Book Review: FLOWERS FOR THE SEA

TITLE: Flowers for the Sea

AUTHOR: Zin E. Rocklyn

112 pages, TorDotCom Publishing, ISBN 9781250804037 (paperback, also available in e-book and audio)

DESCRIPTION: (from the publisher): We are a people who do not forget.

Survivors from a flooded kingdom struggle alone on an ark. Resources are scant, and ravenous beasts circle. Their fangs are sharp.

Among the refugees is Iraxi: ostracized, despised, and a commoner who refused a prince, she’s pregnant with a child that might be more than human. Her fate may be darker and more powerful than she can imagine.

MY RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

MY THOUGHTS: Zin E. Rocklyn’s debut is a stellar entry into the cosmic horror genre, a novella that leaves you unsettled and feeling small in the face of the universe even while you admire the tenacity of the main character.

Cosmic (or “Lovecraftian”) horror tends to be expansive and claustrophobic at the same time. The greater cosmos makes itself known to humans who are overwhelmed by it, usually in places that are tight and dark with odd architecture or geometry at play. Setting the action on a boat alone at sea certainly ticks those boxes off but limiting most of the action to the few places on the vessel that the outcast, disdained Iraxi is allowed to visit makes the book feel even more claustrophobic. There is no sense of a larger, supportive community that might normally feature in a lost-at-sea adventure. The desperation of 1743 days at sea, with no land in sight, is palpable. Rocklyn infuses the book with so many visceral sensory details: the sweat and grime on Iraxi and the people she interacts with, the pervasive salt water, the smells of food and humans. Most notably, there are the physical details of Iraxi giving birth to her possibly inhuman (or more than human) child: bloody, painful, brutal – words which also describe the novel’s one detailed sex scene.

It is implied that Iraxi has been pregnant for most of the voyage, or at least far longer than would be natural. While other women have died, or have survived with the baby dying instead, she has labored on waiting to deliver this child. The rest of the denizens of the ship’s society know something is not right, but not what. Iraxi does as well, and throughout the book she explores her past, analyzing what led her here. She knows what her decisions have cost her and those she loves, but she is also resolutely not ashamed to be who she is regardless of how the people around her (including current and former lovers) think.

At times the novella feels post-apocalyptic, at times like a completely separate fantasy world. Massive flooding (rising sea levels?) forced these people into their current situation, and it’s clear they are the poor, the unwanted, the exiled (in Iraxi’s case); they are cast out by soldiers of the prince Iraxi denied. This also, to me, makes the book feel a bit like a slave ship narrative. While there are no richer (whiter?) overseers on the ship, no destination in sight at which the human cargo will be sold, there is also no sense that signing onto the trip was really voluntary, that those on the ship might find a safe harbor to land in.

And then of course, there’s the cosmic horrors that eventually manifest, deadly and disturbing. I won’t spoil anything about their arrival and effect on the characters, but they are nightmare-inducing.

Flowers for the Sea is a truly stellar debut for a writer I cannot wait to read more from.

NOTE: I received an advance reading copy from TorDotCom Publishing via NetGalley well in advance of the book’s publication date in exchange for an honest review. This review is obviously long overdue.

Book Review: SERVANT MAGE

TITLE: Servant Mage

AUTHOR: Kate Elliot

176 pages, TorDotCom Publishing, ISBN 9781250769053 (hardcover, also available in e-book)

DESCRIPTION: (from Goodreads): In Kate Elliott's Servant Mage, a lowly fire mage finds herself entangled in an empire-spanning conspiracy on her way to discovering her true power.

They choose their laws to secure their power.

Fellian is a Lamplighter, able to provide illumination through magic. A group of rebel Monarchists free her from indentured servitude and take her on a journey to rescue trapped compatriots from an underground complex of mines.

Along the way they get caught up in a conspiracy to kill the latest royal child and wipe out the Monarchist movement for good.

But Fellian has more than just her Lamplighting skills up her sleeve…

MY RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

MY THOUGHTS: With Servant Mage, Kate Elliot proves that it is possible to write epic fantasy without writing a doorstop of a novel and still leave the reader both satisfied and wanting more. It’s probably a bit early to start making claims about “favorite novella of the year,” but I will be surprised if Servant Mage isn’t in the Top Five for me at least. That’s how intrigued I am with this world and these characters.

In this world, Liberationists “freed” the world of the Monarchy long enough ago that older people remember the way life used to be but there’s a generation coming of age who have been raised to believe what the Liberation government tells this is true: that the Monarchy were possessed by multiple demons that made them powerful but debauched, and so anyone who is deemed to have magical talent is relegated to a strictly controlled and demeaned servant class. Mages may be talented in one of five areas (earth, air, fire, water, and aether) and are trained from discovery in exactly how their powers work.

Fellian is one of those servant mages, a lamplighter (“fire”). She’s been told that she’ll only ever have the ability to create illumination, and that even if she ever manages to work her way free from her indentured servitude (a system which is designed to perpetuate indenture, not relieve it), she won’t rise very far because she’s still demon-possessed and not one of the Virtuous. At the start of the novel, we see that even in servitude, Fellian pushes boundaries: she’s learned to detect heat signatures, an ability she theoretically can’t have, according to the Liberationists; she also takes time to secretly teach other servants how to read and write, something else the Liberationists have outlawed for servant mages and, it seems, for most of the population outside of the elite.

