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Nine Last Days on Planet Earth
When the seeds rained down from deep space, it may have been the first stage of an alien invasion--or something else entirely. How much time do we have left, and do we even understand what timescale to use? As a slow apocalypse blooms across the Earth, planets and plants, animals and microbes, all live and die and evolve at different scales. Is one human life long enough to unravel the mystery?
Nine Last Days on Planet Earth is a Tor.com Original from the award-winning science fiction author Daryl Gregory.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
Nine Last Days on Planet Earth is a Tor.com Original from the award-winning science fiction author Daryl Gregory.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
42 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 19, 2018
25 people are currently reading
995 people want to read
About the author
Daryl Gregory
151 books1,459 followersAward-winning author of Revelator, The Album of Dr. Moreau, Spoonbenders, We Are All Completely Fine, and others. Some of his short fiction has been collected in Unpossible and Other Stories.
He's won the World Fantasy Award, as well as the Shirley Jackson, Crawford, Asimov Readers, and Geffen awards, and his work has been short-listed for many other awards, including the Hugo, Nebula, and Sturgeon awards . His books have been translated in over a dozen languages, and have been named to best-of-the-year lists from NPR Books, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and Library Journal.
He is also the writer of Flatline an interactive fiction game from 3 Minute Games, and comics such as Planet of the Apes.
He's a frequent teacher of writing and is a regular instructor at the Viable Paradise Writing Workshop.
He's won the World Fantasy Award, as well as the Shirley Jackson, Crawford, Asimov Readers, and Geffen awards, and his work has been short-listed for many other awards, including the Hugo, Nebula, and Sturgeon awards . His books have been translated in over a dozen languages, and have been named to best-of-the-year lists from NPR Books, Publishers Weekly, Kirkus, and Library Journal.
He is also the writer of Flatline an interactive fiction game from 3 Minute Games, and comics such as Planet of the Apes.
He's a frequent teacher of writing and is a regular instructor at the Viable Paradise Writing Workshop.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 161 reviews
October 21, 2020
Short story: Nine Last Days on Planet Earth by Daryl Gregory, cover art by Keith Negley
Nine Last Days on Planet Earth gave me a lot to think about as we start the story in a day in the life of ten year old LT. Earth is experiencing a massive meteor storm, the earth being bombarded with countless hard shelled objects that crack on impact, releasing seeds, plant seeds. Over eight more days in the long life of LT, we see how this meteor storm changes everything on the planet and how the planet changes to deal with the introduction of new life forms. The story makes clear how short our time is on this earth, how these changes will keep happening and have always happened, before we were here and long after we are gone. And what I also got from this story were the changes in LT, from an innocent, curious ten year old, to a very angry, but still curious man, to a man close to his personal end, at peace, knowing he's fostered that curiosity in what is happening, to those who have come after him. LT, humans, may not be here for the end of the story, we aren't even a very big part of the story.
I love the cover art for this story!
https://www.tor.com/2018/09/19/nine-l...
Published September 19th 2018
Nine Last Days on Planet Earth gave me a lot to think about as we start the story in a day in the life of ten year old LT. Earth is experiencing a massive meteor storm, the earth being bombarded with countless hard shelled objects that crack on impact, releasing seeds, plant seeds. Over eight more days in the long life of LT, we see how this meteor storm changes everything on the planet and how the planet changes to deal with the introduction of new life forms. The story makes clear how short our time is on this earth, how these changes will keep happening and have always happened, before we were here and long after we are gone. And what I also got from this story were the changes in LT, from an innocent, curious ten year old, to a very angry, but still curious man, to a man close to his personal end, at peace, knowing he's fostered that curiosity in what is happening, to those who have come after him. LT, humans, may not be here for the end of the story, we aren't even a very big part of the story.
I love the cover art for this story!
https://www.tor.com/2018/09/19/nine-l...
Published September 19th 2018
October 17, 2020
It takes real talent to build up sufficient tension, expectation, and genuine interest, in a relatively short story, but that’s exactly what science fiction author Daryl Gregory has managed to do in Nine Last Days On Planet Earth.
When a massive meteor storm sends seeds plummeting to all corners of the earth, it causes fear in some, and awe in others. Out of fear, humankind try their best to destroy these invaders but it’s an impossible task, with some of them growing unseen, beneath the surface of the oceans. As the seeds start to take root and spread, the whole world wonders if this is the beginning of an alien invasion, or is it aliens ensuring a food supply for their arrival at some point in the future? Only time will tell.
The story begins in 1975 with the meteor storm, and concentrates on 10 year old LT, who watches this strange event with his momma, and it then follows his life and loves for many years to come. It doing so, it also demonstrates how the alien seeds affected both planet earth, and LT and his family.
Here we have a storyline that is very much science based, whilst at the same time charting the personal life of LT, and it’s a blend that is both interesting and intelligent, and I’m super impressed with the many issues and social messages that the author has managed to convey in this novelette. In addition, it was so beautifully written that my awe is well and truly struck!
Another freebie, here’s the link https://www.tor.com/2018/09/19/nine-l...
When a massive meteor storm sends seeds plummeting to all corners of the earth, it causes fear in some, and awe in others. Out of fear, humankind try their best to destroy these invaders but it’s an impossible task, with some of them growing unseen, beneath the surface of the oceans. As the seeds start to take root and spread, the whole world wonders if this is the beginning of an alien invasion, or is it aliens ensuring a food supply for their arrival at some point in the future? Only time will tell.
The story begins in 1975 with the meteor storm, and concentrates on 10 year old LT, who watches this strange event with his momma, and it then follows his life and loves for many years to come. It doing so, it also demonstrates how the alien seeds affected both planet earth, and LT and his family.
Here we have a storyline that is very much science based, whilst at the same time charting the personal life of LT, and it’s a blend that is both interesting and intelligent, and I’m super impressed with the many issues and social messages that the author has managed to convey in this novelette. In addition, it was so beautifully written that my awe is well and truly struck!
Another freebie, here’s the link https://www.tor.com/2018/09/19/nine-l...
