alex ! > Recent Status Updates

Djinn, No Chaser was just entertaining. The ending was alright. It was good enough, but nothing mind-bending like a lot of the other stories in here

I really liked “How Interesting: A Tiny Man” and happened to read it right after visiting the Mary Shelley Frankenstein museum. I really enjoyed both endings, again the endings really made the whole story

Just finished “I’m Looking for Kadak” it was good and entertaining, but not super shocking or captivating like the other stories. I also couldn’t be arsed to look up all the Yiddish so some of it was lost on me

Just finished “The Beast That Shouted Love at the Heart of the World”

I enjoyed the structure and trying to work out what was happening, but that said I don’t entirely understand what the hell was going on

Just finished “Paladin of the Lost Hour” and I did really like it. It was slightly cliche but again I really liked the ending, and I’m glad Billy got closure. The commentary on equality was also very well done despite being subtle

Just finished “On the Downhill Side” I’ll be real, it was a bit too much like fantasy for me and wasn’t super interesting.

HOLY SHIIIIT “Mefisto in Onyx” WAS SO GOOD. The slow start with the anticipation of whether Spanning was innocent, just for that rollercoaster of the last 20 pages. Literally every twist got me. So good, jpint favourite with Repent, Harlequin

Just finished “Shatterday”. Not super mind blowing compared to the othwrs, but I preferred it to Chatting With Anubis. I like the slow acceptance and the idea of having to kill your worst self to be your best. I also like how you expect the mc to be the one to survive, when really it’s the opposite

Just finished “Pretty Maggie Moneyeyes” and I really enjoyed it. I wish Maggie wasn’t so sexualised, but I also like how she got one over Kostner in the end. Ellison definitely has a talent for endings.

Just finished “Jeffty Is Five”. Even though literally every cultural reference was lost on me I still really liked it and related a lot. It reminded me a lot of the difference between Star Trek pre and post J J Abrahms reboot. Every time a new show drops it seems to lose something. I also liked the distinction between reruns and things which were modern but created in the old style.

Just finished “The Whimper of Whipped Dogs”. Very dark especially in comparison to the first 4 I read, but very good all the same. It reminded me a lot of both the poem “First They Came” by Martin Niemöller and also the eyes of T. J. Eckleberg in The Great Gatsby. All in all it was quite horrifically realistic and I enjoyed it

Just finished “Anubis”, didn’t like that one too much, it wasn’t super engaging, but the idea of Moses being at the mercy of the egyptian gods is definitely intriguing

Just finished “The Deathbird” and I really loved it. Such an interesting exploration of religion and I loved the multiple narratives and non-linear structure it made it very engaging. I do think I was missing quite a bit of context based on the fact I’ve had little-to-no experience with religion, but I also find that fairly fitting for this particular story

Just finished ““Repent, Harlequin,” Said the Ticktockman”

That was so good. I actually prefetred it to I have no mouth which was surprising. I really like the end sentence and the whole idea of a society controlled entirely by time was very interesting, it reminded me a little of Brave New Worlds

Just finished “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream” and I adored it. It was really interesting and creepy, especially the depictions of the specific torture. Rip my girl Ellen being depicted only as a sex toy though.