Status Updates From Space Opera

Calling Them Home is the kind of story I was hoping for.

Saskia was a legitimate story, at least, but it felt a little half-baked. MPDG mixed with 'I dunno, magic I guess.' Could have used more fleshing out.

Songchild was insubstantial. Kind of a nice idea, but not much depth to it. Written well.

I found A Song of Strange Revenge to be impenetrable. Super short, not sci-fi at all, and, perhaps, incoherent. Bluh.

Our Father's Gold was sloppy. There might have been a decent story there, but it was rushed, confused, and at times just bad.

Thunderbird Road is a little tough to figure out. On one level it's the cringe-y American Indian new age voodoo nonsense, but it's also a little self-aware, and a little anti-anti-racism thrown in? Overall I guess it was okay, maybe even a little better, but I was disappointed that she didn't theorize that she was a murderer. It was the likeliest scenario, in my mind.

Scarborough Fair was one of the better ones so far, at least on a technical level. It, at least, felt like a complete story. The sci-fi and even the fantasy parts were distinctly lacking, however.

Soulfedge Rock was surprisingly pleasant. Maybe a tad insubstantial, but nice enough.

Ever After was all over the place. There might have been something to it, but it was buried in way too many (very dated) ideas.

The Impossible Place is another woowoo native spiritualist nonsense story.

A hole in the sky had a small kernel of a good idea, wrapped in something that wasn't even slightly science fiction, and was way too hard to understand.

Drift was pretty good. It's a bit John Henry, only without a discernible message.

Heavenside Song was simply bad. The message was okay, but the manner of delivery was ridiculous levels of pandering that didn't even manage to be half-convincing, and there was no indication of a deeper idea to the world.

Swan Song was actually, legitimately ok.

Space Station Annie really pushes the theme of the book to its limit, and beyond that it isn't very good. No redeeming value.

Roundelay was interesting, but I fear it is ultimately pointless. Perhaps it has a point I have yet to deduce. Again, so short that it hardly matters if you understood it at all, if there was anything in it to understand.

Finally a good one. The Last Song of Sirit Byar was a solid story with a smart, interesting narrator.

Drive the Cold Away was fine, largely uninspired.

I didn't like "Bluesberry Jam" at all. I'm not sure if it was the writing that made it too hard to read (or just decipher), or it was the plot of a musician searching for a song, or even just the implausible setting. Maybe all three.