Short Story Thoughts
Mar. 25th, 2020 05:00 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
iariaThe Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees by E. Lily Yu
Okay. I feel like it would have been better as a longer story where you spend more time with various characters and get to know them, though I don’t know if I’d want to read it. As it was I wasn’t really into it even though it had some neat concepts.
Spar by Kij Johnson
Meh. I might have liked it better if there had been some communication between the astronaut and the alien? Though there being nothing was the point. It wasn’t for me.
Black Flowers Blossom by Vina Jie-Min Prasad
I enjoyed it! I loved that we got to follow the detective through a couple different lives, the romance between the detective and the eldritch being was well done, I liked the detective’s obsession and determination to see the eldritch creature’s inner city, I liked the initial reveal that the detective knew who it was and desperately wanted more, I liked the cult of light as the bad guys. Just really this all worked for me. I’d definitely read more.
Sinew and Steel and What They Told by Carrie Vaughn
I liked this. I really liked the concept of Graff’s people – cyborgs created in the womb sent out to collect stories, it’s a neat idea. I liked Graff, he was a good narrator. Nice little story.
Librarians in the Branch Library of Babel by Shaenon K. Garrity
The story itself was fine but didn’t really engage me. I wouldn’t read a sequel for example. That said I did love, as always, the whole idea of infinite libraries. And this one where different branches specialize in different books, and the inclusion of books that are simply nonsense and the whole idea of societies of squatters living in the stacks and that to go into them is a serious expedition are all ideas I really liked.
Suradanna and the Sea by Rebecca Fraimow
I really liked this. Surdanna reinventing herself over and over in different ways was great. I love how she keeps picking herself up and reinventing herself. At the end her starting to think about trading by air in balloons was great little encapsulation of her character. Her and the Captain inadvertently starting the path that lead to the end for the Salamadan port by starting the trade by sea of zuiran, and thus the inevitable over-grown sea plants and creatures that came from it, was a neat point. I really wanted to explore the zuiran-saturated sea more. I liked the relationship between Surdanna/the Captain and how that played out. Overall just a very nicely done story.
Okay. I feel like it would have been better as a longer story where you spend more time with various characters and get to know them, though I don’t know if I’d want to read it. As it was I wasn’t really into it even though it had some neat concepts.
Spar by Kij Johnson
Meh. I might have liked it better if there had been some communication between the astronaut and the alien? Though there being nothing was the point. It wasn’t for me.
Black Flowers Blossom by Vina Jie-Min Prasad
I enjoyed it! I loved that we got to follow the detective through a couple different lives, the romance between the detective and the eldritch being was well done, I liked the detective’s obsession and determination to see the eldritch creature’s inner city, I liked the initial reveal that the detective knew who it was and desperately wanted more, I liked the cult of light as the bad guys. Just really this all worked for me. I’d definitely read more.
Sinew and Steel and What They Told by Carrie Vaughn
I liked this. I really liked the concept of Graff’s people – cyborgs created in the womb sent out to collect stories, it’s a neat idea. I liked Graff, he was a good narrator. Nice little story.
Librarians in the Branch Library of Babel by Shaenon K. Garrity
The story itself was fine but didn’t really engage me. I wouldn’t read a sequel for example. That said I did love, as always, the whole idea of infinite libraries. And this one where different branches specialize in different books, and the inclusion of books that are simply nonsense and the whole idea of societies of squatters living in the stacks and that to go into them is a serious expedition are all ideas I really liked.
Suradanna and the Sea by Rebecca Fraimow
I really liked this. Surdanna reinventing herself over and over in different ways was great. I love how she keeps picking herself up and reinventing herself. At the end her starting to think about trading by air in balloons was great little encapsulation of her character. Her and the Captain inadvertently starting the path that lead to the end for the Salamadan port by starting the trade by sea of zuiran, and thus the inevitable over-grown sea plants and creatures that came from it, was a neat point. I really wanted to explore the zuiran-saturated sea more. I liked the relationship between Surdanna/the Captain and how that played out. Overall just a very nicely done story.