In just the opening chapter, we see how both feisty and insecure Fellian is, and that internal struggle continues throughout the book. Even when presented with new information about the way the world or magic works, information she can see is true, her training/education still holds sway – and in at least one crucial moment, that training threatens to unravel everything the group she’s with has accomplished. Fellian also remains unafraid to call people out when she thinks they’re hiding something from her, unafraid to ask awkward questions at inopportune moments. Her guesses about people’s motives aren’t always correct, but they always get a reaction.

Servant Mage is in third person but very tightly focused on Fellian’s point of view: the reader knows what she knows in terms of what she’s experienced and been raised to believe and learns what she learns of the other characters through her questions and their answers/reactions. The rest of the cast is as intriguing as Fellian: Shey the apparent nobleman of the group; Hallou the fellow servant mage who struggles just as much as Fellian with breaking free of training; Inre the mysterious; and the battle-hardened older Captain who leads them. I enjoyed learning about each characters’ past, reveals I will not spoil in a review, and suspect there’s even more to their histories than was revealed.

The world-building that underlies the action is equally as interesting as the characters that live in the world. We’re accustomed to fantasy stories where the Monarchy is evil (especially when they’re equated with Dragons, as the Monarchy herein is) and whoever fights against the Monarchy is good. In our real world, we’re all too acquainted with revolutions that end up installing regimes who are just as bad, if not worse, than the monarchs they depose. Elliott gives us a clear look at that here, with the Liberationist government being abusive and controlling, stripping away rights from anyone with even a hint of magical ability and hoarding wealth and power to a small non-magical “elite.”

Hopefully, Servant Mage is just the start of exploring this world. I look forward to more.

I received an electronic advance reading copy from the publisher via NetGalley in hopes of an honest review.

2022 Sunday Shorts Intro Post

As mentioned in a few recent posts, or at least hinted at, I hit a wall somewhere in the middle of 2021 and stopped posting to my blog. I felt guilty about it, of course, but the motivation just wasn’t there. That means it’s been six months or more since any of my intended regular features appeared. So I thought I’d use the first post of 2022 for each feature to re-introduce them.

Welcome to the first Sunday Shorts of 2022.

I love short fiction, and Sunday Shorts is the feature where I get to blog about it. I’ve considered promising to review a short story every day, like ‘Nathan Burgoine did a while back on his blog, but that’s a lot of pressure. And while no one will fault me if I miss days, I’ll feel guilty, which will lead to not posting at all. So better to stick to a weekly post highlighting a couple/three stories, as I’ve done in the past.

The stories featured will range in length from flash fiction to novellas, because I love all the lengths. And this seems like the right time to mention what those lengths are, at least according to The Hugo Awards:

·       Novella: 17,500 – 40,000 words (roughly 58 – 133 pages at 300 words/page)

·       Novelette: 7,500 – 17,500 words (roughly 25 – 58 pages)

·       Short Story: less than 7,500 words (roughly 25 pages or less)

In addition, many organizations/websites break “Short Stories” down into smaller categories, such as:

·       Flash Fiction: 1,000 words or less (some sites say 1,500 or less and some say 750)

·       Micro-fiction: 500 words or less

·       Drabble: precisely 100 words

although there seems to be a lot of disagreement out there when you get down to these finer categories.

My rule of thumb regarding novellas is that they’re eligible to be featured in this column if they appear in a larger book (say, as part of an author’s collection, or a collection of several novellas, or as an addition at the back of a novel) or if they’re published on an author’s Patreon. Novellas published for sale as single volumes (regardless of who the publisher is) count as “books” and usually get reviewed that way. (Otherwise, the constant stream of excellent novellas from TorDotCom would take over this column!)

For the time being, I’m focused on short fiction in print/digital formats. At some point, I might delve into individual stories/episodes of anthology formats in other media, like television and comics. I consider it every year and haven’t made that jump yet. Maybe that should be a separate regular feature. Feel free to weigh in in the comments.

The stories I’ll talk about come from a variety of print and online sources. I tend to read a fair number of anthologies and single-author collections, and occasionally will focus on stories from those even if I’m publishing a review of the entire book. Favorite anthology editors include Ellen Datlow, Terri Windling, John Joseph Adams, dave ring, Paula Guran, and Rhonda Parrish to name a few. (I could go on and on … that’s also probably the subject of a separate post.)

I am also subscribed to a bunch of magazines that I try to read at least semi-regularly, and some of those are even free to read online. When I do my monthly “Reading Round-Up,” you are likely to see stories from the following venues listed on a regular basis:

·       Lightspeed Magazine

·       Fantasy Magazine

·       Nightmare Magazine

·       The Dark

·       Uncanny Magazine

·       The Deadlands

·       Kaleidotrope

·       Apex Magazine

·       Fireside Magazine

·       Bachelors

Future Science Fiction Digest

·       The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction

·       Tor.com

·       Mermaids Monthly (now defunct, but I have several issues to catch up on)

That said, I do try to vary the sources for the stories I review in-depth for this column, so you shouldn’t see any one of the above magazines appearing any more regularly than the others.

(In the interests of full disclosure: I’m the proofreader for the e-book editions of Lightspeed and Fantasy, and so they account for 12 of the short stories I read each month. I tend to feature them in this column less often to avoid accusations of “favoritism.” I am NOT the proofreader for Nightmare, from the same publisher.)

I also enjoy reading short fiction on authors’ websites/Patreons. Seanan McGuire is an example. For $1/month, you get access to every short story she’s published on her Patreon – all original works when they first appear. ‘Nathan Burgoine has also posted some great short fiction on his blog, including annual queer retellings/reinventions of classic Christmas carols and stories. Lucy Snyder occasionally posts short stories on her Patreon as well. Again, I could go on and on and on…

Have a favorite anthology, collection, magazine, or other online venue for short fiction that I haven’t mentioned above? Again, feel free to weigh in in the comments. I’m always looking for new places to read short fiction (as if I don’t have enough to read already!).

