My life in books

This short fiction post is a bit short, Morgan must have wanted to write up a few more pieces before posting, but she never did.

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Most of these stories are listed on the Locus recommended reading List or on other Hugo recommendation lists.

“A World to Die For,” Tobias Buckell; Clarkesworld, January 2018.
http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/buckell_01_18/
Excellent. Climate futures are variable; the good ones are worth fighting for. Novelette.

“Nine Last Days on Planet Earth“, Daryl Gregory; Tor.com, September 19, 2018.
https://www.tor.com/2018/09/19/nine-last-days-on-planet-earth-daryl-gregory/
Excellent. Earth is slowly taken over by a new vegetative life form while a man’s life evolves around these new species, and the old ways of connecting to each other. Novelette.

“The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat,” Brooke Bolander; Uncanny Magazine, July/August, 2018.
https://uncannymagazine.com/article/the-tale-of-the-three-beautiful-raptor-sisters-and-the-prince-who-was-made-of-meat/
Excellent. A prince of great promise and little brain suddenly takes matters into his own hands, to his detriment. Short story

I spent some time a while back reading Robert Heinlein’s published collections of short stories - but I overlooked one, Assignment in Eternity, which was unfortunate because these four stories are among the most memorable of Heinlein’s stories in my opinion - as long as one doesn’t look at them too closely. Unfortunately, what makes them memorable is also what makes them not particularly good stories.

“Gulf” is primarily a spy thriller structured much the same way as a Bond film cold open - it’s only real purpose is to set up the proposition that forms the central part of the story, and the story then ends in a suicide mission in which both protagonists are killed. As a story, it’s rather weak on structure. As an argument, it’s just more of Heinlein’s notions of the manifestation of a superman, but this time, the superman will benevolently rule the others. What it really shows is how easy it is fo that kind of mind candy to corrupt. The punch that holds the nastiness in place is the heroic deaths of the protagonists - and that moment stayed with me for a long time.

“Elsewhen” does much the same thing with its stories of people who have learned how to walk through time. It’s so tempting, to use the power to end up when you are most suited to be. In “Elsewhen,” a man who has learned the secret of changing timelines teaches five of his students how to do the same. One lives a life at a thousand times the speed of their own time line and ends up as a saint in a land where heaven exists much as she expected it. Two end up in a world where there is war, and it’s going badly for humanity - they take military and engineering science there to save their new home. Two find themselves happily in an agrarian, quiet world with just enough technology to be comfortable. When their teacher is charged with murder after their disappearance, he closes the circles by taking some of the agrarian world’s tech to the world at war, and then settling in to spend his last years on the agrarian world, occasionally visiting his former students in the now significantly improved war world. There’s now no way for anyone on the central earth to find him. It’s the ultimate portal fantasy, that can happen for anyone who stumbles upon the trick of freeing himself from living in time. But when it’s finished, all you have left is five people enjoying that perfect fantasy, and all of the conflict is unimportant

Lost Legacy is a novella that again, tells a story that, for all its interesting ideas and wish fulfillment ideas, is not actually much of a story at all. The concept is that once everyone have superpowers. Then a bunch of elitists tried to limit whose powers would be allowed to develop, and the non-elitists, rather that fight, surrendered the field, leaving little secret notes so someday an emerging society could restore the open use of powers. One day, some energetic American discover their powers, connect with other who have been gathering, and starts the war the older nonelitists walked away from. We are given to understand that they will prevail because they are Americans, and are using Scouting to hide their training program. (But only boys, not girls in scouting, because girls don’t matter.)

The final story, “Jerry Was a Man” may have ben so cringeworthy because in it, Heinlein winds himself up to Say Something about black-white relations in America, and he always went way off line when he tried that. It’s the decadent future and wealthy people are big on genetically engineered pets. The useless boy-toy husband of a very wealthy woman wants a pegasus, so she tries to buy him one. He throws a tantrum when he discovers that a pegasus would be incapable of flight unless it were built like a condor - but while he’s negotiating for something that might please him, Mrs. Moneybags notices a sad humanoid worker named Jerry in a cage and discovers that the company euthanises all older engineered workers.

