Status Updates From Current Futures: A Sci-Fi O...

The Salt Dark, Deborah Biancotti. Interesting but could have been developed a bit more so the ending was more satisfying.
The Seething Sea Sufficeth Us, Cat Valente. The most novel of all the stories (so far), I wish it was longer.

Poems and Distant Lands, by Gu Shi. I enjoyed the imagination of the story and the characters' relationship.

Soft Edges, by Elizabeth Bear. I liked the premise and Bear does 'hard-boiled noir' well, but it got a little bogged down in the discussion of changing social systems.

“Haven” Karen Lord.
“The body remembers “ Kam Hurley
“The Little shepherdess “ Gwyneth Jones
Lord and Jones explore ideas of how humans can co-exist with the oceans even while there is much environmental change to deal with. Hurley explores psychological issues.

"Blue Lotus" Madeline Ashby,
"Her Seal Skin Coat" Lauren Beukes

Both interesting with novel approaches to considering the future of humanity and ocean life.

Sea Maple, Marie Lu
Sturdy Lanterns and Ladders, Malka Older.
Both stories combine cool uses of technology with a mixture of sadness and forward-looking optimism.

"Floating Rugs," by Mohale Mashigo. A lot of interesting ideas, left more tantalizing than realized by the brevity of the story.

Improvisations on an Ocean Call, Rochita Loenen-Ruiz, a different take on communicating with cetaceans.
Repatriation, Nalo Hopkinson, a realistic future with some hope too.

"Mother Ocean," by Vandana Singh, and "Talking In Pictures," by Sheila Finch. Some overlap in themes, which I guess isn't too surprising, but they took them in different directions. Singh's story had more depth but they were both interesting.

Revealing the existence of an emergent intelligence in one’s ranks is a great way to paint a target on your back.”

“A mind is a terrible thing to steal.”

“Basically.”

Madeline Ashby, Blue Lotus

Her eyes turned to me, wide and wondrous. Why do you like the water? she’d replied.

I’d smiled and tapped her nose. Because it always teaches me something new about life.

M. Lu, Sea Maples

"You stay away from a place too long and you begin to see it’s ugly. Land living is ugly, it’s too steady and it’s arrogant. I don’t remember it but collective memory tells me that it was wilfully ignorant."
Mohale Mashigo, Floating Rugs

I wonder now if my mother knew then that she would one day have to surrender me completely to the sea.
Rochita Loenen-Ruiz, Improvisations on an Ocean Call

"The thoughts you think on land, the old man said, are different from what you think with the sea. In the sea you learn to think with the water, the fish. That’s why people who make decisions on land, separated from the world by glass and concrete, air-conditioning and software, have such terrible ideas for the world."
Vandana Singh, Mother Ocean

Read:

"To Have and to Hold" by Brenda Peynado, a beautiful, melancholic piece about change and life goals. Creates a kind of emotional involvement I appreciate. - 4 stars

"Southern Residents" by Brenda Cooper, the collection ends on a positive note with a nod to humankinds ability to save the future. - 3.5 stars

The second half on the collection was stronger than the first one.
A great collaboration. RTC

Read:

"Soft Edges" by Elizabeth Bear, a thoughtprovoking little piece about conscience, principles and saving the world, with a good example how to work with pronouns instead of trying to nullifying gender identity. - 4 stars

"The Salt Dark" by Deborah Biancotti, a nice story that never moves above 'nice'. - 2.5 stars

"The Seething Sea Sufficeth Us" by Catherynne M. Valente, an Orca POV - 3 stars.

Read:

"The Body Remembers" by Kameron Hurley, PTSD therapy with ocean - not exactly new - 2.5 stars

"The Little Shepherdess" by Gwyneth Jones, interesting idea about a different way of deep sea exploitation - 3 stars

"Poems and Distant Lands" by Gu Shi, so far the best story. Clever idea, good narration structure and a memorable ending. That's what I'm looking for in short stories. - 4 stars

Read:
"Blue Lotus" by Madeline Ashby: an intriguing story which I have to re-read at the end, because I didn't get the last twist.

"Her Seal Skin Coat" by Lauren Beukes: an interesting idea of connecting with the experiment of being in somebody else's skin. - 3.5 stars

"Haven" by Karen Lord: another one of the stories I'm not sure what to make of. - 3 stars

Overall I start to wonder if my expectations are too high

Read:

"Floating Rugs" by Mohale Mashigo, which I unfortunately didn't feel - 2.5 stars
"Sea Maple" by Marie Lu, which had emotional depth, even though the topic is an often used one - 3.5 stars
"Sturdy Lanterns and Ladders" by Malka Older, where I wonder if it is on purpose that the title misplaced the adjective in comparison to the same expression in the text. Good idea, but in execution somehow a muss for me. - 3

Read:

"Repatriation" by Nalo Hopkinson: This little story has a positive outlook on the future which is a rare and therefore quite welcomed.

And what I forgot to mention with the stories I've read so far: the artwork is gorgeous!

3.5 stars

Read:

"Improvisations in an Ocean Call" by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz: another story about the interaction of cetaceans and humans. This one played with the idea of genetic enhancement and had a well-rounded execution. I felt myself drawn into the experience of the girl.

4 stars

Read:

"Talking in Pictures" by Sheila Finch: this one read like a nice first draft for a story, but not like a finished one.

2 stars

Progress is guesswork since I'm reading online without page numbers.

Read: "Mother Ocean" by Vandana Singh, a story about communication and belonging. It has some beautiful moments between a whale and a human. Overall it feels a bit unbalanced.

3.5 stars

Three stories left and I am sad since most of these are quite brilliant.