I'd Really Prefer Not to Be Here With You, and Other Stories
Julianna Baggott
Blackstone Publishing
Fiction, Collection/Fantasy/Horror/Sci-Fi
**** (Good)
DESCRIPTION: A power glitch reveals a terrifying truth about the adults in an idyllic suburban development, a young woman's morphing tattoo demands she confront a traumatic childhood incident, a peculiar pandemic scatters memories to random people, an AI "gaslighter" begins to question its role in manipulating humans... these and more stories by noted author Julianna Baggott are collected in this volume.
REVIEW: As with many short story collections, these tales could be a mixed bag, though I liked them more than I didn't. Many explore themes related to memories, the traumas of childhood (and parenthood), and the need to confront past hurts and unhealthy patterns if one is to have any hope of a better future. There are also some that explore what personhood means, and how we decide who gets to be recognized and who gets to be silenced. A few felt long, a few others felt abbreviated, and sometimes Baggott didn't seem to quite know where or how to end, what final note would make the strongest impact. Overall, though, they explored some interesting ideas without feeling too repetitive.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Anything Box (Zenna Henderson) - My Review
Eyes Like Sky and Coal and Moonlight (Cat Rambo) - My Review
Sister Emily's Lightship and Other Stories (Jane Yolen) - My Review
Friday, March 21, 2025
The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water (Zen Cho)
The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water
Zen Cho
Tordotcom
Fiction, Fantasy
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: When the handsome-faced bandit walked into the small coffeehouse, one of many nondescript coffeehouses in a nation slowly being crushed by the heavy boot of a foreign Protectorate, trouble was almost inevitable... especially when that bandit intervenes in a rude customer's ill treatment of the waitress. That should've been the beginning and end of it, a brief incident and crossing of paths - until the waitress, fired by the coffeehouse, tracks down the bandit and insists on joining his small crew. They are reluctant, naturally; not only is she a woman, but she has the shaven head of a former nun of the Order of the Pure Moon, and there are rumors about them dabbling in forbidden magics. But Guet Imm is persistent, and the bandits may turn out to be very much in need of her assistance, as their latest scheme is about to go horribly awry.
REVIEW: Set in an Asian-inspired world where outsiders have turned the nation against itself as soldiers target the heart of the culture and bandits, once the heart of the resistance, degenerate into infighting and thuggery, this novella had many ingredients that were intriguing, though for some reason I never quite found they clicked together as they should have. The characters are all scarred to varying degrees by what's happening to their country; Guet Imm was a nun in seclusion for many years before emerging to find the rest of her Order slaughtered, and is still a bit of an innocent in the ways of the wider world, while the bandits - particularly the jaded second-in-command Tet Sang - have given up their own former idealism to some degree; while they are trying in their own way to preserve what they can of their nation's heritage, doing so requires compromises that largely undermine whatever integrity they try to preserve, and more and more it's about the money rather than the honor. Tet Sang hides further secrets that are endangered by the presence of the former nun, which come out as their scheme is revealed and unravels before their eyes. Despite the terrible things that have happened, Guet Imm remains a devout follower of the Lady, insisting that the goddess still protects Her people and Her faithful and punishes their enemies, all evidence to the contrary... claims which might have a grain of truth behind them as events proceed. For some reason, I never really felt I was drawn into the story, kept a little at arm's length from the world and the people, making the resolution feel less cathartic and satisfactory than it should have been.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Sorcerer to the Crown (Zen Cho) - My Review
Into the Riverlands (Nghi Vo) - My Review
Song of Silver, Flame Like Night (Amélie Wen Zhao) - My Review
Zen Cho
Tordotcom
Fiction, Fantasy
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: When the handsome-faced bandit walked into the small coffeehouse, one of many nondescript coffeehouses in a nation slowly being crushed by the heavy boot of a foreign Protectorate, trouble was almost inevitable... especially when that bandit intervenes in a rude customer's ill treatment of the waitress. That should've been the beginning and end of it, a brief incident and crossing of paths - until the waitress, fired by the coffeehouse, tracks down the bandit and insists on joining his small crew. They are reluctant, naturally; not only is she a woman, but she has the shaven head of a former nun of the Order of the Pure Moon, and there are rumors about them dabbling in forbidden magics. But Guet Imm is persistent, and the bandits may turn out to be very much in need of her assistance, as their latest scheme is about to go horribly awry.
