Twelve Tomorrows ★★★★★

Fields of Gold by Liu Cixin ★★★★★★

"Are the stars very far?"
"They’re getting closer." 
Six stars.  Jaw droppingly good.  I gasped!  

Fire: An Anthology

Letter of the Law by Pat Aitcheson ★★★★½ 
Whoops!  Hahaha 😈, best typo ever.

Imagine 2200

The Secrets of the Last Greenland Shark by Mike McClelland ★★★★★ 

“Survive. Survive. Survive.” 
And then I cried.  I cried and cried while walking my dog, unable to explain to passing strangers that I had just read something beautiful.
Read it Yourself: https://grist.org/fix/imagine-2200-climate-fiction-secrets-of-the-last-greenland-shark/

The Cloud Weaver’s Song by Saul Tanpepper ★★★★½ 

Oh that was excellent!  Future survivalist Native American’s get stuck in their new ways, but one woman dares to remember her roots - The Earth needs water too.
Read it Yourself: https://grist.org/fix/imagine-2200-climate-fiction-cloud-weavers-song/

Afterglow by Lindsey Brodeck ★★★★☆ 

This read like a prequel to Emergency Skin - enjoyable!
Read it Yourself: https://grist.org/fix/imagine-2200-climate-fiction-afterglow/

Those were best stories of this free Solarpunk Anthology.

The Sword & Sorcery Anthology

Undertow by Karl Edward Wagner ★★★★½   

Oh friends, a full short story: beginning, middle, and oh-shit ending.  We start with stereotypes and bloom into layered, desperate, characters.  This is my favorite “green ribbon” story.

The Caravan of Forgotten Dreams by Michael Moorcock ★★★★½ 

Decades before the Targaryens hit the shelves there was “a race which loved pleasure, cruelty, and sophistication for its own sake. The race of Melnibonéans.” 

Mer Lovers by Tamsin Ley ★★★☆☆

Welcome to the world of evil mermaids and maligned beautiful mermen desperate for commitment and insta luv.  Now that’s a scenario in need of some human ladies!  

Irish Gothic: Tales of Celtic Horror by Ronald Kelly

The Spawn of Arget Bethir ★★★★★ 

A young monk has violent dreams that lead him to discover the legends that tore apart his family.  Kelly combines The Book of Kells and werewolves to create a legend that deserves its own series!

Postcard from Kilkenny ★★★★½ 

A man receives a postcard from his long lost uncle, an uncle who should be dead, an uncle who was rumored to be a vampire.  Kelly even managed to slip in a joke about his vampire novel Blood Kin, a book Graeme recommended!

Miscreations: Gods, Monstrosities & Other Horror

My Knowing Glance by Lucy Snyder ★★★★½ 

“It’s just more satisfying to think that he died out of a deep, soul-wrenching despair rather than garden-variety cowardice.”

Type 5 Armageddon Hellspawn, batter up!  Gory, violent, and entertaining, Lucy Snyder hits a home run!

One Last Transformation by Josh Malerman ★★★★☆ 
Shudder.  Maybe because I have been binge watching Criminal Minds, but that felt real in an unsightly way.

When Things Get Dark: Stories Inspired By Shirley Jackson

TipToe by Laird Barron ★★★★★ 

That sent shivers all the way up my spine and down again for more.  I listened to the end three times.  

Engineering Infinity

Laika’s Ghost by Karl Schroeder ★★★★½ 

When an American finds evidence of a Russian pyramid on Mars he is hunted down by Google and other geopolitical entities.  Declining American witness protection he flees to Russia.  This proves to be a great decision because a small group of online patriots have been creating a new hope for Russia, and possibly the world.

Galactic Empires

Firstborn by Brandon Sanderson ★★★★★★ 
Yes, six stars.  With shades of Ender’s Game and Gemini Man this was the best science fiction short I’ve ever read.  A full story and good glimpse into an imperial world on knife’s edge. Riveted!

