A Different Sort of List

Jeff VanderMeer has a post up on the Omnivoracious blog titled "Gift Book Suggestions for the Imaginative, the Curious, the Weird".  It's a selection of some twenty books from a variety of mostly small presses and I've heard of a grand total of three of them.  Chances are they will be mostly new to you, too.

I'm posting the list here, but go check out the above link to see VanderMeer's thoughts on them. Lists are just lists.  They don't tell you why. 

Under in the Mere, by Catherynne M. Valente
The Man With the Knives, by Ellen Kushner
Half World, by Hiromi Goto (Viking)
The Wild Kingdom, by Kevin Huizenga (Drawn & Quarterly)
Eden, by Pablo Holmberg (Drawn & Quarterly)
The Weird Fiction Review, edited by S.T. Joshi (Centipede Press)
The Library of Forgotten Books, by Rjurik Davidson (PS Publishing)
Elmer, by Gerry Alanguilan (Slave Labor Graphics)
Light Boxes, by Shane Jones (Penguin)
Horse, Flower, Bird, by Kate Bernheimer (Coffee House Press)
Poetry, Fiction, and Essays, by Eric Basso (various)
Who Was Changed and Who Was Dead, by Barbara Comyns (Dorothy)
Event Factory, by Renee Gladman
Scorch Atlas, by Blake Butler (Featherproof Books)
I Wonder, by Marian Bantjes (The Monacelli Press)
The Honey Month, by Amal El-Mohtar (Papaveria Press)
Black Static magazine, edited by Andy Cox
The Revisionist, by Miranda Mellis (Calamari Press)

The Results Are In: The Final Top 10

The results of Torque Control's poll to determine the top ten science fiction novels of the last decade written by women are in and final.  Niall has been posting the list, one by one, all week.  With the announcement of the number one novel, we now have the full list. 


1. The Carhullan Army/Daughters of the North, by Sarah Hall
2. Maul, by Tricia Sullivan
3. Natural History, by Justina Robson
4. The Time-Traveler’s Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger
5= Spirit, by Gwyneth Jones
5= The Speed of Dark, by Elizabeth Moon
7. Life, by Gwyneth Jones
8. Lavinia, by Ursula K Le Guin
9. Farthing, by Jo Walton
10= Bold as Love, by Gwyneth Jones
10= City of Pearl, by Karen Traviss
 
My first thought is: Cool, two of my picks were popular enough to make the final list.  Both City of Pearl and The Time Traveler's Wife are excellent novels.  I'm glad I took the time to send in my picks because without them, City of Pearl would have dropped off the list.  It's nice to see that a number of other people though highly enough of it to include it on their lists as well. 

My second thought: Clearly I need to read some Gwyneth Jones.  And Tricia Sullivan's Maul.  I own a copy.  Maybe I should open it. 

Niall has also been compiling various stats based on the voting.

Various Top Tens by Category
The Full List of Works Nominated.
Top Ten Writers (based on total nominations, not necessarily placement on the list)

There have been a number of other posts keeping in the theme of the week, discussing other female authored SF works.  Just browse around and you'll find plenty of stuff to read.  Otherwise, the womensf tag grabs everything on wordpress using that tag.  You'll get all of Torque Control's recent stuff, but it stretches back farther than just this week.  Not a huge fan of the interface there, but it's another resource. 

So there you have it. 

The Many Lives of Inez Wick

This isn’t something that I do very often. I’m leery of self published work, with some very specific exceptions. If you’re wondering if you are one of those very specific exceptions and want to send me an e-mail asking if I’ll promote and read your self-published novel or story? Don’t. You’re not, and I won’t. I’ve got opinions about this stuff and exceptions are hard to come by.


So why then am I posting about Aaron Wilson’s self published collection of linked stories? I haven’t read them and given my backlog and what’s coming up for me, I’m not sure when I’d even get to it.  This is just signal boosting.

Not sure if anyone remembers this, but Aaron used to run the Soulless Machine Review blog. He focused quite a bit on short fiction and delved a bit into novel length stuff, too. He’s been out of that game for a number of years now, but I did enjoy his blog back in the day. Also, for me, he’s a local writer. He’s Minneapolis based. I’ve interacted with the guy a bit in the past about our blogs and the local scene. He still has a blog under the Soulless Machine umbrella, but it’s not the same thing.

I also recently read one of his stories (included in this collection) and enjoyed it.

