November Reading

Stories:

** "Well and Truly Broken" by Bruce Holland Rogers
*** "Daughters of Brightshield" by Pauline J. Alama
*** "The Mermaids Singing Each to Each" by Cat Rambo
**** "Two Boys" by Steven Popkes
**** "Turbulence" by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
*** "The Gas Drinkers" by Edward Sevcik
***** "The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics" by Daniel Abraham
***** "California Burning" by Michael Blumlein
*** "The Art of the Dragon" by Sean McMullen
*** "The Phlogiston Age" by Corey Brown
**** "By Fools Like Me" by Nancy Kress
**** "You Are Such a One" by Nancy Springer
**** "Token of a Better Age" by Melinda M. Snodgrass
*** "Undivided" by Marian Allen
**** "Color Vision" by Mary Rosenblum
*** "Hunchster" by Matthew Hughes
***** "The Goddamned Tooth Fairy" by Tina Kuzminski
*** "Mask Glass Magic" by John Burridge
** "Kiosk" by Bruce Sterling
**** "The Bones of Giants" by Yoon Ha Lee
**** "The Oval Portrait" by Edgar Allan Poe
*** "Icarus Saved from the Skies" by Georges-Olivier Châteaureynaud, translated by Edward Gauvin
** "The Ruby Incomparable" by Kage Baker
** "The Fairest of Them All" by Melissa Mead
**** "The Others" by Lawrence C. Connolly
**** "Three Leaves of Aloe" by Rand B. Lee


Quick Takes:

"Well and Truly Broken" by Bruce Holland Rogers (Realms of Fantasy): sorry, I just don't get it.

"The Cambist and Lord Iron: A Fairy Tale of Economics" by Daniel Abraham (Best SF and Fantasy of the Year, vol. 2): exquisitely done parable-style tale, reads almost like a classic 19th-century short story

"California Burning" by Michael Blumlein (Asimov's): This one grew on me after I finished it. Low-key tale of a man learning about his recently deceased father's very "unusual" nature.

"The Art of the Dragon" by Sean McMullen (F&SF): a two-mile long golden dragon comes out of nowhere and starts destroying the world's great works of art. Interesting premise, but the resolution didn't do much for me.

"You Are Such a One" by Nancy Springer (F&SF): thought-provoking story of a woman who becomes a ghost—or perhaps chooses to stop being one. I can't decide if the second-person point of view is annoying and pretentious, or integral to the idea.

"Token of a Better Age" by Melinda M. Snodgrass (F&SF): interesting take on the "ancient gods were really interlopers from another world" trope; good historical ambiance.

"Color Vision" by Mary Rosenblum (Wizards anthology): beautifully executed story of a synesthetic girl and her connection with the unseen world of magic.

"The Goddamned Tooth Fairy" by Tina Kuzminski (F&SF classic reprint): I wasn't sure I was going to like this story, but found myself quite moved.

"Kiosk" by Bruce Sterling (The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, vol. 2): This was just way too long and slow for my tastes.
 

My ratings:
***** excellent: memorable, satisfying, a pleasure to read
**** very good: well written, good read
*** good: readable, engaging, but not very memorable or exciting for me
** sub-par: a rough read, I found it flawed or just uninteresting to me
* huh? someone published this?

My ratings are part objective appraisal of the writing, part unapologetic personal preference (certain subjects and subgenres just don't appeal to me as much as others)

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