Re: Hello, said the Stick

It’s unfortunate that my first encounter with Michael Swanwick’s stories was “A Small Room in Koboldtown,” which underwhelmed me. I thought “From Babel’s Fallen Glory We Fled” was pretty good, but still unsatisfying. These two left me unprepared for how much I would love “Hello, said the Stick.” I first encountered it a reading on […]

Re: The Red Bride

From the opening line of “The Red Bride,” by Samantha Henderson, there is a lot you imagine that turns out to be different in truth. You are to imagine, Twigling, the Red Bride to be a human, such as yourself, although she is in truth a creature of the Var.

Re: Morris and the Machine

The reading on Drabblecast of “Morris and the Machine,” by Tim Pratt begins with Morris descending into his basement and locking the door behind him, while his wife Penelope threatens to leave him. I thought it was obvious that the mysterious machine he was working on was a time machine, and that was long before […]

Re: Let Us Now Praise Awesome Dinosaurs

Is Readercon more fun than a barrel of dinosaurs? Don’t answer that. Read or listen to “Let Us Now Praise Awesome Dinosaurs,” by Leonard Richardson first and enjoy the episodic adventures of two dinosaurs from Mars.

Re: The Fallen and the Muse of the Street

I’ve grown to trust the principle that the first pages of a short story are going to be indicative of the rest. In other words, if I don’t like the beginning of a story, I feel free to put it down and go on to the next. I almost did that to “The Fallen and […]

Re: The Blueberry Pie

Be vewy quiet. We’re hunting pie on the Drabblecast, and we found a pair of tasty pies by Mur Lafferty.

Re: Out Of His League

When Neil DeGrasse Tyson turned up on the Daily Show and Rachel Maddow last night, you just knew he was going to talk about Pluto. I certainly did, maybe because recently enjoyed “Out Of His League,” by Bruce Golden on the Drabblecast. It’s about baseball, painting amusing portraits of the characters who play it. It’s […]

Re: Gifting Bliss

So I’m going through my archives of stories I like, which gave me an excuse to listen again the Drabblecast of “Gifting Bliss: Fifteen Years Later, Jason Avery’s Magic is Still Saving the World” by Josh Rountree. It’s a charming presentation, a kind of musical bio show, complete with promo break. Considering that I’m not […]

Re: Squidges

Here’s a silly one from the Drabblecast for you Car Talk fans: “Squidges” by Thomas Canfield. The narrator brings his car to the three eccentric Maine brothers, who are sort of like the Tappet Brothers to the nth degree. The story itself is pretty non-consequential, but it’s well told. Even in something so short, it […]

Re: Apologies All Around

I’ve discovered another podcast I like, the Drabblecast. It’s a mix of 100 word drabbles and flash fiction. While I work my way through the archives, my first favorite episode is the outstanding “Apologies All Around” by Jeff Soesbe. Winston Sinclair receives an apology from a man who crossed him many years ago–delivered by a […]