This is preamble to the point that Aaron Wilson has his debut collection making its way out there in the world and I want to get some word out on his behalf. Sometimes you just have to throw some support to a local author and a former fellow book blogger. And hey, his story “Dog Fight” was rather good and it’s part of this collection.

"The Many Lives of Inez Wick" is a collection of short stories that focus on the sometimes eco-heroine, Inez Wick, as she treads the underbelly of domestic terrorism, occasionally blowing up resource exploiters and pouters

Oh, and the cover art? It’s from Bob Lipski, creator of the awesomely awesome Uptown Girl comics.

Cat Valente's Ventriloquism

Back in September I posted a list of some of the books I was looking forward to in the fourth quarter, 2010.  Included on the list was Ventriloquism, a short story collection from Catherynne M. Valente published by PS Publishing (a UK based publisher). 

I mentioned at that time that I was concerned about difficulties finding a copy in the US.

Well...from time to time, Subterranean Press partners with PS Publishing to distribute PS volumes here in the States.

See where this is going?

SubPress will be selling Ventriloquism to American audiences.  I've purchased several PS volumes this way.  It's a great deal for folks in the US.

Senses Five Press Holiday Sale

Via Kelly Barnhill (on Facebook, but I can't really link that)

Senses Five Press, the publisher of the Sybil's Garage Magazine and the Paper Cities anthology, is having a half price sale for the Holiday season.  On everything (which would be 7 magazines and one book). 

Sybil's Garage is a very well regarded magazine.  I own a copy of issue 6, but haven't read it.  Not sure exactly how long the sale is running, but I'm inclined to do some shopping.  They've got e-copies of the early magazines on the cheap.  You know, the ones that built the reputation.

To whet the appetite (and something I just discovered), issues three and four are currently available for free download.  I do have to drop a disclaimer, though.  There's something wonky about he checkout process to download the files.  Even though they are PDFs, the shopping cart keeps trying to add a nominal shipping charge to the order.  I did send a note via the "Contact Us" link - which is likely to editor Matthew Kressel, and I'd expect that stuff to get figured out.

Regardless - if you've been looking to try out the newer issues of Sybil's Garage, this is the time to do it.  Half price for what is essentially a short anthology series (my copy of issue 6 is 100 pages with 16 stories and 13 poems).  Not a bad deal at all.

Edit: The situation with inadvertent shipping charges has been resolved.   

Justina Robson's Heliotrope

Via Torque Control, Justina Robson has a short story collection due out next year titled Heliotrope.  Here is the press release. 

Awesome news.  I haven't read much Robson outside her excellent Quantum Gravity series (start here) and a couple of her stories, but everything has been quite good.

Hopefully this collection can find its way over to the US and not taunt me from the UK.  It'll be one to look for. 

The Top Ten SF Novels of the Last Decade, Written by Women (and which i have read)

Over at Torque Control, Niall Harrison is having a weeklong discussion of SF written by women. The genesis of this stems from several different conversations, and you can follow the links from his post. I come into this sort of on the backend. What I missed over the last week was Niall's post several days ago asking for people to e-mail him their nominations for the Top 10 SF novels written by women over the last ten years (2001 - 2010). I quick looked over my collection, at my Years's Best posts from the last four years, and at a host of other links Niall had included and pulled together my list.

I had just missed the deadline, but since this isn't hard science, Niall let it slide and took my nominations anyway.

I noted to Niall that I'm not as well read in SF as I am in fantasy, which is true, but there is a further point is that I'm also less well read in SF from the last decade. Several novels I would have included without question or hesitation were published in the 90's. Nicola Griffith's Ammonite was published in 1992. The Sparrow, from Mary Doria Russell in 1996. Emma Bull's Bone Dance in 1991. Molly Gloss's The Dazzle of Day in 1998. Those were just the first four that came to mind.

So what, then?

There is no doubt that not only have I likely overlooked something awesome I read six years ago that would qualify for inclusion, I simply have to assume that there are dozens upon dozens (upon dozens) of novels which, if only had I read them, I would shout from the rooftops about how wonderful they are. To those authors, I apologize. I simply haven't read you.

Which brings me to the list of novels I did e-mail Niall as my nominations. I have some reservations about it, more regarding the novels I've overlooked and the novels I haven't read yet than regarding the actual inclusion of what I have here. Give me another decade and this list looks very different and I feel more assured of my choices. Another reservation is just where to draw my genre line between SF and Fantasy. Regardless, here are my nominees - based on what I have read and what I remember having read.