And of course, let me know who your favorite short fiction authors and editors are!

Book Review: BODY SHOCKS

TITLE: Body Shocks: Extreme Tales of Body Horror

EDITOR: Ellen Datlow

384 pages, Tachyon Publications, ISBN 9781616963606 (paperback, also available in e-book)

DESCRIPTION: (from Goodreads): The most terrifying thing that you can possibly imagine is your own body in the hands of a monster. Or worse, in the hands of another human being. In this definitive anthology of body horror selected by a World Horror Grandmaster, you’ll find the unthinkable and the shocking: a couture designer preparing for an exquisitely grotesque runway show; a vengeful son seeking the parent who bred him as plasma donor; a celebrity-kink brothel that inflicts plastic surgery on sex workers; and organ-harvesting doctors who dissect a living man without anesthetic.

Bestselling editor Ellen Datlow (Lovecraft’s Monsters) presents body horror at its most wide-ranging and shocking best. Discover twenty-nine intricate, twisted tales of the human body, soul, and psyche, as told by storytelling legends including Carmen Maria Machado, Richard Kadrey, Seanan McGuire, Caitlín R. Kiernan, Nathan Ballingrud, Tananarive Due, Cassandra Khaw, Christopher Fowler, and many more.

MY RATING: 5 out of 5 stars

MY THOUGHTS: I love horror as much as I love any other “speculative fiction” genre, but I will admit that when it comes to body horror, I’m one of those readers/viewers who is squeamish but also intrigued. Picture the trope of the teen watching a horror movie through the parted fingers of the hand they’ve raised in front of their face – then age the person up to his 50s and you’ve got me. It’s not so much blood and gore that gets my gag reflex going as it is bodily transformation. For this reason, I’ve long stayed away from the more visceral body horror fiction that gets recommended as exemplars of the sub-genre. But I can’t resist an occasional look, via short stories that I can read one at a time and “palette-cleanse” between. And when those stories are assembled by Ellen Datlow, an editor who has never disappointed me or led me astray, all the better.

Quite a few authors I always enjoy are present. Seanan McGuire’s “Spores” (in which a lab hygienist’s worst fears come true regarding mold), Carmen Maria Machado’s “The Old Women Who Were Skinned” (in which, well … the title kind of gives it away, but there are still surprises), Nathan Ballingrud’s “You Go Where It Takes You” (the basis for an episode of Hulu’s excellent Monsterland series) were all stories I had read before, and rereading did not lessen the dread and discomfort the stories originally inspired in me. I had not previously read Priya Sharma’s “Fabulous Beats” (a herpetologist has a unique connection to the snakes she works with), Cassandra Khaw’s “The Truth That Lies Under Skin and Meat” (people as food), or Kaaron Warren’s “A Positive,” (a child is raised to provide for his father in old age in a way far from what that phrase normally entails). All three creeped me out in delightful ways while also leaving a smile on my face. What can I say, I’m a sucker for a good revenge tale. Which is probably why I also enjoyed Edward Bryant’s “The Transfer” and Alyssa Wong’s “Natural Skin” as well.

Two other stand-outs for me were Tananarive Due’s “The Lake,” in which – surprise – and urban legend about the titular body of water turns out to be true, and Brian Evenson’s Poe-like “A True Friend,” in which the narrator explains that while he could help you out of the predicament you’re in, he won’t and why. Both tales are perfectly paced, playfully teasing the reader with what’s really going on. I suspect that Evenson’s story, told in the second person POV that always discomfits me regardless of genre, is going to be on my “must re-read annually in October” list alongside my favorite Poe stories.

Full marks also go to Terry Dowling for “Toother,” in which a detective, a doctor, and the doctor’s supernaturally talented patient team up to track down a serial killer. I would gladly read any more tales featuring Dan Truswell, Peter Rait, Henry Badman, and Philip Crow. The characters and their shared history intrigued me. (Admission: I have not yet looked to see if Dowling has more stories with these characters.)

But, if I had to choose the most disturbing story in the anthology in terms of body transformation and trauma, it would be a three way tie between Simon Bestwick’s “Welcome to Mengele’s,” which involves bodily abuse of clones; Cody Goodfellow’s “Atwater,” which contains both the most disturbing birthing scene I’ve read and a scene reminiscent of the climax of the movie Akira which made me physically ill the first time I saw it on VHS; and  Michael Blumlein’s “Tissue Ablation and Variant Regeneration: A Case Report,” which is a very slow and methodical report of surgery, practically an autopsy, on a perhaps-unwilling patient while that patient is still alive and aware of everything he’s losing. These are perhaps the most graphic stories in the book. Blumlein’s tale is also the closing story and will linger with you long after you’ve set the book aside. Even reading over my story notes several months after reading the book, the images from this story appear clear in my mind’s eye.

There are plenty of other stories I haven’t called out specifically that are equally as good and as diverse in tone and genre as the ones I have mentioned. Some of the stories are lean more towards science fiction or fantasy than outright horror, and some are more graphic than others. I don’t think fans of body horror as a sub-genre will be disappointed with what Datlow has put together here, and I think that folks not accustomed to body horror will find this an excellent testing ground for “just how gross is too gross.”

I received an electronic Advanced Reading Copy of this book from Tachyon Publications via NetGalley well before publication in hopes of a fair review, but personal life stuff delayed my posting this review until well after the publication date.

