Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee

Hexarchate Stories by Yoon Ha Lee is a collection of short stories set in the same world as the Machineries of Empire series (Ninefox Gambit, Raven Stratagem and Revenant Gun). Although not all the stories require familiarity with the main series, I generally recommend having read the series before picking up Hexarchate Stories since some of the flash pieces and especially the concluding novella work better with knowledge of the characters and series events. (Though many of the stories absolutely stand alone.)

The essential short story collection set in the universe of Ninefox Gambit.

An ex-Kel art thief has to save the world from a galaxy-shattering prototype weapon...

A general outnumbered eight-to-one must outsmart his opponent...

A renegade returns from seclusion to bury an old comrade...

From the incredible imagination of Hugo- and Arthur C. Clarke-nominated author Yoon Ha Lee comes a collection of stories set in the world of the best-selling Ninefox Gambit. Showcasing Lee’s extraordinary imagination, this collection takes you to the very beginnings of the hexarchate’s history and reveals new never-before-seen stories.

I really enjoyed this collection. Even given the slightly unusual way in which I read it; skipping over stories I had previously read meant I skipped some award worthy reads. (The reviews for those stories, by the way, are copied from my original reviews of them in italics below.) I was particularly taken with the three longer stories that were new to me: "The Chameleon's Gloves", "Gamer's End" and "Glass Cannon". The first two are meaty stories more about life in the universe than about the specific characters that featured in the series (although Jedao does appear in "Gamer's End"). "Glass Cannon" is a novella that takes place after the trilogy and, as such, is pretty spoiler-heavy for the events at the end of Raven Stratagem. Mostly because "Glass Cannon" dominates this collection in terms of page-count, my usual summing up is after the story mini-reviews (and after a spoiler shield).


“The Chameleon’s Gloves” — 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.

“How the Andan Court” — Flash/prose poem that I’ve read before: A flash piece that is more of a love letter explaining the absence of roses.

“Seven Views of the Liozh Entrance Exam” — Longer flash musing on Liozh examinations, told from a relative future perspective, after the faction had fallen.

“Omens” — A short story about a couple’s date, dripping with significance if you’re paying attention and have read the Hexarchate books.

“Honesty” — A short story about very young Jedao and his even younger sister.

“Bunny” — Another young Jedao and sister, this time dealing with a missing cat. A cute story.

“Black Squirrels” — A hilarious story of a Shuos academy prank.

“Silence” — A family interlude told from the point of view of Jedao’s older brother Rodao. A straightforwardly enjoyable read.

“Extracurricular Activities” — previously read: Set in the same universe as Ninefox Gambit and Raven Stratagem, this story follows Jedao while he is still young. He goes on an undercover mission to extract a friend from academy. I really enjoyed this story. It was funny with serious moments. A good read for both readers of the novels and new comers to the world.

“Gloves” — 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.

“Hunting Trip” — A vignette featuring Jedao and a general stopping at a zoo en route to a hunting trip.

“The Battle of Candle Arc” — already read: Shuos Jedao leads a Kel army to victory against heretics. I had some memory of this particular battle being mentioned in the novels (Ninefox Gambit and Raven Stratagem), but misremembered the context. In any case, an interesting read, even more so since it was published years before the novels. Clearly the authors has been living in this world for a long time. Also, the explanations of the factions and calendar were done particularly well, especially given how complicated they can get. This story is a good introduction to the world.

“Calendrical Rot” — 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.

“Birthdays” — Young Cheris and her family move out of their ghetto and have to give up some of their traditions. A nicely told flash story.

“The Robot’s Math Lessons” — previously read: An adorable flash story about a robot making friends with a little girl (who I think is Cheris from Ninefox Gambit). — And yes, it was Cheris. This story is referenced in "Glass Cannon".

“Sword-Shopping” — Cheris and her girlfriend go to buy a sword. A cute flash piece.

“Persimmons” — A cute flash story about a servitor arrived at Kel Academy from a small village. Who doesn’t like sentient robot stories?

“Irriz the Assassin-Cat” — A cute flash featuring a cat soothing a child.

“Vacation” — Different characters take a trip to the zoo in this flash piece.

“Gamer’s End” — 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.

“Glass Cannon” — 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 series. In fact, a proper review of it is spoileriffic, so I will restrict it to my full review of Hexarchate Stories.

Full review with massive spoilers for Revenant Gun/Machineries of Empire. Do not hover over/highlight  the spoiler-shield below if you don't want to be spoiled.

“Glass Cannon” was an excellent read. Taking place after the end of Revenant Gun, it follows Moth!Jedao after he escapes imprisonment by the Shuos. His one desire in life is to get his memories back from Cheris and gain some sort of closure regarding the gaps in his memory, many of them from his youth. Cheri’s, meanwhile, is living a normal life in a settlement of her own ethnic group (much depleted after the events of the main series). She is just starting to get bored with a normal life teaching maths when that life gets disrupted by the escaped Jedao and the soldiers on his tale. Despite the inconvenience to her life, she agrees to transfer Original!Jedao’s memories to Moth!Jedao, since they have been haunting her. And so they set out on a quest to retrieve a device necessary for the transfer, and run into various troubles along the way.

Aside from being a really enjoyable story, “Glass Cannon” also manages to address some of the aspects of the world building that did not fit into the main series. Certain revelations from Revenant Gun — let’s say those loosely related to servitors and their factions and the human (non)regard of them — is raised here. So as well as following our beloved characters, we get to follow a little bit more progress in the Hexarchate, admittedly, not quite to completion, since that would be a much longer story.

I definitely recommend reading “Glass Cannon” as a sequel to the series if you enjoyed Machineries of Empire. I think Hexarchate Stories is worth buying for this novella alone, but the other included stories were also worth reading (but if you have already read the longer short stories/novelettes, the flash fiction may not feel weighty enough to bother buying the book for, but “Glass Cannon” certainly is).

This was a great collection, even if it was a little unbalanced in story lengths, and I definitely recommend it to fans of Yoon Ha Lee's books. While some of the stories are good entry points to the series, the majority of the flash stories work better if thought of adding something to the universe, rather than full stories in their own rights. For the prospective reader who wants to read Hexarchate Stories but not the trilogy (but why?), I see no reason why the first half of this collection can't be enjoyed, but I repeat my caution about "Glass Cannon" being full of spoilers and probably confusing without the trilogy context. On the other hand, if Lee plans to revisit the Hexarchate/Heptarchate universe again, sign me up for reading more stories/books set in that world.

5 / 5 stars

First published: June 2019, Solaris
Series: Machineries of Empire, stories set in the world of
Format read: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Algorithmic Shapeshifting by Bogi Takács

Algorithmic Shapeshifting by Bogi Takács is a collection of mostly speculative poems. I'm not a big reader of poetry, but I have mostly enjoyed, for example, the poems that appear in Uncanny Magazine. Since I also enjoy Takács's writing, this seemed like a good place to start reading more poetry.

Algorithmic Shapeshifting is the first poetry collection of Bogi Takács, winner of the Lambda award for editing Transcendent 2: The Year's Best Transgender Speculative Fiction, and finalist for the Hugo and Locus awards. Algorithmic Shapeshifting includes poems from the past decade and previously unpublished work. The scope of the pieces extends from the present and past of Jewish life in Hungary and the United States to the far-future, outer-space reaches of the speculative—always with a sense of curiosity and wonder.

There is a variety of poems contained in this collection, from very short to longer works and written in different styles. Some are more narrative and some more abstract. A lot of them tell a story, although a few (fewer than I expected, to be honest) went over my head. Some were very sweet love poems, some were chilling dystopian tales. Most tended towards the science fictional or the fantastical, which definitely appealed to me. Several poems engaged with Jewish themes in various ways. A few were less conventional (I think that's the right description) such as "The Tiny English-Hungarian Phrasebook for Visiting Extraterrestrials" which told a story in a clever way, and "The Oracle of DARPA", which was an amusing poem in the form of an interview between DARPA trying to build a weapon and an oracle giving oblique answers and unexpected side effects.