October 16, 2020
⭐5 𝙎𝙪𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙣𝙡𝙮 𝙎𝙚𝙮𝙢𝙤𝙪𝙧 𝙎𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙨! ⭐
This HUGO Award nominee is one of the most amazing short stories I've ever read.
It's only 42 pages but there is 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 about it to inspect, absorb and marvel at.
𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘓𝘛 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳. 𝘚𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴.
Told in 9 chapters where each one is a 'for the last time' event in LT's life, the mystery of the alien plants begins to be revealed.
Available for free at Tor.com
https://www.tor.com/2018/09/10/nine-l...
Thank you Paul for pointing me towards this beautiful story 💐
This HUGO Award nominee is one of the most amazing short stories I've ever read.
It's only 42 pages but there is 𝘴𝘰 𝘮𝘶𝘤𝘩 about it to inspect, absorb and marvel at.
𝘞𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘓𝘛 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘯 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘰𝘭𝘥, 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘥𝘴 𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘭𝘥 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳. 𝘚𝘰𝘰𝘯 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘱𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘴.
Told in 9 chapters where each one is a 'for the last time' event in LT's life, the mystery of the alien plants begins to be revealed.
Available for free at Tor.com
https://www.tor.com/2018/09/10/nine-l...
Thank you Paul for pointing me towards this beautiful story 💐
May 24, 2020
Words were not required. Sometimes the only way you could tell someone you loved them was to show them something beautiful. Sometimes, he thought, you have to send it from very far away.
well, damn.
there's a lot here. and if i'm going to stick to my SHORT REVIEW FOR A SHORT STORY vow; the one that's meant to protect me from overthinking a handful of pages of writing - or at any rate, over-reviewing them - spending more time writing the review than it took me to read the story, well, i'm not even going to be able to scratch the surface of this one.
how he managed to do so much in so little space is beyond me.
the title, which tells you what to expect from the story, structure-wise, is perfect, bittersweet, and also a little sneaky. each of the segments marks the "last" of something in a character's life, but it's not always clear what that "something" is. for example, the 1978 section's "last" was unclear to me until it was revealed in 2007, four chapters later: LT thought about that day they ran from the thistles. Funny how you don’t know the last day you’ll see someone. and THAT'S the kind of smooth subtle writerly shit i love and is especially pleasing to come across in a short story.
to be honest, the science stuff - invasive species biological evolutionary global warming alien spores pollination etc - for me, that was all wallpaper. but the arc of lt's life, his family, the changes and dynamics and developments and the ratio of stated/implied, how much was conveyed in such a relatively short page count. just, damn.
if i keep going, i'm going to break my vow, but do go give this one a read. it's a short story bursting at the seams with compressed, barely contained layers. it seethes.
read it for yourself here:
https://www.tor.com/2018/09/19/nine-l...
come to my blog!
November 12, 2018
A very good SF novelette, free here on Tor.com. Review first posted on Fantasy Literature:
In 1975, when LT is ten years old, alien plant seeds in silver-and-black metal casings begin raining down on Earth like tiny meteorites, covering our planet’s lands and oceans. Humans attempt to gather up and destroy the “space seeds,” but it’s a hopeless task, and soon various types of odd plant infestations begin to take root and spread.
Against this backdrop of fear and concern, Daryl Gregory follows LT through the years, on nine significant days spread over his lifetime spent studying the invasive alien plants. Each of these days is significant as a “last” day of something important in LT’s life, but these particular days are meaningful for other reasons as well, as LT deals with parental conflicts, realizes that he is gay, and develops meaningful relationships in his life. As a teenager, LT points out to his mother’s new husband that many of the alien plants evidence the “golden spiral” or Fibonacci sequence. It’s a nice touch that the nine days in LT’s life follow this same numerical sequence.
LT and others eventually come to some surprising realizations about the alien seeds. “Nine Last Days on Planet Earth” is an intelligent, heartwarming story.
In 1975, when LT is ten years old, alien plant seeds in silver-and-black metal casings begin raining down on Earth like tiny meteorites, covering our planet’s lands and oceans. Humans attempt to gather up and destroy the “space seeds,” but it’s a hopeless task, and soon various types of odd plant infestations begin to take root and spread.
… the weblike filaments choking the trees in New Orleans, the flame-colored poppies erupting on Mexico City rooftops, the green fins popping up in Florida beach sand like sharks coming ashore. Every shell that struck Earth, and some that hit the surface of the water, cracked and sent millions of seeds into the air or into the oceans.Are aliens planning to invade, and sending these plants as a first attack on humans, or setting up their food supplies on Earth in advance of the invasion?
Against this backdrop of fear and concern, Daryl Gregory follows LT through the years, on nine significant days spread over his lifetime spent studying the invasive alien plants. Each of these days is significant as a “last” day of something important in LT’s life, but these particular days are meaningful for other reasons as well, as LT deals with parental conflicts, realizes that he is gay, and develops meaningful relationships in his life. As a teenager, LT points out to his mother’s new husband that many of the alien plants evidence the “golden spiral” or Fibonacci sequence. It’s a nice touch that the nine days in LT’s life follow this same numerical sequence.
LT and others eventually come to some surprising realizations about the alien seeds. “Nine Last Days on Planet Earth” is an intelligent, heartwarming story.
May 1, 2019
Hugo nom '19
I was very impressed with this one. Especially since it read like a narrative taken out of Brilliant Green: The Surprising History and Science of Plant Intelligence. At first it kinda felt like a PKD right out of The World Jones Made, but I'm very glad it went off on its own track and theme.
Alien invasion done right! With SCIENCE. :) Between When We Were Starless and this one, I have a hard time deciding which I love most out of this year's crop of Hugo shorts. :)
I was very impressed with this one. Especially since it read like a narrative taken out of Brilliant Green: The Surprising History and Science of Plant Intelligence. At first it kinda felt like a PKD right out of The World Jones Made, but I'm very glad it went off on its own track and theme.
Alien invasion done right! With SCIENCE. :) Between When We Were Starless and this one, I have a hard time deciding which I love most out of this year's crop of Hugo shorts. :)
December 5, 2018
“It’s all happening so incrementally,” he told her, “it’s hard to see.”