REVIEW: Set in an Asian-inspired world where outsiders have turned the nation against itself as soldiers target the heart of the culture and bandits, once the heart of the resistance, degenerate into infighting and thuggery, this novella had many ingredients that were intriguing, though for some reason I never quite found they clicked together as they should have. The characters are all scarred to varying degrees by what's happening to their country; Guet Imm was a nun in seclusion for many years before emerging to find the rest of her Order slaughtered, and is still a bit of an innocent in the ways of the wider world, while the bandits - particularly the jaded second-in-command Tet Sang - have given up their own former idealism to some degree; while they are trying in their own way to preserve what they can of their nation's heritage, doing so requires compromises that largely undermine whatever integrity they try to preserve, and more and more it's about the money rather than the honor. Tet Sang hides further secrets that are endangered by the presence of the former nun, which come out as their scheme is revealed and unravels before their eyes. Despite the terrible things that have happened, Guet Imm remains a devout follower of the Lady, insisting that the goddess still protects Her people and Her faithful and punishes their enemies, all evidence to the contrary... claims which might have a grain of truth behind them as events proceed. For some reason, I never really felt I was drawn into the story, kept a little at arm's length from the world and the people, making the resolution feel less cathartic and satisfactory than it should have been.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Sorcerer to the Crown (Zen Cho) - My Review
Into the Riverlands (Nghi Vo) - My Review
Song of Silver, Flame Like Night (Amélie Wen Zhao) - My Review
Kingdom of the Wicked (Derek Landy)
Kingdom of the Wicked
The Skulduggery Pleasant series, Book 7
Derek Landy
HarperCollins
Fiction, YA Adventure/Fantasy/Horror/Humor/Mystery
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Since ancient times, the world's magic users have relied on secrecy to survive among the mundane mortal population - not always by choice, but by necessity, as the ordinary humans outnumber them so significantly. This was why the Sanctuaries were founded, why there are rules about public displays of power, why Valkyrie Cain has to use her own animated mirror reflection to hide her secret life from her mortal family... and why the Irish magical community is thrown into chaos when random people start spontaneously manifesting strange abilities, everything from delusions of flight to the deadly powers deployed by four disaffected teenagers out for vengeance and thrills.
Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie discover a link to a long-imprisoned sorcerer who once had a dream of discovering the source of all magic and sharing it to create a utopian world. Even from captivity, the man may be about to unleash his "gift" on the whole world, not caring about the devastation it would cause. As they investigate, they also have to dodge an international delegation intent on taking over the Irish Sanctuary, as well as a few old enemies and a host of new ones - not to mention occasional trips to a hellish alternate dimension where the long-ago war among the mages went very, very differently.
