Short stories 11 to 17 are late and disorderly

This batch of stories is an unusual number because I feel bad for posting them so late. I had plans to do a proper Hugo round-up post as I did for novellas, but for various reasons that didn't happen. So here are some of the short stories and novelettes that were shortlisted for Hugo awards.

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The Blur in the Corner of Your Eye by Sarah Pinsker — An enjoyable mystery-ish story about a mystery writing a in cabin in the woods. Things inevitably go wrong, but it wasn’t quite the horror scenario I was expecting. I enjoyed it. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/the-blur-in-the-corner-of-your-eye

The Archronology of Love by Caroline M. Yoachim — A long story about interesting far-future alien tech which records history. People interacting with said tech while trying to work out what happened to a failed colony planet. Also a sad love story. It was OK, but it didn’t really grab me. Source: http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-archronology-of-love/

Omphalos by Ted Chiang — An unexpected story told in an unusual way. Almost an epistolary story, but told through prayers rather than letters. Set in a world a bit less technologically developed than ours, and following a scientist who knows exactly how long ago the world was created. And that it was created by a divine being. I enjoyed it more than I expected. Source: Exhalation by Ted Chiang

Emergency Skin by NK Jemisin — An entertaining read partially depicting a society sitting somewhere between Athos (Bujold, Ethan of Athos) and the alt-right. It’s also told in an unusual way, which works very efficiently to tell the story and highlight the horrors of that particular society. We actually only get half the story, but it’s more than enough. Source: Amazon Forward Collection

As the Last I May Know by SL Huang — An intriguing premise: weapons of mass destruction can only be set off if the president first murders a little girl. I enjoyed the story and was quite taken by both the power play and the moral questions raised. Source: https://www.tor.com/2019/10/23/as-the-last-i-may-know-s-l-huang/

For He Can Creep by Siobhan Carroll — An amusing story about a cat fighting Satan for a poet’s soul. It was not what I expected from the title, and was certainly entertaining enough. Source: https://www.tor.com/2019/07/10/for-he-can-creep-siobhan-carroll/

Blood is Another Word for Hunger by Rivers Solomon — A very weird story. Not sure what to make of it, to be honest. I didn’t hate it, but I also didn’t love it. I'm sorry that I have failed to adequately describe the weirdness of murder resulting in spontaneous births. Source: https://www.tor.com/2019/07/24/blood-is-another-word-for-hunger-rivers-solomon/

Short Stories #6–10, mostly Hugo shortlisted

I have not "officially" read very many short stories this year. As I think I mentioned in my last short story post, this is in large part because of reading submissions for Rebuilding Tomorrow, my new anthology, coming out by the end of the year if no more apocalypses hit. Since I, of course, can't mention those on the blog, my other reading has been rather slow. This latest batch were partly inspired by the Hugo short list, except for the first one, which just jumped out at me for being a cool story.

I plan to do some proper Hugo round ups when I've read all the relevant things, but for now, here are some of them, in the random order I read them in:

Little Free Library by Naomi Kritzer — A very cute story about a woman who built a tiny community library. It has a nice mystery and a compelling ending. I liked it a lot and I won’t be surprised if it makes next year’s Hugo ballot. Source: https://www.tor.com/2020/04/08/little-free-library-naomi-kritzer/

A Catalogue of Storms by Fran Wilde — A surreal but sweet/sad (sort of) story set in a world where storms have some degrees of sentience and certain people become incorporeal to fight them. I enjoyed it. It felt quite poetic. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/a-catalog-of-storms/

Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island by Nibedita Sen — An interesting story told in snippets from the points of view of a variety of people. It explores colonialism, diaspora and a few other issues, with an additional off-putting layer of cannibalism. I generally find stories told through snippets interesting, but I’m not sure I can easily like them as much as traditional narratives. Source: http://www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/ten-excerpts-from-an-annotated-bibliography-on-the-cannibal-women-of-ratnabar-island/

And Now His Lordship Is Laughing by Shiv Ramdas — A satisfying story of revenge against colonisers, after a detailed description of some of their atrocities. I was not a fan of the narration from the Strange Horizons podcast. Source: http://strangehorizons.com/fiction/and-now-his-lordship-is-laughing/