Wow! A Tor short just made me cry. I'm either sleep deprived, or super hormonal, or this was just a fantastic tale of life, and change, and how it all goes too damned fast.
He wanted to do it all over again. He wanted Doran’s shoulder next to him, and tiny Christina in his arms. He wanted Carlos on his shoulders at the National Zoo. All of it, all of it again.
You can read it here: https://www.tor.com/2018/09/19/nine-l...
Wow! A Tor short just made me cry. I'm either sleep deprived, or super hormonal, or this was just a fantastic tale of life, and change, and how it all goes too damned fast.
He wanted to do it all over again. He wanted Doran’s shoulder next to him, and tiny Christina in his arms. He wanted Carlos on his shoulders at the National Zoo. All of it, all of it again.
You can read it here: https://www.tor.com/2018/09/19/nine-l...
May 1, 2019
Words were not required. Sometimes the only way you could tell someone you loved them was to show them something beautiful.
One day, meteorites shower the Earth for what is considered an unusually long time. As can be seen by people's findings, they were small black-and-silver shells containing whoknowswhat seeds. Soon after, governments start confiscating any and all alien seeds they can get their hands on and possession of one becomes illegal. Nonetheless, the seeds spread - some because they simply weren't found (being so numerous and often having hit remote areas) and some because they are kept by humans and spore. These start growing and becoming plants.
LT is a young boy when the meteorite shower happens. We follow him until he is 97 years old and thus see the seeds grow into vines and flowers, how humans try to make sense of the alien vegetation making a home on our planet and the consequences this has for the indiginous species as well as for us humans.
Along with those agricultural, social and political developments we also follow LTs personal life from boy to teenager to college student to young man to father to grandfather and great-grandfather.
The story is that of our planet, of global warming, of evolution and subsequent change.
It is also about human relationships. From failed marriages to bad relationships to the joy of having and raising children to your partner dying before you.
But life goes on. Time doesn't stand still for anyone. There is a constant flow and time is often relative, as Einstein so aptly put it. Mammals experience time differently from other animals or even plants and yet we all make our connections, strengthen them, let them wither and form new ones, plant new seeds and let those grow as well.
A beautiful and subtle story full of great imagery that doesn't take long to show an entire human life with all its hardships and riches. The writing style, while being simple, entangled me by capturing the tone of the tale, thus rounding off the reading experience.
Maybe not my favourite of the nommed stories but it definitely deserves to be nominated for a HUGO.
Read it for free here: https://www.tor.com/2018/09/19/nine-l...
May 20, 2020
Another one that has been added and deleted and re-added.
My thoughts? Who the eff knows. But you can find them at my blog.
The Hugo-nominated novelette:
https://www.tor.com/2018/07/11/the-la...
My blog:
https://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2020/...
My thoughts? Who the eff knows. But you can find them at my blog.
The Hugo-nominated novelette:
https://www.tor.com/2018/07/11/the-la...
My blog:
https://clsiewert.wordpress.com/2020/...
May 18, 2020
Strange one, that.
I finished this today, while I was sitting in a nice restaurant, with a clear view at the river, and a lot of green and some pretty cool old buildings surrounding me. And my first thoughts were, well, that was quite nice, 3 stars probably, but somehow I think I should have liked this a lot more.
And there is a lot to like.
The very subtle approach to the alien invasion theme was kinda cool. Science and all. I mean, they are sending plants. Ha! Well, seeds, actually. But whatever.
A story that uses global warming and evolution as its backdrop (or is that backbone? Depends on the reader, I guess). But not in a preachy way. Nice.
I was very impressed by how the author managed to cover a whole life within such a short page count. The main character is 10 when the meteorites hit. We follow him until he's 97. And somehow it feels like we are witnessing all the important changes of direction that his life took.
There are also a couple of clever little things to discover here, in terms of how the author structured his story. I liked that.
Okay, so I've read some parts again in the evening. And suddenly I got a little emotional as I saw LT's whole life pass before my eyes.
Man, environment matters. This one wasn't meant to be read on a relaxed and sunny day. At least not by this reader.
4 stars
Hugo 2019 nominee for Best Novelette.
____________________________
Best Novel
• The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
• Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers
• Revenant Gun by Yoon Ha Lee
• Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente
• Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
• Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse
Best Novella
• Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
• Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire
• Binti: The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor
• The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark
• Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach by Kelly Robson
• The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard
Best Novelette
• If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again by Zen Cho (Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog)
• The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections by Tina Connolly (Tor.com)
• Nine Last Days on Planet Earth by Daryl Gregory (Tor.com)
• The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander (Tor.com)
• The Thing About Ghost Stories by Naomi Kritzer (Uncanny Magazine)
• When We Were Starless by Simone Heller (Clarkesworld Magazine)
Best Short Story
• The Court Magician by Sarah Pinsker (Lightspeed Magazine)
• The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society by T. Kingfisher (Uncanny Magazine)
• The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington by P. Djèlí Clark (Fireside Magazine)
• STET by Sarah Gailey (Fireside Magazine)
• The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat by Brooke Bolander (Uncanny Magazine)
• A Witch’s Guide To Escape: A Practical Compendium Of Portal Fantasies by Alix E. Harrow (Apex Magazine)
Best Series
• The Centenal Cycle by Malka Older
• The Laundry Files by Charles Stross
• Machineries of Empire by Yoon Ha Lee
• The October Daye Series by Seanan McGuire
• The Universe of Xuya by Aliette de Bodard
• Wayfarers by Becky Chambers
Best Related Work
• Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
• Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction by Alec Nevala-Lee
• The Hobbit Duology (a documentary in three parts), written and edited by Lindsay Ellis and Angelina Meehan
• An Informal History of the Hugos: A Personal Look Back at the Hugo Awards 1953-2000 by Jo Walton
• The Mexicanx Initiative Experience at Worldcon 76 by Julia Rios, Libia Brenda, Pablo Defendini, and John Picacio
• Ursula K. Le Guin: Conversations on Writing by Ursula K. Le Guin with David Naimon
Best Graphic Story
• Abbott, written by Saladin Ahmed, art by Sami Kivelä, colors by Jason Wordie, letters by Jim Campbell
• Black Panther: Long Live the King, written by Nnedi Okorafor and Aaron Covington, art by André Lima Araújo, Mario Del Pennino, and Tana Ford
• Monstress, Volume 3: Haven, written by Marjorie Liu, art by Sana Takeda
• On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden
• Paper Girls, Volume 4 , written by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Cliff Chiang, colors by Matt Wilson, letters by Jared K. Fletcher
• Saga, Volume 9, written by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Fiona Staples
Best Art Book
• The Book of Earthsea: The Complete Illustrated Edition illustrated by Charles Vess, written by Ursula K. Le Guin
• Daydreamer’s Journey: The Art of Julie Dillon by Julie Dillon
• Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana: A Visual History by Michael Witwer, Kyle Newman, Jon Peterson, and Sam Witwer
• Spectrum 25: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, editor John Fleskes
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – The Art of the Movie by Ramin Zahed
• Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth, editor Catherine McIlwaine
Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book
• Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (Henry Holt; Macmillan Children’s Books)
• The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton (Freeform / Gollancz)
• The Cruel Prince by Holly Black (Little, Brown / Hot Key Books)
• Dread Nation by Justina Ireland (Balzer + Bray)
• The Invasion by Peadar O’Guilin (David Fickling Books / Scholastic)
• Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman (Random House / Penguin Teen)
I finished this today, while I was sitting in a nice restaurant, with a clear view at the river, and a lot of green and some pretty cool old buildings surrounding me. And my first thoughts were, well, that was quite nice, 3 stars probably, but somehow I think I should have liked this a lot more.
