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This review is for the Hugo and Nebula nominated short story “A Catalog of Storms�� by Fran Wilde.

“They used to be people. They’re weathermen now.��

Once upon the time the sky used to be blue. Now it’s an enemy, with magical storms threatening people. But people are scrappy, and found the way to fight back. There are weathermen now - those who can name the storms and yell them away and thus make them disperse. But it’s perilous, and eventually those who fight the storms are lost to them, themselves becoming wind and rain and lightning.

“Weathermen can’t help it, they have to name the storms they think of, and soon they’re warning about the weather for all of us, and eventually they fight it too.��

Lillit becomes a weatherman, and her younger sisters and her mother need to come to terms with losing her. The little sister Sila feels the same urgency as Lillit to join the storm fighters, while her mother is afraid of losing yet another daughter.

“When I sneak up to the Cliffwatch to show my sister, she’s got rain for hair and wind in her eyes, but she hugs me and laughs at my list and says to keep trying.��

The premise above is awesome. There’s so much that can be done here. But the problem with the short stories is that they have a very limited space to develop a great idea, and sometimes they succeed in making an unforgettable vignette �� and sometimes they need a lot more pages.

This one needs a few more pages of development and explanation to be truly effective. In this form, it feels woefully incomplete and more of a teaser than a story. The writing is good, the imagery is wonderfully poetic, but the reasoning and logic and development and emotional weight all leave a lot to be desired. It’s just hard to connect with this story, and that’s unfortunate.

2.5 stars.

Read it here:

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My Hugo and Nebula Awards Reading Project 2020: /review/show...