Lena’s
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(group member since Nov 17, 2014)
Lena’s
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from the Spells, Space & Screams: Collections & Anthologies in Fantasy, Science Fiction, & Horror group.
Showing 141-160 of 7,888
Home is the Hangman ★★★★½ Unexpectedly great. A robotic astronaut with nascent A.I. goes rogue in outer space and is presumed lost. Twenty years later it returns to Earth and its creators start dying. My interest was peaked early on and I enjoyed the fast paced murder mystery!
The Disciple by David Barr Kirtley DNFAnimal torture - pass.
Shoggoths in Bloom by Elizabeth Bear ★★★★☆
Ouch. Morals are tricky things. Either way Hardings choice was a consequential one the world will have to live with. The sequel could easily be Planet of the Shoggoths.
The Essayist in the Wilderness by William Browning Spencer ★★☆☆☆ Boring. A couple wins money and runs to the country to be as eccentric as possible. I approve in spirit but it made for a boring story.
Many Indigenous people believe that one should never whistle at night. This belief takes many forms: for instance, Native Hawaiians believe it summons the Hukai’po, the spirits of ancient warriors, and Native Mexicans say it calls Lechuza, a witch that can transform into an owl. But what all these legends hold in common is the certainty that whistling at night can cause evil spirits to appear—and even follow you home.These wholly original and shiver-inducing tales introduce readers to ghosts, curses, hauntings, monstrous creatures, complex family legacies, desperate deeds, and chilling acts of revenge. Introduced and contextualized by bestselling author Stephen Graham Jones, these stories are a celebration of Indigenous peoples’ survival and imagination, and a glorious reveling in all the things an ill-advised whistle might summon.
The Force That Through the Circuit Drives the Current ★★★☆☆ A clumsy paranoid imagining but an OK read. Forgettable.
A Hand Across the Galaxy ★★★☆☆ Somewhere between comedy and the saddest of letters from the Reservation.
But Not the Herald ★☆☆☆☆ Only profound if you are having a terrible day and want it worse.
…omit anything if you knew that you omitted and the omitted part would strengthen the story… This also reminded me that Meryl Streep always made up a secret for her characters that only she knew.
Go Starless in the Night ★★★★★ “You are right.
We are not such.
You will never know what we are.”
Ever read a short story, think it was scary, then wake up the next day and realize No, that was terrifying.
Take Me to the River by Paul McAuley ★★★½☆ “Something wants our worship and we want oblivion. It isn’t hard to understand. It’s a very simple deal.”
There is a clarity to Cthulhu lacking in major religions and cults.
Bringing Helena Back by Sarah Monette ★★★★☆ Like a Lovecraft story in the vernacular. Lonely genius Booth is thrilled with the appearance of his old friend Augustus newly widowed from his wicked wife. But Augustus has been obsessing on necromancy and wants Booth’s help.
The Oran County Whoosit by Steve Duffy ★★★☆☆ A rather long story that amounted to nothing but misery to everyone who found the ancient thing in the coal mine.
The Fungal Stain by W. H. Pugmire ★★½☆☆
The reading of weird esoteric poetry brings a demon woman librarian to life. Maybe. I can almost see where the author was going but I fell asleep twice.
A Study in Emerald by Neil Gaimen Skipped because I’ve never liked any of his work
Buried in the Sky by John Shirley ★★★★½
After her mother’s murder DeeDee and her family move into a strange sky scraper in Los Angeles. Young DeeDee fights an unimaginably monster and grows strong enough to return home and slay!
Dismal Light ★★★½☆ On a primitive prison planet under evacuation an inmate stays with research, longer than necessary, to prove a point.
The Parts That Are Only Glimpsed: Three Reflexes “… You could omit anything if you knew that you omitted and the omitted part would strengthen the story and make people feel something more than they understood.”
This was an essay on writing based on something Hemingway said in A Moveable Feast. It was interesting.
The man was dead inside.
Murdock’s Memoirs as a SciFi western Hillbilly Elegy?
Escape to Other Worlds with Science Fiction by Jo Walton ★★★★☆ A dark alternate history where the US did not enter the WW2. The US subsequently enters a depression, a defensive war, and an era of hate and domestic holocaust. Scary stuff.
Plotters and Shooters by Kage Baker DNFAfter two pages I had no interest. Skip.
The Island by Peter Watts ★★★★★
Brilliant. And soooo depressing. Time stretched to the billions and an endless mission eating away at your humanity.
Alien again. It looked generic but I’ll watch it: https://youtu.be/qCI6pp-hD_A?si=bwDZv...More interesting is the prequel in the works with Timothy Olyphant, or it would be if it wasn’t by Disney.
His Master’s Voice by Hannu Rajaniemi ★★★★★ “Before the concert, we steal the master’s head.”
Best first line of any short story I have read. This was so good I nearly cried. A loyal dog and cat fight beyond themselves to save their person. And now I am crying, because I too have a dog and cat.