2021 Viewing Round-Up

Two days ago, I posted my annual summary of every book and story I read/listened to in 2021. Today, I’m summarizing every television show and movie I watched in 2021, as well as the few live events I attended. This is only my second year tracking this info in any concrete way.

Live Events:

I attended 4 live events this year (thanks, COVID-19!), two online and two in person.

·       The Firflake (a full-cast performance of my Christmas novel, aired on YouTube)

·       The Comedy of Errors (full-cast performance, on Zoom)

·       74th Annual Worldcon / DisconIII (5 days, at the Omni Shoreham hotel in Washington DC)

·       Assassins (at the Classic Stage Company theatre in New York City)

As I said in my 2020 summary: I miss live theater and live music.

Movies:

I only watched 35 movies this year (8 more than 2020!), totaling approximately 71 hours. The shortest were one hour long and the longest was three hours. Of these, 26 were movies I viewed for the first time, the rest movies I’ve seen before. I gave 12 of these a 3-star rating, 10 a four-star rating, and 13 a five-star rating.

The breakdown of what I watched where:

·       8 on DVD

·       5 in the theatre

·       1 on live television

·       21 on digital platforms

The genre breakdown was thus:

·       Science Fiction: 2 (Dune; Logan’s Run)

·       Action/Adventure: 5 (Casino Royale; Quantum of Solace; Spyfall; Spectre; A Time to Die)

·       Comic Book (Non-Super-hero): 1 (Scott Pilgrim Vs. the World)

·       Concerts: 3

o   2 Musical (Not the Messiah; John Barrowman in Concert)

o   1 Stand-Up Comedy (Bo Burnham’s what.)

·       Documentary: 1 (For the Love of Spock)

·       Horror: 3 (The Black Cat; White Zombie; Brides of Dracula)

·       Kaiju: 1 (Godzilla vs. King Kong)

·       Musicals: 9 (Tick, Tick …Boom!; Sweeney Todd (Angela Lansbury, George Hearn); Pitch Perfect; Dear Evan Hansen; Everybody’s Talking About Jamie; Come from Away; In the Heights; Allegiance; Godspell 50th Anniversary)

·       Mystery: 1 (Knives Out)

·       Romantic Comedy: 1 (Single All the Way)

·       Shakespeare: 2 (Henry IV, The Tempest (Donmar Warehouse productions))

·       Super-Hero: 4 (Black Widow, Shang-Chi and the Legend of the Ten Rings; Spider-Man Far from Home; Eternals) (wow, ALL Marvel…)

·       Thriller: 1 (The Gift)

·       Western: 1 (The Harder They Fall)

Television:

I watched approximately 411 hours of episodic television (almost double 2020’s viewing!). Taken alphabetically, the shows were:

·       Animaniacs (13 episodes)

·       DC’s Legends of Tomorrow (21)

·       Doctor Who (7)

·       Hawkeye (6)

·       Live From Lincoln Center (3)

·       Locke & Key (10)

·       Logan’s Run (14)

·       Loki (6)

·       Only Murders in the Building (10)

·       Paul Lynde’s Halloween Special (1)

·       Penn and Teller: Fool Us (1)

·       Route 66 (1) (Halloween episode with Karloff, Lorre, and Chaney)

·       Schmigadoon! (6)

·       Stargirl (13)

·       Star Trek: Discovery (20)

·       Star Trek: Lower Decks (20)

·       Star Trek: Prodigy (5)

·       Supergirl (18)

·       Superman and Lois (15)

·       Superman and Lois: Legacy of Hope (1)

·       Suspense! (1) (Bela Lugosi in “A Cask of Amontillado”)

·       Sweet Tooth (8)

·       Telephone Time (1) (“backdoor pilot” for The Veil)

·       The Kennedy Center Honors (1)

·       The Tony Awards (1)

·       The Beatles: Get Back (3)

·       The Book of Boba Fett (1)

·       The Falcon and the Winter Soldier (6)

·       The Flash (23)

·       The Goes Wrong Show (12)

·       The Muppet Show (118)

·       The Ready Room (8)

·       The Veil (11)

·       The Wheel of Time (8)

·       WandaVision (9)

·       We Are Who We Are (1)

·       What If (9)

Genre breakdown for television watched:

·       Comedy/Variety: 144 episodes / 4 shows

·       Super-Hero: 127 episodes / 11 shows

·       Science Fiction: 75 episodes / 7 shows

·       Concerts: 3 / 1 show

·       Horror: 23 episodes / 4 shows

·       Mystery: 10 episodes / 1 show

·       Magic: 1 episode / 1 show

·       Drama: 2 episodes / 2 shows

·       Musical: 1 episode / 1 show

·       Awards: 2 episodes / 2 shows

·       Documentary: 3 episodes / 1 show

·       Talk: 8 episodes / 1 show

·       Fantasy: 8 episodes / 1 show

All were live action except for 3 animated shows (Animaniacs; Star Trek: Lower Decks; Star Trek: Prodigy).

13 episodes were watched on live television (while in hotels traveling for work) and 18 episodes were on DVD; the rest were on digital platforms.

133 episodes were “rewatches” (Logan’s Run, The Muppet Show, and the Paul Lynde Halloween Special), all the rest were first viewings.

Next post will be my (very brief) summary of the writing, proofreading, and editing work I did in 2021.

