#ReadShortStories of various provenances (141 to 145)

A varied batch this time, breaking up my anthology reading again. Mostly based on whim. And I'm afraid I'm too tired for much of a preamble today, so here are some story mini-reviews!

Loss of Signal by S.B. Divya — A near future space programmed powered by human minds who have been extracted from their non-functional bodies. This story raised a lot of ethical points, not all of them explicitly, and made me feel a little uneasy. The premise is interesting but I’m ultimately not sure how I feel about the story (though I definitely liked it more than I disliked it). Source: https://www.tor.com/2018/08/01/loss-of-signal-sb-divya/

Sugar Ricochets to Other Forms by Octavia Cade — A pretty weird story. On the one hand, we have a couple of women running a brothel staffed with magic automaton boys made out of sugar and cake (who often come back with parts missing in the morning). On the other hand, there is a clockwork witch made of brass I love with baby crabs lured by sugar. A compelling read, but also a strange one. Source: Mother of Invention edited by Rivqa Rafael and Tansy Rayner Roberts

The Flower of Arizona  by Seanan McGuire — A story set in the 1920s about a cryptozoologist and a circus performer. And a spate of murders. I enjoyed it and, since it seems to be the set up for more stories about these two characters, I looking forward to reading more about them. (I picked this story to try because the blurb on the author’s website had the greatest promise of Aeslin mice, and I was not disappointed.) Source: Hugo voter packet

Frozen Voice by An Owomoyela — Children living in a post-alien invasion world. Aliens who force their language on humans and technically prevent starvation etc by having killed most of the population. Also, they’re afraid of books. The writing style was quite visceral and I enjoyed being drawn into the story. Source: http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/owomoyela_07_11/

Kill Screen by EC Myers — A teenage girl makes an AI program of her recently deceased best friend. It was a bit morbid, mostly because it dealt with the question of why the friend had killed herself, but also for other reasons (spoilers). I mostly enjoyed it, but it also made me feel uncomfortable (intentionally, I assume), especially near the end. Source: Mother of Invention edited by Rivqa Rafael and Tansy Rayner Roberts

Short Stories 30 to 35

Another mix of stories this batch. The first two finished of Seanan McGuire's first collection of superhero stories, Velveteen vs the Junior Super Patriots, so you may have already seen my reviews of those two.

I found the middle two stories particularly powerful and I definitely recommend those to fans of horror, in the case of "The First of Her Name" and adorable robots in the case of "The Secret Life of Bots". Both were excellent reads.

Velveteen vs Patrol by Seanan McGuire — A first look at Velma’s new life superheroing for Oregon. Mostly a pleasant read about her working out her new life, with and additional dollop of foreshadowing doom thrown in. Source: http://seananmcguire.com/velvs8.php

Velveteen vs the Blind Date by Seanan McGuire — Velveteen is set up on a blind date with another freelance superhero. It seems like a terrible idea at first, but they have complementary powers and hit it off. Another entertaining read. Source: http://seananmcguire.com/velvs9.php

The First of Her Name by Elaine Cuyegkeng — A pretty horrifying story told from the point of view of a young insect in a colony. I mean, the horrifying part isn’t the insects but rather what happens to some of them. And the tone. It was chilling. Source: https://lackingtons.com/2017/02/09/the-first-of-her-name-by-elaine-cuyegkeng/

The Secret Life of Bots by Suzanne Palmer — A delightful story about an ageing maintenance bot on an ageing spaceship that has been pulled out of a scrap yard for a last desperate mission. This story strikes a perfect balance between informing the reader of the human-centred happenings and the struggles faced by the bots. Source: http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/palmer_09_17/ 

The Ouroboros Bakery by Octavia Cade — An interesting idea and I liked several aspects (who doesn't like magical bakers?) but I found the story a bit too wordy overall. Source: http://www.kaleidotrope.net/archives/autumn-2017/the-ouroboros-bakery-by-octavia-cade/