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Friday, November 12, 2021

Worlds Seen in Passing: Ten Years of Tor.com Short Fiction

A witch casting a spell with the caption Bones Do Not Lie
These Deathless Bones by Cassandra Khaw ★★★★★ 

Prince Joffrey’s witchy step-mother has officially given her last fuck.  It was hard to read, even briefly, about this waste-of-space prince, but it made watching his bones crawl all the more satisfying.


A man stands before the Elder Gods in a cemetery during a storm the caption says What our religion tells us is that the gods created life to try and make meaning.  it's ultimately hopeless, and even gods die, but the effort is real.  Will always have been real, even when everything is over and no one remembers
Litany of Earth by Ruthanna Emrys ★★★★★ 
This is the best mythos story I have ever read.  Ms. Emrys, you have made me a believer!  I must now read everything the gods have bid you write.

Spooky house in the middle of the dark woods with the caption So shut the window tight and make sure the latch is fastened.  Dark things have a way of slipping in.
The Witch of Duva by Leigh Bardugo ★★★★★ 
Bardugo has given the evil stepmother fairytale a brutal twist! Nadya is forced from her home by her father’s new wife, Karina. Nadya finds refuge with an witch in the woods. After a long winter of peace, and good food, she is healthy enough to return to her village and see her old life with new eyes. 

Three aliens with inner lit heads look out from a space ship the caption reads The Tawnin do not care much for history and now neither do we
Reborn by Ken Liu ★★★★★ 
A tale of brutal conquerors remade into beneficent leaders through the power of forgetting.  It’s a skill they forcefully share to remake a better world, but humans find memories, especially painful memories, hard to let go.  All in all, it was an excellent episode of The Outer Limits.  

A starlit photo of Angelina Jolie in her Athena look with the caption I am not alone... I have the stars.  I have my memories.
The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mary Robinette Kowal ★★★★★ 
All the stars and pass the Kleenex: this was beautiful.

A blue and grey schematic of an X Wing the caption reads I used the passion my programmers had installed in me to overcome their intentions
Damage by David D. Levine ★★★★½
Deftly cobbling bits of Star Wars and The Expanse, Levine takes the glory out of war.  A remarkable story.

An image of three layered chocolate cake decorated with skulls the side caption reads You Will See Pain.  Not Your Own Pain, But Another's.
The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections by Tina Connolly ★★★★½
Death by chocolate!  A despotic treasonous king rules the land, but one brave baker and his wife will take their chance for a better world.

A smiling red eyed demon from a black background the caption reads Kneel Before Your Master Mortal
Brimstone and Marmalade by Aaron Corwin ★★★★☆ 
Almost amazing: I loved this little pet demon!  But the story lacked a vengeful ending and some wanton violence.  Ix’thor would be ashamed of his minion.

Tom Ellis in his Lucifer look with the caption We're not here to fix the problems, we're here to deliver the maximum amount of spiritual satisfaction in the shortest possible time period.  That's why we have the seven minute target.
Your Orisons May Be Recorded by Laurie Penny ★★★★☆ 
Part horror, part comedy, this Heaven-Is-A-Call-Center story could have been a five star gem.  Next time, add a punchy ending!

Circuitry imagery imposed over a the profile of a man and his full form in miniature with the caption I need to discover the shape of the thoughts that are my own.  I need to know what I am.
Eros, Philia, Agape by Rachel Swirsky ★★★★☆ 
Another beautiful, painful, story by Rachel Swirsky.  She gives you a slice of life, of understanding, it’s thought provoking without having a moral.  My favorite of her stories was Grand Jeté (The Great Leap). 

A Kiss With Teeth by Max Gladstone ★★★★☆
Happy reread!  Well that was fun.  Dracula has been trying to live the suburban life but is feeling the ol’seven year itch.  How long can you pretend to be something you’re not?

The Language of Knives by Haralambi Markov ★★★★☆ 
While I loved the strange pagan death cake ceremony, this story was more about a father and daughter grieving their loss together. 

An evil and martial looking pope inside a dark cathedral with the caption A Tableau of miseries draw up by the Imperial Executioner's pull
Waiting on a Bright Moon by JY Yang ★★★½☆
Rebellion brews in the colonies of a despotic empire.  But even rebels face betrayal.  The world-building was well done, if gruesome.

A three image collage of three dramatic and eccentric looks from the world of fashion
Le beauté sans vertu by Genevieve Valentine ★★★½☆
High fashion gives us these strange, beautiful, unforgettable moments.  But the costs can be brutally high.

The Cage by A.M. Dellamonica ★★★½☆
In the fight against violence and misogyny, lesbians take a stand to protect a baby werewolf.