With short story collections and anthologies I usually include comments on each story unless it's flash fiction. I didn't think that would work for me with poems, so instead I'm just going to discuss/react to some of the poems that stood out for me. I was expecting "A User Guide to the Application of Gem-Flowers" to be horrific rather than wholesome. I was wrong. "Trans Love Is" was very sweet, as were a few other love poems I didn't explicitly mark out. "Periodicity" and "Flee to Far Shores" were both about leaving bad political situations and migration; I found them quite meaningful. I found the sort-of-reveal at the end of "The Third Extension" quite satisfying. "A Hail of Pebbles and Dust" was particularly science fictional, about a tidally locked planet. I liked the way "The Size of a Barleycorn, Encased in Lead" engaged with the idea of time-proof sign-posting (for nuclear waste). "Six Hundred and Thirteen Commandments" told a nice story in several verses spread across time, about completing commandments in different lives.

Finally, I want to mention that I had a review copy of the ebook and there were a few typographical notes in there about how the ebook differs in presentation from the original, intended form. One poem ought to have had two verses printed on opposite sides of a double page spread. Another was originally published in an animated form online and, although there description prefacing it was quite accurate, I didn't fully understand the point until I clicked through to see the original version. It's interesting, given these two examples, that neither the ebook or the paper book can be truely said to be the definitive version of the entire collection. I kind of like the idea of there no being one true version...

If you are a fan of poetry or Takács's writing more generally, then I heartily recommend this collection. I am far from being an expert in speculative poetry, but I enjoyed it a lot and I wouldn't hesitate to recommend it to others who are also interested in reading more speculative poetry (perhaps in between their speculative fiction).

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: May 2019, Aqueduct Press
Series: Not in the usual sense
Format read: eARC
Source: Review copy courtesy of the author

Please Look After This Angel: and other winged stories by Tansy Rayner Roberts

Please Look After This Angel: and other winged stories by Tansy Rayner Roberts is a short collection of four short stories that was originally given away to her newsletter subscribers (which is how I got it), then Patreon supporters, and soon will be available for general sale.

Even the most ordinary lives have extraordinary moments.
A breath of frozen time.
A shabby angel spotted in a bookshop, or at a party.
An ex-girfriend turned famous poet, who wants to trap you as her muse.
A lonely prisoner, weaving a tangled web to pass the time when her lover wil actually notice her.
A soldier, exhausted from the War Effort against the aliens, making an emotional connection with her enemy.

These stories have wings.

I picked this up partly because of my challenge to myself to read 100 short stories by the end of the year, and this little collection happened to be near the top of my iBooks pile of short fiction. It also lured me in by being fairly short, and hence feeling like a less daunting time investment when I'm also in the middle of a novel I don't want to put down for long (stay tuned). As usual, I have written some comments on each story as I've gone along. Because I've been partly using the comments to tweet about the stories as I read them, they may be briefer than usual (but generally longer than the tweeted versions.

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Please Look After This Angel — A story about an ordinary life which happens to intersect with an angel a few times.

The Raven & Her Victory — A creepy, magical, Poe-inspired story about lesbians. I enjoyed it, but wow was the ending creepy and kind of surreal.

The Curse Is Come Upon Me, Cried — A weird story. A blend of fairytale, the modern world, Arthurian themes and horror. Probably my least favourite, although I liked the imps and the idea of maintaining a sense of self when you're invisible.

Of War & Wings — Steampunk angel women fighting off alien invaders in a Blitz-like London (but set earlier than WWII). My absolute favourite story of the collection. Gorgeous and terribly sad. I suspect it's an excellent fit for fans of Roberts' Creature Court trilogy.

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I really enjoyed this collection and I recommend it to all fans of the author's work and to fans of spec fic (more on the fantasy side) stories generally. I especially loved "Of War & Wings" which had a lot of depth in worldbuilding, to make it all the more heartbreaking. I highly recommend picking up a copy of the collection when it shortly becomes available.

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: September 2017, self-published
Series: No
Format read: ePub
Source: freebie from newsletter subscription and also Patreon
Disclaimer: Although Tansy is a friend, I have endeavoured to give an unbiased review
Challenges: Australian Women Writers Challenge

A Feast of Sorrows by Angela Slatter

A Feast of Sorrows by Angela Slatter is a collection of short stories, almost all of them reprints. Long-term followers of this blog will know that I am a big fan of Slatter's stories and I have previously read and reviewed The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings and Sourdough and Other Stories, both of which I loved. A Feast of Sorrows contains some stories from those two collections, which I haven't reviewed a second time, as well as stories new to me and stories not set in the same universe.

A Feast of Sorrows—Angela Slatter’s first U.S. collection—features twelve of the World Fantasy and British Fantasy Award-winning Australian author’s finest, darkest fairy tales, and adds two new novellas to her marvelous cauldron of fiction.

Stories peopled by women and girls—fearless, frightened, brave, bold, frail, and fantastical—who take the paths less traveled by, accept (and offer) poisoned apples, and embrace transformation in all its forms. Reminiscent of Angela Carter at her best, Slatter’s work is both timeless and fresh: fascinating new reflections from the enchanted mirrors of fairy tales and folklore.

Slatter's stories are always beautifully written and those included in this collection are no exception. I think, overall, I have preferred her "mosaic novel" volumes of stories, rather than those, like A Feast of Sorrows (or Black-Winged Angels), which are more thematically than literally linked. That doesn't stop the stories themselves from being gorgeous, of course, and I also suspect I would have enjoyed this volume more if all the stories had been new to me.

That said, I was delighted to learn, when reading the Afterword containing Slatter's notes on each story, that the last three stories in A Feast of Sorrows will form the opening of another mosaic novel, to be called The Tallow-Wife and Other Tales. Certainly something I'm looking forward to.

My notes on the individual stories, written as I read them and skipping most of those I'd read before:

• "Dresses, three" — A tale of magical dresses, their maker, her son, and their wearer.

• "Bluebeard’s Daughter" — A brew of fairytales. A poisoned Apple, a witch with a house made out of confectionery, and a girl too clever to be easily trapped.
• "The Jacaranda Wife" — Similar in general ideas to a selkie story, but with a woman that comes from a jacaranda tree rather than a seal.

• "Light as Mist, Heavy as Hope" — Rumplestiltskin, more or less. Read this one before, but reread it because I couldn't remember the ending. A tale of mother-daughter bonds.

• 
"The Tallow-Wife" — A longer story that I think is set in the Bitterwood/Sourdough universe (or Angelia, as Theodora Goss dubs it in the introduction). I enjoyed the story about a wife and mother coming to terms/realisation with some of her life choices, but I didn't find the ending very satisfying as I have many of Slatter's same-world stories.

• "What Shines Brightest Burns Most Fiercely" — To my delight, this story follows on with some of the characters from the previous one, "The Tallow-Wife", and improves it by association/continuation. It also gives a bit more insight into side characters as one gets a deserved comeuppance.
• "Bearskin" — Another story linked with the previous two. An unfortunate tale about an unhappy child and his questionable fate.

As I keen saying, Slatter's stories are wonderful and I cannot recommend them enough to all fantasy fans. As far as collections of short stories to start with go, this one is a good a place as any and gives a reasonable cross-section of Slatter's work. As ever, I look forward to reading of Slatter's work as soon as I can get my hands on it.

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: 2016, Prime Books
Series: Not really, but some stories are linked to others in other volumes.
Format read: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Challenges: Australian Women Writers Challenge

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu

The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories by Ken Liu is the first collection from the acclaimed and award-winning author. I have previously reviewed some short stories by the author (including the titular story of this anthology), but this was the first time I read several of them in succession. The blurb is not terribly helpful, but I shall include it for completion.

A publishing event: Bestselling author Ken Liu selects his award-winning science fiction and fantasy tales for a groundbreaking collection—including a brand-new piece exclusive to this volume.