The Time Traveler's Wife, by Audrey Niffenegger (2003)
City of Pearl, by Karen Traviss (2004)
Alanya to Alanya, by L. Timmel Duchamp (2005)
Dust, by Elizabeth Bear (2007)
The Hunger Games, by Suzanne Collins (2008)
Refining Fire, by Emma Bull and Elizabeth Bear (2008) (no review, per se)
Regenesis, by C. J. Cherryh (2009)
Boneshaker, by Cherie Priest (2009)
City Without End, by Kay Kenyon (2009)
Diving Into the Wreck, by Kristine Kathryn Rusch (2009)

I have linked my reviews, where possible.

What would you have included? Sound off.

The Iron Khan is here!

Well, electronically, that is. 

Editor Marty Halpern points out that the fifth volume of Liz Williams' Detective Inspector Chen series, The Iron Khan, has been published as an ebook by Morrigan Books.

Halpern mentions that a print edition is still planned and will be announced, but this is a great first step and it is wonderful to see that Detective Inspector Chen is still alive and kicking after the mess of this summer. 

I've had a Night Shade ARC of The Iron Khan for the last year, but held off on reading it - not knowing when, exactly, the manuscript would be published and if there were any substantial changes to it.  I still don't know this, but the real news is that the rest of the world will get the chance to read more Chen. 

"Ghosts of New York" available for free reading

Via Jennifer Pelland.

I tracked down a copy of the Dark Faith anthology for just a couple of stories from some of my favorite writers, Jennifer Pelland's "Ghosts of New York" right at the top of that list.  I wrote about the story back in June.  As expected, it was excellent. 

But, the story was only available in a small press anthology and I couldn't share this awesomeness with everyone else.

Until now.

Apex has published "Ghosts of New York" on their website for some quality free reading.  This would be an excellent time to go read the story.  You don't even have to leave the comfort of your house. 

The Taxidermist's Other Wife, by Kelly Barnhill

Since it is the beginning of another month, we have another set of stories from Clarkesworld Magazine.  I assume you've been reading Clarkesworld for a while now, but just in case you haven't...

The one I wanted to point out, if you haven't noted the title of this post, is "The Taxidermists's Other Wife", by Kelly Barnhill.  This is a twisted little tale, especially as the realization begins to set in. 

Now, I have to admit, Kelly Barnhill is a friend and a delightful person.  BUT, she is also a wonderful writer and while I've been anticipating her debut novel (The Mostly True Story of Jack, due out August 2011), I'm thrilled to run across her stories anywhere they may be.  You may recognize Barnhill from the VanderMeer's pirate anthology Fast Ships, Black Sails (though, clearly not from my review).  She's also been published in Weird Tales, Fantasy Magazine, Postscripts, and Sybil's Garage.  Not too shabby.

Now go read.

TOC: The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume 5

Jonathan Strahan has posted the table of contents for the fifth volume of his annual Year's Best anthology of SFF.

Strahan has a great eye for picking out the best stories, so each volume is a must read.

Introduction, Jonathan Strahan
“Elegy for a Young Elk,” Hannu Rajaniemi
“The Truth is a Cave in the Black Mountains,” Neil Gaiman
“Seven Sexy Cowboy Robots,” Sandra McDonald
“The Spy Who Never Grew Up,” Sarah Rees Brennan
“The Aarne-Thompson Classification Revue,” Holly Black
“Under the Moons of Venus,” Damien Broderick
“The Fool Jobs,” Joe Abercrombie
“Alone,” Robert Reed
“Names for Water,” Kij Johnson
“Fair Ladies,” Theodora Goss
“Plus or Minus,” James P. Kelly
“The Man With the Knives,” Ellen Kushner
“The Jammie Dodgers and the Adventure of the Leicester Square Screening,” Cory Doctorow
“The Maiden Flight of McAuley’s Bellerophon,” Elizabeth Hand
“The Miracle Aquilina,” Margo Lanagan
“The Taste of Night,” Pat Cadigan
“The Exterminator’s Want-Ad,” Bruce Sterling
“Map of Seventeen,” Christopher Barzak
“The Naturalist,” Maureen McHugh
“Sins of the Father,” Sara Genge
“The Sultan of the Clouds,” Geoffrey A. Landis
“Iteration,” John Kessel
“The Care and Feeding of Your Baby Killer Unicorn,” Diana Peterfreund
“The Night Train,” Lavie Tidhar
“Still Life (A Sexagesimal Fairy Tale),” Ian Tregillis
“Amor Vincit Omnia,” K.J. Parker
“The Things,” Peter Watts
“The Zeppelin Conductors’ Society Annual Gentlemen’s Ball,” Genevieve Valentine
“The Lady Who Plucked Red Flowers Beneath the Queen’s Window,” Rachel Swirsky

"The Things", from Peter Watts, is excellent.  I expect the others to be equally good.  A story from Rachel Swirsky is always a good sign.