REVIEW: This series continues to impress, with high stakes, great characters, sharp dialog, and real growth. Picking up about a year after the previous installment, the Irish Sanctuary is still struggling to prove to the rest of the magical world that it can handle its own affairs after numerous high-profile incidents. A bunch of mortals suddenly displaying random, uncontrollable magic powers in full public view is just what nobody needs, especially when some of those mortals quickly embrace the deadlier aspects of their new powers. Teen girl Kitana is the quintessential popular girl, a spoiled bully who rules her small circle of friends with a potent mixture of gaslighting and amoral thrill-seeking... the very last person who should ever be handed godlike abilities. What she and her companions lack in experience or planning, they make up for in sheer instinct and ruthlessness, making the team a very different sort of opponent than the ones Skulduggery and Valkyrie are used to squaring off against and one that bests them more than once. Meanwhile, ongoing series threads develop new twists and turns, keeping the larger arcs from stagnating even as the main story keeps the characters jumping (and diving for cover). An encounter with a dimensional shifter offers a new perspective on the story and the characters, as Valkyrie visits an alternate world where the old mage war went very differently... a world where she may find a weapon that was lost on our Earth but which would come in very handy fighting the newly-created near-gods. The fact that she'd even consider a solo heist against a maniacal sorcerer-king who rules with an iron fist shows how much Skulduggery's independence and recklessness has rubbed off on her. As I've come to expect from the series, it all builds to an explosive finale, followed by a strong hook that all but demands one queue up the next installment right away. There were one or two characters whose stories fell by the wayside, and a little threat of overload with the many threads it juggles, but I'm still loving this series.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Dark World (Henry Kuttner) - My Review
Skulduggery Pleasant (Derek Landy) - My Review
The Amulet of Samarkand (Jonathan Stroud) - My Review
The Skulduggery Pleasant series, Book 7
Derek Landy
HarperCollins
Fiction, YA Adventure/Fantasy/Horror/Humor/Mystery
****+ (Good/Great)
DESCRIPTION: Since ancient times, the world's magic users have relied on secrecy to survive among the mundane mortal population - not always by choice, but by necessity, as the ordinary humans outnumber them so significantly. This was why the Sanctuaries were founded, why there are rules about public displays of power, why Valkyrie Cain has to use her own animated mirror reflection to hide her secret life from her mortal family... and why the Irish magical community is thrown into chaos when random people start spontaneously manifesting strange abilities, everything from delusions of flight to the deadly powers deployed by four disaffected teenagers out for vengeance and thrills.
Skulduggery Pleasant and Valkyrie discover a link to a long-imprisoned sorcerer who once had a dream of discovering the source of all magic and sharing it to create a utopian world. Even from captivity, the man may be about to unleash his "gift" on the whole world, not caring about the devastation it would cause. As they investigate, they also have to dodge an international delegation intent on taking over the Irish Sanctuary, as well as a few old enemies and a host of new ones - not to mention occasional trips to a hellish alternate dimension where the long-ago war among the mages went very, very differently.
REVIEW: This series continues to impress, with high stakes, great characters, sharp dialog, and real growth. Picking up about a year after the previous installment, the Irish Sanctuary is still struggling to prove to the rest of the magical world that it can handle its own affairs after numerous high-profile incidents. A bunch of mortals suddenly displaying random, uncontrollable magic powers in full public view is just what nobody needs, especially when some of those mortals quickly embrace the deadlier aspects of their new powers. Teen girl Kitana is the quintessential popular girl, a spoiled bully who rules her small circle of friends with a potent mixture of gaslighting and amoral thrill-seeking... the very last person who should ever be handed godlike abilities. What she and her companions lack in experience or planning, they make up for in sheer instinct and ruthlessness, making the team a very different sort of opponent than the ones Skulduggery and Valkyrie are used to squaring off against and one that bests them more than once. Meanwhile, ongoing series threads develop new twists and turns, keeping the larger arcs from stagnating even as the main story keeps the characters jumping (and diving for cover). An encounter with a dimensional shifter offers a new perspective on the story and the characters, as Valkyrie visits an alternate world where the old mage war went very differently... a world where she may find a weapon that was lost on our Earth but which would come in very handy fighting the newly-created near-gods. The fact that she'd even consider a solo heist against a maniacal sorcerer-king who rules with an iron fist shows how much Skulduggery's independence and recklessness has rubbed off on her. As I've come to expect from the series, it all builds to an explosive finale, followed by a strong hook that all but demands one queue up the next installment right away. There were one or two characters whose stories fell by the wayside, and a little threat of overload with the many threads it juggles, but I'm still loving this series.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Dark World (Henry Kuttner) - My Review
Skulduggery Pleasant (Derek Landy) - My Review
The Amulet of Samarkand (Jonathan Stroud) - My Review
Friday, March 7, 2025
The Picture of Dorian Gray (Oscar Wilde)
The Picture of Dorian Gray
Oscar Wilde
Blackstone Publishing
Fiction, Horror/Literary Fiction
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Dorian Gray is the very vision of innocent, aristocratic youth, the perfect muse to the London artist Basil Hallward - and the perfect potential protégé of the decadent Lord Henry, who visits Basil's studio during one of Dorian's sessions. When the lord's offhand comments about the fleeting nature of youth and beauty strike a chord with young Dorian, the man impulsively vows that he'd sell his very soul to remain forever as young and handsome and untouched by sin and time as his painted image. Little do any of them suspect that Dorian's wish has been granted. As Dorian falls further under Henry's corrupting influence, pushing himself to experience fully every impulse, every sensation, every desire and whim and darkness a human can aspire to, he retains the visage of purity and innocence... but the painting begins to change...