And there is a lot to like.
The very subtle approach to the alien invasion theme was kinda cool. Science and all. I mean, they are sending plants. Ha! Well, seeds, actually. But whatever.
A story that uses global warming and evolution as its backdrop (or is that backbone? Depends on the reader, I guess). But not in a preachy way. Nice.
I was very impressed by how the author managed to cover a whole life within such a short page count. The main character is 10 when the meteorites hit. We follow him until he's 97. And somehow it feels like we are witnessing all the important changes of direction that his life took.
There are also a couple of clever little things to discover here, in terms of how the author structured his story. I liked that.
Okay, so I've read some parts again in the evening. And suddenly I got a little emotional as I saw LT's whole life pass before my eyes.
Man, environment matters. This one wasn't meant to be read on a relaxed and sunny day. At least not by this reader.
4 stars
Hugo 2019 nominee for Best Novelette.
____________________________
2019 Hugo Award Finalists
Best Novel
• The Calculating Stars by Mary Robinette Kowal
• Record of a Spaceborn Few by Becky Chambers
• Revenant Gun by Yoon Ha Lee
• Space Opera by Catherynne M. Valente
• Spinning Silver by Naomi Novik
• Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse
Best Novella
• Artificial Condition by Martha Wells
• Beneath the Sugar Sky by Seanan McGuire
• Binti: The Night Masquerade by Nnedi Okorafor
• The Black God’s Drums by P. Djèlí Clark
• Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach by Kelly Robson
• The Tea Master and the Detective by Aliette de Bodard
Best Novelette
• If at First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again by Zen Cho (Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi & Fantasy Blog)
• The Last Banquet of Temporal Confections by Tina Connolly (Tor.com)
• Nine Last Days on Planet Earth by Daryl Gregory (Tor.com)
• The Only Harmless Great Thing by Brooke Bolander (Tor.com)
• The Thing About Ghost Stories by Naomi Kritzer (Uncanny Magazine)
• When We Were Starless by Simone Heller (Clarkesworld Magazine)
Best Short Story
• The Court Magician by Sarah Pinsker (Lightspeed Magazine)
• The Rose MacGregor Drinking and Admiration Society by T. Kingfisher (Uncanny Magazine)
• The Secret Lives of the Nine Negro Teeth of George Washington by P. Djèlí Clark (Fireside Magazine)
• STET by Sarah Gailey (Fireside Magazine)
• The Tale of the Three Beautiful Raptor Sisters, and the Prince Who Was Made of Meat by Brooke Bolander (Uncanny Magazine)
• A Witch’s Guide To Escape: A Practical Compendium Of Portal Fantasies by Alix E. Harrow (Apex Magazine)
Best Series
• The Centenal Cycle by Malka Older
• The Laundry Files by Charles Stross
• Machineries of Empire by Yoon Ha Lee
• The October Daye Series by Seanan McGuire
• The Universe of Xuya by Aliette de Bodard
• Wayfarers by Becky Chambers
Best Related Work
• Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works
• Astounding: John W. Campbell, Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Ron Hubbard, and the Golden Age of Science Fiction by Alec Nevala-Lee
• The Hobbit Duology (a documentary in three parts), written and edited by Lindsay Ellis and Angelina Meehan
• An Informal History of the Hugos: A Personal Look Back at the Hugo Awards 1953-2000 by Jo Walton
• The Mexicanx Initiative Experience at Worldcon 76 by Julia Rios, Libia Brenda, Pablo Defendini, and John Picacio
• Ursula K. Le Guin: Conversations on Writing by Ursula K. Le Guin with David Naimon
Best Graphic Story
• Abbott, written by Saladin Ahmed, art by Sami Kivelä, colors by Jason Wordie, letters by Jim Campbell
• Black Panther: Long Live the King, written by Nnedi Okorafor and Aaron Covington, art by André Lima Araújo, Mario Del Pennino, and Tana Ford
• Monstress, Volume 3: Haven, written by Marjorie Liu, art by Sana Takeda
• On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden
• Paper Girls, Volume 4 , written by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Cliff Chiang, colors by Matt Wilson, letters by Jared K. Fletcher
• Saga, Volume 9, written by Brian K. Vaughan, art by Fiona Staples
Best Art Book
• The Book of Earthsea: The Complete Illustrated Edition illustrated by Charles Vess, written by Ursula K. Le Guin
• Daydreamer’s Journey: The Art of Julie Dillon by Julie Dillon
• Dungeons & Dragons Art & Arcana: A Visual History by Michael Witwer, Kyle Newman, Jon Peterson, and Sam Witwer
• Spectrum 25: The Best in Contemporary Fantastic Art, editor John Fleskes
• Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse – The Art of the Movie by Ramin Zahed
• Tolkien: Maker of Middle-earth, editor Catherine McIlwaine
Lodestar Award for Best Young Adult Book
• Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (Henry Holt; Macmillan Children’s Books)
• The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton (Freeform / Gollancz)
• The Cruel Prince by Holly Black (Little, Brown / Hot Key Books)
• Dread Nation by Justina Ireland (Balzer + Bray)
• The Invasion by Peadar O’Guilin (David Fickling Books / Scholastic)
• Tess of the Road by Rachel Hartman (Random House / Penguin Teen)
October 20, 2024
“When the seeds rained down from deep space, it may have been the first stage of an alien invasion—or something else entirely.“
I‘m Groot! Interesting. I liked it, fascinating take on evolution and alien invasion, great character development. I felt with LT and almost cried with him at the end. Not sure if I am a fan of that quasi open ending.