Forthcoming 2011: Q1

Welcome to the latest installment of "Stuff I'm Looking Forward To This Year". As always, I take my information from the Locus Forthcoming list, plus a little bit of extra research when I'm aware of things that should be on the Locus list and are not.

January
The White City, by Elizabeth Bear: The third novella / book, following New Amsterdam and Seven for a Secret.  The more I read in this series, the more I want. 



February
The Sea Thy Mistress, by Elizabeth Bear.  I have an ARC in my hands right now.  This is the third book of Bear's excellent Edda of Burdens trilogy.  The first two are All the Windwracked Stars and By the Mountain Bound.  FANTASTIC stuff.  

Harbinger of the Storm, by Aliette de Bodard: This is the sequel to Servant of the Underworld, which I have not read.  That first book is on my library hold list, so I suppose I don't know for sure that this should be one of my anticipated books, but this historical fantasy / mystery set in the world of the Aztecs is something new and fresh that you don't see every day.  It should be worth keeping an eye on.

Down to the Bone, by Justina Robson: This is a UK only release for now, but Down to the Bone is the fifth volume in Robson's excellent Quantum Gravity series.  The first four were released in the US by Pyr.  I assume we'll see it in the States sometimes in 2011 or 2012.  Hopefully Pyr is picking it up.  They've put out great looking editions of the first four. 

Bloodshot, by Cherie Priest: New Cherie Priest.  It's not a Clockwork Century novel (alas), but Priest describes it as: "fabulous urban fantasy adventure about a neurotic vampire/thief and her wealthy blind client, now with Bonus! Cuban drag queen and military intrigue."  Or, as I call it: New Cherie Priest.  Nuff Said.


March
Grail, by Elizabeth Bear: Hey look, three months, three books by eBear!   This is the third volume of the Jacob's Ladder trilogy.  I favorably reviewed the first book, Dust, and I should really get around to reviewing the second, Chill (it's even better than the first!).

The Republic of Thieves, by Scott Lynch: Is it possible?  Might it really? 


The Best Science Fiction and Fantasy of the Year, Volume Five, by Jonathan Strahan: My favorite Year's Best anthology series.  I'm collecting these like candy. 


Lots of good stuff coming in 2011. 

The Chronicles of the Raven

I never wrote about the three books of James Barclay's The Chronicles of the Raven back when I first read them earlier this year. 

That's a shame, because Dawnthief, Noonshade, and Nightchild really are excellent fantasy novels.

This is the sort of stuff I would have loved beyond all recognition when I first discovered fantasy as a teenager.  It works as something of a bridge of the more simpler and safer quest fantasies of the 1980's (the stuff readers of my generation grew up on) and the nastier, more violent stuff written by Joe Abercrombie and Matthew Stover.  Yes, there is enough room and time in the fantasy genre to drive several buses through that gap, and surely other writers have played and are playing in that gap, but Barclay's work here demonstrates how a traditional quest fantasy can be told, feel modern, and yet stand firmly in the tradition of those novels which came before.

Barclay writes,

Dawnthief came from a personal frustration with the pace, style and character matter of other fantasy novels I’d read and has its roots in role playing. I wanted my principal characters to already be the best at what they did and not the classic ‘stable boy becomes hero/king’ types. Having The Raven as mercenaries introduces a moral greyness which means readers can’t assume they’ll always do the ‘right’ thing.

The aim is to entertain readers and for me, the ideal reaction on reading Dawnthief would be ‘bloody good read that, think I’ll buy Noonshade‘ (as opposed to ‘crumbs what a fascinating insight into the human psyche, think I’ll go for a lie down’).

He succeeded.  Dawnthief, and the subsequent novels, are a bloody good read. 

"The Raven" is a mercenary company loyal only to each other and the job, but circumstances has them fighting to save their world.  It's not quite as cliche as it sounds, but this is part of where the bridge lies.  The Chronicles of the Raven has its roots in the traditions of quest fantasies, but that moral ambiguity is important.  These are men (and an elf) fighting for the right thing, but not necessarily all for the right reasons.  The action is quite a bit more stark and in-your-face than in those earlier fantasies.  Ass is kicked and there are questions regarding the true safety of the heroes that don't exist in the fantasies of the 1980's and the early 1990's.  