With his debut novel, The Grace of Kings, taking the literary world by storm, Ken Liu now shares his finest short fiction in The Paper Menagerie. This mesmerizing collection features all of Ken’s award-winning and award-finalist stories, including: “The Man Who Ended History: A Documentary” (Finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, and Theodore Sturgeon Awards), “Mono No Aware” (Hugo Award winner), “The Waves” (Nebula Award finalist), “The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species” (Nebula and Sturgeon award finalists), “All the Flavors” (Nebula award finalist), “The Litigation Master and the Monkey King” (Nebula Award finalist), and the most awarded story in the genre’s history, “The Paper Menagerie” (The only story to win the Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy awards).

A must-have for every science fiction and fantasy fan, this beautiful book is an anthology to savor.

My first overwhelming response to this anthology was of adoration for the exquisite writing and fascinating ideas in the stories. I liked all of the stories and loved quite a lot of them. It's honestly hard to choose only a few favourites, but I'll try. "The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species" leads the anthology and evoked in me a strong feeling of "why haven't I read more SF like this?" And also made me wish that I could write that well. "The Paper Menagerie" is heart wrenching, even upon a re-read, and will probably always be one of my favourite stories. "Mono No Aware" is a story I've heard discussed before, but I never really knew what it was about until reading it.

None of the stories in this collection are particularly cheerful, although they may have happy moments in them. Many of them have heartbreaking moments, which Liu executes beautifully. Many of the stories also contain other stories within them, not just flashbacks but also characters telling stories out of history and/or mythology, woven into the themes of the overarching narrative.

I loved this collection and I will definitely be keeping an eye out for more Ken Liu to read. If I wasn't already keen to read more Liu short stories, then I would be now. I also have Grace of Kings on my TBR. I highly recommend this collection to all fans of science fiction and fantasy short stories. It does not disappoint.

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THE BOOKMAKING HABITS OF SELECT SPECIES — This story, being the first in the collection, forcibly reminded me of how amazing Liu's writing is. An account of how different aliens species store and retrieve information (or what they regard as books). Gorgeous language and excellent, creative ideas; this is what science fiction should aspire to.

STATE CHANGE — People's souls are externalised into semi-random objects. If these objects are destroyed or used up (depending on the object), then they die. Imagine the anxiety if your soul was an ice cube. A very interesting "what if" concept, deftly executed. It actually reminded me a bit of "The Water That Falls On You From Nowhere" by John Chu. Not because the stories themselves are similar, but because of the way a fantastical premise is explored in a science fictional mindset.

THE PERFECT MATCH — A longer story set in a world where everyone is always online and algorithms serve us exactly what they want when they want them. The main character is taken on a bit of a tour of the underlying conspiracy from a couple of different perspectives. The inevitability of the near future world was probably the most frightening aspect of this story. That and the need for another character's paranoia.

GOOD HUNTING — Another longer story that starts with rural magic and takes us on a journey to colonial and steampunk Hong Kong. What is a demon hunter to do, when the magic fades? What about a shapeshifter who can't shift any more? The story had heartbreaking elements and an even better ending than I expected.

THE LITEROMANCER — A novella, I think. While reading the first half (ish) of this story, I was thinking that it was an absolute delight. Liu paints a strong picture of Cold War Taiwan, seen from the eyes of a young American girl whose father works there. Sure she has problems, but they're normal kid problems like bullying, and she makes some Chinese friends who help her through them. The theme of literomancy, discerning meaning from words, also features strongly throughout, which I found fascinating even if the etymologies aren't academically accurate, as the afterword tells us. But the story took a dark turn, which I won't spoil but which means I can't call it delightful overall. The harshness of the Cold War intrudes on the young main character's life and affects her deeply, even though she doesn't understand why. I still found that part of the story interesting, but also cringeworthy. An excellent story, but not an easy read towards the end.

SIMULACRUM — I think I've read this story before, but I really don't remember where. It's told in one-sided conversations with an interviewer that we never see or hear. The interview subjects are a father and the man who invented technology to record and project AI-enhanced copies of people, and his daughter, who grew to dislike the technology. It touches on some interesting points about living in the moment rather than living to record the moment, but at its heart it's a story about an estranged father and daughter and how they came to be that way.

THE REGULAR — Another novella, I think. A PI procedural as the main character tracks down a serial killer in a near-future world filled with artificial surgical enhancements. I enjoyed it. I don't have that much to say about it, though, since the main new thing it brings to the procedural table is the futuristic technology (and I should emphasise, being good SF/crime it doesn't lean on magical tech solutions or anything like that).

THE PAPER MENAGERIE — A story I have read before but didn't want to skip over. I cried the second time I read it too. The American son of a Chinese mail order bride recounts his relationship with her, including when she made magical animated origami animals for him to play with. The ending remains heart-wrenchingly sad and it’s not for nothing that this story won the Hugo, Nebula and World Fantasy awards.

AN ADVANCED READERS PICTURE BOOK OF COMPARATIVE COGNITION — This story tells many things: the way different alien species think, how the narrator met his wife and child's mother, and what happened to spare their family. It covers many different ideas including possible alien physiologists and a method of receiving messages from other parts of the galaxy. It was a good story, but it didn't grip me as much as some of the others have.

THE WAVES — Another longish story that did not end where I expected it to based on the start. It follows characters on a generation ship and throws in several familiar tropes, mixing them together in a new way. Most interestingly, the first complication, thrown at the colonists is that of immortality discovered by people still on Earth. How can they accept the new technology when the resources on the ship are so delicately balanced? The story is also punctuated by the main character telling her children and grandchildren different cultures’ creation myths, breaking up the main narrative.

MONO NO AWARE — Confusingly, this story also features a solar-sail-powered spaceship heading towards the same star as the previous story. The reasons for leaving and the name of the ship are different, however, as is the rest of the story. It is about a ship fleeing the asteroidal destruction of Earth. Told partly in the present and partly as flashbacks to before the asteroid hit, the story touches on ideas of culture — how Japanese are you if you left Japan when you were very young? What if you are the only representative of your race left? — and the meaning of heroism. Also how appallingly people cane behave when the world is about to end, and how stoically. A wonderful, bittersweet story.

ALL THE FLAVORS — Definitely a novella as far as length goes. Also a story containing several other stories. We follow a little girl living in Idaho City during the gold rush. She gets to know a group of Chinese miners and, in particular, their leader, who tells her a lot of stories. So while reading about the challenges faced my the Chinese miners in a foreign land, we also get a generous dose of Chinese mythology/history, including some of the personal history of the miners. This is another story that didn't go where I expected it to based on the start. Admittedly, this is is large part because I didn't realise how long it was (curse the Kobo for not telling me how long is left in each chapter). Unfortunately, I think knowing the length at the start would have changed my perspective of the whole story. Obviously, this is not the story's fault.

A BRIEF HISTORY OF THE TRANS-PACIFIC TUNNEL — A beat alternate history story in which, after World War I, Japan and China do not go to war and instead, Japan builds a tunnel under the Pacific Ocean liking Shanghai, Tokyo and Seattle. Because of this and a few other factors World War II didn't happen and the world becomes a very different place. We see it through the eyes of a former tunnel Digger, originally from what we would call Taiwan, some time in the alternate 60s. I enjoyed the world-building/-changing details. I particularly liked the part where, just because the WWII human rights violations didn't happen, doesn't mean other, similar human rights violations didn't take place instead. (Korean comfort women being the most obvious example.)

THE LITIGATION MASTER AND THE MONKEY KING — A man who helps villagers out with legal disputes is dragged into something much bigger than himself. Also the Monkey King talks to him, mostly in his head, but also in his dreams. When it comes down to a choice between saving his own life and subversively helping others, the Monkey King helps him with his choice. Although the character is fictional, I gather from the author's note that some of the events are of historical significance (I don't want to go into more detail and spoil the plot). Not a cheerful story (were any of them?) but one I enjoyed reading.