Book Review: WHERE THE DROWNED GIRLS GO

TITLE: Where the Drowned Girls Go (Wayward Children Book 7)

AUTHOR: Seanan McGuire

160 pages, TorDotCom, ISBN 9781250213624 (hardcover, also in e-book and audio)

DESCRIPTION: (from the Goodreads page): Welcome to the Whitethorn Institute. The first step is always admitting you need help, and you've already taken that step by requesting a transfer into our company.

There is another school for children who fall through doors and fall back out again.
It isn't as friendly as Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children.
And it isn't as safe.

When Eleanor West decided to open her school, her sanctuary, her Home for Wayward Children, she knew from the beginning that there would be children she couldn't save; when Cora decides she needs a different direction, a different fate, a different prophecy, Miss West reluctantly agrees to transfer her to the other school, where things are run very differently by Whitehorn, the Headmaster.

She will soon discover that not all doors are welcoming...

MY RATING: 5 stars out of 5.

MY THOUGHTS: Seanan McGuire’s “Wayward Children” series has settled into a comfortable rhythm: the odd numbered books are set in the present and usually involve several students going on a quest, while the even numbered books show us someone’s portal adventure – usually a character we’re already familiar with. In Book 6, Across the Green Grass Fields, McGuire veered from expectations by giving us the portal story of a brand-new character with no ties to the “present day” volumes. She continues to break expectations in Book 7, Where the Drowned Girls Go (releasing tomorrow, January 4, 2022), by having a student we’ve come to love decide that Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children is no longer a place she wishes to be and requesting transfer to the other boarding school we’ve heard mention of. Cora’s had enough of quests, enough of trauma, enough of other beings trying to gain control over her life. It’s not a spoiler to say that despite Eleanor’s most persuasive arguments, the transfer goes through; the book isn’t focused on whether Cora will leave but rather what happens when she does.

I don’t think it’s out of line to call this Seanan’s “gothic romance without the romance” installment of the series, as opposed to the gothic horror of Down Among the Sticks and Bones and Come Tumbling Down. I love the Moors. I want an entire series set in the Moors. I don’t honestly think we’ve seen the last of the Moors. But this is not that kind of gothic story. No vampires, no revenants, no deep-dwelling elder gods (the last of which is exactly what Cora is trying to escape being controlled by). What this story has is a mansion walled off from all surrounding civilization, with dark drafty halls and stern unsmiling adult caretakers and rooms students aren’t allowed to visit and a headmaster with a secret; it has a scared and unhappy girl who thinks she has nowhere else to turn falling under the sway of someone who turns out to be at least as controlling as what she’s running away from and who must find her way out before things go from bad to worse. (And this is a Seanan McGuire book, so you know things are going to get worse before they get better.) I loved all the gothic tropes McGuire incorporates and occasionally upends. The Whitehorn Institute has an embedded, palpable sense of menace. I don’t know that I would describe Eleanor West’s Home as particularly joyous (the students are mostly happy, yes, many seem as content as kids waiting for a portal to reopen to the place the truly feel at home can be, but joyous? No.), but it looks like a constant carnival compared to the Whitehorn Institute. So dour and grey a place must haunt us going forward, and I have no doubt that we haven’t seen the last of the place or of its staff, remaining students, and headmaster.

The wonderful thing about the “Wayward Children” series is that the installments really can be read in any order. Each installment includes whatever information a reader might need to “catch up” on previous volumes without having everything about those previous volumes spoiled. In Drowned Girls, we are reminded of (or introduced to) the bits of Come Tumbling Down and Beneath the Sugar Sky that are pertinent to Cora’s present journey, and they are enough to refresh ongoing readers’ memories and hopefully intrigue new readers.

And this is Cora’s journey we’re on. Mood and classic tropes can only take us so far if we don’t care about the character we’re following into the place. And we do care about Cora. Even if you haven’t read any of the previous books she’s appeared in, you’ll care about her within the first few pages. You’ll recognize her fear that the home she loves is out of her reach, that she’s stuck in a world that doesn’t understand her, that she’s drawn the attention of otherworldly beings who might, through her, find a way to lay waste to the home she loves. (Okay, yeah, most of us don’t encounter that last one – but many of us do encounter thoughts in our own heads that feel otherworldly and controlling and that we’d do anything to escape from. Has McGuire given us ocean-dwelling elder gods as a metaphor for mental illness? I think maybe she has.) You will recognize her need to do something, anything, to change her situation because her situation has become unhealthy and untenable. And you will recognize all the doubts that come along with the thing she does, and the steps she takes to make things as right as she can.

Cora is not the only familiar character appearing in Where the Drowned Girls Go. But telling you who else shows up and what roles they end up playing is a level of spoiler to which I will not descend. Because of when I’m posting this, it’s likely the book is already available in e-format wherever you are, with the print edition easily orderable. So get to it. You won’t be disappointed if you like gothic tales, boarding school tales, tales with magic and danger and in which portals are not the only way to find adventure.

NOTE: I did receive an e-ARC of this title from the publisher via NetGalley.

Book Review: IN THE WATCHFUL CITY

TITLE: In the Watchful City

AUTHOR: S. Qiouyi Lu

192 pages, Tor.Com, ISBN 9781250792983 (paperback, also available in audio and e-book)

DESCRIPTION: (from Goodreads): The city of Ora is watching. Anima is an extrasensory human tasked with surveilling and protecting Ora’s citizens via a complex living network called the Gleaming. Although ær world is restricted to what æ can see and experience through the Gleaming, Anima takes pride and comfort in keeping Ora safe from harm. When a mysterious outsider enters the city carrying a cabinet of curiosities from around with the world with a story attached to each item, Anima’s world expands beyond the borders of Ora to places―and possibilities―æ never before imagined to exist. But such knowledge leaves Anima with a question that throws into doubt ær entire purpose: What good is a city if it can’t protect its people?

