**spoiler alert** Fantastic and fascinating as usual. Surprisingly I enjoyed the titular story even though I tend to get disturbed by too much time tr**spoiler alert** Fantastic and fascinating as usual. Surprisingly I enjoyed the titular story even though I tend to get disturbed by too much time travel...more
As with all short story collections some better than others. Particularly enjoyed Especially Heinous. This specific flavour of lesbian focused body hoAs with all short story collections some better than others. Particularly enjoyed Especially Heinous. This specific flavour of lesbian focused body horror sci fi seems to be having a moment but sometimes they feel too same same- to me the rest of the stories apart from EH didn't feel that distinct from each other in tone. Potentially a side effect of having read our wives under the sea not so long ago. For a debut this was very good though will definitely keep an eye out...more
Funnily enough The State of the Art was one of my least favourite from this anthology. I was not a massive fan of Diziert in Use of Weapons 3.75 stars
Funnily enough The State of the Art was one of my least favourite from this anthology. I was not a massive fan of Diziert in Use of Weapons either. Best story is the one where the guy is in the sentient suit....more
I really enjoyed this anthology, it feels like you have a little Gabriel García Márquez in a petri dish and you get to watch him grow from h4.5 stars
I really enjoyed this anthology, it feels like you have a little Gabriel García Márquez in a petri dish and you get to watch him grow from his unclear yet still striking early work to the beautiful stories from the last collection. The sea of lost time was probably my favourite :)...more
An excellent short story selection, based around the Parsi inhabitants of the Firozsha Baag apartment building. The author expertly intertw4.25 stars
An excellent short story selection, based around the Parsi inhabitants of the Firozsha Baag apartment building. The author expertly intertwined the lives of his characters to give the sense of them being neighbours (neither friends nor merely acquaintances). Some of the story's explore the immigrant experience, as sons and daughters of the block move to abroad with an interesting focus on how those who remain in their country of origin feel about the experience....more
The translation had some very poor and clunky dialogue in it, to the point that the merit of the original was obscured (I'm assuming it soun2.5 stars
The translation had some very poor and clunky dialogue in it, to the point that the merit of the original was obscured (I'm assuming it sounded better in Russian). A short little romance, from the perspective of the 15 year old brother-in-law of Jamilia, who watches as she falls in love with a returned soldier. Interesting to read something from a Kyrgyz author this was a first for me....more
3.75 stars My first foray into John Steinbeck after Year 8 english class Of Mice and Men. Short and simple plot, but every line has impact and the nat3.75 stars My first foray into John Steinbeck after Year 8 english class Of Mice and Men. Short and simple plot, but every line has impact and the natural beauty in his description is superb....more
As usual with a short story collection there are some hits (yay!) and misses (boo!)
Hits: Art in Nature, The Monkey, The Doll'sAveraging three stars :)
As usual with a short story collection there are some hits (yay!) and misses (boo!)
Hits: Art in Nature, The Monkey, The Doll's House, A Leading Role, The Great Journey Misses: The Cartoonist, White Lady, A Sense of Time, The Locomotive, Flower Child, A Memory from the New World
I'm feeling inspired to check out some of Tove Jansson's novels now. I'm guessing The Summer Book is the best place to start?...more
Not quite as enjoyable as the white tiger for me- I think because of the short story format- but good nonetheless. The portrayal of caste an3.5 stars
Not quite as enjoyable as the white tiger for me- I think because of the short story format- but good nonetheless. The portrayal of caste and class tensions in a fairly modern India is very interesting to me, as it adds a whole other facet to how people are viewed and therefore behave in society. Most of the stories were quick, but a few felt too aimless, like the meal hosting couples one near the end. I like the concept that these are events happening in the years between the assassinations of Indira and Rajiv Gandhi- a little interweaving of fiction and fact to ground the fictional city of Kittur in the tangible Indian backdrop it occupies.
The bookmaking habits of select species-4/5 stars Little sci fi vignettes of alien species and how they record the3.5 stars
Individual stories reviews:
The bookmaking habits of select species-4/5 stars Little sci fi vignettes of alien species and how they record their experiences. Has a lot of the wonder and inventiveness in it that I love, as well as introspection on why we make books, and the value of inherited memory.
State change-3/5 stars People have external souls in the form of objects. Woman with an ice cube for a soul lives her life in fear of death, decides to let the ice melt and realises it was water all along. Sweet with a pretty obvious message of don’t be afraid of who you are as a person changing.
The perfect match- 2/5 stars Man tries to work against ubiquitous ai and surveillance in his life, fails and ends up working for the tech company who makes them instead. I could see it coming a mile off, and don’t really enjoy that sort of we’ll be enslaved by our own reliance on tech type thing because it reeks of entitlement (of those in wealthy countries who have always had access to cutting edge technology in the form of consumer projects).
Good Hunting- 4/5 stars Science fantasy about steampunk mechanical fox woman. Cool+ Yan reclaiming her body was neat.
The literomancer- 2/5 stars Nah. The little girl was so annoying, and the old man foolish enough that it lost a lot of the emotional impact it could’ve had.
Simulacrum-3/5 stars Someone invented a way to record echoes of people and his estranged daughter is angry at him (for various reasons). Uh oh people use phone and forget how talk real other person >:( The science was a little too nonsense for my taste.
The regular- 5/5 stars Cyberpunk noir crime drama thing about a biologically augmented ex policewomen confronting a man extracting the robotic eyes of prostitutes. Damn that was cool and the cliffhanger... *chef’s kiss*
The paper menagerie- 5/5 stars Conceptually very cute: magically alive origami animals!!! And also an interesting story with thoughts on generational differences, being the children of immigrants and leaving reconciliation too late. I cried.
An Advanced Reader’s picture book of comparative cognition-3/5 stars Essentially the same as the first story. I think they would’ve been better worked into one long description.
The waves- 1/5 stars Essentially humanity becomes gods. I don’t even find this a utopian future.
Mono no aware- 3/5 stars A classic space tragedy with a twist of Japanese ethos/philosophy.
All the flavours- 4/5 stars Mythology of Guan Yu, Chinese God of war, interwoven with the story of a group of Chinese migrant workers in a gold rush town. The retelling was interesting as was the historical context. Jack and Lily were sweet characters, but not particularly rounded or interesting, and the same for the Chinese group apart from Logan/Lao Guan.
A brief history of the trans-pacific tunnel- 3/5 stars Alternative history where WW2 never happens and a tunnel is built between the US and Japan. It’s fine, not standout to me, but if alternative history excites you check it out.
The litigation master and the monkey king- 3/5 stars Personally I think that Ken liu’s sci fi is vastly superior to his historical stuff. The story is fine about an old guy becoming a folk hero type who helps peasants in court then gets tortured to death, but doesn’t hold the same original spark that shows up in others of this anthology.
The man who ended history: a documentary- ?/5 I don’t rlly know enough about the historical events described to say if this is a decent short story about them. The destroying history thing was annoying, but probably accurate, with the implication that only if an event is recorded will people see it worth anything.
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