Can be found for free here: https://reactormag.com/nine-last-days...
I‘m Groot! Interesting. I liked it, fascinating take on evolution and alien invasion, great character development. I felt with LT and almost cried with him at the end. Not sure if I am a fan of that quasi open ending.
Can be found for free here: https://reactormag.com/nine-last-days...
May 21, 2019
The best SF short story I’ve read for a very long time. Beautiful, really.
October 5, 2018
This was a good sci-fi short story. The concept and structure of the story itself worked pretty well in the short story format. We followed the story of LT via nine glimpses into different stages of his life. The first being the day a bunch of alien seeds showered from the sky in 1975 when he was just 10 years old. Over the rest of the story we get a glimpse into how the alien seeds are effecting life on earth and into the personal life of LT.
I felt like the story was good. Daryl Gregory had an engaging writing style and this one held my attention from start to finish. I also felt like Gregory did a great job balancing the two different parts of his story. The bits focusing on the alien seeds and their impact were cool and interesting and the bits focusing on LT's personal life gave the story a degree of emotional engagement. I felt like Gregory achieved a good balance all around. There was plenty of different social messages and issues in the story which provoked a bit of thought but nothing that overwhelmed LT's story itself. That balance is tough to achieve in a regular tale so extra impressive here in this short story. The other big plus was that this story achieved a fantastic balance in the tone in general as it was neither to dark or too light nor too happy or too sad. The balance was perfect!
All in all I quite enjoyed this one and will be trying some of Daryl Gregory's other stuff at some point.
Rating 4.5 stars.
I felt like the story was good. Daryl Gregory had an engaging writing style and this one held my attention from start to finish. I also felt like Gregory did a great job balancing the two different parts of his story. The bits focusing on the alien seeds and their impact were cool and interesting and the bits focusing on LT's personal life gave the story a degree of emotional engagement. I felt like Gregory achieved a good balance all around. There was plenty of different social messages and issues in the story which provoked a bit of thought but nothing that overwhelmed LT's story itself. That balance is tough to achieve in a regular tale so extra impressive here in this short story. The other big plus was that this story achieved a fantastic balance in the tone in general as it was neither to dark or too light nor too happy or too sad. The balance was perfect!
All in all I quite enjoyed this one and will be trying some of Daryl Gregory's other stuff at some point.
Rating 4.5 stars.
October 22, 2018
On the first night of the meteor storm, his mother came to wake him up, but LT was only pretending to sleep. He’d been lying in the dark waiting for the end of the world.
You have to see this, she said. He didn’t want to leave the bed but she was an intense woman who could beam energy into him with a look. She took his hand and led him between the stacks of moving boxes, then across the backyard and through the cattle gate to the field, where the view was unimpeded by trees. Meteors, dozens of meteors, scored the sky. She spread a blanket across the tall grass, and they sat back on their elbows.
LT was ten years old, and he’d only seen one falling star in his life. Not even his mother had seen this many at once, she said. Dozens visible at one time, zooming in from the east, striking the atmosphere like matches, white and orange and butane blue. The show went on, hundreds a minute for ten minutes, then twenty. He could hear his father working in the woodshop back by the garage, pushing wood through a whining band saw. Mom made no move to go get him, didn’t call for him.
a little overlong,but still good
https://www.tor.com/2018/09/19/nine-l...
You have to see this, she said. He didn’t want to leave the bed but she was an intense woman who could beam energy into him with a look. She took his hand and led him between the stacks of moving boxes, then across the backyard and through the cattle gate to the field, where the view was unimpeded by trees. Meteors, dozens of meteors, scored the sky. She spread a blanket across the tall grass, and they sat back on their elbows.
LT was ten years old, and he’d only seen one falling star in his life. Not even his mother had seen this many at once, she said. Dozens visible at one time, zooming in from the east, striking the atmosphere like matches, white and orange and butane blue. The show went on, hundreds a minute for ten minutes, then twenty. He could hear his father working in the woodshop back by the garage, pushing wood through a whining band saw. Mom made no move to go get him, didn’t call for him.
a little overlong,but still good
https://www.tor.com/2018/09/19/nine-l...
May 17, 2019
What a great alien invasion and evolution story. The invasion side of the story is kind of creepy, with the earth being taken over by all sorts of plant life. And Gregory's characterization of protagonist LT is wonderful; so much so that I got teary at the close of the story.
February 23, 2019
This is a SF novelette. It is already nominated for Nebula Award in 2019 and quite likely will be nominated for Hugo.
The story is about alien invasion, but not of ‘little green men’ but of plants. It starts in 1975, when meteors bring seeds to Earth and a young boy named LT is the witness. As story develops over next decades (if a reader pays attention for the dates, they can be surprised by an Easter Egg there), telling the life of LT and the changing world. The story has several quite interesting ideas, but the great changes that happen are too bleak background for the life story, which uses tropes popular today, which should show the author as a progressive.