She’s appalled, and because she does own a large section of the company, tries and fails to have the policy changed. The manager and the boy-toy try to manipulate her, first by giving her the right to a permanent leasehold over Jerry, then later by trying to take Jerry back when she decides to go to court for his personhood. This results in a delightful scene where boy-toy discovers that being handsome does not trump betraying your wife and is kicked out. Mrs. Moneybags gets the best legal assistance she can afford, and Jerry sues to have himself and his people declared human enough that they can be held in guardianship but not killed. The sickening part in an otherwise rather funny court scene is when Jerry’s humanity is cinched by his dressing up in faded dungarees and singing Swanee River. Now, admittedly, artists who are powerful and unquestionably the best humanity has to offer, such as, say, the great Paul Robeson, have sung that song so that they uplifted it, rather than being pulled down by its lyrics and images, but the whole image of a genetically enhanced primate gaining a portion (maybe 3/5 ths) of humanity by mimicking a black man disturbs me greatly. Yes, the story’s intent is good. But this is a tonedeaf use of images on Heinlein’s part and it turns much of the good stuff to ashes when you read it.

This particular collection of Heinlein stories is very much one that I wish the rewrite fairy could get her hands on and turn them into the solid stories that lurk inside them.

The Belles, by Dhonielle Clayton, is a very strange, yet strangely compelling, book. Perhaps because it is a young adult novel, I don’t find myself demanding that the worldbuilding make all that much sense, which s a good thing, because this doesn’t. The motivations are quite realistic, however, and that’s part of the strangeness.

Camilla Beauregard is one of the Belles. This term is ambiguous, in that It seems to be the term used both for anyone with the gift of psychically producing physical changes that make women beautiful, and to those particular women who have been through a highly commercialised training and preparation to be a Belle at one of the establishments set up for Belles to do their work - often called teahouses - or as official Belle to the Royal family the ‘favourite.’

On the one hand, we have something resembling the extensive beauty pageant culture we are familiar with, except the Belles actually can create real beauty, in themselves and others, and on the other, we have a tradition that seems to want to evoke Western images of geisha and teahouse culture, but making the services of the geisha be not just the creation of comfort and a pleasant social evening, but also very reason for seeking them out.

There are some odd things that the protagonist Camilla, who becomes Belle of the Imperial Teahouse, notices but doesn’t think about at first. New Belles are selected for the important teahouse positions every three years - but where are al the other Belles? Some go into the machine, becoming carers and instructors of future Belles, but the others? Where are they, and what is behind the odd occasional comments made by some of the older women about there being more than one Belle in the teahouses? What has happened? Why does she hear screams in the night? Then comes the strangest thing - Amber, the Belle chosen as favourite, has been demoted, she, Camilla, is to be favourite, and no one will talk about it.

First in a series.

Most of these stories are from the Locus recommended reading list or other online recommendations lists.

“The Court Magician,” Sarah Pinsker; Lightspeed Magazine, January 2018
http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/the-court-magician/
Excellent. Concerning actions desires and their costs. Short story.

“The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections,” Tina Connolly; Tor.com, July 11 2018.
https://www.tor.com/2018/07/11/the-last-banquet-of-temporal-confections-tina-connolly/
Excellent. Novelette.

“And Yet,” A.T. Greenblatt; Uncanny Magazine, March-April 2018.
https://uncannymagazine.com/article/and-yet/
Very good. A scientist must choose between her research and her brother’s life. Short story.

“She Still Loves the Dragon,” Elizabeth Bear; Uncanny Magazine, January-February 2018.
https://uncannymagazine.com/article/still-loves-dragon/
Very good. Short story.

“A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies,” Alex E. Harrow; Apex Magazine, February 6 2018.
https://www.apex-magazine.com/a-witchs-guide-to-escape-a-practical-compendium-of-portal-fantasies/
Excellent. Heart-breaking, but with a breath of hope. Short story.