MY RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

MY THOUGHTS: Stories have the power to change lives. Cliché, but very true … if the reader’s/listener’s mind is open to new ideas and to changing. Anima, the main character of In the Watchful City, starts out resistant to change and accepting of the party line. In fact, the first scene of the book shows us Anima using ær ability to inhabit and control animals in an attempt to capture someone trying to escape the city of Ora. It’s a tense, action-packed, vertiginous scene that sets Anima’s character up clearly, letting the reader see where æ is mentally and emotionally through the physical action. Why the runner is running is a mystery to Anima and to the reader until the very last moments of the scene, in which Anima must confront ær prejudices about citizens of Ora and citizens of neighboring Skyland.

Anima’s life is thrown into disarray with the arrival in Ora of Vessel, the mysterious outsider with stories to share. Those stories come at a price – Anima will have to give something of ærself in return – but as with the best storyteller/listener exchanges, Anima gets to decide what that something is and when it will be given. Anima even gets to decide which stories æ wants to hear of the plethora Vessel seems to have available. Each story has an incremental effect on how Anima views Ora, its history, and its rules, as well as what Anima wants ær life to be like going forward.

The sharing of stories affects Vessel as well, who has ser own history and challenges revealed through the visits with Anima. Where Anima is resistant to change, Vessel is actively looking to change ser circumstances and future. The stories affect the taller as much as the listener.

(A note here about pronouns: yes, both Anima and Vessel are non-binary humans who use different sets of pronouns. Some of the characters in the stories Vessel shares are non-binary, some are cisgender, some are transgender. In addition to a full spectrum of gender identities, the characters in the stories express a wide range of sexual identities as well.)

In the Watchful City is a wonderful hybrid of “stories within the story” and “mosaic novel” modes of writing. The stories Vessel shares are not directly connected to Anima or Vessel’s individual lives (although they clearly have an affect on the future course of those lives), but they are connected to each other (in sometimes obvious and sometimes subtle ways), building for the reader a sense of the shared history of Ora and the Skylands. Each of the stories also stands perfectly well on their own, without the connective tissue of the main action of the novel. Any one of them could appear in a magazine or an anthology and be a fantastic read. It takes, I think, a certain mastery of the form to make that work as effectively as it does here.

I should mention some content warnings: there is on-the-page suicide of a character, and several instances of physical or emotional abuse including the tradition of foot-binding. Foot-binding is just one of many aspects of Asian history, and in particular Chinese and Taiwanese history, that the book builds off to create the world in which it takes place.

In the Watchful City is a book whose core questions of identity and expectations, complacency and change, linger with the reader long after the final page. I cannot wait to see where S. Qiouyi Lu takes us next.

I received an electronic Advance Reading Copy from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. The book released last month.

Book Review: VELVET WAS THE NIGHT

TITLE: Velvet Was the Night

AUTHOR: Silvia Moreno-Garcia

304 pages, Del Ray, ISBN 9780593356821 (hardcover, e-book, audiobook)

DESCRIPTION: (from the back cover): 1970s, Mexico City. Maite is a secretary who lives for one thing: the latest issue of Secret Romance. While student protests and political unrest consume the city, Maite escapes into stories of passion and danger.

Her next-door neighbor, Leonora, a beautiful art student, seems to live a life of intrigue and romance that Maite envies. When Leonora disappears under suspicious circumstances, Maite finds herself searching for the missing woman—and journeying deeper into Leonora’s secret life of student radicals and dissidents.

Meanwhile, someone else is also looking for Leonora at the behest of his boss, a shadowy figure who commands goon squads dedicated to squashing political activists. Elvis is an eccentric criminal who longs to escape his own life: He loathes violence and loves old movies and rock ’n’ roll. But as Elvis searches for the missing woman, he comes to observe Maite from a distance—and grows more and more obsessed with this woman who shares his love of music and the unspoken loneliness of his heart.

Now as Maite and Elvis come closer to discovering the truth behind Leonora’s disappearance, they can no longer escape the danger that threatens to consume their lives, with hitmen, government agents, and Russian spies all aiming to protect Leonora’s secrets—at gunpoint.

MY RATING: 5 stars out of 5

MY THOUGHTS: It’s been a while since I’ve read something that was straight noir (as opposed to crime thrillers or urban fantasy with noir-ish flavor), and I’m glad that I chose this book as my return to the genre. I’m well familiar with Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s fantasy and horror work and had no doubt I was in good hands but Velvet Was the Night surpassed all my expectations. Damaged people trying their best to survive? Check. Character turns and plot twists? Check. A setting that is as much a character as the humans who inhabit it? Check. A satisfying but not necessarily “happy” ending? Check.

Most of the noir I’ve read has been told from a single character point of view, usually in first-person narration. Moreno-Garcia spends equal amounts of time in the heads of both of her protagonists, El Elvis and Maite, widening the lens of the story and allowing the reader to see some of the events from both perspectives. The characters are not always with or even near each other (despite Elvis’ mandate to surveil Maite to find out what she knows about the missing Leonora), so we don’t get every single event through the eyes of both characters (thankfully, because I think that would get tedious). But when the characters meet or even just see each other from afar, we get to see what each of them thinks about the situation. Elvis is more aware of Maite than she is of him, and Moreno-Garcia puts to effective use the adage about every witness to an event remembering it differently.