THE MAN WHO ENDED HISTORY: A DOCUMENTARY — A novella rather dense on historical fact and philosophical questions. This is my overwhelming impression, having just finished reading; perhaps not an entirely fair verdict. The premise is that a method for directly observing the past using new discoveries in physics. The catch is that any spatial and temporal portion of the past can only be observed once; the act of observing destroys the echo being observed. The story is told in documentary form, following primarily the two discoverers of the technique, a husband and wife team. The historian husband decides that he wants to use the technique to look back into Pingfang in China, the site of many Japanese WWII atrocities. The story explores the ramifications of being able to view history only once, whose “trip” to the past should be prioritised and some of the politics surrounding the choice of initial destination. It was an interesting story that had be pausing to Google a few facts (for my own personal edification, not because the story was lacking). It contains a reasonable amount of information about the Chinese/Japanese part of WWII and alludes to more. It certainly wasn’t a fun read (who enjoys reading about atrocities?) but I am glad I read it. It also wasn’t perfect as a story. At some point while reading, my mind happened upon the impossibility of the premise. Not the fact that the physics is made up (that’s fine in SF) but some logistical difficulties within the framework of the fictional physics. That did throw me out of the narrative a little, but the way the documentary format jumped around after relatively short sections meant this didn’t last for long.

5 / 5 stars

First published: March 2016, Saga Press (Simon & Schuster)
Series: No
Format read: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley

Sourdough and Other Stories by Angela Slatter

Sourdough and Other Stories by Angela Slatter is a collection of linked short stories — or a mosaic novel — similar to The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings, but written earlier and set later in the same world.

Welcome to the beautiful magic, restless passion and exquisite horror of Angela Slatter's impeccably imagined tales.

In the cathedral-city of Lodellan and its uneasy hinterland, babies are fashioned from bread, dolls are given souls and wishes granted may be soon regretted. There are ghosts who dream, men whose wings have been clipped and trolls who long for something other. Love, loss and life are elegantly dissected in Slatter's earthy yet poetic prose.

As Rob Shearman says in his Introduction: 'Sourdough and Other Stories manages to be grand and ambitious and worldbuilding-but also as intimate and focused as all good short fiction should be . . . The joy of Angela Slatter's book is that she's given us a set of fairy tales that are at once both new and fresh, and yet feel as old as storytelling itself.'

As always with Slatter's work, the writing in this book is gorgeous and the stories women-centric. I have to admit, I read it over the course of a several weeks so I lost some sense of continuity. As a result, towards the end I found myself flicking back to earlier stories trying to remember who that character with the familiar name was. I suspect this is partly to blame for my feeling that the stories are a bit less deliberately linked than those in The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings. That said, I also think Slatter's writing has improved in the interim.

Nevertheless, Sourdough and Other Stories was a wonderful read. I loved... too many of the stories to list them all. There were only one or two that I didn't absolutely love and, looking over the list now, only one I don't immediately recall from what I wrote about it straight after reading. Overall, a memorable collection that I highly recommend to all fantasy fans. As always, some brief thoughts on each story are below.

~

The Shadow Tree — A woman with a secret and knowledge of herbs punishes bratty royal children, tempting them with fairytales.

Gallowberries — A young witch dealing with losing her mother and finding a substitute. Took me until the end to realise the familiarity of the characters was from a link with the novella Of Sorrow and Such.

Little Radish — An unexpected Repunzel retelling. Really, there was no part of this story that I saw coming.

Dibblespin — Told from the point of view of the daughter of a troll-woman, partly about her half sister and mostly about the strange goings on in their forest and the nearby town.

The Navigator — A different kind of story to those preceding it. Set at sea, featuring a siren who has lost his wings and the one who loves him. A different take on sirens than others I've read.

The Angel Wood — A teenage girl meets her family legacy in a story that put me in mind of the Green Man (but on a smaller scale, maybe).

Ash — A short story of a witch and her revenge. I like how prone to vengeance so many of Slatter's characters turn out to be.

The Story of Ink — A story of a precocious eleven year old and the questionable task she's been set by her master. An unexpected ending which I'm sure is significant but which I don't immediately know what to make of. More part of a whole than a standalone story.

Lost Things — Surprisingly a kind of direct sequel to the previous story. I don't think the two stories should be read separately.

A Good Husband — A story about a water sprite and a woman who sort her help. A story of cleverness and domestic violence, and the jaded sprite's response.

A Porcelain Soul — The story of a girl about to graduate from a doll-making academy. But they don't make ordinary dolls, but rather infuse them with their souls to animate them. Things go wrong when the girls are working on their final projects. Definitely one of my favourite stories in this collection.

The Bones Remember Everything — I saw echoes of a few different fairytales in this one, but none that it was particularly based on (as far as my limited knowledge goes). Not sure what to make of it overall. A bit dire, in a good way as far as story telling goes. A familiar name makes an appearance in the historical backstory section.

Sourdough — A story about a young bread maker. Once I started reading, I was reminded of another story (by a different author) which turned out quite differently. That coloured my reading somewhat but this was still a good, solid, Slatter yarn.

Sister, Sister — A little bit of what happens after the fairytale, when things aren't quite just happily ever after and another fairytale intrudes. Featuring a fallen princess, a troll-wife and chosen family. I quite enjoyed this story as well.

Lavender and Lychgates — A story directly linked with "Sourdough", telling a later part of the same family's story. I was surprised at how many connections there were in this one... One of my favourite stories in this collection.

Under the Mountain — Another sequel, this time to "Sister, Sister", following the daughter's story. I'm not sure I can say more about it without spoilers. An unsettling note to end the collection on.

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: 2010, Tatarus Press
Series: Sort of? Same world as The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings, also the novella Of Sorrow and Such
Format read: ePub
Source: Purchased from publisher
Challenges: Australian Women Writers Challenge

Cold Comfort and Other Tales by David McDonald

Cold Comfort and Other Tales by David McDonald is a very short collection of three stories. They're all science fiction, but quite different subgenres.

Strap yourself in as three tales from award winning speculative fiction author David McDonald take you on a tour of time and space.

Visit a frozen post apocalyptic Earth, a galactic delivery service, and very Australian dystopia to discover what happens to ordinary people faced with extraordinary choices or challenges.

As usual, my thoughts on each individual story follow.

Cold Comfort — A longish story (novelette length, I think) about a frozen world where heat is currency and cold is death. The main character is a trader that travels between settlements (heat domes, basically) and comes across something interesting in a settlement no one else has visited in years. An interesting story. I particularly enjoyed the way more worldbuilding elements were revealed as it went along.

Through Wind and Weather — A short retelling of Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer... In space. Amusing, especially if you enjoy Christmas-themed stories.

Our Land Abounds — A dystopian future Australia, in a world where food and water scarcity have replaced oil scarcity. And which treats refugees even worse than at present. I didn’t mind the world building, but I didn’t think it ultimately packed a strong enough punch. Not a bad story, but I think it could have gone further and done more.

A neat little collection if you're after a quick read. My favourite story was definitely "Cold Comfort" — it was the meatiest of the collection. I would recommend getting the collection just for this story if you haven't already read it (it appeared in the FableCroft anthology Epilogue). Overall, this little triad showcases the author's range with different styles, from serious to tongue-in-cheek, and different settings.

4 / 5 stars

First published: 2014, Clan Destine Press
Series: No.
Format read: ePub
Source: review copy from author
Disclaimer: I know the author but have endeavoured to provide an unbiased review
Challenges: Australian Science Fiction Reading Challenge

The Starry Rift by James Tiptree Jr

The Starry Rift by James Tiptree Jr is one of only two collections of short stories readily available as ebooks. I admit I chose to buy it first partly because it was only $3 and partly because it was shorter and I could more easily fit it in before getting to Letters to Tiptree.

These are the heroes of the Starry Rift, a dark river of night that flows between the arms of our galaxy: A headstrong teenaged runaway who makes first contact with a strange alien race. A young officer on a deep-space salvage mission who discovers an exact double of a woman he thought he'd lost. The crew of an exploration ship who must plead for the human race to avert an interstellar war.

