So far only read two:

~ Sun, Moon, Dust by Ursula Vernon - 2*

Outside anything I'm interested in reading. A young man inherits a sword which holds three warriors that are tasked with making him a warrior but he doesn't want to be a warrior. He wants to continue farming his land which he also inherited.

Read by Amal El-Mohtar on the Uncanny Magazine Podcast Episode 16A.

~ Paradox by Naomi Kritzer - DNF

Historical with time travel. Just not my thing.

Read by Erika Ensign on the Uncanny Magazine Podcast Episode 16A.)

Orwell drinking tonight in a Boston sports bar
watches the news, watches nothing new.

I started with 'Twenty Seventy-One' by Sonya Taaffe. I absolutely loved this one. So, so wow. Read it here. ( )

http://www.susanhatedliterature.net/wp-admin/post.php?post=35622&action=edit

Merged review:

http://www.susanhatedliterature.net/2018/07/small-changes-over-long-periods-of-t... ( )

Kritzer sure manages to say a lot in just a few pages. This is definitely on my short list for next year's Hugos. ( )

Sun, Moon, Dust by URSULA VERNON

Another Hugo nom for '18 in Short Stories.

This was a rather fun fantasy of a more traditional bent including the interactions between a *traditional* hero and the trapped souls inside a sword. What makes this stand out is the interactions.

How many sword-in-stone-stories would have been cut short if characters like this were more common? lol

At least it makes me think. Pretty fun.

Merged review:


Small Changes Over Long Periods of Time by K.M. SZPARA

'18 Hugo nom for short story.

Very vivid writing and a mostly standard vampire-turning story except for one small detail: transgender. For the most part, I thought it was pretty fine. I've read much worse vampire stories. The transgender part wasn't particularly overpowering, but it did manage to pull off a pretty good mirroring between the law, marginalization, and MAKING something of yourself.

Not bad. ( )