Away With the Wolves by Sarah Gailey — An engaging enough story about a werewolf who suffers from chronic pain when human. The story was more or less about the idea that one need not torture oneself just to find acceptance in the community. I found it got a little preachy at the very end, but overall it was fine. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/away-with-the-wolves

Short stories (1–5), a seemingly slow start, amidst much hidden reading

So this is my first #ReadShortStories post of 2020. April might seem a bit late, but in defence of my short story reading consistency, I would like to point out that until the end of March I was reading a large number of stories that were submitted to Rebuilding Tomorrow. So any time I thought about reading a short story that wasn't a submission, I felt guilty. But that's over now. The submissions have all been read and responded to (either with a rejection or a hold request, bending a higher level of global stability — if you submitted something but didn't hear back, feel free to query).

Which brings me to this first batch of stories. Without further ado:

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Did We Break the End of the World? by Tansy Rayner Roberts — Reread in aid of editing a sequel story that will be appearing in Rebuilding Tomorrow. Source: Defying Doomsday edited by Tsana Dolichva and Holly Kench

The Frost on Jade Buds by Aliette de Bodard — A story of mindships, the threat of war and galactic foreigners. I didn’t get into this story as easily as I have some of the other Xuya stories. Source: The Dragon that Flew Out of the Sun by Aliette de Bodard

Meat Cute by Gail Carriger — A novelette prequel to the novel Soulless. You don’t have to have read Soulless or the Finishing School books to appreciate this story… but I do think it would help a lot. It’s cute and funny, as one expects from Carriger, and follows Alexia on the night of her very first meeting with Connal. Source: Stand-alone purchase

Inheritance by Emma Newman — An emotional slice of a character’s life, set before the events in Planetfall. A good read, but probably not as impactful if you haven’t read Planetfall. Source: Emma Newman’s newsletter

The Generation Gap by Emma Newman — A significant story (not a vignette) about a father who is worried that there’s something wrong with his kid. I loved the reversal and the plausibility of the resolution. I think it’s my favourite story of this series. Source: Emma Newman’s newsletter

Short stories after a long break (111 to 115)

It has been quite some time since I blogged any short story reviews. This is mainly because I stopped reading as much of anything, as you might have noticed from my infrequent blog posts. Part of that is due to reading submissions for Rebuilding Tomorrow, but also because of focussing on other things in my spare time 🤷‍♀️

Anyway, the stories below were read in July, September and December. I am hoping there will be a few more of these review posts before the end of the year, but we'll see.

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The Fermi paradox Is Our Business Model by Charlie Jane Anders — Aliens come across a mostly destroyed Earth, bicker amongst themselves and make choices their bosses will probably disapprove of. I was entertained and amused. Source: Six Months, Three Days, Five Others by Charlie Jane Anders

The Dangerous Choice by Emma Newman — A vignette about a character from After Atlas. I suspect there’s some interesting nuance I missed because it’s been too long since I read the book. Source: Emma Newman’s newsletter

They Keep Killing Astra by Tansy Rayner Roberts — Another short story set in the Cookie Cutter Superhero universe. I still love the Australianness of the setting. This was an interesting story and addition to the cannon but I wanted more! It ended with more questions than answers. Definitely looking forward to the promised final story in this world, which I’m hoping will provide answers. Source: Tansy Rayner Roberts’s Patreon

I Am Not the Hive Mind of Transetti Prime by Steven Fischer — A particularly poignantly written flash piece. I enjoyed it. Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-02420-y

As Good As New by Charlie Jane Anders — This was a brilliant and somewhat absurd story about the end of the world and the best way to resolve the apocalypse. I really enjoyed it and the many facets that made up the story (I don’t want to be more specific because spoilers). Source: Six Months, Three Days, Five Others by Charlie Jane Anders

#ReadShortStories all over the place (106–110)

Stories from a variety of sources in this batch. Aside from finishing off my Hugo novelette reading (stay tuned for a round up of all those stories), I listened to an audio story while travelling (possibly it was a novella, but I'm including it here) and read a paper story, so a range of formats.