The book is populated with a half-dozen or so interesting supporting characters: the mysterious Leonora; her two ex-boyfriends (one a rich antique dealer, the other a struggling student); Elvis’ fellow gang-members and mysterious boss; a revolutionary priest and a Russian spy. Mexico City is a character as well, almost purposefully throwing hot sticky weather and traffic and protests in the characters’ way. They all add color and drama and increasing stakes. But it is Maite and Elvis who draw the reader in, almost mirrors of each other. Both have been hurt by the betrayal of former lovers, both come from impoverished backgrounds, both have mothers (one present, one long absent) who don’t support/believe in them. Both love American music (flying in the face of the political movement of the time) but can’t afford to buy much of it, and both love language (they own the same edition of the same dictionary, even). They both spend a good portion of their day fantasizing about what could be (alternating between longing for their lost loves and obsessing over someone they can’t have) fueled by romance comics (for Maite) and the lyrics of American pop songs (for Elvis). They each equally have romantic standards that are likely unrealistic, which cause them to constantly be disappointed. And that constant disappointment further fuels their social awkwardness and need to fantasize, which further pushes them into the increasingly dangerous set of crosses and double-crosses that keep the novel moving. The best noir builds action out of character flaws, and this is the very best noir.

I have to admit I know almost nothing of Mexico’s history, and especially little about the 1970s. Moreno-Garcia gave me everything I needed to know to understand the political underpinnings of the story – and also enough to make me want to learn more about the country’s history of upheavals and outside influence. I love it when a work of fiction makes me excited to read non-fiction.

If you’re a fan of noir, of damaged people struggling to make the best of bad situations, of gunplay and double-crosses – move Velvet Was the Night to the top of your purchase/read list. You will not be disappointed.

NOTE: I read an Advance Reading Copy provided by the publisher via NetGalley. But this review has been so delayed that the book is now available in print, audio, and e-book.

Sunday Shorts: Three from Uncanny #41

I love short fiction, and Sunday Shorts is the feature where I get to blog about it. Posts will range from flash to novellas. At some point, I might delve into individual stories/episodes of anthology formats in other media, like television and comics, but for the time being, I’m sticking to prose in print and audio.

Today I’m taking a look at three stories from the chock-full-of-greatness Uncanny Magazine #41, their July/August 2021 issue, edited as always by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas. Seriously, there’s a ton of great stuff in this (and every) issue of Uncanny. Go back their current Kickstarter to fund year 8 of the magazine.

“From the Archives of the Museum of Eerie Skins: An Account” by C.S.E. Cooney

Sometimes when reading a story narrated in first person, I find myself wondering to whom the narrator is speaking. C.S.E. Cooney neatly addresses the issue by positing this whole story as a transcript of an interview with Firi Kanaphar, former wolfcaster in the city of Doornwald, as she relates how the loss of her wolfskin resulted in a societal shift in the relationship between wolfcasters (and other shifters) and witches. This is a wonderful slow-burn story, told conversationally, that builds to a horrific climax where revenge is achieved but the narrator’s life has already been irrevocably changed. The loss of Firi’s wolf-skin is a potent metaphor for rape or dismemberment, and the treatment of wolfcasters by witches is an equally obvious metaphor for racial prejudice. The story also addresses power dynamics – the abuser’s ability to continue to harm the abused even from a distance – and the ability of art to foment social justice and social change when the structures that are supposed to do so fail. It’s a powerful story that I am sure will reveal more layers and inspire deeper thinking each time I re-read it. (Side note: fans of Cooney’s “The Witch in the Almond Tree” and “The Bone-Swans of Amandale” will notice some familiar names in cameo appearances as well as place names.)

“The Wishing Pool” by Tananarive Due

“The Wishing Pool” is about the power and costs of wishes, in the finest fairy tale tradition. Joy ventures out to her family’s remote cabin to check on her ailing father, who is not doing well since his wife’s passing. The sights and sounds remind Joy of a brief childhood friendship centered around a “wishing pool” located between their cabins, and how their few wishes came true but went wrong (as is expected in this kind of story). Joy is desperate for her father to be happy and healthy again – but is she desperate enough to risk wishing on the pool and savvy enough to craft the wish in such a way to avoid it going wrong? Due imbues the story with all of the modern frustrations of dealing with an ailing parent who will not seek out the medical attention they so clearly need: carving out time from regular life and work to travel a great distance to check in on them, the realization that their health has deteriorated far more than suspected (in this case, lung disease and cognitive/memory decline), shouldering the decision-making burden when other siblings fail to step up. All of this adds great depth to Joy as a character and to the memories that bring her to her ultimate decision. I also appreciated Due including what ‘Nathan Burgoine sometimes refers to “that slight nod to reality that makes some people uncomfortable.” In this case, it’s a mention of how the family came to have this remote cabin: built by her grandfather to “hide from lynch mobs roused by their envy that a negro businessman could afford a shiny new Ford Model T.” It’s a throw-away line, but a reminder of history and a moment that ties this story with fantastical elements to our reality.

“Immortal Coil” by Ellen Kushner

Students of drama have been as fascinated by what we don’t know about the life of William Shakespeare as what we do know of his work, and it’s always fun reading genre stories that investigate that life. I personally also tend to be a little obsessed with genre stories about writers that explore their relationship with craft, process, and legacy (see, for instance, my “Top Ten-ish Stephen King Books”). Ellen Kushner brings both of those interests together in “Immortal Coil,” which gives us a mid-career(ish) William Shakespeare seeing what seems to be the ghost of his deceased friend and fellow playwright Christopher Marlowe. The figure leads Will on a merry chase across town using book titles as clues to where to go next, and when they finally are face-to-face, the truth of the situation is laid out and Will is made an offer. Kushner beautifully addresses the question every creative person asks themselves eventually: is it preferable to walk away/retire/die at the height of your career or to stay in the game/live a longer life and watch your skills, and reputation, deteriorate? I won’t spoil Will’s choice, nor the delightful coda Kushner gives the story. But I will say that I wonder if, given the opportunity, I would make the same choice.