“Snake Season,” Erin Roberts; The Dark Magazine, April 2018.
http://thedarkmagazine.com/snake-season/
Very good. A horrifying tale of love and madness. Short story. CN: infanticide, murder.

“Flow,” Marissa Lingen; Fireside Magazine, March 2018.
https://firesidefiction.com/flow
Very good. About disability, nature, knowing and healing. Short story.

“Pistol Grip,” Vina Jie-Min Prasad; Uncanny Magazine, March-April 2018
https://uncannymagazine.com/article/pistol-grip/
Good. Evocative, provocative. Short story. CN: Explicit violence, sex.

“Cast Off Tight,” Hal Y. Zhang; Fireside Magazine, June 2018.
https://firesidefiction.com/cast-off-tight
Very good. Memory, grief, and knitting. Short story.

“Blessings,” Naomi Novik; Uncanny Magazine, May-June 2018.
https://uncannymagazine.com/article/blessings/
Excellent. Be careful when asking fairies for blessings on your children. Shot story.

“A Study in Oils,” Kelly Robson; Clarksworld Magazine, September 2018.
http://clarkesworldmagazine.com/robson_09_18/
Excellent. A study in remorse. Novelette.

“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.

In Aliette de Bodard’s novel, In the Vanishers’ Palace, a young girl is forced by the elders if her village to offer herself to a feared dragon, in return for the dragon’s gift of healing to the daughter of the village leader. Fearful of the worst, Yên finds that the dragon, Vu Côn, wants her as a tutor to her two adopted children, Dan Thông and Dan Liên.

Vu Côn lives in a vast palace, built by a long-gone race called the Vanishers. In Yên and Vu Côn’s world, the Vanishers once ruled the world, humans and spirits such as dragons alike, with a science so advanced that it seemed the highest of magic. But the Vanishers went elsewhere in great ships, and behind them they left chaos - destructive diseases, dangerous artefacts, a world broken and need of healing. Vu Côn, in her own way, is committed to understanding the lost science of the Vanishers, focusing primarily on the horrific genetic diseases they created and unleashed, and trying to undo at least some of the damage they caused.

In a tale that owes something of its origins the the old tale of Beauty and the Beast, there is a strong but unacknowledged attraction between Yên and Vu Côn, but the latter is all too aware of the imbalance of power and shies away from Yên, indeed from all unnecessary contact with her, while Yên is conflicted by her awe and fear of the dragon, and her desire. Yên, meanwhile, learns to work with the children, and navigate the treacherous Vanishers’ palace. But great changes are waiting for all of them.

“A Bond as Deep as Starlit Seas,” Sarah Grey; Lightspeed Magazine, August 2018
http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/a-bond-as-deep-as-starlit-seas/

There is no tie as deep as that between a girl and her space ship.


“A Green Moon Problem,’ Jane Lindskold; Fireside Magazine, May 2018
http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fiction/a-green-moon-problem/

An eerie tale about a masked legend seeking the meaning of humanity, who has a talent for finding unusual solutions to difficult problems.


“The Thing About Ghosts,’ Naomi Kritzer; Uncanny Magazine, November/December 2018
https://uncannymagazine.com/article/the-thing-about-ghost-stories/

Kritzer’s novelette about a woman writing her doctoral dissertation on the meaning of ghost stories as her mother slowly slides into dementia and then dies is both a meditation on death and how we deal with it, and a ghost story all on its own.


“Field Biology of the Wee Fairies,” Naomi Kritzer; Apex Magazine, April 4, 2019
https://www.apex-magazine.com/field-biology-of-the-wee-fairies/

In a world where normal girls wait hopefully for their fairy to come along and gift them with beauty, or some other appropriately feminine attribute that will help them succeed with boys, what does a young girl who doesn’t care about being pretty and wants to be a scientist to do when her fairy shows up?