Rules for the Care and Maintenance of Phoenix Eggs For Wayward Daughters by Tansy Rayner Roberts — An amusing flash/listicle story about caring for a Phoenix egg, just like it says in the title. Source: Tansy Rayner Roberts’ Patreon (and subsequently newsletter)

When We Were Starless by Simone Heller — Exquisitely detailed world building as we follow a tribe and their spiritual leader across a world unable to sustain life. Their world is very different from ours and, although the tribe is not human, they are recognisably people who have forgotten their distant past and are distrustful when confronted with a remnant of it. The story felt fantastical when I started reading but became more clearly science fiction as I read further. A very well-thought-out story. Source: http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/heller_10_18/

Into Darkness by Anike Kirsten — Implausible but sort of interesting flash. Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01798-z

Let Sleeping Princes Lie by Tansy Rayner Roberts — An entertaining story in a parody fairytale world with royalty and reporters and the need to dodge stray spinning wheels. I enjoyed it. Source: http://sheepmightfly.podbean.com/e/let-sleeping-princes-lie-part-1 (also available in print)

The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections by Tina Connolly — A fantasy story about magical pastries that forcibly evoke certain memories. Well, the actual story is about the wife of the baker that makes them and the tyrannical King who has taken the throne. It was an interesting that I enjoyed even as I wondered how it would end satisfactorily. Source: https://www.tor.com/2018/07/11/the-last-banquet-of-temporal-confections-tina-connolly/

#ReadShortStories 101 - 105

In this batch I finish off Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee (but you'll have to wait for my next post to see my full review of the novella, "Glass Cannon") and read a couple of other stories, including a Hugo shortlisted novelette by Zen Cho.


Vacation by Yoon Ha Lee — Different characters take a trip to the zoo in this flash piece. Source: Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee

Gamer’s End by Yoon Ha Lee — A second person short story about an advanced trainee sitting a test under Jedao. It’s one of the longer stories in this collection and is not so much filling in past anecdotes as telling a self-contained story set in the same world. And the second person narration adds some interesting flavour. Source: Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee

If at First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again by Zen Cho — A wonderful story about an imugi trying to ascend to a heavenly dragon form. It takes a long time and learns many things along the way. Both about the Way and, eventually, about humans. A very enjoyable story with an emotional and bittersweet ending. Source: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/if-at-first-you-dont-succeed-try-try-again-by-zen-cho/

The Letter by Emma Newman — A short piece about someone who wasn’t chosen to go on the Atlas spaceship with the pathfinder, and her coping with that. An encouraging read. Source: Emma Newman’s newsletter

Glass Cannon by Yoon Ha Lee — This is a novella (well and truly; it takes up the entire second half of Hexarchate Stories) set after Revenant Gun. It contains a lot of spoilers for the end of the Machineries of Empire series and I definitely don’t recommend reading it without having read the series. Not only will it be confusing, but it will also spoil some of the surprises and enjoyment of the books. In fact, a proper review of it is spoileriffic, so I will restrict it to my full review of Hexarchate Stories. Source: Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee

#ReadShortStories until you reach 100 (96–100)

...and then keep reading.

So this batch, which brings my yearly total of short stories up to 100, all come from the collection Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee. I had a lot of waiting time and it was just so easy to keep reading them. They are all on the sort side, although that is partly because I had previously read many of the longer stories in this collection.

Calendrical Rot by Yoon Ha Lee — Things get weird. Apparently this was almost the prologue to Ninefox Gambit, so it’s interesting to me that it works as a short story. Source: Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee

Birthdays by Yoon Ha Lee — Young Cheris and her family move out of their ghetto and have to give up some of their traditions. A nicely told flash story. Source: Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee

Sword-Shopping by Yoon Ha Lee — Cheris and her girlfriend go to buy a sword. A cute flash piece. Source: Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee

Persimmons by Yoon Ha Lee — A cute flash story about a servitor arrived at Kel Academy from a small village. Who doesn’t like sentient robot stories? Source: Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee

Irriz the Assassin-Cat by Yoon Ha Lee — A cute flash featuring a cat soothing a child.  Source: Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee

#ReadShortStories to stave off anxiety (91–95)

All flash in this batch. Not really intentionally, but that's how it turned out. I wasn't expecting the large number of flash stories in The Hexarchate Stories, which isn't a bad thing, but has lead me to read more of them in a row than I might have otherwise.


