Previous SFF Author: Martin L. Shoemaker
Untouched by Human Hands by Robert Sheckley
After reading Robert Sheckley’s Dimension of Miracles, I was eager to read more of his work. That novel was intelligent, creative, thought-provoking, and entertaining. So I picked up Untouched by Human Hands, a collection of Sheckley’s short stories published in the 1950s in the various pulp magazines.
My edition is the audiobook produced by Skyboat Media and read by Gabrielle de Cuir, Stefan Rudnicki, and Harlan Ellison.
November 15th, 2018. Kat Hooper´s rating: 4 | Robert Sheckley | Audio, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
“Thirty-Three Percent Joe” by Suzanne Palmer (2018, free online at Clarkesworld, $2.99 Kindle magazine issue)
Science fiction humor is very hard to pull off, and rarely works for me. This Suzanne Palmer story is a radiant exception. Palmer hits a grand-slam with a human soldier who has 33% of his body replaced with smart parts, including a heart,
November 12th, 2018. Marion Deeds, Bill Capossere and Tadiana Jones | Daryl Gregory, Suzanne Palmer | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
A Town Divided by Christmas by Orson Scott Card
The scientific method collides with southern small town culture and a local mystery in Orson Scott Card’s charming and insightful novella A Town Divided by Christmas (2018). Two post-doc academics ― Dr. Delilah (Spunky) Spunk, an economist, and Dr. Elyon Dewey, a geneticist ― are sent to Good Shepherd, North Carolina to do a genetic and sociological study. The hope is that by studying a relatively genetically isolated population, they can prove or disprove the theory that certain people carry a “homebody marker”: a genetic tendency to remain in their native community or return to it.
November 12th, 2018. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 4 | Orson Scott Card | Edge, Short Fiction, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Nevada Baylor is getting married to Connor Rogan, and when Rogan’s mother Arrosa shuts down their plans for a small and simple wedding, insisting on a full-scale formal wedding, a couple of things happen. Nevada inexplicably gets incredibly fussy and controlling about the wedding details, firing two wedding planners, and her beleaguered 18 and 16 year old sisters Catalina and Arabella decide that the only feasible option is to handle the wedding planning themselves. And a large crowd of Rogan’s Spanish relatives on his mother’s side descends on Mrs.
November 9th, 2018. Tadiana Jones´s rating: 3.5 | Ilona Andrews | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
The Loved Dead and Other Tales by C.M. Eddy, Jr.
Sometimes, it seems, a little notoriety can be a good thing. Take, for example, the case of the legendary pulp magazine Weird Tales. Though famously cash strapped for most of its 32-year run, during its earliest days, in 1923, things looked especially bleak for the nascent publication. On the very brink of bankruptcy, editor Edwin Baird decided to purchase, against his better judgment, a story by a Providence, Rhode Island-born writer named C.M. Eddy, Jr.
Eddy had already had a few of his weird tales released in the pages of Weird Tales,
November 6th, 2018. Sandy Ferber´s rating: 3 | C.M. Eddy_Jr | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 3 comments |
Our reviews of free and inexpensive short fiction available on the internet. For this year’s Halloween week column, we offer a selection of haunted house stories. (The first story is admittedly pushing the boundaries of that classification, but it was too good to leave out.)
“The Man in the Woods” by Shirley Jackson (published 2014, free in The New Yorker)
Christopher, a college student, leaves school one day for reasons he can’t even articulate to himself, and walks for days through towns and fields,
October 29th, 2018. Tadiana Jones | Kelley Armstrong | Horror, Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Driving to Geronimo’s Grave by Joe R. Lansdale
See, here’s why I read Joe R. Lansdale; in Driving to Geronimo’s Grave (2018), there is a short story called “Wrestling with Jesus.” The story is about wrestling and male bonding. It’s violent. It’s gross and vulgar. The plot involves two men gambling over a woman. There are two women characters; one is weak and venial and the other is evil and manipulative. It has foul language. It’s funny. Generally, only “it’s funny” would even remotely attract me to a story like this,
October 18th, 2018. Marion Deeds | Joe R. Lansdale | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | 2 comments |
Kingdoms of Elfin by Sylvia Townsend Warner
I first read Sylvia Townsend Warner’s Kingdoms of Elfin (1977) almost twenty years ago. At the time, I was using the recommendation lists in the back of Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling’s fairy tale books as a to-read list (side note: I highly recommend this; I found lots of amazing books that way). The online used-book market was not what it is today, so I found most of them by haunting the local used bookstores constantly to see if anything on the list had appeared since my last visit.
October 10th, 2018. Kelly Lasiter´s rating: 4 | Sylvia Townsend Warner | Short Fiction, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 1 comment |
Rock Manning Goes for Broke by Charlie Jane Anders
The thing I loved the most about Rock Manning Goes for Broke, the 2018 novella by Charlie Jane Anders, is the narrative voce of Rock himself. Here are the opening lines:
Earliest I remember, Daddy threw me off the roof of our split-level house. “Boy’s gotta learn to fall sometime,” he told my mom just before he slung my pants seat and let me go.
That’s the flavor of this brief,
October 8th, 2018. Marion Deeds´s rating: 5 | Charlie Jane Anders | Short Fiction, Stand-Alone | SFF Reviews | 4 comments |
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.
“Waves of Influence” by D.A. Xiaolin Spires (2018, free at Clarkesworld magazine, $2.99 Kindle magazine issue)
Chenghui, a clever young Chinese woman, has committed fraud to win a contest to be trained by Meixiu, an internet sensation and social influencer. Chenghui’s sister, Yixuan, is a devoted fan of Meixiu, and is also slowly dying of a heart ailment.
October 1st, 2018. Marion Deeds, Tadiana Jones and Bill Capossere | Kevin J. Anderson | Short Fiction | SFF Reviews | no comments |
Previous SFF Author: Martin L. Shoemaker
Do it! One of the best things I've read in recent years.
This reminds me. I want to read Addie LaRue.
We’re in total agreement David!
I felt just the same. The prose and character work was excellent. The larger story was unsatisfying, especially compared to…
Hmmm. I think I'll pass.