The Starry Rift is set up with a framing narrative about two students seeking library materials for class. The books the librarian gives them form the three stories contained within this collection. The stories are all set around the same general region of space: Federation Base 900, the frontier outpost on the edge of the Rift. (Hence the title.) The Rift is an area of space devoid of stars, apparently not quite in between spiral arms of the Milky Way, but something like that.

I have to say, the science in this book was a bit off. Some of it was quaint — as in, not up to date, as would be expected of an older book like this — and some of it did not entirely make sense. I was a bit confused about the relativistic and also normal time passing effects of space travel which didn't seem to be addressed in the first story but were explained more in the third. On the other hand, the scientific points in these stories were generally not dwelt upon, decreasing the likelihood of an egregious error. None of the stories were about new inventions; they were all, first and foremost, about characters in unusual situations. (But aliens who have FTL comms but not pretty fundamental chemistry? Come on!)

Anyway, as per usual I have made comments on the individual stories which you can find below. In general, I would recommend this collection as a good example of classic SF. While the science may not have stood the test of time, the concepts explored in the stories mostly have.

The Only Neat Thing to Do — A fourteen year old girl (with rich parents) gets a space coupe from her parents, tricks it out with extra fuel tanks and goes exploring to the edge of Human-explored space. It started out as a fun adventure, if a little unlikely since fourteen year olds can't have cars, and took some interesting and then emotional turns. (I really wasn't expecting the sort of ending it had.) There were a few weird science-related moments but they weren't dwelled on by the narrative, so I found them easier to skip over than in most books. (Why do so many books use bad science as a lynchpin?) As a first introduction to Tiptree, I found it a solid story. (Coming back after finishing the collection, this was my favourite of the three.)

Good Night, Sweethearts — A space salvager/repairman/portable refueller comes across a stranded ship that's out of fuel. It transpires that it contains someone from his past. A past that, almost interestingly (it could have been explored further), he doesn't remember due to what I gathered to be PTSD-type treatment he received after being in a war. Some external action provides excitement and the climax and the main character is left with some difficult decisions. I was disappointed with how much these objectified the female characters. I also found his final choice baffling, though perhaps less so, given some of what I've recently learnt about the author's life.

Collision — This is the story of first (well, second) contact between the human Federation and a large alien empire. Told from points of view on both sides, we learn a lot about the culture and unusual biology of the aliens before the human protagonists come across them. The biological procedure of reproduction was very unusual — honestly it struck me as a bit inefficient — for all that the aliens resemble kangaroos in superficial ways. I liked that after explaining the mechanics of it, the notion turned out to be relevant to the plot in an unexpected way. On the human side of things, the story starts off being told through long-delayed communications capsules. We listen to the story along with the people at base, knowing only that the explorers survive long enough to send the capsule, but nit whether there'll be another capsule. Although this is actually a relatively cheery story in the end, there is still some death, notably of the only two human women (although they didn't die because they were women). It's still less bleak than the first story in this collection.

4 / 5 stars

First published: 1986, this edition SF Gateway
Series: Well, not really but there are other stories and a novel set in the same universe
Format read: eBook
Source: Purchased on iBooks

The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings by Angela Slatter

The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings by Angela Slatter can be taken as a collection of short stories or as a mosaic novel. I requested the fancy limited edition hard cover version of this book for Christmas before finding out that I was to be an Aurealis Awards judge for the category, which is why this review is going up a few months after I read the book. Of course, the views expressed in this review are my own and do not reflect the views of the judging panel. Indeed, this review is based on notes I made before consulting with the other judges.

The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings returns to the world of Sourdough and Other Stories (Tartarus, 2010), introducing readers to the tales that came before. Stories where coffin-makers work hard to keep the dead beneath; where a plague maiden steals away the children of an ungrateful village; where poison girls are schooled in the art of assassination; where pirates disappear from the seas; where families and the ties that bind them can both ruin and resurrect and where books carry forth fairy tales, forbidden knowledge and dangerous secrets.

So what is a mosaic novel? In this case, it's a collection of short stories that are all set in the same world with a few overlapping characters. The book grew on me as I read on and actually the first story was my least favourite. That said, it connected really nicely with the last story and to me that really pulled the whole book together. The middle stories were all more obviously tied together. I suspect the first and last stories might have the strongest connection to Slatter's other collection/mosaic novel in the same universe, Sourdough and Other Stories. Either way, I went and bought the ebook of Sourdough pretty much as soon as I finished The Bitterwood Bible.

Slatter's writing is beautiful and her stories are poignant. This was my first exposure to her writing and it has not been the last (OK, that statement might have had more weight if I hadn't also read two other collections of hers for Aurealis judging... but I am going to read more of her work). As always, I've made notes on every story below. I find it really hard to pick a favourite. I loved most of them as I was reading them and there are many scenes that have really stuck with me.

I would highly recommend The Bitterwood Bible and Other Recountings to all fans of short stories and of fantasy. If you haven't read any of Slatter's work before, do yourself a favour and get on it.

~

The Coffin-Maker’s Daughter — A stranger story than I was expecting, with a few (intentionally) unpleasant elements. But not a bad one. Not sure I would have opened with it. Except that it makes sense to open with once you've read the whole collection.

The Maiden in the Ice — As longer story, spanning more time and events. Told mostly from the point of view of a girl who finds the maiden in the ice then later shows sympathy towards her when the town doesn't. I like it.

The Badger Bride — A really nice story about a girl who copies books (in the monkish sense), a strange commission and a badger who wanders in out of the cold. I enjoyed it.

The Burnt Moon — Another good story. I am enjoying the vengeance against rapists. In this one a town is plagued by rats as punishment for what happened to the mother of the previous story's protagonist.

By My Voice I Shall Be Known — A young woman slighted by her suitor who scorns her for someone else after she helped him become successful. Then he tries to have her killed, succeeding in only having her tongue cut out and setting her on a path to revenge. Also there are rusalky.

The Undone and the Divine — A daughter comes back to the town her mother played a downfall in (in "The Burnt Moon") and deals with the residue, but physical and spiritual. The father of the badger bride also makes an appearance. I'm really starting to appreciate how gorgeously linked these stories are.

The Night Stair — A girl becomes a substitute daughter for the vampire couple that rule the town. But she is cleverer than they expected as she seeks vengeance for her dead sisters.

Now, All Pirates are Gone — The other woman from "By My Voice I Shall Be Known" is abandoned by her husband and left to lure all the Pirates to their deaths. The main character survives, possibly thanks to an encounter with the earlier story's protagonist.

St Dymphna’s School for Poison Girls — The sister of an earlier protagonist is sent to a deadly finishing school. Her goal not primarily to learn assassination but to secretly copy a book of poisons. Much is rent asunder in her wake.

The Bitterwood Bible — Both the genesis of the titular book and the tale of a girl sent to find magical answers who ends up finding a safe place in the world.

Terrible as an Army with Banners — and epistemological chronicle of the fall of the nunnery that was mentioned several times in several stories.

By the Weeping Gate — a family of prostitutes, the sister too plain to be one and the shady man who has appeared in earlier stories. This time, he is a viceroy and seems, at first, to be ok.

Spells for Coming Forth by Daylight — the final story which gives the very first story due context. Neo of the previous story has gone forth to confront the shady man and comes across other women (and indeed the man) who have played parts in earlier stories.

5 / 5 stars

First published: 2014, Tartarus Press
Series: Sort of a prequel to Sourdough and Other Stories but stands alone.
Format read: Fancy-pants hardcover
Source: Christmas present
Disclaimer: Tsana was a judge for the Aurealis Awards, on the panel which judged this book. This review is the personal opinion of the writer, and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of any judging panel, the judging coordinator or the Aurealis Awards management team.
Challenges: Australian Women Writers Challenge

Difficult Second Album by Simon Petrie

Difficult Second Album by Simon Petrie is the author's second collection of mostly science fiction stories. I've previously reviewed his first collection Rare Unsigned Copy. I enjoyed Difficult Second Album a lot and found it overall a tighter collection than the first.

