Diving into the Wreck by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Diving into the Wreck is a short but excellent science fiction novel by Kristine Kathryn Rusch, who has also written extensively in fantasy, mystery and romance, and is the former editor of the prestigious Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction.
The main character of Diving into the Wreck, who goes by the name "Boss," is a specialist in the exploration of derelict space ships. Accompanied by a team of specialists, she goes into these abandoned vessels, in a process that is very similar to deep sea diving with all its careful preparation and inherent dangers. When Boss discovers a 5000 year old Earth ship that couldn't possibly be in the sector where she found it, a string of events is set in motion that leads back to some of her earl... Read More
City of Ruins by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
One of 2009’s most pleasant surprises was Diving into the Wreck, a short but excellent SF novel by Kristine Kathryn Rusch about Boss, a specialist in the exploration of derelict spaceships. In this first novel, Boss discovered the wreck of a Dignity ship. This remnant of a legendary Fleet contained remnants of the mysterious and dangerous “stealth technology” that could possibly tip the balance of power between the Enterran Empire and a small alliance of independent planets.
In City of Ruins, the excellent follow-up to Diving into the Wreck, Boss runs a much larger operation and has become more of a manager than an explorer, but when she hears reports of mysterious deaths on a planet in the Enterran Empire — deaths that suggest the presence of stealth tech on or below the surface of that pl... Read More
The February 2015 issue of Clarkesworld Magazine opens with “The Last Surviving Gondola Widow” by Kristine Kathryn Rusch. The first person narrator of the story is a woman living in Chicago who works as a Pinkerton (that is, a detective employed by the Pinkerton Agency, established in 1850 as one of the first such agencies) who was on Michigan Avenue the day the Gondolas came in from the South to rain hell down on the city. Now it appears that the widow of one of the Gondolas — for that’s how the engineers who piloted them were named, as the Gondolas would respond to the voice and touch of their own engineer like living beings — is not only still living in Illinois, but holds a position of prominence. The story is a steampunk adventure that includes a sort of engineering magic combined with a feminist sensibility. I found th... Read More
There is so much free or inexpensive short fiction available on the internet these days. Here are a few stories we read this week:
“The Loud Table” by Jonathan Carroll (Nov. 2016, free at Tor.com, 99c Kindle version)
A group of retired old men meets every day at a coffee shop to hang out most of the day and shoot the breeze. They live for each other's company, so they're bewildered and alarmed when the coffee shop manager announces that the café is closing for two months for renovations. After considering and discarding several other options, they wind up at Tough Nut, a gay café. They end ... Read More
Our weekly exploration of free and inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. Here are a few stories we've read that we wanted you to know about.
“Sasabonsam” by Tara Campbell (Dec. 2017, free at Strange Horizons)
The vampirish Sasabonsam lurks in the trees near an African village, its limbs hanging down like swaying vines to snatch unwary villagers that the Sasabonsam then eats. Its first victim: a man who is returning to the village one night, reeking with fear.
You run, but of course that won’t help you. Whichever tree you’re near is the one I’m in. That’s how it works with Sasabonsam.
The Sasabonsam smugly expects that his victim’s flesh and soul will be completely absorbed soon, but the man’s soul is still inside of him when the monster grabs its next victim. And the turmoil of emotions inside... Read More
Poe: 19 New Tales Inspired by Edgar Allan Poe edited by Ellen Datlow
Whether you're aligned with the literary academia or an unabashed genre reader, the name Edgar Allan Poe commands much respect. I think it's only fitting that a modern anthology inspired by the author's body of work should be released on his 200th anniversary. Kudos to Solaris Books for taking on the task of publishing such a book, which all comes together with the firm editorial direction of Ellen Datlow. Datlow, for me, has been an editor who's less impressed with literary fireworks or verbal acrobatics but focuses more on the meat and bones of the story, its fundamentals if you will. In that respect, Poe lives up to that promise. That's not to say the stories will immediately grip you. In fact, a good chunk of them take time to develop. But for the most part, the patience and the struggle are well worth the wait, and what's consistent among them — and what I've come to ass... Read More
The New Space Opera 2: All-New Tales of Science Fiction Adventure edited by Gardner Dozois & Jonathan Strahan
The New Space Opera 2: All-New Tales of Science Fiction Adventure is, as its name implies, the second of Gardner Dozois and Jonathan Strahan’s themed anthologies attempting to put a modern spin on space opera, a subgenre of science fiction which causes many of us to think of big metal spaceships crewed by handsome blaster-wielding men who protect us from evil aliens that want to destroy the Earth, or at least steal it’s shrieking scantily clad women. We laugh at these old stories now — the way they ignore the vacuum of space and the effects of relativity, the way their aliens seem a lot less alien than they should, and the way that they rarely seem to display the variety in specie... Read More
February 4th, 2014.
