Starlight Express -- (5*) Haunting. Visceral, ghostly, and above all, rich in worldbuilding and future speculation. I'm sure it'll stickShort stories:
Starlight Express -- (5*) Haunting. Visceral, ghostly, and above all, rich in worldbuilding and future speculation. I'm sure it'll stick with me for some time.
The Last Days of Old Night -- (4*) A delightful retelling of old fairy tales, but with hardcore fantasy, rather SFish flare that's all Swanwick. Very entertaining.
The Year of the Three Monarchs -- (3*) Very Conan fantasy/allegory about living by, dying by swords.
Ghost Ships -- (4*) A self-proclaimed autobiographical story, down-to-earth and reflective for a ghost story.
The White Leopard -- (5*) Cool VR/Drone, but the connections with others gave it heart. Only then to twist a knife in by the end. Wicked.
Dragon Slayer -- (4*) Timey-Wimey fantasy done right.
The Warm Equations -- (4*) Disaster and friendship. But mostly about friendship.
Requiem for a White Rabbit -- (5*) DARK. So many great facets to this story, and each slams.
Dreadnought -- (5*) This one snuck up on me GOOD and kicked my ass. Loved, loved it. Wildly great characters.
Grandmother Dimetrodon -- (3*) I really wanted to like this more, but for the premise. It may be true, and the setting is interesting and strange, but the whole story just sat wrong to me.
The Star-Bear -- (4*) Reads like a love story to a literary friend. But very Russian, either way. :)
Nirvana Or Bust -- (4*) Change. Death, change, and synthesis. I rather liked this one.
Reservoir Ice -- (5*) Truly excellent time travel story. And extremely messy.
Artificial People -- (5*) People are people. What a damning sentiment.
Huginn And Muninn -- (5*) A proper send off for Alice Sheldon, her imagination, and a what-if about her suicide. Very creative.
Cloud -- (3*) More of a standard story without fantastical elements. Didn't really grab me.
Timothy: An Oral History -- (5*) Truly a fantastic story, stand out on all levels. No men. Just women in the world. :) Enter the only man... :)
Annie Without Crow -- (5*) Gods of Romance and Trickery up to their grand glories. Yet again.
The Universe Box -- (4*) Heist-like god wonkiness messing with them damn mortals again. And it's fun. Very fun.
Overall, I love this collection of short stories by Swanwick. I might even go as far to say that he's one of the best short fiction writers, period. The craft screams on page. I wouldn't miss it for the world, if I were you....more
I was right. Not just one, but two wars are breaking out. And a couple of metaphorical ones, too.
I'm SO glad some of the characters from before are geI was right. Not just one, but two wars are breaking out. And a couple of metaphorical ones, too.
I'm SO glad some of the characters from before are getting into the fight again. As much as I've grown to love all the new ones, it's really satisfying to see it all come together again.
A lot of consequences here. Massive consequences to the real world and especially this world. The Administrator's demise is hardly the worst part. BetA lot of consequences here. Massive consequences to the real world and especially this world. The Administrator's demise is hardly the worst part. Between the game's upcoming stress test and new baddies rising up on the other side and our MC's curse... things couldn't look bleaker.
As it is, this whole novella serves as a massive laid groundwork for a lot to come, no less the heroic return of a fallen hero. ...more
This is basically a straight continuation of the tower-climb, complete with more battles, reversals, and gains. All said, it's more of a middle scene This is basically a straight continuation of the tower-climb, complete with more battles, reversals, and gains. All said, it's more of a middle scene in a grand adventure than a full novel.
Not that it isn't entertaining as all hell, because it is.
This is a solid step-up for the action. For all the missing action in middle books, we get a great correction. It's especially good since we're not ceThis is a solid step-up for the action. For all the missing action in middle books, we get a great correction. It's especially good since we're not certain of the outcome.
Stakes: the whole world and all its people. The twist: the mindset you go out with.
I can't fault this at all. It's very beautiful. :)
I'm of two minds with this final book in the trilogy. First, I was very invested in exploration, etc, so when it turned into a PoV with an alien mindsI'm of two minds with this final book in the trilogy. First, I was very invested in exploration, etc, so when it turned into a PoV with an alien mindset that seemed too familiar with us, or being about an AI vs AI thriller surrounding base survival for the humans, I was a bit Meh.
After all, I wanted to have truly alien aliens and exploration, discovery, etc.
On the other hand, it was still pretty entertaining and the end was pretty cool. So I went from meh to alright. Not too bad. A decent SF to be read strictly for a bit of escapism....more
"The Stars You Can't See by Looking Directly" by Samantha Murray - (5*) I'm a sucker for end of the world baby stories when they don't go gentle. Thin"The Stars You Can't See by Looking Directly" by Samantha Murray - (5*) I'm a sucker for end of the world baby stories when they don't go gentle. Think Darwin's Children. Now draw lines in the sand. *shiver*
"Down We Go Gently" by M. L. Clark - (4*) Crazy weird deep spacecraft wonkiness. I likey.
"Donor Unknown" by Nika Murphy - (4*) Odd how an android painting heist mystery really turns into something completely different. :)
"Je Ne Regrette Rien" by James Patrick Kelly - (4*) Food and a balanced (not feel-good) look at robotics (anthropomorphism). Nuanced, but I'm not entirely sure how I feel about it.
"Tomorrow's Beautiful Dream" by Ju Chu - (5*) A very chilling dystopian nightmare of ultra-efficiency. Right at home in any cyberpunk portfolio. Soon to be our reality. Again.
"The Desolate Order of the Head in the Water" by A. W. Prihandita - (4*) Almost reminds me of an old impressionist work, but revolving around AI takeover.
"Space is Deep" by Seth Chambers - (4*) Ah, the problems of living in space. Rather grounded for a story.
Out of all these stories, I really enjoyed John Chu's. The others are just fine, but "Tomorrow's Beautiful Dream" was chilling.
Not a bad month but there have been better....more
Well, honestly, I thought this would have been a more breathtaking take on colony shipping, especially with a plug like what we get in the blurb. CompWell, honestly, I thought this would have been a more breathtaking take on colony shipping, especially with a plug like what we get in the blurb. Completely altering the way she thinks about everything, etc.
And to be fair, it IS there, in the text. Hearthspace itself is pretty fascinating. Multi-universal exploration of space, of space itself AND alt-universes--a very Baxterian trope we've seen with his Manifold series.
But in this particular book, I can't say whether it's an awfully our-world-reflective story, or whether it's almost cartoonishly set with its focus squarely on fascism. And, like I said, it's rather too on the nose.
You'd think an interstellar civilization could get things moving a bit better without mass-scale slavery. But it IS audacious enough to be plausible. Especially when the goal is just power and looting without thinking about sustainability or long term anything.
Ahem.
No, no, it's not relevant today.
But that brings me back to my rating. Why so low? Because it's practically all just fighting the man from inside the belly of the beast, with just a FEW small parts that fulfill the promise of the blurb.
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