The main aspect that set Difficult Second Album above Rare Unsigned Copy is that it's a bit shorter and, more crucially, less overpopulated with flash and drabble stories. It's not that I dislike either of those, but too many can make for a more difficult read. The mix of story lengths/types in Difficult Second Album makes it rather not difficult to read.

I came to a realisation while I was reading this book: Simon Petrie is my favourite (and hence best) living science fiction short story writer. Those stories which are science fiction (not quite all of them) deftly weave accurate science into their tapestries. Of course accurate science shouldn't come as a surprise from someone whose day job is computational quantum chemistry, but I still found it enjoyable enough as to be notable. (And let's face it, how much scientific accuracy is there in the combined science fictional oeuvre? Not enough.)

Petrie switches between comedic stories and more serious pieces with ease. The opening The Fridge Whisperer had be in stitches, while some most of the flash stories had be groaning at puns. On the serious side there are a lot of excellent stories to choose from. The two tales set on Titan (same universe, I think but unrelated to each other), "CREVjack" and "Fixing a Hole" were excellent. The first was a crushing action yarn and the latter a story about a problem that needed fixing lest the characters all die. I very much enjoyed both of them. "Latency" is a story that starts off following a scientific expedition and ends up with a surprising discovery. "Elevator Pitch", the only novella in the collection, is a Gordon Mammon story revisiting space elevator hotel employee who solves crimes on the side. It's a nice blend of humour (and puns) and serious murder-solving business. I should also note that while I say it's a Gordon Mammon story, all such stories that I've read have completely stood alone, so don't worry if you have no idea what I'm talking about.

Difficult Second Album is an excellent varied read. I highly recommend it to fans of Petrie's work and newcomers alike. It's a good starting point to sample his story-telling range. I would particularly recommend it to fans of hard SF (although, again, not all the stories are SF). I, for one, am looking forward to finding out what clever title Petrie comes up with for his next collection.

~

Introduction, by Über-Professor Arrrrarrrgghl Schlurpmftxpftpfl — Lol. Again, worth not skipping over.

The Fridge Whisperer — Hilarious. Writer attempts to write (what seems to be The Hitchhiker's a Guide to the Galaxy) while his fridge gains sentience and wreaks havoc. Awesome.

Dark Rendezvous — A space explorer comes across a derelict ship drifting in a favourable direction for rendezvous. Where did it come from? Ominous. I particularly liked the attention to dust particle detail in the nebulous setting of the story.

Florence, 1504, Late Winter — Drabble

Dream(TM) — Flash

Things YOU Can Do To Defend Yourself … — Er... Heh.

The Speed of Heavy — An amusing space cargo caper involving an exchange student, some crickets and some bats. I lol'd.

London, 1666, Springtime — Drabble (So shaggy. Much dog. Wow.)

Latency — A really solid hard SF story. A research team on another planet studying it's only life form. Solid science, interesting concepts played with.

Moonlight — a haiku.

Because We’re Living In A Material World — Amusing and also bittersweet short story about a CERN experiment/accident.

Cruisy — Alien abduction story with a twist. The title makes more sense in retrospect.

CREVjack — A Titan story, full of action and danger and rather riveting for it. A difficult ending to read.

You Said ‘Two Of Each’, Right? — Biblically amusing flash

Fixing a Hole — Another Titian story, very exciting. Definite problem-solving hard science fiction.

21st Century Nursery Rhymes, #126: I Had A Little Nut Tree — poem

Buying a Ray Gun — Amusing story told in a script-like format and set in a ray gun store. Pretty sure there was a stylistically similar one in the first collection (but completely different plot).

X-Factor — An usual story set on Mars and involving genetics. I was left wanting to know more.

Elevator Pitch — A novella length story about our favourite space elevator detective, Gordon Mammon. I had thought the concept might start to get repetitive but it really doesn't. I enjoyed this story a lot, with its double mystery and firm grip of science (and sometimes cheesy humour). It was nice to have something lengthy to really sink my teeth into.

Lithophiles — Lovers turned to stone. An original idea.

Next! — Flash

The Man Who … — Written in a more flowery style than most of the other stories, this is another solid hard SF tale. The story of comet hunters looking to send water to Mars.

Must’ve Been While You Were Kissing Me — Zombie speed-dating noir shaggy dog story.

The Assault Goes Ever On — Weird flash.

Suckers For Love — Alien mating romance. An ultimately disconcerting story. Squidlike.

5 / 5 stars

First published: September 2014, Peggy Bright Books
Series: Not really
Format read: ePub
Source: Review copy courtesy of the author
Challenges: Aussie Science Fiction Reading Challenge

Aurora in Four Voices by Catherine Asaro

Aurora in Four Voices by Catherine Asaro is a collection of short stories that I listened to in audiobook form after the author ran a Kickstarter campaign to record it. I have previously reviewed Asaro's novel, The Radiant Seas, which is set in the same universe as the stories in Aurora in Four Voices.

I didn't love all of the stories in this collection, although I didn't hate any of them either. My least favourite was definitely "Ave de Paso", in which the main characters didn't particularly grab me and which also had a bit of a squick factor towards the end. I liked many things about "Aurora in Four Voices" and I'd say it was probably my second favourite story. I had mixed feelings about the relationship between the two main characters since Soz is the main character of the other Asaro books I've read and her OTP the main character was not. I also enjoyed "Light and Shadows" although it was not, I think, supposed to be an overly cheery story. My favourite story was easily "City of Cries" and I was interested to learn in the outro that there is a novel sequel coming late this year. I will have to keep an eye out for that.

One thing all the stories have in common — with the exception of "Light and Shadows" which only really has the one male character in it — is strong female characters. This is something common to all of Asaro's work, I believe. People seeking hard science fiction populated by women who actually do things, would do well to check out Asaro's work. And in case you were in any doubt that her SFnal universe is indeed hard, this collection contains a short maths essay at the end. I have to admit, I found it difficult to listen to — my brain went into lecture mode and turned off — but luckily there was a simplified URL mentioned to the written and illustrated essay online. You can read it here. (And if you need further proof, some of the mathematical concepts used in her stories have been published in mathematical journals.)

As always, I've written some notes about the stories as I read them. I recommend this collection to people wanting to get an idea of Asaro's work. The stories are pretty broad in setting and, I think, a good showcase of the sort of stories she can write. I particularly recommend it to SF fans looking for more women in their fiction.

~

Aurora in Four Voices — Not bad, about Soz (main character in Primary Inversion and Radiant Seas and others I haven't read) and, more prominently, a man who has been trapped on a planet populated by mathematical and artistic geniuses who like to live in eternal night. He has been mistreated by, well, a mean chap and when Soz shows up she helps him escape his situation.

Ave de Paso — Meh. A pair of orphaned cousins deal with recent bereavement, the desert and magical possession by a malevolent spirit. Not terrible, but not my favourite.

The Spacetime Pool — Your classic present-day maths graduate falls into gate in the spacetime continuum and finds herself in an alternate universe where she's at the centre of an empire-changing prophesy. I wasn't fond of the whole "you must marry me and not my brother because he's a bastard" opening but since it's a novella there was plenty of room to turn it around and I enjoyed the heroine rescuing herself with the application of mathematics.

Light and Shadows — A heart broken test pilot deals with his pain by trying to go harder, faster further. When he pushes his plane beyond the specified limits he gets a bit more than he expected. An amusing story (well, not the parts where he was sad about his dead lover) about a character I'm pretty sure reappears in Skolian Empire books I've read.

City of Cries — This was my favourite story of the bunch. It's a gender-flipped hard-boiled PI story in an SF setting. And when I say gender-flipped, I don't just mean that the ex-military PI is female (though she is) but all the trope-mandatory characters are gender flipped. I found this delightful even while unpleasant things were happening to people.