Wounds: Six Stories From the Border of Hell by Nathan Ballingrud

The Butcher’s Table by Nathan Ballingrud ★★★★★ 
Hideous beauty, confronting and objectionable grace - everything I ever wanted from Clive Barker.  

Skeleton Crew by Stephen King

The Jaunt ★★★★½ 
I was wondering about the sweet family trip to Mars, but then the story had a stopover in Providence and I knew where we were going :)

Hieroglyph: Stories and Visions for a Better Future

Girl In Wave: Wave In Girl by Kathleen Ann Goonan ★★★★★ “Unlike earlier children, we have a new power. With the invisible power of literacy we can put ourselves in the place of others... We are far too addicted to the joy of learning and life to have time to contemplate the destruction of others.” 

Brilliant! Through individualized teaching methods, and minor nanobiotechnical assistance, all children are able to read and learn with an ease previously known to few. 

By empowering children, giving them the space and freedom to learn, they build, and pass on, a better world. 

It reminded me of Vegan Stories. Children have good moral instincts about what’s wrong but we acculturate them to accept degrees of violence: adulteration.

The excellent notes section after the story pointed out that, “In 1963, Finland made a decision to make education its number one economic priority, and the highly effective educational system that emerged is the result.” 

So now I have to read Finnish Lessons 2.0 and contemplate moving there. 

Engines of Desire: Tales of Love and Other Horrors by Livia Llewellyn

Take Your Daughter to Work ★★★★★ 

Sex as something pleasurable, soft and warm, is a mammalian concept. In the cold salty dark of fathoms, it’s not even survivable. This short story built in scales and slithers to a chilling reimagining of Lovecraftian horror.

SNAFU: An Anthology of Military Horror

Blank White Page by James A. Moore ★★★★½ 
“Whatever makes you think a few buildings brings about a civilized human being?” 

I have a soft spot for weird westerns. I enjoyed this story of mysterious monsters facing off against mysterious monsters. The backstory of the albino mulatto cryptozoologist who is transforming into an unknown creature is a great story of its own. And is Crowley some kind of Faust? This story deserves a book or at least a novella.

Far Orbit: Speculative Space Adventures

From A Stone by Eric Choi ★★★★★ 
“It is information. An… an artifact of the mind.” 

Hard SciFi! What an unexpected treat! 
Government scientists on a routine asteroid sampling mission discover signs of life. But is it intelligent life? 
A hot debate, a cool conclusion.

Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse

The End of the Whole Mess by Stephen King ★★★★★ 

"The world needs heroic measures, man. I don't know about long-term effects, and there's no time to study them, because there's no long-term prospect. Maybe we can cure the whole mess. Or maybe—" 

I read Nightmares & Dreamscapes when it first came out in the early 90s, and was ridiculously proud of myself (huge book); this was the story that stayed with me. It was my first apocalypse story, and it felt real because there were no zombies, no aliens, no Revelation. Just Yankees coming down to Texas and deciding they knew it all and had the right to “fix us.” 

Decades later it’s still chilling. Somehow more so hearing Waco mentioned again and again as a place of peace and madness - known today for the Branch Dividian Rape Factory.

The Refrigerator Monologues by Catherynne M. Valente ★★★★★

"I belong in the refrigerator. Because the truth is, I’m just food for a superhero. He’ll eat up my death and get the energy he needs to become a legend."

These are the stories of the dead: women’s voices of the Marvel/DC universe forever silenced, because after all, it was never their story. 

Until now.

From the Depths and Other Strange Tales of the Sea (British Library Tales of the Weird #1)

No Ships Pass by Lady Eleanor Smith ★★★★½

The intro was correct, this story, written in the early 1930s, could have been the basis for Lost.  Imagine a smaller cast that could not die.  Madness!

Predator: If It Bleeds

Predator is one of my favorite movies so I had to read this the second it came out!  I was not disappointed, this was a consistently good time.