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Fast Ships, Black Sails

Ann VanderMeer (Editor),

Jeff VanderMeer (Editor)

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Jan 27, 2016 Mir rated it liked it

Shelves: adventure, short-stories, fantasy

Contents:
Boojum / Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette -- Castor on troubled waters / Rhys Hughes -- I begyn as I mean to go on / Kage Baker -- Avast, abaft! / Howard Waldrop -- Elegy to Gabrielle, patron saint of healers, whores, and righteous thieves / Kelly Barnhill -- Skillet and saber / Justin Howe -- Nymph's child / Carrie Vaughn -- 68* 07' 15" N, 31* 36' 44" W / Conrad Williams -- Ironface / Michael Moorcock -- Pirate solutions / Katherine Sparrow -- We sleep on a thousand waves beneath the sta Contents:
Boojum / Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette -- Castor on troubled waters / Rhys Hughes -- I begyn as I mean to go on / Kage Baker -- Avast, abaft! / Howard Waldrop -- Elegy to Gabrielle, patron saint of healers, whores, and righteous thieves / Kelly Barnhill -- Skillet and saber / Justin Howe -- Nymph's child / Carrie Vaughn -- 68* 07' 15" N, 31* 36' 44" W / Conrad Williams -- Ironface / Michael Moorcock -- Pirate solutions / Katherine Sparrow -- We sleep on a thousand waves beneath the stars / Brendan Connell -- Voyage of the Iguana / Steve Aylett -- Pirates of the Suara Sea / David Freer & Eric Flint -- Cold day in hell / Paul Battieger -- Adventures of Captain Black Heart Wentworth / Rachel Swirsky -- Araminta, or, the wreck of the Amphidrake / Naomi Novik -- Whale below / Jayme Lynn Blaschke -- Beyond the sea gate of the scholar-pirates of Sarskoe / Garth Nix.

I'm not the target audience for this collection because I am not interested in or sympathetic to pirates and piracy. I got the book to read stories by a couple authors I've enjoyed before.

Stories I read:
Boojum / Elizabeth Bear & Sarah Monette -- excellent interstellar space pirates story. Highly recommended for fans of the living-spaceship idea. 4 stars
I begyn as I mean to go on / Kage Baker -- Well written, although not actually fantasy of sci fi as far as I noted. Historical fiction -- possible alt history that I wasn't well-informed enough to catch? Probably the most realistic treatment of piracy in the books (dirty, dangerous, doesn't always pay, a job choice for people without better options). 3 stars
Ironface / Michael Moorcock -- That was not a story. It was a two-page description that felt like a Prologue. 2 stars
Nymph's child / Carrie Vaughn -- It is very romantic running away to be a pirate. It sucks if you get caught, but this will not dissuade anyone else. 3 stars
Adventures of Captain Black Heart Wentworth / Rachel Swirsky -- Oh, this is a about pirate rats. I don't like rats, or anthropomorphic animal stories in general. Skip.
Araminta, or, the wreck of the Amphidrake / Naomi Novik -- Interesting world building. I'd be willing to try something else in this setting, ideally sans pirates. 4 stars
Whale below / Jayme Lynn Blaschke -- I never figured out if this was an actual whale or something else, and there was too much nautical lingo for me, but it was a solid story. 3 stars
Beyond the sea gate of the scholar-pirates of Sarskoe / Garth Nix -- Boring. Too many descriptions for the amount of story, or something. I've read a couple other of Nix's with this duo with the puppet and liked them more, although less than his puppet-free novels.

Novik's contribution is available here: http://www.naominovik.com/araminta-or...

Bear & Monette's is here (and also included in Year's Best Science Fiction)
http://www.lightspeedmagazine.com/fic...

...more

26 likes · Like · see review

Oct 06, 2009 Trin added it

Shelves: fantasy, shortstories, genderfuck

After slogging through the first story in this collection, I realized that rather than make myself grind through the whole book, I could just read the one story I checked it out from the library for: the one by Naomi Novik, which was excellent. And now, mission accomplished, I can take the book back, guilt-free!

This may seem like a duh thing to most of you, but I feel very adult and proud of this revelation.

8 likes · Like · see review

May 01, 2009 Wealhtheow rated it liked it

Shelves: queer-characters, sci-fi, fantasy, mannerpunk, feypunk

A collection of pirate stories, ranging from sf to fantasy to a HMS Pinafore/Peter Pan cross-over. The stand-outs were:
"Boojum," by Elizabeth Bear and Sarah Monette. A low-level grunt on a living space-ship grows increasingly uneasy about their latest cargo.

"Skillet and Saber," by Justin Howe. Hilarious tale of the cook's apprentice on a pirate ship. So good that I intend to seek out more of Howe's work.

"Pirate Solutions," by Katherine Sparrow. Futuristic coders start drinking bone rum and beco ...more

5 likes · Like · see review