently not repeats as far as I can tell, but if they are, or if we are too busy or not liking the stories, all can be changed. This is a totally arbitrary and loose schedule if it needs to be changed.

I will try and recruit some other people to read with up. Someone from another group was interested. Now if I can just remember who it was!

Later!

This series looks very interesting, no ebooks, but I plan to try it from Archive.org

I did read Finder, because I like Bull. And now I know why it seemed like it was part of a story...! I might join in if I can find at least some of these.

Cheryl wrote: "I did read Finder, because I like Bull. And now I know why it seemed like it was part of a story...! I might join in if I can find at least some of these."

They are all in ebook formate except for The Essential Bordertown, so you should be able to find them. I bought the non-ebook from the Goodwill in Seattle and it looks to be perfect. They are all the way across the country from me, and I cannot remember the book search engine I used, but the books are out there.

Thanks, but to get them for free in paper I'd have to order them all from ILL as it turns out. Not worth it to me. Sorry.

Oh, well. If I read them alone, so be it

OK, quick update. In another group, we are supposed to be starting The Laundry Files books on the 15th of each month, so I am now planning on reading these on the totally arbitrary date of the 23rd of each month. If no one joins, I will consider myself relieved of any obligation to start on a particular date. But I promise I will start the 1st one Borderland on the 23rd of January, or thereabouts.

Borderland -- Jan 23
Bordertown -- Feb 23
Life on the Border -- March 23
Elsewhere. -- novel -- April 23
Nevernever. -- novel -- May 23
Finder --novel -- June 23
The Essential Bordertown (not out in ebook) -- July 23
Welcome to Bordertown -- August 23

Jan 23 works for me!

I have read the first story (novelette? novella?) in Borderland, Danceland, and I really liked it. As always, now I am faced with a new setup in Demon, and I am really going to miss the characters I met in Danceland. I loved them.

The main thing I am noticing is how many worldbuilding items sorta sound like a couple of Ilona Andrews worlds. interesting.

Danceland, it turns out, was written by Emma Bull and Will Shetterly. I really like Emma Bull's writing. It's the main reason I got interested in this series of books anyway.

We are introduced to a group of friends who get dumped into a really bad situation. I will say no more.

Have fun. I hope to read the other three parts of this book tonight and tomorrow, though it may take until Sunday. I'm kinda busy tomorrow

I'll start it today or tomorrow

I may have to drop out on this... So far i havent found any copies, except on Amazon, & sorry, not doing $150/ per used paperback

Andrew wrote: "I may have to drop out on this... So far i havent found any copies, except on Amazon, & sorry, not doing $150/ per used paperback"

I don't usually recommend this way, but this is an old book with no e-version, so I found a fan-made ORCed epub on the Internet.

I do have to say that I messed up

The Borderland book (Book 1) is supposed to have these four stories in it.

Prodigy
Gray
Stick
Charis

The Bordertown book (book 2) is supposed to have these four stories in it:

Danceland
Demon
Exile
Mockery

I read book 2 by accident. So I am going to go ahead and read book 1. Sorry to all. If anybody feels that they would like to go ahead and accelerate the schedule, read book 2 sooner, and then read book 3 in February, we could do that. Or not. I have lots to read.

Kateblue wrote: "I read book 2 by accident.."

I currently have Book 1 only, so I'm unable to err this way :)

Oleksandr wrote: "I currently have Book 1 only, so I'm unable to err this way :)"

Goodie!

Kateblue wrote: "Goodie!"

Unless I find the stories so irresistible that I'll cry for the 2nd book

Oleksandr wrote: "Kateblue wrote: "Goodie!"

Unless I find the stories so irresistible that I'll cry for the 2nd book"

OK, so let me know--third book march 23rd? Because I am reading the first one now so we can discuss.

I've started the book, so far an Intro and a few pages of the first story. I haven't formed my opinion yet

I must tell you that the setting of first story in the first book, Borderland, called Prodigy, is actually unlike the later settings in the later stories. The world seems different. Then the other three and the four in the second book are more in the same world. The authors explain it by saying, before the second story, that time has passed.

I don't know enough about (view spoiler)[ Los Angeles to be able to figure out where the story starts out and where that suburb is. But as Scooter treks to find the elder elf, it becomes obvious it's LA. Yet the later stories seem to be somewhere else. Where in LA would be Mad River? And the wall surrounding old town? (hide spoiler)] Despite this discrepancy, I liked both settings very much. And by reading all seven of the stories in a row, I got a real feeling for the world. I may read them again in March before I read the third book.