In The Spaces of Strangers by L P Lee — A little predictable, but not a bad flash piece about swapping bodies and predatory scams. Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01578-9

Twenty-six Seconds on Tetonia-3 by Wendy Nikel — Easily the best flash piece I’ve read in Nature this year. Heartfelt and with good, developed worldbuilding. Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01579-8

Silence by Yoon Ha Lee — A family interlude told from the point of view of Jedao’s older brother Rodao. A straightforwardly enjoyable read. Source: Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee

Gloves by Yoon Ha Lee — Pretty much smut, with a bit of character exploration thrown in. I can’t imagine the framing details working very well for someone who hadn’t read the series. Source: Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee

Hunting Trip by Yoon Ha Lee — A vignette featuring Jedao and a general stopping at a zoo en route to a hunting trip. Source: Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee

#ReadShortStories because you can't put a book down (82–90)

A longer batch today to avoid repeating the stories that appeared in my most recent review of The Manticore's Vow. The majority of these stories come from the same collection: Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee, and are all set in the universe of the Machineries of Empire books (which start with Ninefox Gambit). I will try to mix up the next few batches so that it's not all stories set in the same world — especially since I still have some Hugo reading to finish off.


It’s All My Fault, Or The Beanstalk Sucks by Ian Randal Strock — Don’t think the story makes sense physically, but wasn’t that interesting in any case. Post-nuclear apocalypse followed by an experiment gone wrong. Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01508-9

The Chameleon’s Gloves by Yoon Ha Lee — A fascinating story about a Kel outcast set before even the Heptarchate came into existence. And if that sentence made no sense, it’s a story about a thief given a job no one should have ever had to sign up for. Source: Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee

How the Andan Court by Yoon Ha Lee — Flash/prose poem that I’ve read before.  Source: Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee

Seven Views of the Liozh Entrance Exam by Yoon Ha Lee — Longer flash musing on Liozh examinations, told from a relative future perspective, after the faction had fallen. Source: Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee

Omens by Yoon Ha Lee — A short story about a couple’s date, dripping with significance if you’re paying attention and have read the Hexarchate books. Source: Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee

Honesty by Yoon Ha Lee — A short story about very young Jedao and his even younger sister.  Source: Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee

Bunny by Yoon Ha Lee — Another young Jedao and sister, this time dealing with a missing cat. A cute story. Source: Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee

Black Squirrels by Yoon Ha Lee — A hilarious story of a Shuos academy prank. Source: Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee

#ReadShortStories all over the place (76–80)

I'm still making my way through the Hugo Novelette shortlist, as evidenced by only one of those novelettes appearing in this batch of reading. I also started a new collection: The Manticore's Vow by Cassandra Rose Clarke. It's very short — only three stories — so expect to see either the rest of the stories soon or the review of the whole thing imminently.

It is almost interesting to note that all five stories in this batch came from different sources. (Although I put in the Uncanny link for the Aliette de Bodard story, I actually got it from the Hugo voter packet.) Unfortunately Emma Newman's story is currently not accessible to people who don't subscribe to her newsletter, but she has promised that the stories will be collected together in a book eventually.



Remember by A J Lee — An OK flash piece. A predictable twist and an insufficiently dramatic ending, perhaps. Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01507-w

What Travis Built by Emma Newman — A short piece filling in an off-page moment set after After Atlas. A sweet vignette about the romantic relationship between two characters and also a farm-sim game. Source: Emma Newman’s newsletter

The Thing About Ghost Stories by Naomi Kritzer — The story opens like a nonfiction essay but then settles into the lived experience of the narrator, who is a ghost-story collecting anthropologist. As well as discussing different types of ghost stories, the story gives us a glimpse into the narrators life with her ageing mother. I quite enjoy this story, for its discussion of ghost stories as well as the main story. I guess I had enough of a scientist to enjoy such categorisations. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/the-thing-about-ghost-stories/

The Dragon That Flew Out of the Sun by Aliette de Bodard — A story of racial tensions arising from one group destroying the planet of another (well, rendering it uninhabitable). I liked both the idea and the execution. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/the-dragon-that-flew-out-of-the-sun/

The Manticore’s Vow by Cassandra Rose Clarke — Narrated in first person by a manticore, this story follows a young manticore, her human servant and some friends as she misadventures in her father’s kingdom. I enjoyed it well enough, particularly towards the end of the story. Source: The Manticore’s Vow By Cassandra Rose Clarke

#ReadShortStories in context (71–75)

In this batch I finished off the fiction in Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction, the special edition of Uncanny, and caught up on a couple of Nature Futureses.

