A review by juliemawesome
The Fate of Mice, by Susan Palwick
5.0
Awesome. How come I never heard of Susan Palwick before? How come she hasn't been on the Tiptree Award lists? How come how come?
I really liked all of the stories in this collection. My favorite might be the first one, "The Fate of Mice", about a smart, talking mouse and the girl who tells him stories.
Then again, "Ever After" is pretty cool too. And I didn't even get what was going on with the godmother until most of the way through.
And it was "Jo's Hair" that I read in an anthology that made me seek out more of her stuff, so that must be pretty good too.
I wonder how much she realizes she has a pregnancy theme going on here. There's at least 4 in here you could read as being about that.
I'm very glad I skipped Paul di Fillipo's introduction until after I'd read the book. Not only do introductions like that tend to spoil the stories, but he completely missed a major point. He gives passing reference to her 'feminist concerns' in a paranthetical. I don't think he grasps how almost all of the stories are about women. No matter if the protagonist is male. No matter if it's a mouse.
I've borrowed more Palwick from the library. They're high on my to-read list.
I really liked all of the stories in this collection. My favorite might be the first one, "The Fate of Mice", about a smart, talking mouse and the girl who tells him stories.
Then again, "Ever After" is pretty cool too. And I didn't even get what was going on with the godmother until most of the way through.
And it was "Jo's Hair" that I read in an anthology that made me seek out more of her stuff, so that must be pretty good too.
I wonder how much she realizes she has a pregnancy theme going on here. There's at least 4 in here you could read as being about that.
I'm very glad I skipped Paul di Fillipo's introduction until after I'd read the book. Not only do introductions like that tend to spoil the stories, but he completely missed a major point. He gives passing reference to her 'feminist concerns' in a paranthetical. I don't think he grasps how almost all of the stories are about women. No matter if the protagonist is male. No matter if it's a mouse.
I've borrowed more Palwick from the library. They're high on my to-read list.