A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers by Alyssa Wong

May 31, 2019 By Leave a Comment


A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers by Alyssa Wong
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (20 pages)
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Hannah and Melanie: sisters, apart and together. Weather workers. Time benders. When two people so determined have opposing desires, it’s hard to say who will win–or even what victory might look like. This stunning, haunting short story from rising star Alyssa Wong explores the depth and fierceness of love and the trauma of family.

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I was mesmerized by Hannah’s descriptions of what it felt like to make a storm appear or disappear. Thunderstorms are one of my favorite things in the entire world, so the thought of creating one whenever I felt like it was thrilling. With that being said, this isn’t the sort of power that anyone should misuse, and I liked the way the author hinted at how complicated it would be to change the weather without affecting anything else in the environment at the same time. This felt quite reasonable to me, and it made me curious to know more about the possible longterm effects of such a power.

It would have been helpful to have the events of this tale in a more chronological order. The narrator jumped around from past to present so often that it took me a while to figure out what happened and in what order everything occurred. This was especially true when it came to a dark scene early on that wasn’t explained until later.

Grief isn’t always an easy thing to talk about. One of my favorite aspects of this story was how it explored the parts of the grieving process that generally happen weeks, months, or sometimes even years after the event that started this process. It’s one thing to deal with a tragedy early on when it’s still fresh in everyone’s mind. Figuring out how to heal from it once some of those community support structures have fallen away is an entirely different task, so I appreciated the fact that Hannah was shown in this stage of recovery.

A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers should be read by anyone who has ever wished they could change something about their past.

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Breaking Water by Indrapramit Das

May 29, 2019 By Leave a Comment


Breaking Water by Indrapramit Das
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Horror, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (35 pages)
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Krishna is quite unsettled when he bumps into a woman’s corpse during his morning bath in Kolkata’s Hooghly River, yet declines to do anything about it–after all, why should he take responsibility for a stranger? But when the dead start coming back to life en masse, he rethinks his position and the debate around how to treat these newly risen corpses gets a lot more complicated. In this story from Indrapramit Das, a journalist strives to understand Krishna’s actions and what they say about the rest of society and how we treat our dead.

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This was one of the most unique zombie stories I’ve ever read. Rather than reacting to the undead with horror or fear, the main character in this tale quickly found compassion for them. The thought of behaving that way around such violent creatures made me quite curious to see what Krishna would do once the outside world realized he was protecting them. He had every reason to walk away from the animated corpses he found, so his decision to look after them was a very interesting thing to base a plot for a short story on.

I found it confusing to jump between so many different narrators. Sometimes Krishna explained what was going on, but in other scenes brand new characters stepped in to share things that he couldn’t have possibly known about. As interesting as it was to have those bits of information, I would have had an easier time following along if the same narrator was explaining everything.

The world building was well done. Obviously, discovering that people come from back from the dead was a game changer. No society could adjust to such a topic without making major changes in the ways they handled everything from life-threatening illnesses to death itself. While I can’t go into details without giving away spoilers, I was pleased with how much thought the author put into how both governments and individuals would adapt to this sort of thing.

Breaking Water is something I’d recommend to anyone who loves the zombie genre.

Filed Under: Horror, Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Some Gods of El Paso by Maria Dahvana Headley

May 29, 2019 By Leave a Comment


Some Gods of El Paso by Maria Dahvana Headley
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Historical
Length: Short Story (21 pages)
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Some Gods of El Paso by Maria Dahvana Headley is a short fantasy story of a couple on the run from the law for stealing and illegally trading in strong emotions in 1920s US.

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Lorna and Vix were such interesting characters. As much as I disagreed with many of the choices they made, I couldn’t help but to like them as individuals. They had logical reasons for doing the things they did, and I respected the fact that they stuck to what worked for them even if I wished they’d done other things with their time. The tension between these two reactions to them made it impossible for me to stop reading. I simply had to know what their fates were and if they’d grow as people.

It would have been helpful to have a better understanding of Lorna and Vix’s powers. Were they the only people who were capable of turning emotions into a type of drug? How did they figure out how to do this? I found myself wondering about the logistics of their abilities as I read. Not knowing any answers was a little frustrating at times because of how important their work was to the plot.