Reading Round-Up: June 2021

Not quite as belatedly, the monthly summary of what I read and listened to in June 2021!

BOOKS

I read 8 books in June: 3 in print, 5 in e-book format, and 0 in audio format. They were:

1.       Lightspeed Magazine #133 (June 2021 issue), edited by John Joseph Adams. The usual fine assortment of sf and fantasy short stories. This month’s favorites for me were Sam J. Miller’s “The Nation of the Sick,” Nalo Hopkinson’s “Inselberg,” Adam R. Shannon’s “When You Die on the Radio,” and Theodora Goss’s “How to Become a Witch Queen.”

2.       Lumberjanes Vol 18: Horticultural Horizons by Shannon Watters, Kat Leyh, Kanesha C. Bryant, Julia Madrigal, others. Collects issues 69-72 of the monthly comic run, in which the ‘Janes follow camp director Rosie into the woods and discover a creeping killer vine and Rosie’s former best friend Abigail. A really solid storyline this time out spotlights each of the ‘Janes and gives us more background/movement with Rosie and Abigail.

3.       All We Ever Wanted by Seth King. Near the end of his life, a grandfather writes down the story of his lost true love, another man. King charts their hidden love affair across the decades, starting with their first meeting in the 1950s. It’s full of love, but also heart-breaking and angering.

4.       The Girl from the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag. A new original graphic novel from the creator of the “Witch Boy” series that I love so much. This one takes place on a coastal Island community and focuses on a teen girl who is hiding her sexuality until she can leave – but the selkie she meets might alter those plans. Heartfelt and lovely.

5.       May the Best Man Win by ZR Ellor. A transgender boy who is already class president and a head cheerleader decides to compete with his ex-boyfriend for the Homecoming King crown. Their battle threatens to hurt each other and people they love. I got so invested in this I was yelling at the characters for being so single-minded and selfish.

6.       Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller. In a post-climate change future, various denizens of the titular city find their lives intertwining when a mysterious woman on a mission comes to town. A great ensemble story with lots of characters to root for, and rich assholes to root against.

7.       A Writer Prepares by Lawrence Block. Block’s memoir of his early days working for a literary agency in New York, writing crime fiction and erotica for paperback publishers and paying his dues to build a career.

8.       Fair Youth by M. Dalto and Laynie Bynum. A modern-day, gender-flipped take on the oft-speculated relationship between Elizabethan playwrights William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, only here they’re budding scriptwriters in Hollywood.

STORIES

I have a goal of reading 365 short stories (1 per day, essentially, although it doesn’t always work out that way) this year. Here’s what I read this month and where you can find them if you’re interested in reading them too. If no source is noted, the story is from the same magazine or book as the story(ies) that precede(s) it.

1.       “The Nation of the Sick” by Sam J. Miller, from Lightspeed Magazine #133 (June 2021 issue), edited by John Joseph Adams

2.       “Different People” by Timothy Mudie

3.       “Inselberg” by Nalo Hopkinson

4.       “Do Nothing” by Indria Isa Richardson

5.       “A Tableau of Things That Are” by Adam-Troy Castro

6.       “Wolf Tones” by Sofia Samatar

7.       “When You Die on the Radio” by Adam R. Shannon

8.       “How to Become a Witch Queen” by Theodora Goss

9.       “Dos Coyotes” by Catherine J. Cole, from Fantasy Magazine #68 (June 2021), edited by Christie Yant and Arley Sorg

10.   “Your Ticket to Hell” by Rajan Khanna

11.   “The Port of Le Havre, Night Effect, 1873” by Christine Tyler

12.   “A Gift from the Queen of Fairie to the King of Hell” by Cara Masten DiGirolamo

13.    “To Build a Better” by Seanan McGuire, on the author’s Patreon page.

So that’s 13 short stories in June, possible the fewest I’ve ever read in a calendar month since I started tracking my short story reading. Fewer than “1 per day” and I’m behind again for the year. (June 30th was the 181st day of 2021.)

Summary of Reading Challenges:

“To Be Read” Challenge: This month: 0 read; YTD: 6 of 24 main titles read. (0 of 4 alternate titles read)

365 Short Stories Challenge: This month: 13 read; YTD: 176 of 365 read.

Graphic Novels Challenge:  This month: 2 read; YTD: 15 of 52 read.

Goodreads Challenge: This month: 8 read; YTD: 67 of 125 read.

Non-Fiction Challenge: This month: 1 read; YTD: 9 of 24 read.

Read the Book / Watch the Movie Challenge: This month: 0; YTD: 0 read/watched.

Complete the Series Challenge: This month: 0 book read; YTD: 0 of 14 read.

                                                          Series fully completed: 0 of 4 planned

Monthly Special Challenge:   June’s mini-challenge was to read some works by LGBTQIA+ authors for Pride Month. I did well, as the majority of the books read were by queer-identifying creators (apart from the Block memoir), and several of the short stories were as well.

I decided not to set a mini challenge for July and to use the month to catch up on some of the on-going challenges. We’ll see how that goes…