a fantasy-horror retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairytale (I don't think that's a spoiler because its sort of obvious from the title and descriptiona fantasy-horror retelling of the Sleeping Beauty fairytale (I don't think that's a spoiler because its sort of obvious from the title and description, unlike some of Kingfisher's other retellings) that centers a lowly hybrid 'godmother' trying to keep the beautiful and evil changeling contained, and the down-to-earth knight who has heard the stories and is compelled to seek their source. Loved it - one of the best retellings of this tale! (the other would be Neil Gaiman's Spindle story)....more
I honestly don’t know what I just read - was it a ghost story? A story about the existential dread of a childless housewife? Was it creepy or was it kI honestly don’t know what I just read - was it a ghost story? A story about the existential dread of a childless housewife? Was it creepy or was it kind of sweet?
I can tell I’m missing some key symbolism so I might have to read it again.
The translation was perfectly done (phonetic Japanese words where appropriate like “sensei” or food items, the rest written to easily seem familiar)....more
A beautiful story about a 2nd generation son who resists any association with his peasant immigrant mother, despite the magic I'm not crying, you are.
A beautiful story about a 2nd generation son who resists any association with his peasant immigrant mother, despite the magic (of her love, aw) she had to offer. Pulls all the heartstrings....more
might bump this up to 5-star. A fascinating (despite information 'dumps' about linguistics and in some cases physics) story about a linguist called inmight bump this up to 5-star. A fascinating (despite information 'dumps' about linguistics and in some cases physics) story about a linguist called in by the government to learn to speak with aliens of unknown motivation and how this changes her forever. Every passage is paired with a memory of her daughter, bringing humanity, tragedy and depth to the tale. Lovely ruminations on free-will vs. fate. Now i'll have to go see the movie. ...more
(in case this is merged into a story collection) Review for "Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience" by Rebecca Roanhorse a sad, frustrating story(in case this is merged into a story collection) Review for "Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience" by Rebecca Roanhorse a sad, frustrating story about appropriation that made me better understand why Roanhorse appropriates other tribes instead of her own to write her trilogy ("No one knows anything about Pueblo Indians" the MC's boss tells him, everyone wants the 'authentic' Navajo spiritual Kevin Costner Indian) Having read the 1st two books of the trilogy first, I nearly assumed this short story was apologetics for her choices there. But since she published this first, it appears she was more consciously calculating. Which makes this story sadder....more
a very interesting and layered story as told by an unknown narrator about an immigrant Ghanese woman who daily walks past the oddly situated Cambodiana very interesting and layered story as told by an unknown narrator about an immigrant Ghanese woman who daily walks past the oddly situated Cambodian embassy (oddly as it is in deep English suburbia) where a discordant badminton game seems to be eternally playing. She does this on her way to use the pool at her employers (indentured enslavers) club for which she rescues forgotten guest passes. Every detail is meaningful in regards to the separation of classes and the plight of the poor and non-native (particularly female) and it is wonderfully wrought. Our MC's employers (if they can truthfully be called that) are themselves non-white (though likely natives) and so we see in them and our MC's primary Nigerian immigrant friend that persons with privilege will often laud and abuse it over others even when they could claim their own non-privileged status. I'll be thinking on this one for a while, especially the ending:
We worried for her. We tend to assume the worst, here in Willesden. We watched her watching the shuttlecock. Pock, smash. Pock, smash. As if one player could imagine only a violent conclusion and the other only a hopeful return.
I'm always taken aback by (usually older) female authors writing old-guard misbehaving male authors/professors in such flattering or at least affectioI'm always taken aback by (usually older) female authors writing old-guard misbehaving male authors/professors in such flattering or at least affectionate/indulgent terms (it was of an age, everyone was doing it, they didn't have to seek it out... etc and look! - they're good husbands/fathers/friends/people now!) The Friend tweaked me in a similar manner. It is both relevant to and sideways to the central story here but in many ways, I start to wonder if it is actually the central gist and then what is the author doing in her apologetics? Is she writing to deal with the type of colleagues she must have observed getting away with this for years with little notice of their impact while she fought to be taken half as seriously? or is she truly affectionate towards these grown manchildren?
Story summary: a man married to his wife of 50 years observes her forming an attachment to another resident at the Alzheimer's facility she now resides. Somehow this causes the man to continually reflect on his own past and present virility and attraction and the possibilities for new relationships (how exciting! this late in life!) of his own. Of course while analyzing how his contemporary options will have old-lady bodies - too bad! Ah well, nice to be still considered attractive! ...more
I think honestly I read the short story in a magazine that was later expanded to this book.... and I can't recall a thing about it despite my 4star raI think honestly I read the short story in a magazine that was later expanded to this book.... and I can't recall a thing about it despite my 4star rating (the synopsis didn't even bring anything back). so it was likely well written but not particularly memorable (I'm usually memory locked-in on anything I read). ...more
The truth is, the whole place is just a bunch of assholes. And it turns out making an asshole a president, just means you end up with an asshole-presi
The truth is, the whole place is just a bunch of assholes. And it turns out making an asshole a president, just means you end up with an asshole-president. Probably could have guessed that. Being president doesn't change you, not really. Just brings out more of the You that you already are.