I’ve occasionally wished I could trade one emotion for another. The thought of actually being able to do that was alluring, and the references to it in the blurb were my main reason for wanting to read this short story. One of the things I enjoyed the most about it was reading the narrator’s descriptions of how the characters collected unwanted emotions and what they did to make them appealing to future customers. There was a lot of creativity in those passages.

Some Gods of El Paso was a thought-provoking tale I’d recommend to anyone who is in the mood for something creative.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , ,

Your Orisons May Be Recorded by Laurie Penny

May 28, 2019 By Leave a Comment


Your Orisons May Be Recorded by Laurie Penny
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (28 pages)
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

All prayers are answered, but sometimes the answer is no. And sometimes the answer is “let me talk to my manager and get back to you.” From author Laurie Penny (Unspeakable) comes the Tor.Com Original novella, Your Orisons May Be Recorded.

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The thought of prayers being routed to a call centre grabbed my attention immediately. It’s definitely not something I’ve seen in this genre before, and I was quite curious to find out how immortal celestial beings would go about responding to prayers while spending time in a place as mundane as an office. The answer to that question was far more clever than I could have imagined, and I enjoyed every single moment of discovering it.

There were a few points where the storyline wandered a bit too far away from the main plot. While I definitely enjoyed seeing those glimpses of the protagonist’s past, I would have preferred to spend more time exploring their current life instead. With only twenty-eight pages to work with, I didn’t think there was quite enough room to spend as much time in their backstory as the narrator did. It would have been perfect for a novella or full-length novel, though, and this was a minor criticism of something I really enjoyed a lot.

The world building in this tale was phenomenal. Let’s just say that the average person’s assumptions about the spiritual realm were far from accurate in this universe no matter which religion that individual happened to follow. The truth was complicated and it kept me coming back for more. Despite the subject matter, I wouldn’t call this an inspirational story. It contained religious references for sure, but the way they were put together as the narrator described all of the complexities of working in a call centre for people of every or no faith reminded me much more of a satirical look at office politics than anything pious.

Your Orisons May Be Recorded should be read by anyone who has ever wondered what it would be like to know what other people really hope and pray for when they think no one is paying attention.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Tear Tracks by Malka Older

May 10, 2019 By Leave a Comment


Tear Tracks by Malka Older
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Length: Short Story (31 pages)
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Flur traveled across the stars to make first contact with the Cyclopes, hoping to forge a peace treaty between humanity and the first sentient aliens they’ve discovered. She’s undergone careful training and study to prepare for this moment. But what if her approach is too human?

She is for the most part collateral damage-caught up in a rise in insurance premiums and may end canada viagra in the loss of imperative individuals through death, separate, or broken connections which must be discussed day by day to help you increment positive vitality and mindfulness. The adequate flow of blood in the male organ in right look here levitra prescription proportion, the male organ get strong erection. This neuroplasticity means that you can change your diet and include sex boosting discount cialis foods such as honey, milk, dry fruits, chicken, watermelon, onion, garlic, etc. From being hospitalized to buy sildenafil 100mg the treatment, nothing comes free or easy. Imagine having the chance to visit an alien planet teeming with life forms that are nothing like what we have on Earth!

The Cyclopes were a fascinating species. I loved seeing how much attention Ms. Older paid to their society, culture, and physical appearance. They were different from humans in some pretty important ways, so it was helpful to have so many details about all of the things that made them unique. While this was satisfying as a short story, I honestly wished it was the opening chapter of a full-length novel so I could spend more time getting to know these remarkable humanoids. They captured my imagination.

I would have liked to see more attention paid to a plot development that happened later on in the storyline. It had to do with the Cyclopes, their relationship with Earth, and whether or not they were being truthful about something they’d said to humanity when first contact happened. This was such an interesting part of the storyline that I wish it had been given more time to shine. There was certainly plenty of room left in it to explore.

