I’m not sure if it’s the effect of (gestures vaguely) everything that’s going on in the world lately, but the short story finalists for this year’s Hugo Awards are all kinda dark. The six entries feature death, monsters, murder, bloody revolution, not one but two examples of state-sanctioned torture, and a reading lesson from an
Naomi Novik’s latest collection came out last September without me noticing, which is a shame because I loved her Scholomance series and I’ve been meaning to read a lot more of her work. I really enjoyed the collection, even the stories I didn’t 100% understand. Below are some (much too short) summaries: you can’t really
Only five Hugo-nominated short stories reviewed this year; Baoshu’s “Tasting the Future Delicacy Three Times” is another Chinese-language work, and I haven’t been able to locate a copy of the translated version. Hit me up if you know where to find this, since it sounds interesting. The other five entries cover a wide range of
The Chicago Review of Books website this month published a fantastic resource, 28 Stories You Can Read Online For Black History Month. The items on the list cover a whole range of genres, and include links both to the story and to the collections they come from. This week I decided to take a look
For all of human existence, mankind has been dancing on the edge of eternity. We’ve courted the Grim Reaper – against our own interest, even – for the entire duration. Every year we come closer to finally tipping the balance and tumbling over that edge. It feels like the governments of Earth are in a
All these stories take place outside my pre-existing universes – so no Fighting Pumpkins, no October Daye, no Velveteen. They are quick glimpses of another room, with a door that will close in short order. It’s the last day of 2019, and there are so many fantastic books I haven’t gotten around to yet. I
I’ll walk along the shore collecting shells, read all the books I’ve never had the time for, and study witchcraft. What should women do when they grow old and useless? Become witches. It’s the only role you get to write yourself. Hungarian-born author Theodora Goss has several novels to her name (including The Strange Case
“Be careful,” she says and smiles again. “You’re starting to taste like regret.” “And how does regret taste? I imagine it’s bitter.” She shakes her head. “Then you’re mistaken. It’s not bitter. Regret tastes like dead roses and stale bread. Regret tastes like dust.” I’ll admit it; I’ve been in kind of a rotten mood
Stephen King’s last short-story collection came out a year ago. If past behavior predicts future performance then it could be as long as eight years before we get another one. Before anyone (like me) starts to despair, we’ve got a little something to tide us over while we wait. Part of the promotion for Stephen