REVIEW: Once more, I attempt to experience a work of classic literature, and once more I encounter mixed results. The iconic tale of a young man who finds a way to (temporarily) cheat damnation and avoid consequences for his actions remains interesting and compelling, but once again Wilde drifts and meanders and circles around the story as often as he tells it.
From the start, there is something special about the titular portrait, as the artist Basil laments to his friend Lord Henry that Dorian Gray has become a muse, an ideal, and that consequently Basil has put "too much" of himself into the work. Almost from the moment Henry sets eyes on the young Dorian, though, the lord is determined to corrupt the innocence and beauty he sees there, not out of any particular malice or master plan but more as an experiment by a man bored of his own idle richness (and perhaps a touch of unacknowledged jealousy and resentment, his own days of youth and innocence having long since passed by). Dorian, having been sheltered much of his young life, is too easy a prey to resist, taking Henry's cynical, hedonistic, and often self-contradictory orations as gospel truth and inspiration to live his own life as fully and sensually and extremely as he can manage. He does not set out immediately to taste-test the seven deadly sins, but finds his way there soon enough, galvanized by an ill-advised crush on a low-end actress that takes a tragic turn. It is after this incident that he first notices the change in the painting, first realizes that his impulsive vow of long ago has somehow come true... and first comprehends that the painting might serve as either a guide to keep him on the moral path or a "get out of jail free" card that will allow him to indulge every impulse without consequence. The artist Basil and Lord Henry are the angel and demon on his shoulders respectively, though it's clear from that first day in Basil's studio which voice will ultimately win out over Dorian's conscience. There are a few moments where Dorian is presented with options and a chance to turn around, but he remains too convinced that he'll never have to pay the ever-mounting bill of his ever-more-depraved lifestyle, until a final and fateful reckoning.
As in other Wilde works I've read, the tale is heavily embroidered and padded with long side-trips and scenes that ultimately go nowhere but are full of rich sensory details and/or clever high-brow banter. Much of Dorian's descent is less explicitly stated and more implied and hinted at, with dark rumors and reputations gathering like storm clouds over him despite his eternal good looks and charm, the increasing toll of broken lives in his wake. I am glad I finally got around to this one, and I did enjoy the memorable imagery at several points, though once more I found myself wishing it had encountered a somewhat less timid editor at some point.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald) - My Review
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Robert Louis Stevenson) - My Review
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories (Oscar Wilde) - My Review
Oscar Wilde
Blackstone Publishing
Fiction, Horror/Literary Fiction
***+ (Okay/Good)
DESCRIPTION: Dorian Gray is the very vision of innocent, aristocratic youth, the perfect muse to the London artist Basil Hallward - and the perfect potential protégé of the decadent Lord Henry, who visits Basil's studio during one of Dorian's sessions. When the lord's offhand comments about the fleeting nature of youth and beauty strike a chord with young Dorian, the man impulsively vows that he'd sell his very soul to remain forever as young and handsome and untouched by sin and time as his painted image. Little do any of them suspect that Dorian's wish has been granted. As Dorian falls further under Henry's corrupting influence, pushing himself to experience fully every impulse, every sensation, every desire and whim and darkness a human can aspire to, he retains the visage of purity and innocence... but the painting begins to change...
REVIEW: Once more, I attempt to experience a work of classic literature, and once more I encounter mixed results. The iconic tale of a young man who finds a way to (temporarily) cheat damnation and avoid consequences for his actions remains interesting and compelling, but once again Wilde drifts and meanders and circles around the story as often as he tells it.