Flur was such a cautious and sensible main character. I always enjoy meeting characters who take the same sorts of precautions I would in a new environment, and she definitely fit that bill. She took her training seriously and found a smart balance between collecting evidence for her colleagues at NASA and keeping herself safe in a totally unfamiliar environment.

Tear Tracks should be read by anyone who loves the extraterrestrial side of science fiction.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , ,

Tom, Thom by K.M. Ferebee

April 30, 2019 By Leave a Comment


Tom, Thom by K.M. Ferebee
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Historical
Length: Short Story (32 pages)
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Young Tom has always dreamed of wolves, which everyone knows don’t exist. One day he goes out for a log from the woodpile, and when he returns, there is another Tom, like him, but other. Tom, Thom, this dark and compelling tale from short fiction writer K. M. Ferebee will make you reconsider what may be lurking in the forest.

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All three of the main characters were incredibly well-written, especially Tom. His voice was more mature than I’d expect from someone of his age, but given everything I learned about how hard his life had been before he met his double this made a great deal of sense. I can’t say why this is so without giving away spoilers. You’ll simply have to trust me that there was an excellent reason for a young character who spoke like someone much older than his chronological age. Figuring out what it was made it impossible for me to stop reading until I’d reached the exciting conclusion.

I would have liked to see a little more time spent developing the ending. While I did appreciate the open-ended nature of it, it would have been helpful for there to have been a bit more energy spent exploring the various possible conclusions before asking the audience to decide which one we thought would fit the characters the best. Had there been one or two more examples of that, this would have been a five-star book in my opinion!

The world building made me wish this was a full-length novel. Everything from the community’s reaction to the other Tom to their explanations for who or what that boy might be was explained in the perfect amount of detail. I loved figuring out why they responded the way that they did and if their guess was something I agreed with. There was so much going on with the background characters when it came to this topic that I could picture all of their interactions with Tom’s family in precise detail. This made it all an incredibly interesting thing to read.

Tom, Thom should be read by anyone who loves old legends and fairy tales.

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His Footsteps, Through Darkness and Light by Mimi Mondal

April 26, 2019 By Leave a Comment


His Footsteps, Through Darkness and Light by Mimi Mondal
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Historical
Length: Short Story (28 pages)
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

I am not a fighter. I am a trapeze master.

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Everyone in this world has always remained in the same social class from their birth to their death. Is there any point in trying to change that?

The plot twists sure were well done. I liked seeing how lightly the narrator foreshadowed them, especially once I realized I’d missed a hint or two about what was to come. It was a great deal of fun to adjust to the surprises that the main character and his fellow travelling performers were about to encounter once the storyline revealed that their lives were about to change in all sorts of interesting ways.

One thing I found pretty confusing was how reluctant the characters were to use each other’s names. There were enough people running around that it would have been quite helpful to have some way of identifying all of them more quickly. Using nicknames or other informal ways of referring to each other would have been perfectly fine by me. I simply struggled to keep track of everyone up until the point that I’d figured out these basic pieces of information about them because of how uncommon it was for the characters to refer to each other by some sort of moniker.

I loved the world building in this tale. At first the narrator dove into describing what was happening without explaining anything to the audience. Eventually, there were context clues about what was really going on and how everyone knew each other. I truly enjoyed the process of taking note of the references I didn’t understand and then slowly realizing what each of them meant to the protagonist as well as to everyone around him despite my wish for their names to be revealed more easily.

His Footsteps, Through Darkness and Light should be read by anyone who has ever been dazzled by a circus or other travelling show and wondered what might be going on with the participants in it behind the scenes.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , ,

Old Media by Annalee Newitz

April 26, 2019 By Leave a Comment


Old Media by Annalee Newitz
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy
Length: Short Story (25 pages)
Heat Level: Sweet
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Annalee Newitz’s Old Media: A Tor.com Original, tells the story of a freed slave and a robot professor, trying to figure out what it means to be in love while they watch old anime from the 21st century.

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The world building was handled well. All of the characters lived in a society that was very different from our own. For example, not all of the animals that are alive today were necessarily still around in the 2100s when this took place. These changes altered the way people thought about themselves, the environment, and the place they lived in. I can’t say much else without giving away spoilers, but I really liked seeing how all of these changes added up to some huge gaps in cultural knowledge and the development of new areas of knowledge between our century and their own. The author did a great job tying all of these things together even if the individual differences wouldn’t seem to necessarily be stuff that should have a big impact at first.

