Re: Kiosk

The Secret History of Moscow gave us a glimpse of the kiosks filling the streets. In “Kiosk,” by Bruce Sterling, we see into their hectic world. Borislav runs a little kiosk that’s so sucessful, a woman from the EU buys him out. His customers are heart-broken at the loss of the source of their hair […]

Re: Wikihistory

After struggling to like some of these Nebula-worthy stories, it came as a relief to stumble on a story that just plain made laugh. “Wikihistory” by Desmond Warzel is an amusing short about time travelers maintaining the wiki of the world’s timeline.Part of its charm comes from the way it turns Godwin’s Law on its […]

Re: Pride

Some people seem to be strange atttractors. In Pride, by Mary Turzillo, Kevin is enlisted by Animals Our Brethren in an attack on a Frankenlab where they’re cloning dead animals. Never mind the image that rouses of a Contented Cow arising from a revenant hamburger, the ugly duckling cub he rescues somehow manages to survive […]

Re: Captive Girl

With lovely, musical language, ” Captive Girl,” by Jennifer Pelland opens with a vista of space as seen by a watcher tracking dangers to her home. Then the watcher, Alice, wakes up in her body. She is trammeled in the machinery that makes it possible, her face covered by a heavy mask, her senses replaced […]

Re: Safeguard

Some topics you need to write about with some restraint, like putting kids into danger to get the reader’s sympathy. Toward the end of “Safeguard,” by Nancy Kress, the story hangs a lantern on what a low device this is, and in general, shows restraint in depicting the children, and letting you feel as you […]

Re: Titanium Mike

I am noticing that I form my opinion about a story very fast, within the first couple paragraphs, and rarely does the rest of the story change that opinion. Titanium Mike Saves the Day,” by David D. Levine turns out to be one of those rare exceptions. I thought the opening paragraphs were stiff. Worse, […]

2008 Hugo Nominations

The 2008 Hugo Nominations were announced last night. And I called it: Halting State is on the ballot. When I read Rollback, I had a sinking feeling it too would be nominated, but I was afraid to say so out loud. Likewise, seeing The Last Colony listed makes me feel very discouraged: Old Man’s War […]

Re: Fountain of Age

When I read a story that I don’t like written by someone I admire, it makes feel like there’s something wrong with me. Nancy Kress, for example, is incredibly smart about writing, she gets her science right, she gets her people right–but every now and then I run across a story that rubs me the […]

Re: Merchants’ War

Miriam Beckstein, intrepid high-tech journalist, discovers she is really a lost daughter of a clan that can travel between worlds. And she is not pleased. Before I go on, make sure you’ve read the previous books in Charles Stross‘s Merchant Prince series: The Family Trade, The Hidden Family, Clan Corporate, and the latest book Merchants’ […]

Re: Halting State

When an army of Orcs rob a bank, you’re know you’re in for a good time. So who thinks it’s worthwhile to raid the central bank of the gameworld Avalon Four? Sue, an Edinburgh cop, Elaine, a forensic auditor, and Jack, a gaming programmer, are called together to find out. Throw in corporate backstabbing, terror […]