A Poetry of Angles and Dreams — not a story but an essay, which you can read here. For someone with a maths degree, it was a fairly straight-forward description of concepts. Particularly the imaginary number half of the essay starts at the most basic level and builds up to the more complex (lol, pun) concept of Riemann sheets. I suspect the second part of the essay, about Fourier transforms/analysis would be less enlightening to the lay person.

4 / 5 stars

First published: 2012 Isfic Press (audiobook 2014)
Series: Stories set in the Skolian Empire universe (apparently including the ones that don't seem like they are)
Format read: Audiobook
Source: Kickstarter reward

Prickle Moon by Juliet Marillier

Prickle Moon by Juliet Marillier is the first collection of short stories I've read by the author, although I did read her first two novels many, many years ago (more than a decade). My excuse for grabbing Prickle Moon was to read the two Ditmar-shortlisted stories and, of course, I read the other stories as well, picking through them slowly as I am wont to do with short story collections.

This collection is a mix of longer, intricate and fantastical tales and shorter tales which were no less serious (but of necessity less intricate). My favourites were "'Twixt Firelight and Water", a novella set in the same universe as the Sevenwaters books, and "Back and Beyond". I also quite liked the two Ditmar-shortlistees, "Prickle Moon" and "By Bone Light". Interestingly, although I enjoyed the latter more, I've found it's "Prickle Moon" that's lodged more firmly in my brain. I hark back to it every time hedgehogs come up (which has been more often than usual in the past month).

As always, I've included comments on each story below.

I recommend Prickle Moon to anyone with an interest in fantasy short stories. Additionally, the novellas are an excellent way to get a taste for Marillier's longer work. I'm planning not to wait quite so long before reading another of her books.

~

PRICKLE MOON — Took me a while to get into, not quite my type of story. But it was sad and it made me sad. Lots of hedgehogs (I think they were hedgehogs), and an older lady who cared for them.

OTHERLING — A predictable story, but not worse for it. I might not have been surprised, but I still enjoyed reading it.

LET DOWN YOUR HAIR — Not a Rapunzel story as I had expected. But definitely a Fairytale. A quick read that left much unanswered.

POPPY SEEDS — An alternate take on the three-brother-quest school of Fairytales. I mean, it's still a Fairytale, but not quite a retelling of one I've encountered before. (The youngest brother still wins at life and morals, though.)

IN COED CELYDDON — An Arthurian tale, but not the kind you might expect. Arthur at age fourteen, dreaming of the future. (Also, Welsh Arthur, which is my favourite rendition.)

JUGGLING SILVER — A very short story about a younger brother who can't talk and a long winter for a small village.

’TWIXT FIRELIGHT AND WATER (A TALE OF SEVENWATERS) — A novella. I read the first two Sevenwaters books something like 15 years ago, so my memory was pretty foggy and mainly extended to a vague recollection of setting. This did not affect my enjoyment of the story. Although it refers to events that happened in the books (I think), it was quite self-contained. A half-human gets in the wrong side of his fae mother and a half-Irish young woman journeys to visit her ancestral home. A good meaty (fairy) tale to sink your teeth into.

GIFT OF HOPE — A girl moves to a country estate, finds a secret diary and brightens someone's life.

LETTERS FROM ROBERT — Young lady near Freemantle receives letters from her sweetheart as he travels the world as part of a ship's crew.

JACK’S DAY — Distinctly not speculative, a story of a war widow remembering her husband and being grateful for her present.

FAR HORIZONS — A baby boomer romance novelist is convinced to spend some of her book money on herself.

TOUGH LOVE 3001 — An odd tale. A creative writing teacher has been headhunted to work in the future, mostly with aliens. Her class is strange but reminiscent of literary snobs everywhere.

WRAITH, LEVEL ONE — After a twelve-year-old boy dies with his family in a cat crash, he find heaven a bit boring. Luckily, there's a mission waiting for him.

BACK AND BEYOND — An old lady goes back to the children's library where she found much joy in stories growing up.

THE ANGEL OF DEATH — A volunteer for the RSPCA helps to clear out a puppy farm and encounters a dog no one else can see. Some horrific imagery in this story (of the puppy farm), but it was a good read.

BY BONE-LIGHT — Context: I read this story second because of its Ditmar shortlisting. Very different to Prickle Moon, yet with similar fairytale overtones. Lissa, living in the approximate present, has been very isolated from the world by her stepmother. She and her stepsisters are forced to work all day to make things to sell online (dolls in Lissa’s case) and it is Lissa that gets all the unpleasant tasks. She’s too scared to call the welfare people thanks to the stepmother’s gaslighting. Then a quest one dark night changes Lissa’s life. An enjoyable read.

4.5 / 5 stars

First published: 2013, Ticonderoga
Series: No.
Format read: ePub on iThings
Source: Purchased from SmashWords
Challenges: Australian Women Writers Challenge

Last Year, When We Were Young by Andrew J McKiernan

Last Year, When We Were Young by Andrew J McKiernan is the author's first short story collection and, indeed, his first solo book. I should note up front that, once upon a time, the author and I were in the same writing critique group. What this mainly means is that I'd seen early drafts of a few stories, a long time ago, and had very vague memories of them. But I thought I should disclose that up front.

There was a decent variety of stories in Last Year, When We Were Young, with most of them tending towards the horror side of the spec fic triangle. (Spec fic is a triangle now. Or maybe a triangular Venn Diagram, but I digress.) Some were more contemplative and serious, while others were more... gory. One was even science fiction. Looking over the table of contents again, most of the stories have very good titles.

I found I most enjoyed the more contemplative stories. My favourites were "The Memory of Water", "White Lines, White Crosses" and the titular "Last Year, When We Were Young", although the latter is perhaps less contemplative per se. The former two stories deal with loss and death in a poignant way.

Actually, I liked most of the stories in this collection. My least favourite tended to be the most gruesome, which is reflective of my horror preferences more generally. And although I am using the term horror to describe the collection as a whole, I'm not sure the three circus-based stories (for lack of a more accurate phrase) count as horror. Certainly not "Calliope: A Steam Romance" nor "The Dumbshow". "All the Clowns in Clowntown" is perhaps more borderline since it definitely has a well executed feeling of dread to it, but on the other hand, it's about clowns. I suspect coulrophobiacs may disagree with me on that point.

I also liked "The Haunting that Jack Built" — in part for the name — and "The Desert Song", both of which were set in rural Australia and both of which had fairly traditional horror elements. I liked the Australian angle and difference between the Australia of the past and the Australia of a not-so-nice future. I also liked "The Message", which packed a powerful punch, nonetheless.

All in all, this was a pretty solid collection and I would recommend it to horror fans and fans of dark speculative fiction. With a few exceptions, there was nothing too extremely horrific in the stories and I think most of them would be enjoyed by a fairly broad audience.

~

The Memory of Water — A story I found difficult to put down. Siblings remember their departed parents.

White Lines, White Crosses — A teenaged boy and his family move from Sydney to a country town that is eerily obsessed with hooning. It was a disturbing story with a creeping sense of foreboding.

Calliope: A Steam Romance — A patent clerk is captivated by a woman playing a calliope (a steam-powered musical instrument). True steampunk set in Sydney, even more steampunky when we learn that the woman is actually an intelligent automaton. Also, points for many physicist/scientist shout-outs.

Love Death — A young man brings his new wife to a necromancer, hoping to get her back. I may be a bad person, but I found the circumstances around her death pretty (blackly) funny.

The Message — You know when you read a genre book and you know you're reading a genre book but the characters in it don't know they're in a genre book? This story made me think about that phenomenon. A woman takes a job answering a mysterious phone. Obviously, it's far from an ordinary phone and certain aspects of the past resurface...

All the Clowns in Clowntown — Surprisingly epic for a short story. In this world clowning isn’t just something someone does, it’s who they are. The clowns have clustered together in Clowntown, living their lives, until one day <cue ominous music> the circus comes to town.