From the start, there is something special about the titular portrait, as the artist Basil laments to his friend Lord Henry that Dorian Gray has become a muse, an ideal, and that consequently Basil has put "too much" of himself into the work. Almost from the moment Henry sets eyes on the young Dorian, though, the lord is determined to corrupt the innocence and beauty he sees there, not out of any particular malice or master plan but more as an experiment by a man bored of his own idle richness (and perhaps a touch of unacknowledged jealousy and resentment, his own days of youth and innocence having long since passed by). Dorian, having been sheltered much of his young life, is too easy a prey to resist, taking Henry's cynical, hedonistic, and often self-contradictory orations as gospel truth and inspiration to live his own life as fully and sensually and extremely as he can manage. He does not set out immediately to taste-test the seven deadly sins, but finds his way there soon enough, galvanized by an ill-advised crush on a low-end actress that takes a tragic turn. It is after this incident that he first notices the change in the painting, first realizes that his impulsive vow of long ago has somehow come true... and first comprehends that the painting might serve as either a guide to keep him on the moral path or a "get out of jail free" card that will allow him to indulge every impulse without consequence. The artist Basil and Lord Henry are the angel and demon on his shoulders respectively, though it's clear from that first day in Basil's studio which voice will ultimately win out over Dorian's conscience. There are a few moments where Dorian is presented with options and a chance to turn around, but he remains too convinced that he'll never have to pay the ever-mounting bill of his ever-more-depraved lifestyle, until a final and fateful reckoning.
As in other Wilde works I've read, the tale is heavily embroidered and padded with long side-trips and scenes that ultimately go nowhere but are full of rich sensory details and/or clever high-brow banter. Much of Dorian's descent is less explicitly stated and more implied and hinted at, with dark rumors and reputations gathering like storm clouds over him despite his eternal good looks and charm, the increasing toll of broken lives in his wake. I am glad I finally got around to this one, and I did enjoy the memorable imagery at several points, though once more I found myself wishing it had encountered a somewhat less timid editor at some point.
You Might Also Enjoy:
The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald) - My Review
The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde (Robert Louis Stevenson) - My Review
Lord Arthur Savile's Crime and Other Stories (Oscar Wilde) - My Review
Counterweight (Djuna)
Counterweight
Djuna, translated by Anton Hur
Pantheon
Fiction, Mystery/Sci-Fi
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: For centuries, humanity dreamed of a future in space, but it wasn't until the construction of the world's first and only space elevator by Korean conglomerate LK that the dream became a reality. The recent death of LK's president can't help but send tremors through the company and many individuals within it. Mac in particular, a man with a shady (and manufactured) history, feels his position as head of External Affairs grow more precarious with the man's passing; he only got the job because he saved the late president's life many years ago, and the new leadership is quite likely to see him as a loose end to tidy up once they secure their positions. Fortunately, he's still needed for the time being, when an investigation into anti-LK terrorist activity turns up the name Choi Gangwu. The man is the very definition of a nobody, but a look at his activities raises some red flags, leading Mac into a labyrinthine plot that might bring down LK and, with it, the starfaring future its technology is creating.
REVIEW: The cover and description promised a surreal, noir sci-fi novella. It does, in its favor, deliver on the surreality, the noir aesthetic, and the sci-fi. Unfortunately, what it does not deliver along with those elements is a coherent plot or a single character worth caring at all about.
