mikewhiteman's review
2.0
Yakshantariksh - Vandana Singh **
A man makes psychic contact with a vast being made of dark matter, coiled throughout our galaxy. Other than that image, not a lot grabbed me.
Marcel Proust, Incorporated - Scott Dalrymple **
Similarly, beyond the neatly dystopian idea of knowledge being repossessed when people can't pay their student loans, the rest of this just fell flat. The narrative voice, especially, just grated throughout.
The Heart's Filthy Lesson - Elizabeth Bear **
Cheesy, old school adventure on a partially habitable Venus filled with ferocious local wildlife that bears some resemblance to Earth animals. So a big set piece features the main character dealing with striped swamp-tigers. The best part is her relationship with her high-achieving lover - the envy she feels and the desire to prove herself come across strongly.
Love Engine Optimization - Matthew Cressel ***
Present day/near future story of an obsessive IT worker using social media data and monitored cameras, phones etc to present a perfect version of themselves to seduce a woman (also selected from millions by their online presence). Predictable in the dissatisfaction with attempts at a perfect relationship but suitably bleak and gives some thought to whether it matters how much of a personality is constructed and put on - to some extent, everyone changes themselves and tries to present their best selves anyway.
World Of The Three - Shweta Narayan ***
Lovely world described through a mechanical bird's stories to her similarly wind-up "children". The bickering and sibling rivalry back-and-forth felt spot on and was a nice rendering of the early myths of their people. Sometimes felt a bit too bedtime stories but mostly good fun.
The Magical Properties Of Unicorn Ivory - Carlos Hernandez *
Didn't like the voice in this one, felt very simple. The story of unicorns leaking through from a parallel universe and the Fey Spy drone didn't connect as tech-fairytale elements. Ultimately a point about why adults may lie to children to protect them or their feelings but never worked for me.
Crossing The Threshold - Pat Murphy **
Not much going on, beyond the uncertainty over whether the old man is actually the devil, which just feels like the character's imagination running wild in a slightly odd situation. Having a new age "witch" help clear out their father's belongings doesn't produce much story.
Substitutes - Ben Hoffman ***
Interesting take on the cumulative subtle changes as children grow older, as the main character's daughter begins to be regularly replaced by a slightly different version with a moved birthmark or change in food preferences. Builds up to an expected confrontation with what seems to be the original version but the descent into delusion and frustration winds tighter and tighter throughout.
Iseul's Lexicon - Yoon Ha Lee ****
The language and words-based magic system constructed here was well done and the effects of changes in language usage over time on such a system were fascinating. Some powerful set pieces and touches of nuance and detail in the characters against a sword and sorcery war-between-two-kingdoms background. Really enjoyed this one.
A man makes psychic contact with a vast being made of dark matter, coiled throughout our galaxy. Other than that image, not a lot grabbed me.
Marcel Proust, Incorporated - Scott Dalrymple **
Similarly, beyond the neatly dystopian idea of knowledge being repossessed when people can't pay their student loans, the rest of this just fell flat. The narrative voice, especially, just grated throughout.
The Heart's Filthy Lesson - Elizabeth Bear **
Cheesy, old school adventure on a partially habitable Venus filled with ferocious local wildlife that bears some resemblance to Earth animals. So a big set piece features the main character dealing with striped swamp-tigers. The best part is her relationship with her high-achieving lover - the envy she feels and the desire to prove herself come across strongly.
Love Engine Optimization - Matthew Cressel ***
Present day/near future story of an obsessive IT worker using social media data and monitored cameras, phones etc to present a perfect version of themselves to seduce a woman (also selected from millions by their online presence). Predictable in the dissatisfaction with attempts at a perfect relationship but suitably bleak and gives some thought to whether it matters how much of a personality is constructed and put on - to some extent, everyone changes themselves and tries to present their best selves anyway.
World Of The Three - Shweta Narayan ***
Lovely world described through a mechanical bird's stories to her similarly wind-up "children". The bickering and sibling rivalry back-and-forth felt spot on and was a nice rendering of the early myths of their people. Sometimes felt a bit too bedtime stories but mostly good fun.
The Magical Properties Of Unicorn Ivory - Carlos Hernandez *
Didn't like the voice in this one, felt very simple. The story of unicorns leaking through from a parallel universe and the Fey Spy drone didn't connect as tech-fairytale elements. Ultimately a point about why adults may lie to children to protect them or their feelings but never worked for me.
Crossing The Threshold - Pat Murphy **
Not much going on, beyond the uncertainty over whether the old man is actually the devil, which just feels like the character's imagination running wild in a slightly odd situation. Having a new age "witch" help clear out their father's belongings doesn't produce much story.
Substitutes - Ben Hoffman ***
Interesting take on the cumulative subtle changes as children grow older, as the main character's daughter begins to be regularly replaced by a slightly different version with a moved birthmark or change in food preferences. Builds up to an expected confrontation with what seems to be the original version but the descent into delusion and frustration winds tighter and tighter throughout.
Iseul's Lexicon - Yoon Ha Lee ****
The language and words-based magic system constructed here was well done and the effects of changes in language usage over time on such a system were fascinating. Some powerful set pieces and touches of nuance and detail in the characters against a sword and sorcery war-between-two-kingdoms background. Really enjoyed this one.
suchmeow's review
3.0
I quite enjoyed "Love Engine Optimization" by Matthew Kressel, it wasn't quite what I was expecting.
Elizabeth Bear's "The Heart's Filthy Lesson" was a fun read.
I really liked Yoon Ha Lee's "Iseul's Lexicon." It was an interesting magic and I thought the ending was strong.
Elizabeth Bear's "The Heart's Filthy Lesson" was a fun read.
I really liked Yoon Ha Lee's "Iseul's Lexicon." It was an interesting magic and I thought the ending was strong.
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