My life in books

“Articulated Restraint,” Mary Robinette Kowal. Tor.com, February 6, 2019.
https://www.tor.com/2019/02/06/articulated-restraint-mary-robinette-kowal/
Good. Set in Lady Astronaut universe. Short story.

“The Rule of Three,” Lawrence Shoen, Future Science Fiction Digest, December 18 2018
http://future-sf.com/fiction/the-rule-of-three/
Excellent. A very different first contact experience. Novelette.

“How to Swallow the Moon,” Isabel Yap; Uncanny, November-December 18 2018
https://uncannymagazine.com/article/how-to-swallow-the-moon/
Very good. Forbidden lovers overcome great obstacles. Novelette.

“The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington,” Phenderson Djèlí Clark; Fireside Fiction, February, 2018
https://firesidefiction.com/the-secret-lives-of-the-nine-negro-teeth-of-george-washington
Excellent. Short story.

“Leviathan Sings to Me in the Deep,” Nibedita Sen; Nightmare Magazine, June 18 2018.
http://www.nightmare-magazine.com/fiction/leviathan-sings-to-me-in-the-deep/
Excellent. Short story. CN: whale hunting, explicit descriptions.

“Shod in Memories,” M. K. Hutchins; Daily Science Fiction, October 25 2018
https://dailysciencefiction.com/fantasy/fairy-tales/m-k-hutchins/shod-in-memories
Good but slight. Cinderella retold. Short story.

“One Day, My Dear, I’ll Shower You with Rubies,” Langley Hyde; Podcastle, May 1 2018.
http://podcastle.org/2018/05/01/podcastle-520-one-day-my-dear-ill-shower-you-with-rubies/
Very good. Consequences of growing up with a murderer fr a parent. Short story.

“Sidekicks Wanted,” Laura Johnson; Cast of Wonders June 15 2018, original publication in anthology Heroes, editor unknown, October 2015.
http://www.castofwonders.org/2018/06/cast-of-wonders-307-sidekicks-wanted/
Neutral. Predictable. Short story.

“Ana’s Asteroid,” M. K. Hutchins; Cast of Wonders, April 30 2018.
http://www.castofwonders.org/2018/04/cast-of-wonders-301-anas-asteroid/
Good. Heroic child saves the day. Short story.

“The Things That We Will Never Say,” Vanessa Fogg; Daily Science Fiction, May 25 2018
https://dailysciencefiction.com/science-fiction/science-fiction/vanessa-fogg/the-things-that-we-will-never-say
Very good. Uses sf tropes to talk about family dynamics. Short story.

“Strange Waters,” Samantha Mills; Strange Horizons, April 2 2018.
http://strangehorizons.com/fiction/strange-waters/
Excellent. A woman lost in time searches for a way home. Short story.

“The Paper Dragon,” Stephen S. Power; Daily Science Fiction, April 20 2018
https://dailysciencefiction.com/hither-and-yon/sf-fantasy/stephen-s-power/the-paper-dragon
Good. Examination of war and forgiveness. Short story.

Lately, I've been reading with an eye to making Hugo nominations, so this batch of short fiction reads is mostly selected from various lists of recommendations.


"The City Born Great," N. K. Jemisin; Tor.com, September 9, 2016
http://www.tor.com/2016/09/28/the-city-born-great/

An urban fantasy - though not the kind we're used to - about the gritty birth and life of the great cities, set in New York. Evocative and filled with a sense of urgency that pulls the reader toward its conclusion.


"This Is Not a Wardobe Door," A. Merc Rustad; Fireside Magazine Issue #29, January 2016
http://www.firesidefiction.com/issue29/chapter/this-is-not-a-wardrobe-door/

A story about imagination and hope and holding on to the magic of childhood when you believed you could change the world. At the end, I was crying.


"Checkerboard Planet," Eleanor Arnason; ClarkesWorld, December 2016
http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/arnason_12_16/

A new Lydia DuLuth talr from Arnason is always a treat. In this novelette, the AIs who control the interstellar stargates have asked Lydia to investigate conditions on a planet with a most peculiar ecology - the entire land mass and parts of the oceans are organised into giant squares, all of similar size, with all the life forms in each square the same colour. The planet has been colonised by a biogenetics corporation which, the AIs fear, is not acting in the best interests of the planet or humanity. An anti-imperialist first contact story with a gentle and at times even whimsical touch.


"Fifty Shades of Grays," Steven Barnes; Lightspeed Magazine, June 2016
http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/fifty-shades-grays/

Carver Kofax is a master at marketing and sales. But when he and his colleague (and romantic interest) Rhonda, land the corporation they work for a lucrative and highly secretive contract, the nature of the campaign demands all their skills - and leads to unexpected and dire consequences for all of humanity. Barnes handles the revelations in the narrative and the protagonist's growing unease with a sure hand. Content warning: this novelette contains sexually explicit kink.


"A Dead Djinn in Cairo," P. Djeli Clark; tor.com, May 18, 2016
http://www.tor.com/2016/05/18/a-dead-djinn-in-cairo/

In an alternate pre-WWI Cairo, where djinn and angels from other dimensions mingle with humans, Special Inspector Fatma el-Sha’arawi of the Egyptian Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities investigates the apparent suicide of a djinn, only to discover a mad plot to destroy humanity. Will the dapper young inspector solve the mystery in time? Clark's novelette is a delighful genre-bending fantasy thriller with a touch of steampunk. Cairo comes to life in complex and sensual detail, and Fatma is a character I'd love to see again.


"The Witch of Orion Waste and the Boy Knight," E. Lily Yu, Uncanny Magazine, Sept-Oct 2016
http://uncannymagazine.com/article/witch-orion-waste-boy-knight/

A relatively young and inexperienced witch decides to accompany a young knight errant seeking dragons to kill, and learns a few bitter lessons about honor, trust and pride.


"The Green Knight’s Wife," Kat Howard; Uncanny Magazine, November 2016
http://uncannymagazine.com/article/green-knights-wife/

A compelling riff on the Arthurian tale of Sir Gawain and the Green Knight, told from the perspective of the Green Knight's wife, in which one of those women who is always on the sidelines in such hero tales, treated as merely part of the mythic machinery, takes up agency and acts for herself.


"Foxfire, Foxfire," Yoon Ha Lee; Beneath Ceaseless Skies, March 3, 2016
http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/foxfire-foxfire/

A novelette blending fantasy and sf, set in a Asian- derived alternate universe where loyalists and rebels do battle with giant powered mechas. A young spirit fox with a great desire to become human - which he can only achieve by killing and eating 100 humans - is faced with difficult choices when captured by a mecha pilot. A story about transformations, and finding one's self.


"Unauthorized Access," An Owomoyela; Lightspeed Magazine, September 2016
http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/unauthorized-access/

You would think a high profile hacker who's already spent time in prison for releasing government information that there was no reason to hide would be seriously radicalised - but for Aedo Leung, getting out of jail is only the beginning. A cautionary tale about the sequestration of public information that has suddenly become even more timely and appropriate.