Also, as other noted, the fact-checking is faulty – the author mixed Papua New Guinea (a country), New Guinea (an island) and Papua (a province of Indonesia). This lowers my final star count
The story is about alien invasion, but not of ‘little green men’ but of plants. It starts in 1975, when meteors bring seeds to Earth and a young boy named LT is the witness. As story develops over next decades (if a reader pays attention for the dates, they can be surprised by an Easter Egg there), telling the life of LT and the changing world. The story has several quite interesting ideas, but the great changes that happen are too bleak background for the life story, which uses tropes popular today, which should show the author as a progressive.
Also, as other noted, the fact-checking is faulty – the author mixed Papua New Guinea (a country), New Guinea (an island) and Papua (a province of Indonesia). This lowers my final star count
February 1, 2021
A fascinating read, I loved the imagination in this book, in some ways it is a simple idea and it was well told too. This is an alien invasion of sorts. Plants from space, but how scared should earth’s inhabitants be? Told across many years we see the slow progress of the aliens/plants/alien’s plants, whichever may be true.
I liked this book a lot and I liked our protagonist LT. A great story which flowed quickly, moving on from one snap shot of life to the next over the decades. Quite fantastical but with some family struggles along the way which brings it down to earth (pun not intended!). A lovely story which I think comes down to time, that is the nature of this book, time itself.
It is 4.5*/5 for me, but I am rounding up as 4*/5 would be doing it an injustice.
I liked this book a lot and I liked our protagonist LT. A great story which flowed quickly, moving on from one snap shot of life to the next over the decades. Quite fantastical but with some family struggles along the way which brings it down to earth (pun not intended!). A lovely story which I think comes down to time, that is the nature of this book, time itself.
It is 4.5*/5 for me, but I am rounding up as 4*/5 would be doing it an injustice.
April 24, 2019
4ish stars.
November 13, 2020
SIX SHINY STARS
You know those foam mattresses you buy that are delivered in a smallish box, and when you cut open the box, they expand out to a queen-sized bed? This book is like that; every word the author writes, expands out to at least three words in your head. He packs a lot in this shortie.
The title is misleading. This documents nine significant "last days" in the lifetime of our main character, LT. The last day he and his mother, sleep in the same house in 1975..and so on. Each last-day-event occurs in a Fibonacci sequence of years ... another little surprise our author packs in.
All of this happens with an H.G. Wells-like invasion of Earth happening! Small meteorites hit the planet's surface, peppering it with, what turn out to be, seeds (instead of tripod machines with death rays). Is this plant-life a precursor to the main alien invasion? Or are the plants the alien invaders? L.T. spends his life trying to find out.
This is one of the best short stories I've read in a very long time...maybe ever.
You know those foam mattresses you buy that are delivered in a smallish box, and when you cut open the box, they expand out to a queen-sized bed? This book is like that; every word the author writes, expands out to at least three words in your head. He packs a lot in this shortie.
The title is misleading. This documents nine significant "last days" in the lifetime of our main character, LT. The last day he and his mother, sleep in the same house in 1975..and so on. Each last-day-event occurs in a Fibonacci sequence of years ... another little surprise our author packs in.
All of this happens with an H.G. Wells-like invasion of Earth happening! Small meteorites hit the planet's surface, peppering it with, what turn out to be, seeds (instead of tripod machines with death rays). Is this plant-life a precursor to the main alien invasion? Or are the plants the alien invaders? L.T. spends his life trying to find out.
This is one of the best short stories I've read in a very long time...maybe ever.
June 11, 2019
"Nine Last Days on Planet Earth" by Daryl Gregory
Thoughts later. Such a deceptive story - didn't go where I expected and was surprisingly meaningful. I received this story as part of the 2019 Hugo Voters Packet.
Thoughts later. Such a deceptive story - didn't go where I expected and was surprisingly meaningful. I received this story as part of the 2019 Hugo Voters Packet.
June 13, 2019
For Hugo 2019 reading (novelettes).
April 10, 2021
Read this very short novella (novellette?) concurrently with Nnedi Okorafor's Remote Control, and coincidentally they both involved weird seed-like things falling from space and landing near our protagonists. Just a fun piece of synchronicity, unless this is a new literary trend...
(MILD SPOILERS FOLLOW)
Enjoyable "the sky is falling" disaster story with a surprisingly upbeat (if kinda confusing - I had to reread it a few times) ending. And a couple of cool comments I totally cannot take credit for, but read in a brief review here: http://www.rocketstackrank.com/2018/1...
* Note that the title is not "the last nine days;" it's "nine last days," and as such each chapter/day represents the end of something: last day before LT's mother leaves; last visit to his dad's house; etc.
* And the nine years selected - 1975, 1976, 1978, 1981, 1986, 1994, 2007, 2028, 2062 - themselves represent a Fibonacci sequence, the concept of which is explained and plays a very minor part in the story. (If you don't know Fibonacci's, look them up - insanely cool!)
I really enjoyed Gregory's We Are All Completely Fine, and this was a nice quick follow-up. That said, I would now like to read more Gregory of traditional novella-novel length, as this was really just a little too short. There's a reason this is only available as an ebook download - it this was printed, it would probably be no more than a comic book or thin magazine.
(MILD SPOILERS FOLLOW)
Enjoyable "the sky is falling" disaster story with a surprisingly upbeat (if kinda confusing - I had to reread it a few times) ending. And a couple of cool comments I totally cannot take credit for, but read in a brief review here: http://www.rocketstackrank.com/2018/1...
* Note that the title is not "the last nine days;" it's "nine last days," and as such each chapter/day represents the end of something: last day before LT's mother leaves; last visit to his dad's house; etc.
* And the nine years selected - 1975, 1976, 1978, 1981, 1986, 1994, 2007, 2028, 2062 - themselves represent a Fibonacci sequence, the concept of which is explained and plays a very minor part in the story. (If you don't know Fibonacci's, look them up - insanely cool!)
I really enjoyed Gregory's We Are All Completely Fine, and this was a nice quick follow-up. That said, I would now like to read more Gregory of traditional novella-novel length, as this was really just a little too short. There's a reason this is only available as an ebook download - it this was printed, it would probably be no more than a comic book or thin magazine.
