Now that the Short Story club is over, I’d like to thank them all for letting me play. This may seem like a weird comparison, but about halfway through reading these stories started to remind me of Better Investing‘s monthly Stock To Study. When they pick a stock of interest, that doesn’t make it a recommendation to buy it, just that there is something worth studying about the company. Similarly, I stopped expecting that I would like these stories, but instead find something worth studying about them.
First off, I found it pretty easy to typecast them:
- retake on a classic,
meta-narrative,
steampunk,
post-singularity,
Christian apologetic,
folktale,
vampire/zombie,
time travel,
werewolves,
anti-singularity,
post-apocalypse,
idea/gimmick,
Asian-influenced fantasy.
Next, I had the full range of reactions.
I loved:
“The Red Bride”
“Stereogram of the Gray Fort, in the Days of Her Glory”
I liked:
“Somadeva: A Sky-River Sutra”
“A Serpent in the Gears”
“The Cage”
I was okay with:
“Elegy for a Young Elk”
“Throwing Stones”
I disliked:
“Second Journey of the Magus”
“Miguel and the Viatura”
“No Time Like the Present”
“My Father’s Singularity”
I wouldn’t read:
“The Things”
“The Heart of a Mouse”
Finally, following the comments was a fascinating mix of “Oh, good, I’m not the only one who thinks that” and “I never would have thought of that in a million years”.
An interesting range of selections.
Writing Every Day 