There is so much free or inexpensive short fiction available on the internet these days. Here are a few stories we read this week that we wanted you to know about.
“The Grammarian’s Five Daughters” by Eleanor Arnason (1999, originally published in Realms of Fantasy, June 1999, reprinted in 2004 and free online at Strange Horizons)
This sweet little story was right up my street. Not only is it told in a slightly kooky, fairy-tale style, it’s also all about words (hoorah!).
August 1st, 2016. Katie Burton, Tadiana Jones and Kat Hooper | Victoria (V.E.) Schwab | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Clive Barker began writing THE BOOKS OF ABARAT series after painting a number of images inspired by dreams. The first book, Abarat, certainly possesses a dreamy, wonderland quality. I felt curiously aware throughout that I had entered a rather indulgent flight of Barker’s imagination. I didn’t buy the illustrated version of Abarat, (because, I admit, I didn’t know anything about it) but if I could go back I probably would. It’s a funny one because I usually like to make up my own mind about how an imaginary place looks.
August 1st, 2016. Katie Burton´s rating: 4 | Clive Barker | Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Bridge of Birds by Barry Hughart
Welcome to a “story of ancient China that never was”. Barry Hughart’s Bridge of Birds (1985) is a real romp of frenetic pace and fairy-tale style mingled with the mythology and legends of ancient China. It’s as bonkers and as brilliant as they come.
The story centres on a simple but warm-hearted peasant boy, nicknamed Number 10 Ox for his great strength and the order of his birth. Upon learning that all of the children in his village have been struck down by a terrible disease he sets out to Peking seeking a wise man.
July 7th, 2016. Katie Burton and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 5 | Barry Hughart | Mythopoeic Award, World Fantasy Award | SFF Reviews | 11 comments |
Cuckoo Song by Frances Hardinge
As usual, I am late to the party. Published in 2014, Cuckoo Song is Frances Hardinge’s sixth novel. Her debut novel, Fly by Night, won the Branford Boase First Novel Award and her 2015 novel The Lie Tree won the Costa Book Award, (the first children’s book to do so since Philip Pullman‘s The Amber Spyglass, which is saying something).
July 1st, 2016. Katie Burton and Rebecca Fisher´s rating: 4.5 | Frances Hardinge | Horror, Stand-Alone, Young Adult | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
There is so much free or inexpensive short fiction available on the internet these days. Here are a few stories we’ve read recently that we wanted you to know about.
“And Then, One Day, the Air was Full of Voices” by Margaret Ronald (June 2016, free at Clarkesworld or paperback magazine issue)
Dr. Kostia is a keynote speaker and panel participant in an academic conference. Her specialty is extra-terrestrial intelligence ― specifically, the analysis of some radio-like transmissions from an alien race called the Coronals.
June 27th, 2016. Tadiana Jones, Katie Burton and Rob Weber | A.J. Hartley, Ian Tregillis, Marion Deeds, Mary Robinette Kowal, T. Kingfisher | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
The Summer Tree by Guy Gavriel Kay
I absolutely loved everything about Guy Gavriel Kay’s stand-alone novels Tigana and A Song for Arbonne, so it was with great excitement that I downloaded the newly released audio version of The Summer Tree, the first novel in his famous The Fionavar Tapestry.
In The Summer Tree we meet Loren Silvercloak, a wizard who has traveled from the world of Fionavar to Toronto to fetch five university students (three guys and two girls) who are needed to help fight an ancient evil force that has been bound under a mountain for centuries.
June 15th, 2016. Kat Hooper and Katie Burton | Guy Gavriel Kay | Audio | SFF Reviews | 7 comments |
The Firework-Maker’s Daughter by Philip Pullman
The Firework-Maker’s Daughter is a short children’s book written by Phillip Pullman and it’s a little gem. Pullman pulls off a perfect recipe of magic, adventure and pure fun in this sparkling little fairy tale.
Lila is the daughter of the talented firework maker Lachland. All Lila wants is to become a true firework maker herself, but to do so she must make the perilous journey to the fire-fiend Razvani and bring back some Royal Sulphur.
May 12th, 2016. Katie Burton´s rating: 4.5 | Philip Pullman | Children | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Here are a few of the short stories we read this week, all of which are free to read online.
“The Summer People” by Kelly Link (February 2015, free online at Wall Street Journal, also included in her anthology Get in Trouble)
“The Summer People” is the first story in Kelly Link’s new story collection Get in Trouble. Fran is a teenager living in a rural part of the American southeast. Her mother is gone,
April 18th, 2016. Marion Deeds, Katie Burton and Tadiana Jones | Elizabeth Hand, Kelly Link, Marie Brennan, Melissa Marr, T. Kingfisher | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Sexing the Cherry by Jeanette Winterson
Those who have read Jeanette Winterson before may not be surprised by Sexing the Cherry. Those who haven’t, or who have only read Oranges Are Not the Only Fruit (as I had) may wonder what on earth they have got themselves into. It is a weird story, a surreal experience, and it is meant to be so.
In Sexing the Cherry Winterson celebrates the power of the imagination.
April 18th, 2016. Katie Burton´s rating: 4 | Jeanette Winterson | Edge, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
The Secret of Platform 13 by Eva Ibbotson
Eva Ibbotson is a well-loved children’s author, and it is books like The Secret of Platform 13 that make me glad that I have no qualms about reading beyond the confines of suggested age groups. In fact, I find the experience particularly indulgent.
As a quick prologue, I note that some people have made much of the similarity between Ibbotson’s Platform 13 at Kings Cross Station and the one used by J.K. Rowling,
March 30th, 2016. Katie Burton´s rating: 5 | Eva Ibbotson | Children, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
Pretty challenging book. Cut by half, speed up the cadence. Trying to figure out the plot, the main point of…
Thanks for the kind words, Marion! Coming as they are from a professional writer, they are much appreciated!
Wonderful review, Sandy.
The "body count" bothered me a bit less because being dead seemed more like an inconvenience than anything else... unlike…
Detailed, thoughtful review, Bill. I'm going to read it for two reasons. First, Karen Russell wrote it, and second, it…