#ReadShortStories... about underwater ballrooms and bloody revolutions (76 to 80)

This batch mostly, but not solely, contains stories from The Underwater Ballroom Society, an anthology edited by Stephanie Burgis and Tiffany Trent that I’ve been reading (as you may have noticed if you regularly follow my blog posts). I kind of expected that I’d break them up a bit more, but things worked out this way when the stories were hard to put down.

Penhallow Amid Passing Things by Iona Datt Sharma — This story took a little bit to get into its stride, but I enjoyed it once it did. Smuggling, a brief lesbian romance, and fading magic are the elements that make up this story. The world was well constructed, for all that we only saw a small part of it. I find myself wondering whether there are other stories set there. Source: The Underwater Ballroom Society edited by Stephanie Burgis and Tiffany Trent

Mermaids, Singing by Tiffany Trent — I really enjoyed this novella. It’s set in Victorian London and follows a weredog from another world and a half-Chinese British girl from this one. The depth of world building is excellent and the story balances the weird fantasy elements with the more mundane well. Source: The Underwater Ballroom Society edited by Stephanie Burgis and Tiffany Trent

After a Revolution by Dimas Ilaw — An angry story about resistance in the real world and the horror of various revolutions in the Phillipines. The second I’ve read from this author in a similar vein and I continue to be unsure how I should feel about the story as a story (aside from outraged at the content). Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/after-a-revolution/

A Brand New Thing by Jenny Moss — A story set in the late 1920s about a neuroatypical girl, her disapproving family, books and something magical. I really enjoyed it and was delighted by the book references and metaphors. I was also pleased with the happy ending. Source: The Underwater Ballroom Society edited by Stephanie Burgis and Tiffany Trent

Four Revelations from the Rusalka Ball by Cassandra Khaw — Not a novella; actually a fairly short story. Much shorter than I expected. But on the other hand, about the level of surreal that I’ve come to expect from Cassandra Khaw. The title pretty much says it all. Source: The Underwater Ballroom Society edited by Stephanie Burgis and Tiffany Trent