Kat Hooper´s rating:
3.5 |
Bill Willingham,
Bruce Sterling,
Cory Doctorow,
Elizabeth Moon,
Gardner Dozois,
Garth Nix,
Jay Lake,
John Kessel,
John Meaney,
John Scalzi,
Jonathan Strahan,
Justina Robson,
Kristine Kathryn Rusch,
Mike Resnick,
Robert Charles Wilson,
Sean Williams,
Tad Williams |
Short Fiction |
SFF Reviews |
no comments
Shadowed Souls edited by Jim Butcher & Kerrie L. Hughes
Shadowed Souls is an invitational anthology edited by Jim Butcher and Kerrie L. Hughes. Butcher is the author of three fantasy series: THE DRESDEN FILES, THE CODEX ALERA, and THE CINDER SPIRES. Hughes is an established short fiction writer who has edited several anthologies including Chicks Kick Butt, Westward Weird, and Maiden Matron Crone.
The theme of Shadowed Souls is, “good isn’t always light and evil isn’t always dark,” and the eleven stories here showcase main characters — often from the writer’s series — who struggle not to give in to the monster within... or to keep it contained. While the stories are conventional, with conventional magic systems for the most part, this is a nice collecti... Read More
January 5th, 2017.
Marion Deeds´s rating:
3 |
Anton Strout,
Jim Butcher,
Jim C. Hines,
Kat Richardson,
Kevin J. Anderson,
Kristine Kathryn Rusch,
Lucy A. Snyder,
Rob Thurman,
Seanan McGuire,
Tanya Huff |
Short Fiction |
SFF Reviews |
1 comment
More books by Kristine Kathryn Rusch
The Fey — (1995-1998) Publisher: In control of over half of the world, the Fey seek to invade the Blue Isle, where young Prince Nicholas leads his people in the cause of freedom.
Black Throne — (1999-2000) Set in The Fey Universe. Publisher: From one of the most acclaimed creators of fantasy fiction comes the epic tale of the Black Throne, a stirring saga of tumultuous conflict set in a magical world, in a powerful family, and in the tortured and divided mind of its monarch. The Fey Empire has been at peace for fifteen years. But Queen Arianna, who holds the Black Throne, has become increasingly troubled by a mysterious presence that is waking in her mind. It is a force of ruthless power, determined to seize the throne even if it means destroying Arianna’s very essence in the process. And when the queen’s body is not her own, it spells trouble for a warlike empire already beginning to chafe under the strictures of peace. Worse, it seems that the only person who can help Arianna is her brother, Gift, the legitimate heir to the Black Throne — and the one the Throne itself has chosen as ruler. To refuse its summoning could bring disaster, but to accept it could be more dire still. So while his sister is locked in a battle to save her very soul, Gift must use his incomplete knowledge of magic in a desperate fight to discover a solution. At stake is the fate of the entire world — which stands poised on the brink of unimaginable chaos.
Retrieval Artist — (2002- ) Publisher: New York Times bestselling author Orson Scott Card calls the Retrieval Artist series “some of the best science fiction ever written.” Io9 says Miles Flint is one of “the top ten greatest science fiction detectives of all time.” The Disappeared is Flint’s very first adventure, the story that turns him from a police detective in the Armstrong Dome on the Moon into a Retrieval Artist. In a universe where humans and aliens have formed a loose government called the Earth Alliance, treaties guarantee that humans are subject to alien laws when on alien soil. But alien laws often make no sense, and the punishments vary from loss of life to loss of a first-born child. Now three cases have collided: a stolen spaceyacht filled with dead bodies, two kidnapped human children, and a human woman on the run, trying to Disappear to avoid alien prosecution. Flint must enforce the law — giving the children to aliens, solving the murders, and arresting the woman for trying to save her own life. But how is a man supposed to enforce laws that are unjust? How can he sacrifice innocents to a system he’s not sure he believes in? How can Miles Flint do the right thing in a universe where the right thing is very, very wrong?
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CLICK HERE FOR MORE RETRIEVAL ARTIST STORIES.
Spade/Paladin Conundrums — (2010-2014) Publisher: Secret Master of Fandom and Private Detective Spade gets a strange request: a tiny woman with pointed ears asks him to help her with a case at FleshCon, a Nevada science fiction convention. The tiny woman turns out to be the infamous Paladin, whom Spade thought was only a rumor. Paladin needs help finding a teenage boy whom she says vanishes whenever she approaches him. Spade knows that disappearing teenagers only live in (ahem) science fiction novels, so he’s going to do everything he can to find the missing boy — and to impress the impressive Paladin.
CLICK HERE FOR MANY MANY MORE TITLES BY KRISTINE KATHRYN RUSCH.
Speculative fiction by Kevin J. Anderson & Kristine Kathryn Rusch
Afterimage Aftershock — (1992-1998) Kevin J. Anderson and Kristine Kathryn Rusch. Publisher: Afterimage Aftershock the trade omnibus reprinting of Afterimage and the never before published sequel Aftershock. Afterimage He was known as the Joan of Arc killer-a sadistic rapist who burned his victims before he murdered them. Rebecca Tamerlane had been staring into this monster’s face as he hovered over her broken body, the smell of gasoline in the air. Suddenly her body felt completely whole and surprisingly strong… only it wasn’t her body. Aftershock The darklings, or shapeshifters, have always lived in peace with the land. As a series of earthquakes rock California, the land is injured. Unable to use their magic to help themselves, the darklings begin to change, and die, with each new quake… Unless they can find out what is wrong with their magic they will undergo changes. Changes like what happened to Rebecca Tamerlane, except they will never end… until death.
(1960- )