This is a tough one. I really liked pretty much all these stories... but the thing is that they're not really stories, each feels more like a joke in a stand-up routine... we take something absurd about life and extend it to it's extreme position ("A Most Blessed" is a great example - riffing on the inanity of the wedding industry) and laugh about how silly it is. Even when the story is addressing missed opportunities, lost relationships, or the difficulty in communicating with each other, they feel wry rather than heartfelt. "Missed Connections" for instance spoofs an "I Saw You..." where a couple let their entire lives go by (60ish years catalogued) literally sitting across from each other on the subway and neither starting a conversation nor moving on with their lives. It should be tragic but it reads more as 'aren't these folks idiots?'
Bob-Waksberg writes a great joke (I havent seen Bojack Horseman so don't @me), has a great sense of rhythm, is innovative ("Rufus," the story from the perspective of a dog is incredibly creative), and is a great wordsmith... the narration of these tales was phenomenal, not least because his verbage is hyper with adjectives, alliteration and other wordplay. But nothing here could be made into a (good) long-form story and even the many stories that I truly liked are already fading from memory because they hit their target (a laugh from me) and the aim wasn't for meaningful connection.
Audio is the way to go on this one.
One great line that ended a story that doesn't live up to it's depth:
Life is terrifying and overwhelming, and it can happen at any moment. And when you're confronted with life, you can either be cowardly or you can be brave. But either way you're going to live. So, you might as well be brave.
weird, tricky (how much is historical fiction and how much pure fantasy?), heartbreaking and difficult to pin down on the purpose - was this a 'mankinweird, tricky (how much is historical fiction and how much pure fantasy?), heartbreaking and difficult to pin down on the purpose - was this a 'mankind never learns from its mistakes' lesson? a cli-fi metaphor? just a weird story born out of reading about Topsy and the Radium Girls?... I can tell I'll be down a wiki rabbithole for a while now as a result.
read for the Hugo noms. I would recommend though this novella requires careful reading (it's weird as mentioned and moves between three viewpoints/timeframes without any markers to orient oneself, and did I mention it's weird?)...more
note to self: rating likely for 'Secret Lives of ...Negro Teeth of George Washington' though I don't remember much of the tale 9mos laternote to self: rating likely for 'Secret Lives of ...Negro Teeth of George Washington' though I don't remember much of the tale 9mos later...more
The best novellette of the group as Binti rather impulsively returns home to make up for what her insecurities (and her family) tell her she has brokeThe best novellette of the group as Binti rather impulsively returns home to make up for what her insecurities (and her family) tell her she has broken. Instead of fitting back into her home tribe, she learns of another part of her heritage and leaves behind her womanhood pilgrimage to pursue this aspect of her life in the desert, leaving behind her bonded Meduse friend Okwu in her family home. There is a lot of dealing with PTSD which is honorable as a topic but got repetitive in the ~100pages especially considering all the dropped fragments of other topics that pepper the series now (e.g. her edam called 'shame' by Meduse, her vision of flying among Saturn's rings) so that was somewhat annoying, but the world development is pretty great even if the common theme is every group and tribe acting out "we're better than you though we don't know anything about you."...more
rating for "The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptors Sisters and the Prince Who was Made of Meat"rating for "The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptors Sisters and the Prince Who was Made of Meat"...more
I’m not a natural rule-follower. I roll through stop signs, I swear in public, I lie on online personality tes
So much relevance. Thank you librarians!
I’m not a natural rule-follower. I roll through stop signs, I swear in public, I lie on online personality tests so I get the answers I want (Hermione, Arya Stark, Jo March).
(read for "A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies" by Alix E. Harrow - for the Hugo short story voting, which it won)...more
3.5 stars. This one unfortunately annoyed me quite a bit mostly because 'people' act stupidly and then keep on acting that way. There is a lot of inco3.5 stars. This one unfortunately annoyed me quite a bit mostly because 'people' act stupidly and then keep on acting that way. There is a lot of inconsistency as well, especially with the Himba (Binti's tribe) who vacillate between seeing the potential (and listening to) in Binti and betraying her totally. No one even tries to get along except this young girl who's been through so much trauma & change and it just felt unbelievable. Then the story redeemed itself a bit as it took off back into space, until it ended as even Binti expresses 'anticlimatic'ally. All in all, an uneven book with a lot of potential but a definite need for more reworking....more
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