I want to briefly talk about a a short story in DPDSF which I read a while ago, “A House by the Sea” by P. H. Lee. When I read it, I did not realise it was from that particular issue of Uncanny because, for whatever reason (probably Twitter) it was presented to be without context. At that time, I didn't really "get" the story, because of said lack of context. When I came across it more recently, within DPDSF, I immediately recognised it when I started reading and, more importantly, the story suddenly made perfect sense. I had initially suspected that it was about disabled people, but now I had firm context to that effect. Does that mean it's a less good story if it isn't guaranteed to work without that context? I'm not sure, but I suspect a few of the stories in this particular issue of Uncanny fall into the same category of making more sense within their intended context. Is this ultimately a good or bad (or neutral) thing? What do you think?

This Will Not Happen to You by Marissa Lingen — I liked this one. A story about the frustrations of being diagnosed (too late) when chronically ill. Presented in a somewhat sarcastic tone to someone (sort of) who thinks these things only happen to other people. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/this-will-not-happen-to-you/

By Degrees and Dilatory Time by SL Huang — A thoughtful read about a man getting artificial eyes after a cancer diagnosis. It’s entered mainly on his feelings and sense of self. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/by-degrees-and-dilatory-time/

Listen by Karin Tidbeck — Another enjoyable story, this one a bit more alien in that it literally involves interactions between planets and different types of people. A neuroatypical protagonist is translator for aliens whose speech other people cannot remember after they have heard. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/listen/

Without Access by Deborah Walker — Flash, kind of interesting world building but a blatant premise. Unsubtly about internet/social media addicts but also with aliens. Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01316-1

Brick City by Robert S Wilson — Not a bad flash piece, charting the end of life and eventual fate of an obsolete android. I found the ending appropriate but was a bit confused by the intended emotional resonance. Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01429-7

#ReadShortStories and travel in mind as well as body (66–70)

As I mentioned in the last batch, I decided to make a concerted effort to finish New Suns after having neglected it for a little while. Once I did that (the last few stories were enjoyable, I had just stalled after one or two stories I didn't enjoy in the middle-ish of the anthology), I moved on to making my way through Uncanny's special issue Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction. That's where the latter stories in this batch have come from.

One Easy Trick by Hiromi Goto — A cute story about a woman, her belly fat, and a forest. I quite enjoyed it and found it a bit unexpected, in a good way.  Source: New Suns edited by Nisi Shawl

Harvest by Rebecca Roanhorse — A kind of creepy story. I found aspects of the ending a little too ambiguous but, nevertheless, it was well written. Source: New Suns edited by Nisi Shawl

Kelsey and the Burdened Breath by Darcie Little Badger — A bit of a mystery but mostly a ghost story. I enjoyed the mythology of it and wouldn’t have minded a longer/meatier story. Source: New Suns edited by Nisi Shawl

Abigail Dreams of Weather by Stu West — Cancer kids (or similar) living on a space station during a meteor shower. A cool scene-setting story, although there wasn’t very much to it beyond the worldbuilding. Also opened with a lot of vomit, which I could have lived without.  Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/abigail-dreams-of-weather/

Disconnect by Fran Wilde — This story was about a woman with wandering joints (literally they seem to disappear and reappear in space) who is also a physics lecturer (well, adjunct, since it’s set in the US). Since I have stupid joints and am an astrophysicist, it seemed like I should have enjoyed this story. Alas, instead I got the very strong feeling that the author only had a passing knowledge of physics at best, which was very frustrating. Ultimately, this story did not work for me at all.  Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/disconnect/

#ReadShortStories on trains in other countries (61–65)

This batch starts off with a bit of randomness, but then I started on a concerted effort to finish off New Suns (which is a few more stories beyond those shown here). It helped that I did a bit of recreational travelling and actually had time to read without worrying about work stuff. (I didn't get much reading done on my last trip, partly because it was for work and partly because I had a lot of deadlines around the same time, so this was a nice change.)