The reason I continue to bring up a decade some twenty years in the past is that, admittedly, The Chronicles of the Raven is an answer to the books of that decade.  The conversation Barclay is having is not so much with his contemporaries or even those writers who began publishing in the 1990's, and the tone of that conversation is evident in the three novels.  It is important to note that Dawnthief was originally published in the UK in 1999.  It is less a novel of the last ten years as it is the ten years prior to that.

The obvious contemporary comparison here is Joe Abercrombie and readers won't taste the dirt on their teeth with Barclay as they will with Abercrombie.  That's neither a bad thing nor a good thing.  It's just a thing and why I consider The Chronicles of the Raven to be something of a "bridge" between two styles of quest-fantasy storytelling. Readers who cut their teeth on David Eddings, Terry Brooks, Tad Williams, and Raymond Feist, and who are still looking for a good fantasy in that tradition with just a bit of an edge to it will love James Barclay.  Readers digging on the newer fantasy writers on the scene will find Barclay a touch lighter than some of the new stuff, but should still find themselves pulled away by a well told story. 


The bottom line here is that The Chronicles of the Raven is, as James Barclay hoped, a "bloody good read".  Having finished these books early in 2010, I have recently received copies of the first two books of the next series Legends of the Raven.  Seeing those new books on my shelf has me itching to delve back into the world of Balaia.  It's good stuff, y'all.

Strange Horizons, change is in the air

A day after winning a World Fantasy Award for her work on Strange Horizons, Susan Marie Groppi announced that she was stepping down as Editor in Chief of Strange Horizons. 

Taking her place is Niall Harrison, the previous Reviews Editor at Strange Horizons.  Abigail Nussbaum will take Niall's position as head of the Reviews department.  Good choices, both of them.  Niall and Abigail are smart folk. 

Strange Horizons remains one of the premier places to find great short fiction, often from writers who are just beginning to make a name for themselves in the genre (as well as from more established writers).  Their book reviews are just as good. 

I expect Niall and Abigail will maintain the high standards of Strange Horizons and continue to deliver excellent fiction and nonfiction.  Congrats to them, and best of luck to Susan Groppi.

Now it's time to go check out some of that excellent fiction over there.

City of Ruins!

Sweet!  Just found out that there is going to be a follow up to Diving Into the Wreck (one of the best books of last year that I haven't written about) called City of Ruins.  There's a cover and everything. 

I don't need to know anything else about it, except that it exists.  Diving Into the Wreck was so good that I immediately tracked down a copy of the first Retrieval Artist novel Rusch wrote.  Haven't read it yet, but clearly I must. 

2010 World Fantasy Award Winners

The winners of the 2010 World Fantasy Awards have been announced.  


Best Novel: The City & The City, by China Mieville
Best Novella: "Sea Hearts", by Margo Lanagan
Best Short Story: "The Pelican Bar", by Karen Joy Fowler
Best Anthology: American Fantastic Tales, by Peter Straub (editor)
Best Collection (tie): The Very Best of Gene Wolfe / There Once Lived a Woman Who Tried to Kill Her Neighbor's Baby, by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya
Best Artist: Charles Vess
Special Award, Professional: Jonathan Strahan
Special Award, Non Professional: Susan Marie Groppi

Congratulations to all the winners, with special congrats to Jonathan Strahan and Susan Marie Groppi.  Strahan is a fantastic anthologist and Groppi is the editor of Strange Horizons, one of my favorite places to find short fiction. 

Dust, by Elizabeth Bear

Dust
Elizabeth Bear
Spectra: 2007

On her website, Elizabeth Bear had this to say about Dust (and the trilogy as a whole):

This is a trilogy of novels set aboard a derelict generation ship in orbit around a dying sun. It's much more space opera and sweeping than the Jenny books, Carnival, or Undertow, which is to say that it has more of a quest or adventure sensibility and somewhat less intrigue and politicking. I described it to my editor in the pitch as "Amber:Gormenghast::Upstairs:Downstairs, in SPAAAAAAAAAACE!"

And she bought it, so you know, I kind of hope the same pitch works on you.

The first novel, Dust, is about two young women, Rien and Perceval, who meet under unkind circumstances and form a fragile alliance in an attempt to prevent a potentially devastating war. However, unbeknownst to them, they have attracted the attention of the flickering hulk of the dead ship's A.I...

