Wednesday, October 20, 2021
Tuesday, October 19, 2021
Autonomous by Annalee Newitz ★★☆☆☆
Blue Bot notices Man’s erection.
Man: No! I’m not gay!
Blue Bot researches humans on the internet. Blue Bot replaces its blue carapace with a pink one.
Man: You’re pink?!?! Why are you pink?
Pink Bot: I decided this was me. Do you want to have sex?
Man: Yes!
After sex.
Man: Did you enjoy that?
Pink Bot: I enjoyed that you enjoyed it.
Man: I knew you were a woman.
Sunday, October 17, 2021
Dreamcatcher by Stephen King ★★★☆☆
Saturday, October 16, 2021
Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente ★★☆☆☆
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet (Wayfarers #1) by Becky Chambers ★★★☆☆
Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson ★★★★☆
"Life is a planetary expression, and can only survive on its home planet."
A cautionary tale, a much needed message... and the wet blanket of science fiction.
What I enjoyed was that Aurora was in no way predictable, that alone kept me reading long into the night.
Thursday, October 14, 2021
A Plutonian Wife by Kenneth Buff★★★★☆
I love free super short scifi gender expectation swap stories! Kristoff is a rich Earth guy sick of being loved for his money but dismissed for his average looks. Where can a bloke go to be appreciated as a man and not a wallet? Why Pluto of course!
Wednesday, October 13, 2021
X-Files: The Truth Is Out There
Oh that takes me back! My favorite episodes were the one-off monster tales, the pit stops of strange. Kelley Armstrong, urban fantasy fae mistress, has given us a treat!
Tuesday, October 12, 2021
The Future is Female! 25 Classic Science Stories by Women
“Man is not happy, unless he has some enemy to overcome, some difficulty to surmount.”
Amazing first story! Just as humans took over for the dinosaurs so the insects are fighting to take over from man in this near future drama.
Told from multiple generations of the same family it is more about what drives us, physically and spiritually, as people. It is not enough to merely exist.
This was layered, entertaining, and insightful. Loved it!
Read it for yourself:
https://ebooks.genesismachina.ca/harris-the-miracle-of-the-lily/
The Best American Science Fiction and Fantasy 2018
Carnival Nine by Caroline M. Yoachim ★★★★★
In this mountain of mediocre I was completely unprepared for a tearjerker.
From the first lines I saw this as a Tim Burton movie, animated like A Nightmare Before Christmas. It’s a story about family, and using the time you have to be with the ones you love.
And now I’m crying harder and I have to go call my mom for no reason.
Read it for yourself: http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/carnival-nine/