The Fast Stuff by George Zebrowski — A surprisingly incoherent story that felt like a bit of a slog despite being flash (really, it’s one page, I should not have gotten bored) and despite the author’s noted accolades (not that I’d heard of him before). A pilot yearns to fly impossibly fast. (And then he does, because aliens.) Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01180-z

Act of Kindness by Emma Newman — A nice little Planetfall universe vignette. Showing another character’s point of view during a scene from After Atlas. Source: Emma Newman’s newsletter

Gulliver at Home by Anatoly Belilovsky — Flash concerning aliens and astronauts, written in a more interesting way than I might have expected. Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01249-9

The Robots of Eden by Anil Menon — A dystopian/utopian future in which most affluent people have implants that regulate their emotions and protect them from life’s emotional struggles. I was quite intrigued by the story of a banker dealing exceptionally well with divorce and even befriending his ex wife’s new husband, with the dark realities of the world lurking beneath the surface. Source: New Suns edited by Nisi Shawl

Dumb House by Andrea Hairston — A bit of a slice of life story set in a dystopian rural US. A woman living in a “dumb house” fends off salesmen trying to upgrade her to a smart house. The character development was interesting but I felt that a bit more of the worldbuilding details could have been included; some aspects were clear, some foggy. Source: New Suns edited by Nisi Shawl

#ReadShortStories, even if only because they're Hugo shortlisted (56–60)

I spent some of my weekend making a push on the Hugo ballot and the last three stories in this batch are the result. I've now finished the short story ballot, so a comparison of all the Hugo short story nominees will be coming soon. Stay tuned.



The Shadow We Cast Through Time by Indrapramit Das — A dark and fantastical take of a far future but lowish-tech colony on some alien planet. The story evoked a compelling mood, but I found it a bit too slow to draw me in effectively, for all that it was interesting during sufficiently long bursts of reading. Source: New Suns edited by Nisi Shawl

A Billion Dots of Light by Matt Thompson — Flash about a very dehumanised pod-generation ship. Pretty horrifying and with a bit of a clichéd ending. Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01105-w

The Court Magician  by Sarah Pinsker — An unexpected but interesting story about a poor boy, street magic and the more powerful real magic he eventually learns about. I liked it. Source: http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-court-magician

Nine Last Days on Planet Earth by Daryl Gregory — The story was OK but I found it a bit old fashioned. I’m also not sure that the title made sense in the end with the direction the story took, but I don’t want to spoil it by explaining. I was weirded out by how often the (gay!) protagonist described how beautiful his mother was. That was super weird, and only got more so with repetition. Overall, the science parts with the apocalypse were interesting, the rest was fine. Source: https://www.tor.com/2018/09/19/nine-last-days-on-planet-earth-daryl-gregory/

The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat by Brooke Bolander — I found this dinosaur-esque fairytale very entertaining. I even laughed a few times. From the chatter in the podcast around it, I gather the rest of the Uncanny dinosaur issue, which I haven’t read, is set in a shared world. But this story absolutely stood alone. It also wasn’t what I expected, since it also contained humans, not just raptors. And a witch. Anyway, very entertaining. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/the-tale-of-the-three-beautiful-raptor-sisters-and-the-prince-who-was-made-of-meat/

#ReadShortStories for whatever reasons (51–55)

Some miscellaneous reading in this batch, somewhat driven by the Hugo shortlist. I will also be posting Hugo roundups by category once I get through an entire category. I am close to finishing short stories, but I am waiting for the Hugo packet for novellas and longer.


The Madness of Memory by Kameron Hurley — On a world with two races, not only the slave race is enslaved. But there are other problems for the ruling species. A thought provoking read with an expected resolution to an unexpected problem. Source: Kameron Hurley’s Patreon

The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington by P. Djèlí Clark — A story told in nine snippets pertaining to the lives of nine black slaves, set in a parallel world where magic and magical creatures exist. It was an interesting read, but felt a little long/slow because of its structure. Source: https://firesidefiction.com/the-secret-lives-of-the-nine-negro-teeth-of-george-washington

STET by Sarah Gailey — Hands down, the most interesting thing about this story is the form in which it’s presented. The actual story is sad and all, but I do think the impact is lessened by the format. An interesting experiment but I didn’t feel as drawn into the story as I would a more conventional narrative, though it was still heartbreaking. Source: https://firesidefiction.com/stet

A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies by Alix E. Harrow — A lovely story about a witchy librarian, who just wants to help her patrons, and one patron in particular who hasn’t been dealt the best hand by fate. I quite enjoyed it. Source: https://www.apex-magazine.com/a-witchs-guide-to-escape-a-practical-compendium-of-portal-fantasies