Bioengineering, ancient betrayals, and spunky teenaged heroines. Also, an Elric parody. How can you say no?

Now, I’ll admit that the pitch itself wasn’t a strong sell for me, but I trust Bear and her set-up for the novel itself is intriguing. Moreso than the pitch.

The bioengineering here is important because Perceval is described as an angel who has had her wings cut off after she surrendered, and there are references to other angels, God, aspects of godhood, and the Elect. Among other things. Yet, as Bear states, this is set “aboard a derelict generation ship in orbit around a dying sun”. The contrast between what might elsewhere be religious in nature and concepts which are very much science fiction works very well here, though readers will likely spend some time trying to figure out exactly how these concepts fit together.

One of the things I have most appreciated about Bear’s fiction is her use of broken characters. Most of her characters, human or otherwise, are damaged in some manner. This makes them…like people. They aren’t flawed, per se, but more fully realized in how life and experience affects and alters an individual, not always in ways that are comfortable or pleasant. Except that these are the characters that lend themselves to beautiful writing and haunting stories. These are the characters which come across as more “real”.

Characterization tends to be one of the strongest aspects of Elizabeth Bear’s fiction (see her Stratford Man duology), but perhaps because the perspective is so much more tightly focused on Rien and Perceval, they are the only two characters who stand out as clearly defined characters. The other characters are much less…vibrant, or alive. Compared to Bear’s previous novels, this is a bit of a surprise, but it does permit the focus to be solely on Perceval and Rien. The actions of the other characters are important, and have ramifications for the next novel, Chill, and beyond, but they aren’t quite as important and immediate as the personal drama and adventure of the two protagonists. Though necessary to the story being told, the other characters just do not add the narrative weight and richness Bear’s readers have come to expect. On the other hand, Dust also contains a nano-tech improved power-tool named Gavin with a certain amount of sentience which has transformed itself into a basilisk. The awesomeness of Gavin can not be overstated.

Whether it is the adventure aspect of the novel or the strong characterization of Rien and Perceval which allowed an emotional bond to build, Dust has become one of my favorite novels from Elizabeth Bear. Dust is right up there with, though a step behind, her Promethean Age novels. This is high praise. The raw inventiveness in the worldbuilding is stunning, even as there is a sense of bewilderment at how all these disparate elements fit together. Dust is a novel which should not be overlooked.


Previous Reviews

Blood and Iron
Whiskey and Water
Ink and Steel
Hell and Earth
Hammered
Scardown
New Amsterdam
Seven for a Secret
A Companion to Wolves
All the Windwracked Stars
By the Mountain Bound

More Liz Williams!

Not too long after she announced a new home for the Detective Inspector Chen series, Liz Williams has a new announcement.

I have signed a 3 book deal with Prime Books. It's called Worldsoul and it's about a stolen library, an unstable monorail, several renegade sphinxes and much else besides. It's more fantasy than SF. The first novel will be coming out either next year or early 2012,

Great news and looking forward to these! A stolen library AND an unstable monorail?  Hell yeah!

The Lifecycle of Software Objects, by Ted Chiang

For those who are interested, and this should be everyone, Subterranean Online has just published Ted Chiang's novella "The Lifecycle of Software Objects".

Chiang is not prolific and every time he publishes his stories tend to be one of the best published in a given year.  So, you'll want to go read this.

Honestly, though, this is one of the few times I've been disappointed in one of Chiang's stories.  There's supposed to be heart in the story, but Chiang left me feeling a bit cold towards the characters and that situation - which is never a good thing for me as a reader.  This is why I haven't talked about the story all year.  I had no idea what to really say.   Elizabeth Bear loved it, though. You can probably find scads of other positive reviews all over the place. 

Bear writes,

This is a descriptive work of science fiction, rather than a strongly plot-driven one. It’s meditative and thoughtful, and it does not offer tidy closure or resolution: just a series of ever-more-complicated questions.

I think this may be one of my issues, that more descriptive works challenge my reader-brain in ways that I just not tend to enjoy so much.

So why point out a story I didn't overly like? 

Dude, it's a new Ted Chiang.  Even when I don't like it, it's impressive and worth noting.  You don't want to miss new Ted Chiang that is offered online for free.  Besides, what the hell do I know?

new Shadow Unit: Closet Monster

"Closet Monster", written by Leah Bobet is up at Shadow Unit.  Season 3, Episode 5.

I assume you're caught up, so go read.