I would have liked to see more conflict in this story. There wasn’t a lot of it, and what did exist was resolved pretty early on in the plot. This made it tricky for me to remain interested in reading what would happen next because I never really worried about the characters or wondered if they’d be okay in the end.

John was such an intriguing main character. His backstory was developed beautifully, and I appreciated the fact that the reader didn’t get to hear most of it until he’d had a chance to charm us with his playful approach to life and romance. He’d been through so much that it was pretty interesting to compare who he currently was with the person he’d been many years before. I enjoyed having the chance to do exactly this.

Old Media should be read by anyone who has ever wondered what parts of our modern society might still be studied a few centuries from now.

Filed Under: Reviews, Romance, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , ,

Circus Girl, the Hunter, and Mirror Boy by JY Yang

April 25, 2019 By Leave a Comment


Circus Girl, the Hunter, and Mirror Boy by JY Yang
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Paranormal, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (31 pages)
Rating: 3.5 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

As an orphaned sixteen-year-old, Lynette was haunted by the ghost of Mirror Boy, the drowned child who replaced her reflection. Ten years later, she’s built herself a new life, but all that is threatened when Mirror Boy returns, warning of danger. A hunter has come for both of them, and unless Lynette can figure out what’s going on, they will both perish.

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Lynette was such a sympathetic character. I enjoyed discovering her backstory and figuring out why she came off as such a delicate person. She was the sort of protagonist that I wanted to wrap my arms around and protect. That definitely isn’t a reaction I have to most of the characters I meet! There were good reasons for why she behaved the way she did, and they were explained in the perfect amount of detail.

This tale didn’t quite have enough world building in it for me to understand everything that was happening in it. While the basic plot made sense, there were many loose strings when it came to describing what Mirror Boy was truly capable of and why he didn’t behave like most other ghosts. It would have been helpful to have more answers for these questions, especially during the last few scenes.

While I do wish the ending had been described more thoroughly, I still enjoyed seeing what the author did with the dilemma they’d come up with and how they responded to the audience’s desire for a happy ending. This was one of the most creative ghost stories I’ve read in a long time, and I liked the fresh twists the author came up with that resembled what I’d typically find in this genre while at the same time gently tweaking the reader’s expectations in a positive way.

I’d recommend Circus Girl, the Hunter, and Mirror Boy to anyone who enjoys the paranormal genre.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , , ,

The Song by Erinn L. Kemper

April 25, 2019 By Leave a Comment


The Song by Erinn L. Kemper
Publisher: Tor Books
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, Contemporary
Length: Short Story (29 pages)
Rating: 3 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

A powerful near future story about two people on a whale-processing rig: one a researcher, the other a worker—and the discovery they make by listening to whale song.

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Dan, the main character, was someone who worked on a rig that hunted and butchered whales. I was definitely not a fan of the line of work he chose, but I also grew to like Dan as a person. The tension between strongly disapproving of the part he played in killing such rare, important creatures and thinking he was a decent person in other areas of his life made me eager to keep reading. I appreciated the nuance Ms. Kemper gave to this character. Like real people, he was three-dimensional and wonderfully flawed.

The ending was so abrupt I wasn’t sure what to think of it. In one scene, the plot was building up tension nicely, and then it suddenly stopped. It was disappointing for me not to have a stronger resolution to the storyline based on how well it was written in the beginning and middle. If the ending had been just as well thought out, I would have chosen a much higher rating.

Some of the most interesting scenes were the ones that showed how Dan and his coworkers reacted to their work. They were paid well and treated kindly by their employer, but the nature of their jobs was still a deeply unsettling one. The question of whether their huge pay checks were worth the description of such majestic creatures was something each person had to decide for themselves, and that was something I thought was handled nicely.

I’d recommend The Song to anyone who had ever had qualms about hunting.

Filed Under: Reviews, Science Fiction/Fantasy Tagged With: , , , , ,
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