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1. Asimov's Science Fiction Sept/Oct 2024
Since Asimov's Science Fiction magazine switched to six issues a year, I really can't write much of a review for the stories. There are just to many things in each issue. Even mentioning each piece would be screenspam.
I am glad I took the time to read the complete H.P. Lovecraft's complete work, because now I pick up immediately when someone is riffing on it. I'm pretty sure Naomi Kritzer was doing just that in "The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea". I liked Anita Vijayakumar's "Bitter Chai, Sweet Chai". "In the Dark" proves James Patrick Kelly can still keep up with the kids on the dance floor. Ray Nayler also delivers an interesting near future in "A Gray Magic".
2. John Steinbeck "Tortilla Flat"
This is one of those books which could get shredded by modern sensibilities. The main characters are all ne'er-do-wells. You can have ne'er-do-wells of any race, but if the author is of one race and decides to write about ne'er-do-wells of a different race, things get more dicey. It feels to me that he appreciates the overall culture he's writing about, but it's not my culture. Add to that, the main characters do whatever they can get away with, that includes in respect to the female characters. They are as transactional and careless as an American president. So yeah, I can only hope no one reads this book thinking they should aspire to be like the main characters.
But the adventures of the main characters are just the kind of adventures you'd expect for people who will work very hard to avoid working. They are written well, with humor, and the jokes on the characters don't feel mean spirited.
Every now and then you read about an author saying "the characters led me to the ending" or some such. For most books I could never picture that. For this book, each step in overall plot feels like it's just what the characters would do. It gets all wrapped up with a neat little bow, but every bit of it is in character and feels right. It's art or literature, but it's also a fun, well written read.
3. Asimov's Science Fiction Nov/Dec 2024
Dominica Phetteplace's "Dreamliker" is near future fiction. Well, maybe fiction, but then again it just reads like next week to me. Sometimes sci-fi is scary real. Zack Be "The Start of Something Beautiful" likewise was a good near future as well. Mary Robinett Kowal's "Deep Space Has the Beat" combines tech and dance clubs, so I'll pay the cover. I've got to say, I thought the world Sean Monaghan built in "Wildest Skies" had promise, but the plot didn't really take me there, maybe this is part of a novel in the making.
Since Asimov's Science Fiction magazine switched to six issues a year, I really can't write much of a review for the stories. There are just to many things in each issue. Even mentioning each piece would be screenspam.
I am glad I took the time to read the complete H.P. Lovecraft's complete work, because now I pick up immediately when someone is riffing on it. I'm pretty sure Naomi Kritzer was doing just that in "The Four Sisters Overlooking the Sea". I liked Anita Vijayakumar's "Bitter Chai, Sweet Chai". "In the Dark" proves James Patrick Kelly can still keep up with the kids on the dance floor. Ray Nayler also delivers an interesting near future in "A Gray Magic".
2. John Steinbeck "Tortilla Flat"
This is one of those books which could get shredded by modern sensibilities. The main characters are all ne'er-do-wells. You can have ne'er-do-wells of any race, but if the author is of one race and decides to write about ne'er-do-wells of a different race, things get more dicey. It feels to me that he appreciates the overall culture he's writing about, but it's not my culture. Add to that, the main characters do whatever they can get away with, that includes in respect to the female characters. They are as transactional and careless as an American president. So yeah, I can only hope no one reads this book thinking they should aspire to be like the main characters.
But the adventures of the main characters are just the kind of adventures you'd expect for people who will work very hard to avoid working. They are written well, with humor, and the jokes on the characters don't feel mean spirited.
Every now and then you read about an author saying "the characters led me to the ending" or some such. For most books I could never picture that. For this book, each step in overall plot feels like it's just what the characters would do. It gets all wrapped up with a neat little bow, but every bit of it is in character and feels right. It's art or literature, but it's also a fun, well written read.
3. Asimov's Science Fiction Nov/Dec 2024
Dominica Phetteplace's "Dreamliker" is near future fiction. Well, maybe fiction, but then again it just reads like next week to me. Sometimes sci-fi is scary real. Zack Be "The Start of Something Beautiful" likewise was a good near future as well. Mary Robinett Kowal's "Deep Space Has the Beat" combines tech and dance clubs, so I'll pay the cover. I've got to say, I thought the world Sean Monaghan built in "Wildest Skies" had promise, but the plot didn't really take me there, maybe this is part of a novel in the making.