I've read the first 2 stories
Prodigy by Steven R. Boyett, as it is mentioned at the start, —Six years after the return, so the setting is quite like a post-apoc, with a lack of a lot of commodities and services and people recalling their "old life before". A protagonist is one Scooter, a former popular guitarist in a rock band. These days he lives with his woman, Roxanne, doing nothing practical, but playing an acoustic guitar, which, if he does it close to magic lands, emits visions. His woman left him, and he, angry and drunk, played hateful tunes on an electric guitar, summoning something awful. Now he has to find and protect Roxanna from this apparition. 4* (even if I think the finale was flat)
Grey by Bellamy Bach, here, a protagonist is Grey, a were-something (what exactly readers discover closer to the end), who possibly has elfish blood. She steals to eat, wanders around, and one day wakes up with an elf girl, Wicker, who is rich and sings in a band... 3.25*

I love the ending for Grey because whatever else you say about it, it's not flat (not to me at least).

I liked both of the first two about 4 stars, but overall I'm liking the whole experience even more than the ratings I am giving the individual stories. I am hovering between 4 and 5 stars for both books.

Acorn--What is the name of the online library that has so many books online and you can read them online? I thought I might look and see if the Bordertown books are on there so people can join

Kateblue wrote: "Acorn--What is the name of the online library that has so many books online and you can read them online? "

As I previously noted, alas, no official e-version of Borderland series, so I used a site, which was made popular because more than one AI company trained their AI on these pirated data, like in this news, where you can find the name https://newindustryfocus.com/articles...

thx, Acorn. I think the site I was thinking of was Open Library, where you read PDFs online, but it doesn't seem to have the short story books, just links to where you can buy the paperbacks for a lot of money.

However, it does have the three novels:
Elsewhere. -- novel (search for Will Shetterly, the author and you will find this)
Nevernever. -- novel (by Will Shetterly ditto)
Finder. -- novel (Emma Bull is the author, and this book is also there)

I have been told that this site is ok, not illegal. I hope I am right.

Kateblue wrote: "thx, Acorn. I think the site I was thinking of was Open Library, where you read PDFs online, ."

OpenLibrary used the Archive.org database. Previously, one was able to download pdfs directly from the archive, but the court banned them from doing it. This is really sad, because they have a bunch of old SF and other books, which never will be turned into ebooks

Stick by Charles de Lint the hero (but not a protagonist of this one) is a Black halfing (elf-human) Stick, who travels with his sectional staff and his ferret-polecat Lubin, when he sees a gang of Bloods beating someone. He quite easily beats them off to see that their victim was another halfing with silver eyes, Manda (who is the protagonist). Manda recovers with a musical band and wants to go and thank Stick, who lives in a museum. As she approaches, a gang leader tries to kill Stick with a gun (a rare weapon at Borderlands)... 3.5*
Charis by Ellen Kushner a first-person narrator, 18-years-old human girl Charis with hair white as elvish. She tries to save a partner/thrall of a visiting elf Lady by overdancing her in a competition. She won, but she doesn't understand the politics behind it. 4*

I liked the collection and will start the 2nd volume soon(tm)

I really liked Stick, though I think it ended abruptly, but then, it is a short story. I was sad about the result in Charis.

It's funny, I preferred the the ones you rated less. It's just the usual different between us, I guess.

Kateblue wrote: "I really liked Stick, though I think it ended abruptly, but then, it is a short story. I was sad about the result in Charis.

I liked Stick, but it used deus ex machina twice - first when it turned out that Manda is a healer and in the finale.

Kateblue wrote: "It's funny, I preferred the the ones you rated less. It's just the usu..."

Still 3.5* are almost 4*, so I rated all above average

Oleksandr wrote: "Kateblue wrote: "but it used deus ex machina twice - first when it turned out that Manda is a healer and in the finale..."

I will have to go back and look for them. I guess the one at the end must have been the guy we met before who suddenly turned out to be a wizard, but I cannot figure out the one in the middle where Manda is a healer. I guess I have already forgotten that! Although I see what you mean. She was so helpless at the beginning and then turned out not to be suddenly

I've started the second book and I like the first mystery very much, but we'll see how it ends

Danceland by Emma Bull & Will Shetterly, Orion is a member of a loose group of elfs and humans, who reside in a club titled Danceland, this story is his diary. There is the first concert of Wild Hunt a famous mystery band, popular despite the fact that there were no pictures of the band, no one had ever seen them in concert, and nobody seemed to know someone who worked in the studio where they’d recorded. The crowd is happy to see their elf vocalist for the first time. However, in the middle of the show, an elf comes to the scene and shouts something to a singer, stopping the show. One of Orion's crew tries to stop the elf, but gets cut. Later, the body of the elf is found at the club's backyard... a solid UF mystery. 4*

Demon by Midori Snyder the most cinematic story so far. Laura was born in Bordertown, she evaded gangs but joined a karate training club led by Koga Sensei. She is about to get her black belt and, at the latest sparring, beat the hell out of an arrogant elf gangster, Keno. However, later, Keno and his gang captured her and used magic to turn her into an obedient demon, so she killed a rival (Japanese) gangster. When Laura returned to her human form, she went to Koga to ask for help. 4*