Amped Life by John Cooper Hamilton — Creepy and sort of funny flash piece about astronauts kept awake for maximum productivity with pills. I liked the twist. Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01042-8

#ReadShortStories (46 to 50)

The milestone of reaching 50 short stories read for the year comes just as I begin my Hugo reading, with story number fifty coming from the short story shortlist. If you would like to join me in reading the Hugo nominated fiction (or non-fiction etc) then I draw your attention to this post on File 770, which goes through the short list and directs you to where you can read/watch/listen to everything for free or, at least, read an excerpt or watch a trailer.


Internal Investigations by Naomi Alderman — This story was interesting in so far as it looked at hacking the mind/body, but not exceptionally original in doing so. It was well written enough to be enjoyable and creepy, which counts for a lot. Source: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00pbgrk

The Frequency of Compassion by A. Merc Rustad — There were too many very wrong throwaway statements about space/physics for me to enjoy this story. For me they overshadowed what was otherwise a nice story about an agender and neuroatypical protagonist making first contact at the edge of the solar system. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/the-frequency-of-compassion/

The Stars Above by Katharine Duckett — An excellent story, my favourite in the issue so far. A small Kazakhstani village returns to nomadism and living off the grid after aliens invade. The protagonist being a foreigner worked well for the outsider view and the links to family back in the US. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/the-stars-above/

The Things I Miss the Most by Nisi Shawl — An unexpected story essentially about a hallucination generated by a futuristic treatment for seizures. I found it touching and difficult to have a single opinion on, in a good way. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/the-things-i-miss-the-most/

The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society by T. Kingfisher — An amusing story about the tables turning on a group of fairies who usually get their way and enjoy leaving humans to pine after them. Short and sweet. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/the-rose-macgregor-drinking-and-admiration-society/

#ReadShortStories (41 to 45)

More disabled people destroying science fiction in this batch. And a couple of flash pieces from Nature Futures.

I have been too busy using up all of my brain spoons on various things (mostly work) so these preambles might continue to be short for the foreseeable future. Feel free to leave me a comment if you actually miss them.

Birthday Girl by Rachel Swirsky — A look at how approaches to mental illness/neurodiversity in children have changed over a generation. Highlighted by comparisons between the protagonist and her young niece. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/birthday-girl/

An Open Letter to the Family by Jennifer Brozek — An epistolary story set in the far future. A woman tells her family of upcoming medical plans. It was a more interesting take than I expected from the opening paragraphs. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/an-open-letter-to-the-family/

Heavy Lifting by A. T. Greenblatt — A coder/hacker girl working with her slightly douchey friend to tack down factory robots gone rogue in a (vague) post-apocalyptic world. A fun read.  Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/heavy-lifting/

A Picture is Worth by Beth Cato — An amusing flash piece about Martians who have severe ideological differences to the human race. Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00884-6

The Librarian by Robert Dawson — A flash piece about a neglected library staffed only by a robotic librarian. I got an unnecessarily bitter vibe from it, though it wasn’t exactly a bad story. Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00905-4

#ReadShortStories (36 to 40)

A mixed bag here, from flash to long novella to getting back into New Suns to starting a new (to me) issue of Uncanny. I really enjoyed "Geometries of Belonging" by Rose Lemberg and I am definitely going to read more stories set in that universe. On the other hand, I was stuck part way through "Blood and Bells" for a long time which is one reason why my progress on New Suns has been so slow of late. The book is already out so I will try to get through the last few stories quickly and get my full review written up and posted soon.

Please [redacted] My Last E-mail by Kurt Pankau — A flash in the form of an email about an earlier email that was definitely not full of factual information about a robot army. Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00797-4

Geometries of Belonging by Rose Lemberg 

Although I was warned, I was still surprised at how long this story was. It’s a novelette but it must be close to the upper limit. It took me a few days of reading in short- to medium-sized bursts to get through it. But I really enjoyed it. 

The world building is quite substantial so it did take me a little bit to get fully immersed in the world, but once I did I was hooked. The attitudes of the main character are deftly used to highlight the way the world works and even allow us to learn about other countries in this world. There were significant elements of both trans and autistic (I think) experiences, though not named as such, because fantasy world. I found these were presented in a very compelling way that left much scope to empathise with the protagonist. 

