Joe Kessler > Recent Status Updates

Update: they're watching episodes of Star Trek: Voyager (1995-2001) now.

Stuck on the spaceship with a repository of movies to watch, and so far they've put on While You Were Sleeping (1995) and Independence Day (1996). Are these characters from the future or not?? This fixation on 20th century pop culture is such a bizarre writing choice.

Sorry, back again so soon. Teasing your hacker friend in 2061 by calling her "Hacky Robinson" and "Hack Skellington"? I mean... maybe? But wouldn't they have at least one reference from the past few decades that readers wouldn't know?

Your story is set in 2061 and there are still TikToks? 1% into this book and I already have misgivings.

This part from Jonathan Santlofer's The Golem of Jericho hits way too close to my own middle-school experience:

"That night I lie in bed with a question buzzing in my brain: How did they know I was a Jew and why do they hate me for it? The seeds of my self-loathing anti-Semitism inadvertently sown: if those boys wanted to hurt me for being a Jew there had to be something wrong with me, and with being Jewish."

"Blood Diamonds" by Melissa Yi. ★★☆☆☆. I might jump around the book a bit to see if there're anything I like better, but I think this is the end of me reading it straight through.

"The Legacy" by Wendy Hornsby: good up until its abrupt ending. ★★★☆☆

"Lost Pages from the Boom of Judith" by Kenneth Wishnia (editor of this book): ★★☆☆☆. Disjointed and mean-spirited. Also yet another entry from a white author that rather conspicuously features racism and racial slurs. I might just be over this anthology at this point.

"Trajectories" by Marge Pierce. Takes too long to get going and is over before you know it without ever coming to a point. This is a drabble, not a story. ★★☆☆☆

The two leads have finally hooked up and I'm still so bored with this.

A Simkhe (A Celebration) by Yente Serdatsky. Interesting for the historical context -- first published in a Yiddish newspaper in 1912; translated into English for the first time for this anthology -- but somewhat meh as a story. ★★★☆☆

Flitting between two and three stars here.

This is so much more boring than a story with its premise should be.

"Quack and Dwight" by Travis Richardson. Another fairly strong entry, and more along the lines of traditional noir. ★★★★☆

"Living Underwater" by B. K. Stevens: I'm not totally sure I'd call this noir, but I liked it. Nice job making the main character both sympathetic and not -- a jerk in a bad situation, basically. Thank goodness this anthology has at least some winners in it. ★★★★☆

Oh, that fight scene was incredible. Might have just bumped this novel up from four stars to five for me.

The protagonist of this book is so Darrow (Red Rising) coded and also Sage (The False Prince) coded, and I love that for him.

"The Sacrifice of Isaac" by Steven Wishnia: ★★☆☆☆. Better than the first story, but still pretty aimless and racist as hell. This one is by the editor's brother!

"Devil for a Witch" by R. S. Brenner: ★☆☆☆☆. Weak, disjointed, and racist as hell. Awful way to start an anthology. The next story had better be pretty good if I'm going to stick with this.

Alpha and Omega mention! Take a shot.

Oh, fuck this book.

I realize I'm a guy saying this. But this protagonist has strong "woman written by a man" energy.

Oh, there's time travel? That might help the book; it's been flittering between 2 and 3 stars for me so far.

I really hate this romance.

Hastings. Why are you more concerned that your 21-year-old daughter might be sleeping with a married man than that SHE MIGHT BE THE INTENDED TARGET OF A SERIAL KILLER

Let me get this straight. Hastings, Poirot has convinced you that there's going to be a murder attempted at this house, but he doesn't know who the intended victim is. This house where your daughter is. But you aren't going to say anything to her or try to get her to leave. Do I have that right?

Ohhhh lmao I hate this. Might have to drop down to 2 stars after all.

I kept reading this after all, and it's fine. Gonna be a 3star at best, but whatever. WAY too much miscommunication.