“If At First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again,” Zen Cho; Barnes &Noble Sci-fi and Fantasy Blog, November 29, 2018
https://www.barnesandnoble.com/blog/sci-fi-fantasy/if-at-first-you-dont-succeed-try-try-again-by-zen-cho/

An imugi’s goal is to become a dragon, that is the way of things. But sometimes an imugi will try, and fail. Perhaps, for Byam, it’s just that it needs a kind of wisdom only being in love can provide. Cho’s novelette is both poignant and joyous.

Peasprout Chen and her younger brother Cricket live in the land of Shin, where wu liu, the beautiful and deadly art of martial skating, was invented. Peasprout, who is fourteen and a prodigy at wu liu, and as such, she and Cricket have been selected by the Dowager Empress herself to study at the Pearl Famous Academy of Skate and Sword in a goodwill exchange - a mission that carries much responsibility, for the independant city-state of Pearl has taken preeminence in the great martial art and Peasprout is here in Pearl not just to learn all the secrets of wu liu but to do better than all the Pearlian students and restore the honour of Shin.

This is the premise behind Henry Lien’s delightful Peasprout Chen, Future Legend of Skate and Sword, a fantasy for children with the spirit of anime and the feel of one of those classic children’s books that grows organically from a special story invented to tell a beloved child to a tale that enchants children everywhere. It’s set up as a traditional boarding school novel, with the protagonist as outsider forced into competition with the school bully and persecuted by the bully’s clique, with stern teachers who never understand the difficulties facing the protagonist, and unexpected allies.

Yet underneath this surface lie some dark secrets that could spell serious danger for Peasprout and Cricket, who are both innocent of the political machinations that lie behind this ‘goodwill exchange’ but may nonetheless suffer the consequences of intrigues they had no part in.

I’m really looking forward to reading the sequel, Peasprout Chen: Battle of Champions, because she’s a character that it’s hard not to love, and I know I want to see more of her.

Naomi Novik’s Spinning Silver is a fascinating meld of a number of myths and fairy tales, all clustered around the themes of sacrifice and salvation, bargains and negotiations, and the balance between winter, the bringer of cold and death, and spring, the time of rebirth and growth. These themes are explored through the lives of three very different women - Irina, the unloved daughter of a duke, Miryem, the industrious daughter of a hapless moneylender, and Wanda, a peasant girl with a brutal father. All three women are outsiders, Irina and Wanda because of the dynamics of their dysfunctional families, Miryem because she takes over her father’s business - and because she is a Jew.

The novel is set in a secondary world that draws deeply on Russian history, culture and folklore, and Novik makes this into a rich setting for her characters.

I admit to a bit of difficulty getting into the novel, because in general, Russian myth and culture does not stir me the way some other source cultures do, but once I was committed to the story of these three women, I was hooked. Another marvelous tale from Novik.

As has been made clear, I love the secondary world of Valdemar created by Mercedes Lackey. I also, one may have noticed, love the writing of Tanya Huff. So you can imagine my delight when Tanya Huff released a collection of her Valdemarian stories featuring Herald Jors and his Companion Gervais, in The Demon’s Den and Other Tales of Valdemar.

The stories are told in a linear fashion, and begin with Jors as a young Herald, not long into his career, unsure of himself, his judgement, his abilities, but still, like any Herald, giving all that he can, the best that he can, relying on the unearthly wisdom of his Companion to find the best way. As his adventures continue, he becomes more comfortable with himself, his duties, and his place in the world. He makes mistakes. He learns about himself. He experiences successes, and failures to achieve everything he’d hoped to. He learns about love and heartbreak. And finally, he comes into his own, a Herald in his prime, confident and assured but aware of his limits and his needs.

I’d read these before, of course - they were all originally published in Lackey’s Valdemar anthologies - and enjoyed them, but there’s a deeper enjoyment to be found in seeing Jors growing and maturing as one reads these stories one after the other. I’m glad Huff had the idea to put them into a single collection, and that Lackey granted permission for her to publish a Valdemarian collection.