Conleth Hill in his Lord Varys look with the caption That was your mistake, you thought I'd care about the bodies, or Tara, or her sister, or any of the rest.  I don't.  I'm doing this for my fucking elephant.
Elephants and Corpses by Kameron Hurley ★★★½☆
In a bleak, medieval and magical world a bodythief, and his apprentice, take on a cult.  I nearly wept with Nev over the elephant, but they seemed the vengeful type and, happily, I was right.  

The Best We Can by Carrie Vaughn ★★★☆☆ 
"The greatest discovery in all of human history and funding held it hostage.”

Proof of extraterrestrial life has been found in an artificially created object orbiting Saturn!  Yes, finally, proof.  And what do we do about it?  We argue - because that's pretty much all we can do because Saturn is incredibly far away.  We've barely made it Mars!

The years of back and forth could drive you crazy.  But worse is the reality that, even though something huge has changed, you still have to go to work the next day.  

This little story had its moments but it felt like the depressing interlude in a long science fiction novel before something does happen.  

Still, it's likely accurate.

Penelope weaving at her loom while the men party on in the next room the caption reads So every day she wove on the great loom but every night by torchlight she unwove it.
Daughter of Necessity by Marie Brennan ★★★☆☆
The final days of the Odyssey as told through Penelope’s perspective.  Nothing that changes the story.

Mrs. Sorensen and the Sasquatch by Kelly Barnhill ★★★☆☆ 
A widow with an affinity for animals falls back in love with a Sasquatch.  Yes, you read that right, and the community mostly accepts this because they like her and she is one of their own.  But this story was too long for one without a twist.

About Faries by Pat Murphy ★★★☆☆ 
“Cats have theories. Every cat owner knows that.” 
A painful slice of life where work, fantasy, and personal tragedy blend into one story.

The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere by John Chu ★★★☆☆ 
A coming out story in a world where no one can lie.

a painting of a sea creature man in a pool with a naked woman with her hair up the caption reads A woman in grief is a beautiful one.
A Cup of Salt Tears by Isabel Yap ★★★☆☆ 
This felt something like a Japanese version of Mrs. Caliban.  Short and tame but interesting.

Please Undo This Hurt by Seth Dickson ★★★☆☆ 
That was hard dull pain stretched to into a story.  Basically, two people contemplating suicide.

The Shape of My Name by Nino Cipri ★★★☆☆ 
An angry-at-my-mom trans time travel story.

A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers by Alyssa Wong ★★★☆☆ 
A sad story of sisters who cannot escape a violent fate no matter how often they go back and try.

The Tallest Doll in New York City by Maria Dahvana Headley ★★★☆☆
A whimsical story of buildings in New York coming life on Valentines Day.  It read like an old timey light hearted cartoon.

Terminal by Lavie Tidhar ★★★☆☆ 
A cheap, lonely, sad trek through space to Mars.   

A Vector Alphabet of Interstellar Travel by Yoon Ha Lee ★★½☆☆
Story notes from the mind of Yoon Ha Lee, inventor of calendrical heresy.  

Last Son of Tomorrow by Greg Van Eekhout ★★½☆☆
That was a boring little retelling of Superman.

Six Months, Three Days by Charlie Jane Anders ★★☆☆☆ 
“They are both going to say some vicious things to each other in the next hour or so. They’ve already heard it all, in their heads.” 

Man who sees a single possible future hooks up with a woman who sees many possible futures.  Because couples need new things to fight about.
This was long, frustrating, and sad. 

The City, Born Great by N. K. Jemisin ★★☆☆☆ 
80% agenda 
10% plight of the possibly underage gay hooker
10% Lovecraft 
All sown together with artistic vagueness that was readable if not enjoyable.

Among the Thorns by Veronica Schanoes DNF
Jew torture I did not want to read - pass.

The Hanging Game by Helen Marshall  DNF
That’s in the nope pile.  

Peonies by Kij Johnson  DNF 
Another for the nope pile.

The End of Everything by Dale Bailey  DNF
Skipping the suicide party story.

Breaking Water by Indrapramit Das  DNF
Highly unpleasant story of misogyny, murder, and zombies.   I quit very early on.

In the Sight of Akresa by Ray Wood  DNF
Skip.  This sounds depressing AF.

The World is Full of Monsters by Jeff Vandermeer  DNF
I never know what to make of Jeff Vandermeer.  It’s like modern poetry stretched into a story, which sounds lovely, but if the poem didn’t make sense what hope is there for the story?

The Devil in America by Kai Ashante Wilson DNF
I struggle through some of this in the spirit of BLM but then it just got weird and even more boring.

A Short History of the Twentieth Century, or, When You Wish Upon a Star by Kathleen Ann Goonan  DNF
Nazis, Sexism and the Space Program.  Would it kill you to include some happy stories?  Seriously, WTF? 

5 five star stories and 9 DNF’s - this anthology was whiplash!  The highest highs, the lowest lows.  I’m not doing the math, just giving it three stars.

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