Daivadana — a disturbing tale of a diplomat (sort of) who gets caught up in an old Tajik religion. Pretty gruesome at times.

The Dumbshow — Another story in the same universe as "All the Clowns in Clowntown", set (I think) shortly after the events of the previous story. It's much less eerie and, being shorter, a more straightforward story. Honestly not sure how it would stand on its own without the earlier background.

The Final Degustation of Doctor Ernest Blenheim — A little hard to get past the self-cannibalism. And honestly once past that it was still a weird story. As far as revulsion goes, I think it did improve as it went along.

Torch Song — The speculative element sneaks up on you in this one, but I quite liked it. A shot tale, good punch. Title very apt.

The Wanderer in the Darkness — Sci-fi horror, so it automatically put me in mind of Alien. My only issue with it was a character leaving an airlock without his helmet and then not dying. Oh well.

A Prayer for Lazarus — I think I read part of this before, possibly an earlier version. Anyway, creepy story told from a young girl's point of view about her mother's descent into a form of zombie-ism.

The Haunting that Jack Built — I quite liked this story. Set in a rural, small town in the Australian 1950s, Jack builds a house while the townspeople can't help but notice women disappearing when they come to visit him. (I think I'd read at least part of this story before.)

They Don’t Know That We Know What They Know — A weird story with a fitting title. Reminded me a little of "Daivadana", although it's actually pretty different in the details. A seer interrogating the dead body of a young terrorist.

The Desert Song — A sort of zombie story, set in rural future post-something bad Australia. I liked it and the ideas in it but I found it a little inconsistent.

Last Year, When We Were Young — One of my favourite stories in the collection. And it's a great title, which works well for the collection as a whole. A speed ageing plague has infected humanity and the concept is taken to its horrifying conclusion.

4 / 5 stars

First published: May 2014, Satalyte Publishing
Series: No
Format read: ePub
Source: review copy courtesy of the author
Disclaimer: although the author is a friend, I have endeavoured to give an unbiased review
Challenges: Aussie Horror Reading Challenge

Dead Americans and Other Stories by Ben Peek

Dead Americans and Other Stories by Ben Peek is a collection of short and long stories. Mostly on the longer side, really. They were an odd bunch and some of them went a bit over my head for various reasons (see below) but several of them did involve dead Americans, as promised in the title. (Somewhat unusually, the collection is not named after one of the story titles.)

A collection of the critically acclaimed dark, weird, and surreal short fiction of Ben Peek. It presents a world where bands are named after the murderer of a dead president, where the work of Octavia E. Butler is turned into an apocalypse meta-narrative, and John Wayne visits a Wal-Mart. It presents a world where a dying sun shines over a broken, bitter landscape and men and women tattoo their life onto their skin for an absent god. It presents a zombie apocalypse, Mark Twain dreaming of Sydney, and answers a questionnaire you never read.

My favourite stories, looking back over them were, in order of appearance, "The Dreaming City", which was the only Australian-flavoured story, "Johnny Cash", which was pretty funny, "The Souls of Dead Soldiers are for Blackbirds, Not Little Boys", and "theleeharveyoswaldband", which was a relatively straight forward, albeit it definitely speculative, tale.

"The Souls of Dead Soldiers are for Blackbirds, Not Little Boys" along with three other stories, "Possession", "The Funeral, Ruined" and "Under the Red Sun" were all set in the same world. They were set in very different parts of the world, so that it wasn't until I got to the third story, which referenced both of the two before it, that I realised. I am fond of short stories expanding on the same world. In this case, all the stories dealt with death and life after death, both in the religious sense and in the sense of coming back as a cyborg. I liked the way in which Peek touched upon, for example, the war that affected different aspects of the world, without centring the story on the war itself, just some of its ramifications. And the different attitudes that different people had towards cyborgs were broadly explored throughout the stories.

I have to admit that some of the stories went a bit over my head, I suspect as a result of not being familiar with the right part of American culture. Especially "John Wayne". I caught some of the social commentary, but definitely not all of it. Similarly, I enjoyed "Octavia E Butler (a remix)", but I am positive that there are references to that author's work which I missed on account of not having read any of it (I know, I know, bad me, I'll get to it eventually).

Anyway, as usual, comments on individual stories are below. Peek's writing is well developed and I highly recommend this collection to fans of speculative fiction, especially the kind tending towards the weird, and horror. Also, aficionados of the short story (well, up to novella length, I think) will find much to appreciate here.

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• There Is Something So Quiet and Empty Inside of You That It Must Be Precious — ok, the title of this story makes it even creepier; I had forgotten it while I read. I also went back and read through the chapter/section headings and they were eerie. A story whose creepiness creeps up on you (heh). The kind of horror with a drab and mundane setting that puts the fear in the commonplace.
• The Dreaming City — I did not know, before reading this story, that Mark Twain had ever visited Australia (apparently he circumnavigated the world in his 60s). The story is told from several perspectives and time-frames. We have Mark Twain on his visit to Sydney and Mark Twain being spoken to by an Aboriginal spirit who shows him the past and, briefly, the future. There's also the point of view of an Aboriginal tribesman told from the landing of the first fleet to his death. That particular story is more of the "progress marches on" variety, whereas Twain's is (sort of) more neutrally observational. There are also some excerpts from the introduction to a more-or-less present-day travel guide, which talk about Twain and Sydney's history. It's a rich story with many layers and very different to the one that preceded it. There are even footnotes on a few historical points, explaining them further.
• Johnny Cash (A Tale in Questionnaire Results) — This story was pretty funny and quite short, coming in at 50 answers. It is not about Johnny Cash. It is about Reagan, demons and blood sacrifices. And clean-up.
• Possession — This story started a bit slowly but then improved. Shows us a glimpse into a desolate future and a look at a particular subterranean botanist's life. The future combines some sort of (post-) apocalyptic event and cyborgs as longevity-proofed humans (sort of). Really interesting once it got going.
• The Souls of Dead Soldiers are for Blackbirds, Not Little Boys — Similar in setting (that is, subterranean) to the previous story and well placed for being so. Otherwise quite different. The title actually describes it very well. The world building was detailed and very much added to the foreign setting and mystical (sort of) story.
• The Funeral, Ruined — Same world as the previous story, but a different country. And, actually, as I realised a little way in, they are both also set in the same world as "Possession". Addresses some of the personal social consequences of cyborgification from an entirely different perspective to "Possession".
• Under the Red Sun — Same world as above. Set in a very different place to the previous two stories. I have a particular fondness for short stories set in the same world, and I enjoyed the windows into different societies in this set. This one deals with death (again) and the beliefs surrounding it from the point of view of people who can choose to come back as cyborgs but don't necessarily think that's the right thing to do.
• John Wayne (As Written by a Non-American) — a story about John Wayne and Orson Welles. I don think I quite "got" it. Maybe one needs to know more US culture? It just seemed a little odd to me (ironic, given that some aspects were supposed to seem odd...)
• Octavia E. Butler (a remix) — this was a really weird story. The opening confused me, because at first I thought it was going to be about the real Octavia Butler, like how some of the earlier stories featured real people. But as soon became clear, it was a science fictional story, set in a near future with a complicated (and, as it turns out, sentient) disease infecting humanity. Possibly, it was a reference/homage to a story the Butler wrote, but I haven’t read any, so that aspect would’ve been completely lost on me, if it did indeed exist. Beyond that, I’ll just add that it was a fairly depressing story, spanning many years and, more or less, the main character’s entire life.
• theleeharveyoswaldband — OK, all the stories in this volume were a bit weird, and this one probably falls into the less confusing category. I quite liked it. Told by following a key character and through an interview with someone else in Rolling Stone, it was about a one-man-band's surprising rise to fame and the bootlegger who helped him get there.

4 / 5 stars

First published: March 2014, Chizine Publications
Series: No.
Format read: eARC
Source: Publisher via NetGalley
Challenges: Aussie Science Fiction Reading Challenge, Aussie Horror Reading Challenge