July 17, 2019
OH GOSH. Oh oh, gosh, I absolutely tore through this one. I often struggle through the Hugo-nominated shorts each year -- the side-effect of me being very picky with short fiction and finding them hard to get into sometimes -- but I devoured this novelette, in which a series of meteorites collide with the Earth in 1975 and seed it with inexplicable plantlife ("invasives") which start sprawling across the planet, kicking off new environmental studies and fascinations, and a slow process of fighting them back before alien foliage overwhelms us.
We first see the inciting event through the eyes of a young boy named LT, juxtaposed with the dissolution of his parents' marriage, and then we hop-skip-jump years through his life as he grows up in the shadow of these invasives, trying to understand them, while also delving into his family life -- divorced parents, a homophobic father, LT eventually wrestling with fatherhood and grandfatherhood himself. These touching, aching family snapshots are the heart of the whole thing, even cast against such an alien backdrop.
There's a delicate, ominous foreboding throughout, trying to suss out whether or not the invasives are benign or if they're heralding the end of our planet. One of the recurring themes is 'animal time' vs 'plant time' (which runs slower) vs 'planet time (which runs infinitely slower); running on planet time, it'll be a while before we see how things shake out for this world.
4.5 stars, very nearly almost a subjective 5 for me -- particularly with how it made my heart ache at the very end -- except that the ending also peters out a bit and doesn't end with any particular oomph. Short fiction is hard.
PS: The title is delicious, too, in that you could initially interpret it as nine last apocalyptic days but it refers, rather, to nine individual "lasts". I love collections of vignettes like this, y'all.
Read it for free here: https://www.tor.com/2018/09/19/nine-l...
We first see the inciting event through the eyes of a young boy named LT, juxtaposed with the dissolution of his parents' marriage, and then we hop-skip-jump years through his life as he grows up in the shadow of these invasives, trying to understand them, while also delving into his family life -- divorced parents, a homophobic father, LT eventually wrestling with fatherhood and grandfatherhood himself. These touching, aching family snapshots are the heart of the whole thing, even cast against such an alien backdrop.
There's a delicate, ominous foreboding throughout, trying to suss out whether or not the invasives are benign or if they're heralding the end of our planet. One of the recurring themes is 'animal time' vs 'plant time' (which runs slower) vs 'planet time (which runs infinitely slower); running on planet time, it'll be a while before we see how things shake out for this world.
4.5 stars, very nearly almost a subjective 5 for me -- particularly with how it made my heart ache at the very end -- except that the ending also peters out a bit and doesn't end with any particular oomph. Short fiction is hard.
PS: The title is delicious, too, in that you could initially interpret it as nine last apocalyptic days but it refers, rather, to nine individual "lasts". I love collections of vignettes like this, y'all.
Read it for free here: https://www.tor.com/2018/09/19/nine-l...
November 7, 2020
La fantascienza può essere (ed è) molte cose. È futuro, è presente, è passato e per questo è memoria.
E la memoria ha tanti volti. C’è quella legata ai ricordi, c’è quella legate ai luoghi, c’è la memoria genetica e c’è la memoria evolutiva.
Daryl Gregory in questo suo racconto lungo intreccia queste differenti memorie per indicarci un sentiero. Un sentiero di vita, di sopravvivenza e di speranza.
Un sentiero da percorrere in nove giorni lunghi quasi novant’anni che conduce attraverso un mondo complesso e complicato dove evolversi è sopravvivere. Ma dove evolversi è anche, e soprattutto, vivere. E non in contrapposizione all’invasione aliena in corso, ma in qualche modo insieme a essa.
Gregory celebra la straordinaria normalità delle emozioni che non possono, e non devono, cedere il passo alla sopravvivenza. Lo fa con un tratto morbido che riesce a rendere affilato rivolgendosi, a volte, a una fantascienza più classica.
Evolvere è ricordare perché sono i ricordi, quelli più forti e importanti, a catalizzare il cambiamento.
E sono quei ricordi, in una sorta di darwinismo emotivo, a determinare cosa porteremo con noi per sempre.
E la memoria ha tanti volti. C’è quella legata ai ricordi, c’è quella legate ai luoghi, c’è la memoria genetica e c’è la memoria evolutiva.
Daryl Gregory in questo suo racconto lungo intreccia queste differenti memorie per indicarci un sentiero. Un sentiero di vita, di sopravvivenza e di speranza.
Un sentiero da percorrere in nove giorni lunghi quasi novant’anni che conduce attraverso un mondo complesso e complicato dove evolversi è sopravvivere. Ma dove evolversi è anche, e soprattutto, vivere. E non in contrapposizione all’invasione aliena in corso, ma in qualche modo insieme a essa.
Gregory celebra la straordinaria normalità delle emozioni che non possono, e non devono, cedere il passo alla sopravvivenza. Lo fa con un tratto morbido che riesce a rendere affilato rivolgendosi, a volte, a una fantascienza più classica.
Evolvere è ricordare perché sono i ricordi, quelli più forti e importanti, a catalizzare il cambiamento.
E sono quei ricordi, in una sorta di darwinismo emotivo, a determinare cosa porteremo con noi per sempre.
February 20, 2019
Could have been three stars but lost one since I think the author got mixed up between Papua New Guinea (a country), New Guinea (an island) and Papua (a province of Indonesia).
May 22, 2021
A lot of interesting ideas packed into this short story, but they didn’t quite meld together for me.
December 11, 2019
Day 11 in my 24 Days of Shorts
This was so much more than I expected! (And I almost didn’t read it today, I had another short story slated for Day 11, but it turned out to not be available on-line.)
I’ll be honest: I didn’t totally understand the ending, but it didn’t matter. I was enthralled by this story and now I want to read everything this guy has written. And if karen hadn’t pointed it out, I would have missed that each section is the ending of something (the last time he would live somewhere, the last time he saw someone, etc). Clever! Nine last days, spread out over a man’s lifetime.
read it for yourself here:
https://www.tor.com/2018/09/19/nine-l...