Danceland is probably my favorite of the stories so far. I am always up for a good mystery. I did find one thing strange (view spoiler)[I cannot figure out why Caramel and/or all of Orient's friends did not go to the police with the info and to save Orient. I mean, they needed to prove that their elf friend (cannot remember name) was innocent, and it would probably have been easier if the cops could have come after the actual bad guys that the boss bad guy (woman-sorry cannot remember her name either) hired instead of Orient's friends killing them. (hide spoiler)] But it worked out in the end. 5*

Demon was good, but felt unfinished to me for some reason. I guess wanted more about Koga. and Laura. 4*

Kateblue wrote: "I did find one thing strange [spoilers removed] "

I think they don't trust the police and the police itself is inchoate in Borderlands... by the way, an interesting question is how taxes and public spending work there, what are the laws, etc.

Oleksandr wrote: "Kateblue wrote: "I did find one thing strange [spoilers removed] "

I think they don't trust the police and the police itself is inchoate in Borderlands... by the way, an interesting question is ho..."

I do wonder how there are police in a place where the upper crust only cares about themselves. They must pay for the police. Maybe the police are just there to keep everyone away from the upper crust? And to make sure the "worst" are kept in check.

I wondered when I was reading where the prison was. If criminals are elves, I suppose maybe some could be deported back to elfland, but some were deported from elfland in the first place, apparently, so that may not work in all cases. Besides if they get deported because they tend to break society's expectations, they may get deported right back to Borderland.

I guess we just have to use our suspension of disbelief. I'm good at that.

So I am planning to change the calendar and put book three for February and move all the others up a month. Let me know if you have a problem with this. Or if you have another suggestion.

Exile by Bellamy Bach, a moody piece and probably the weakest of the bunch so far. An elf woman, exiled from Elfland, her story told from POV of a human thief, who lives with her. 3*

Kateblue wrote: "So I am planning to change the calendar and put book three for February and move all the others up a month. Let me know if you have a problem with this. Or if you have another suggestion."

For me, it is fine and it seems no one else has joined this buddy read. The third one is also a collection of short stories. Do we plan to read three novels afterwards? or only story collections?

I am planning on reading the novels, and then there's 2 books of stories after. One of the novels starts out with Tick-Tick on the first page. Cannot remember which. I liked that Danceland story the best, so I was glad to see Tick-Tick

After the three novels there are two more groups of short stories,

1) The Essential Bordertown (not out in ebook), and it you can find one please send it to my email (epub or azw3 preferred as often the pdf's do not work well on a Kindle, and often I cannot change them well).
2) Welcome to Bordertown

I'm OK with reading all the stories on whatever schedule you prefer. The remaining short story books are, therefore,

Life on the Border
The Essential Bordertown (no e-book)
Welcome to Bordertown

I can fit the three novels in anytime, whenever you like. They all look extremely short. The shortest is 226 pages, the longest is 320 pages, but is by Emma Bull, whom I like. I have been excited to get to that one

I plan to try the 1st novel and if it works for me (sometimes authors good in short works aren't as good in longer works)

Oleksandr wrote: "I plan to try the 1st novel and if it works for me (sometimes authors good in short works aren't as good in longer works)"

I so agree. Larry Niven. I will think of more . . . The first two novels are by Will Shetterly, whom I know nothing about. The third is by Emma Bull, who wrote War for the Oaks, which I'm pretty sure we read in Hugo/Nebula. my review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

If you don't like the Shetterly books, you might try that one. Although I do not see a review from you for War for the Oaks. You usually write one. Were you not with us yet? I'm sure you were . . .

It wasn't among out H/N reads, because it wasn't nominated for either. GR says: Literary awards
Locus Award for Best First Novel and Nominee for Best Fantasy Novel (1988), Mythopoeic Fantasy Award Nominee (1988), Compton Crook Award Nominee (1988)

Well, I see Bone Dance was nominated for both H&N, but I apparently never read it. Too bad I have to wait til next year to nominate it for Women's month :-). thanks for setting me straight. Anyway, Emma Bull can really write IMHO, and that is why I got started on all this Borderland stuff. Because she is one of the writers.

I am not sure why I read War for the Oaks. Maybe it was with some other group. But I am glad I did.

Mockery by Ellen Kushner & Bellamy Bach a story about a group of artists, spending the best days of their lives in Soho, Bordertown. Each character has their 'dark secret', sometimes quite ordinary like being a halfing, not a true blood or having a policeman (copper) as their dad. The group always tries something new, from elvish drugs to printing a fake version of a popular cultural magazine... 3.25*

I agree that Mockery was not as good as some of the others in this collection. I'm not sure why. I like some of the characters, though.

Kateblue wrote: "I agree that Mockery was not as good as some of the others in this collection. I'm not sure why. I like some of the characters, though."

I guess because it lacks a plot, characters just do this, do that