From the start, the reader is immersed in a techno-dystopian future where humans are often augmented with brain implant "Worms" that feed them information and can even control actions, and where AI is mere decades (if that) away from rendering our species effectively obsolete. Investigating a terrorist plot by the Patusan Liberation Front - a group that deeply resents how the residents of the Indonesian island of Patusa have been displaced and reduced to little more than rubbish at the feet of LK's great elevator and associated city - Mac stumbles across the connection to Choi Gangwu, an unassuming man from an unassuming background whose chief interests appear to be butterflies and the space elevator... himself an unwitting pawn of a greater scheme linked to the late company president, a scheme that has just been set into motion. This is a world where history, facts, and reality itself seem malleable, liable to be overlaid and overwritten as easily as computer code, where everything takes on a certain fever-dream aspect and logic often follows inscrutable rules. Characters are just names thrown at the reader as often as not, the key players too remote and larger than life, tied up in a plot where nothing really seems to matter because the big stuff is all moving at a level so far beyond narrator Mac's level of experience and control that they might as well be the dance of the galaxies through the universe. The blurb promised an exciting race up the space elevator to a secret hidden in the counterweight at the other end of the tether, but that doesn't even happen until the final third or fourth of the novel, and isn't nearly as much a part of the plot as it was hyped to be. By the end, I still was wondering why any of it happened, whether Mac's involvement really was necessary (and why the author chose him as the character to view the tale through), and why exactly I was supposed to care about anything that went on. I give it marks for originality and aesthetic, but this one was just too far out of my wheelhouse for me to begin to appreciate.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Titanium Noir (Nick Harkaway) - My Review
The Darwin Elevator (Jason M. Hough) - My Review
Altered Carbon (Richard K. Morgan) - My Review
Djuna, translated by Anton Hur
Pantheon
Fiction, Mystery/Sci-Fi
*** (Okay)
DESCRIPTION: For centuries, humanity dreamed of a future in space, but it wasn't until the construction of the world's first and only space elevator by Korean conglomerate LK that the dream became a reality. The recent death of LK's president can't help but send tremors through the company and many individuals within it. Mac in particular, a man with a shady (and manufactured) history, feels his position as head of External Affairs grow more precarious with the man's passing; he only got the job because he saved the late president's life many years ago, and the new leadership is quite likely to see him as a loose end to tidy up once they secure their positions. Fortunately, he's still needed for the time being, when an investigation into anti-LK terrorist activity turns up the name Choi Gangwu. The man is the very definition of a nobody, but a look at his activities raises some red flags, leading Mac into a labyrinthine plot that might bring down LK and, with it, the starfaring future its technology is creating.
REVIEW: The cover and description promised a surreal, noir sci-fi novella. It does, in its favor, deliver on the surreality, the noir aesthetic, and the sci-fi. Unfortunately, what it does not deliver along with those elements is a coherent plot or a single character worth caring at all about.
From the start, the reader is immersed in a techno-dystopian future where humans are often augmented with brain implant "Worms" that feed them information and can even control actions, and where AI is mere decades (if that) away from rendering our species effectively obsolete. Investigating a terrorist plot by the Patusan Liberation Front - a group that deeply resents how the residents of the Indonesian island of Patusa have been displaced and reduced to little more than rubbish at the feet of LK's great elevator and associated city - Mac stumbles across the connection to Choi Gangwu, an unassuming man from an unassuming background whose chief interests appear to be butterflies and the space elevator... himself an unwitting pawn of a greater scheme linked to the late company president, a scheme that has just been set into motion. This is a world where history, facts, and reality itself seem malleable, liable to be overlaid and overwritten as easily as computer code, where everything takes on a certain fever-dream aspect and logic often follows inscrutable rules. Characters are just names thrown at the reader as often as not, the key players too remote and larger than life, tied up in a plot where nothing really seems to matter because the big stuff is all moving at a level so far beyond narrator Mac's level of experience and control that they might as well be the dance of the galaxies through the universe. The blurb promised an exciting race up the space elevator to a secret hidden in the counterweight at the other end of the tether, but that doesn't even happen until the final third or fourth of the novel, and isn't nearly as much a part of the plot as it was hyped to be. By the end, I still was wondering why any of it happened, whether Mac's involvement really was necessary (and why the author chose him as the character to view the tale through), and why exactly I was supposed to care about anything that went on. I give it marks for originality and aesthetic, but this one was just too far out of my wheelhouse for me to begin to appreciate.
You Might Also Enjoy:
Titanium Noir (Nick Harkaway) - My Review
The Darwin Elevator (Jason M. Hough) - My Review
Altered Carbon (Richard K. Morgan) - My Review
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