My 24 Days of Shorts
1. File N°002 by Sylvain Neuvel
2. File N°247 by Sylvain Neuvel
3. Skinner Box by Carole Johnstone
4. The Weight of Memories by Liu Cixin
5. A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers by Alyssa Wong
6. If at First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again by Zen Cho
7. Meat And Salt And Sparks by Rich Larson
8. Seven Birthdays by Ken Liu
9. Where Would You Be Now? by Carrie Vaughn
10. Old Media by Annalee Newitz
11. Nine Last Days on Planet Earth by Daryl Gregory
12. Sweetlings by Lucy Taylor
13. An Unexpected Honor by Ursula Vernon
14. Hell is the Absence of God by Ted Chiang
15. A Love Story by Samantha Hunt
16. The Lake by Tananarive Due
17. Ghost Hedgehog by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
18. Finnegan's Field by Angela Slatter
19. Among the Thorns by Veronica Schanoes
20. Rag and Bone by Priya Sharma
21. The Mothers of Voorhisville by Mary Rickert
22. As Good as New by Charlie Jane Anders
23. Twixt Firelight and Water by Juliet Marillier
24. The Christmas Show by Pat Cadigan
Bella was so old. How had that happened? How had he gotten so far from home? He wanted to do it all over again. He wanted Doran’s shoulder next to him, and tiny Christina in his arms. He wanted Carlos on his shoulders at the National Zoo. All of it, all of it again.
This was so much more than I expected! (And I almost didn’t read it today, I had another short story slated for Day 11, but it turned out to not be available on-line.)
I’ll be honest: I didn’t totally understand the ending, but it didn’t matter. I was enthralled by this story and now I want to read everything this guy has written. And if karen hadn’t pointed it out, I would have missed that each section is the ending of something (the last time he would live somewhere, the last time he saw someone, etc). Clever! Nine last days, spread out over a man’s lifetime.
read it for yourself here:
https://www.tor.com/2018/09/19/nine-l...
My 24 Days of Shorts
1. File N°002 by Sylvain Neuvel
2. File N°247 by Sylvain Neuvel
3. Skinner Box by Carole Johnstone
4. The Weight of Memories by Liu Cixin
5. A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers by Alyssa Wong
6. If at First You Don't Succeed, Try, Try Again by Zen Cho
7. Meat And Salt And Sparks by Rich Larson
8. Seven Birthdays by Ken Liu
9. Where Would You Be Now? by Carrie Vaughn
10. Old Media by Annalee Newitz
11. Nine Last Days on Planet Earth by Daryl Gregory
12. Sweetlings by Lucy Taylor
13. An Unexpected Honor by Ursula Vernon
14. Hell is the Absence of God by Ted Chiang
15. A Love Story by Samantha Hunt
16. The Lake by Tananarive Due
17. Ghost Hedgehog by Nina Kiriki Hoffman
18. Finnegan's Field by Angela Slatter
19. Among the Thorns by Veronica Schanoes
20. Rag and Bone by Priya Sharma
21. The Mothers of Voorhisville by Mary Rickert
22. As Good as New by Charlie Jane Anders
23. Twixt Firelight and Water by Juliet Marillier
24. The Christmas Show by Pat Cadigan
November 2, 2020
After hearing Farrah (https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/4...) rave about it, I needed to get this one into my hands and I have to say, she was not wrong.
This is a very short read and well worth your time. In the vein of The Color Out of Space and The Day of the Triffids, we find a young LT living in a world that has been slowly consumed by alien flora and how his life is forever shaped by what is going on around him.
This is a very short read and well worth your time. In the vein of The Color Out of Space and The Day of the Triffids, we find a young LT living in a world that has been slowly consumed by alien flora and how his life is forever shaped by what is going on around him.
June 11, 2019
Relato lleno de sentido de la maravilla sobre una especie de invasión alienígena muy particular. En tan sólo unas pocas palabras Gregory pinta unas imágenes muy evocadoras. Yo vería la película sin dudar.
July 24, 2020
3.49 stars maybe?
You know that thing where scifi shows sometimes do a kind of the life that might have been montage? Where you see scenes spread out across all the years of a potential life the character might have had in some alternate timeline?
This is that. Only without the context or "real" life part.
Which is fine. I guess.
Since it's short.
I did like the main character, LT, I could relate to him, at least early on. And the SF aspect is interesting, and well done. Think Southern Reach, but less fungal. (Though the concept was hardly original to VanderMeer, that's just the most prominent recent take that comes to mind.)
But...
I think there are two big reasons this underwhelmed for me.
1. There's no plot. Story MIA. No tension and release. No problem to solve. Which, again, can be okay in short forms, but really just isn't my thing.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
2. The heteronormative, nuclear family nature of the life we're shown. And to be clear, LT is gay! So points for gay main character.
Thinking about it for a moment, it's pretty much par for the course in that sort of alternate-life montage sequence that the life shown is always some Joe-average normie heteronormative nuclear family kind of shit. Like, I just can't really fathom that that's actually appealing to anyone. Ugh. Can't relate.
So, while I don't regret reading it, it's definitely not making the favorite Daryl Gregory works list, and a reminder of why I'm just meh on short fiction.
You know that thing where scifi shows sometimes do a kind of the life that might have been montage? Where you see scenes spread out across all the years of a potential life the character might have had in some alternate timeline?
This is that. Only without the context or "real" life part.
Which is fine. I guess.
Since it's short.
I did like the main character, LT, I could relate to him, at least early on. And the SF aspect is interesting, and well done. Think Southern Reach, but less fungal. (Though the concept was hardly original to VanderMeer, that's just the most prominent recent take that comes to mind.)
But...
I think there are two big reasons this underwhelmed for me.
1. There's no plot. Story MIA. No tension and release. No problem to solve. Which, again, can be okay in short forms, but really just isn't my thing.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
2. The heteronormative, nuclear family nature of the life we're shown. And to be clear, LT is gay! So points for gay main character.
Thinking about it for a moment, it's pretty much par for the course in that sort of alternate-life montage sequence that the life shown is always some Joe-average normie heteronormative nuclear family kind of shit. Like, I just can't really fathom that that's actually appealing to anyone. Ugh. Can't relate.
So, while I don't regret reading it, it's definitely not making the favorite Daryl Gregory works list, and a reminder of why I'm just meh on short fiction.
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