Once again I read the new Asimov’s and spout my unsolicited opinions about what works and what doesn’t. If I do this enough I’ll eventually get okay at it. “The Caramel Forest” by Chris Beckett. Third person limited, past tense. … Continue reading →
Things fall apart Everything tends to decay And so it takes a lot To combine atoms there in such a way There exists the lure of that darkness That lurks around the edges of every day So I’m inviting you … Continue reading →
I continue my story-by-story look at the most recent issue of Asimov’s! Warnings from yesterday still apply: I spoil and I’m extremely subjective in what I like or dislike. I’m sure Alan Smale can write circles around me, even if … Continue reading →
I bought myself a subscription to Asimov’s with birthday money this summer, on the grounds that I don’t read enough short contemporary SF. My vow: to read each issue as I get it, write a few thousand words about it, … Continue reading →
I used to play World of Warcraft, and in that game there was (and is, as far as I know) a particular dungeon called Karazhan. Accessing the dungeon required a series of quests, and the dungeon itself was long and … Continue reading →
Most of the floor tiles are made of gold, but a handful are really valuable. They are linoleum, preserved across the centuries by dint of fear and hunger. Don’t go into the classrooms, our parents told us and we we … Continue reading →
After he finishes vomiting, Zully becomes aware that he can control his own lips. “What are we standing on?” “This is the Celestial Firmament, Zully, the great black basal barrier that separates the Mother Countries from the endless maw which … Continue reading →
Zoeticism is often conflated with nature-magic, as both were an especial purview of the pre-Landing cultures of Old Habadad and others. While the two schema possess certain undeniable similarities, they are also in fundamental opposition to one another. Nature-magic, at … Continue reading →
What is truth? I asked her, and my guide shook her head. The short plaits of her hair rippled, and the copper rings which hung therefrom clanked together with a sound like battle, persisting long after her motion stopped. That … Continue reading →
Here’s one for you. Yellow Teeth Remain Sharp, head of state of the Empire of Perfection, right? Wields the contents of the vaults of the Citadel of Rosepetals, right? Maybe the only entity in the Mother Countries with enough identity … Continue reading →