I gather there are other stories set in the same world and I am now very keen to read them and plan to track down what I can. 

Source: http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/geometries-of-belonging/

Blood and Bells by Karin Lowachee — This story was a slog to get into and I ended up setting it aside for quite a while. When I came back to it and read further it was more interesting (to see the actual plot develop). Gang warfare and a father trying to protect his kid in the middle of a murder investigation. Source: New Suns edited by Nisi Shawl

Give Me Your Black Wings Oh Sister by Silvia Moreno-Garcia — An enticing story about a witch living in a city and attempting to lead a normal life. I enjoyed the time and writing style especially. Source: New Suns edited by Nisi Shawl

The House on the Moon by William Alexander — A mostly fun story but an unsubtle one. A kid with a cane on the moon, a field trip to a castle, some depressing recent (future) history. Quite readable, though the ending was a little confusing, with an element out of left field. Source: https://uncannymagazine.com/article/the-house-on-the-moon/

#ReadShortStories (31 to 35)

More progress on the New Suns anthology in this batch of short stories, plus a detour to a couple of other stories. I now have a Nature subscription, so I expect to be reading each week's Nature Futures story in paper when the magazine/journal arrives. I imagine that will increase the proportion of flash fiction featured here.

Burn the Ships by Alberto Yáñez — A story of conquerors from the east colonising an empire in southern America. There is oppression and slaughter and vengeful magic. I think the setting is an alternate world rather than a precisely real historic setting. It was a longer story and featured culture that I have not come across too frequently in stories. Source: New Suns edited by Nisi Shawl

The Freedom of the Shifting Sea by Jaymee Goh — One of my favourite stories in the collection. A multigenerational epic featuring a mermaid/mermillipede (any description from me isn’t going to do her justice, I suggest just reading the story). I liked the twist on the traditional mermaid idea and the way the story spanned many years, in bursts. Source: New Suns edited by Nisi Shawl

Three Variations on a Theme of Imperial Attire by E. Lily Yu — As the title says, variations on the story of the Emperor’s new clothes. It adds to the obvious take and was written in a very readable voice. Source: New Suns edited by Nisi Shawl

The Last Child by L R Conti — A flash about artificial life that grows and learns but is programmed to end when its task is finished. This one rubbed me the wrong way a bit. I wasn’t a fan. Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00749-y

Emergency Landing by Seanan McGuire — I was promised this would ruin flying for me, but it wasn’t at all what I expected on that front. Horror, yes, but not centred around the actual plane part. Source: Seanan McGuire’s Patreon

#ReadShortStories from varied sources (26 to 30)

Another random batch here. It's been a period of slow reading for me, of late. Too much other stuff going on, particularly with important and potentially life-changing deadlines hanging over me. Such is academia. In any case, I have scraped together some stories from various sources (five sources for five stories), all of them interesting reads.

unkind of mercy by Alex Jennings — A slightly creepy story. It reminded me of the episode of Doctor Who with the ghost angels that was part of the Tenth Doctor’s last season finale. With a very different ending, of course. Source: New Suns edited by Nisi Shawl

The Day Girl by Rivqa Rafael — A sort of steampunk story about a woman working in a factory that makes a healing potion. A well written and interesting read that I would not have minded having more of. Source: http://escapepod.org/2019/01/24/escape-pod-664-the-day-girl/

Valentine's Day by Xia Jia — A short and horrifying science fiction story about a Valentine’s Day date gone viral, in a future with minimal privacy in public. Horrific thought, good story. Source: https://motherboard.vice.com/en_us/article/wnj7p4/valentines-day

Ten Things Sunil and I Forgot to Prepare for, When Preparing for the Apocalypse by Shane Halbach — The title is an accurate description of the story. As well as the list of forgotten things, there is normal prose detailing the situation. Note that it’s a YA story and also that the plan wasn’t very good. Source: http://www.castofwonders.org/2019/01/cast-of-wonders-343-staff-picks-2018-ten-things-sunil-and-i-forgot-to-prepare-for-when-preparing-for-the-apocalypse/

The Tentacle and You by John Wiswell — A flash story about what to expect upon implantation of your new tentacle. It escalated in a compelling way. Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-00684-y