Re: Boneshaker

The prologue is the most exciting part of Boneshaker, by Cherie Priest. In 1863, the Incredible Bone-Shaking Drill Engine went on a rampage. In Seattle, there was a boom when the failed 49ers passed through to strike out for the Yukon. Angling for a commission from the Russians to drill for gold, a mad scientist, […]

Re: Bride of Frankenstein

I am appalled. Horrified and appalled. I actually liked a sentimental story by Mike Resnick.

Re: Spar

Whatever you might think of the Nebula-winning “Spar“, you have to admit that Kij Johnson did what she set out to do. In an interview, says she feared her writing was getting too “glossy” and she wanted to get away from that. This story is far from “glossy” all right. It’s so raw, it doesn’t […]

Re: On A Clear Day You Can See All the Way to Conspiracy

Ever since I stumbled on “Wikihistory” I’ve had my eye open for more stories by Desmond Warzel. This time, I’m in the middle of reading the Hugo nominees, and I’m feeling the same sense of relief just getting a good laugh out of stumbling on “On a Clear Day You Can See All the Way […]

Re: The Moment

“The Moment,” by Lawrence M. Schoen is told in a series of moments, a comic-tragic succession of galactic entities all drawn to a footprint on the Moon. The prose is filled with cerulean imagery and technophilic vocabulary; to a large degree the wordplay carries me along in reading it. And yet, this story bugs me.

Re: Betting the Family Farm

There is only one water feature in “Betting the Family Farm” by Wenonah Lyon, so the story is quite dry. I like the dry descriptions of events as an alien comes to Earth to play golf. I like the dry reading it got on Escape Pod. It doesn’t even rain in the story. So, for […]

Re: Bridesicle

Mira awakens in a cryonic drawer to a hideous situation: Men can pay to have the woman of their choice fully revived, if the woman will agree to marry them. This idea just sickens me. And yet the vivid opening of “Bridesicle,” by Will McIntosh sucked me right in.

Re: Semi-Autonomous

I’m finding stories I like again, but not yet from the Hugo nominations. I’m having fun listening to old Escape Pods. “Semi-Autonomous,” by Jim Kling really cracks me up. Told by a semi-autonomous answering machine, it’s a short tale that escalates hilariously. Collected in Futures From Nature.

2010 Hugos

The 2010 Hugo nominations have been announced, so I guess I have some reading to do.

Re: Eclipse Three

I found most of the stories in Eclipse Three, edited by Jonathan Strahan, especially in the first half of the book, disturbing, disorienting, and depressing, but never dull. Over and over, I would get sucked in by beautiful writing. I would keep reading, wondering where it’s going, thinking that if it’s this well done, there […]