Jay Lake. An Exile of the Heart. (Clarkesworld Magazine #100 January 2015)
I still make the odd trip to jlake.com hoping that Jay’s got some wisdom to impart posthumously, a la Hari Seldon,
Reviewing short SF since 2000
I still make the odd trip to jlake.com hoping that Jay’s got some wisdom to impart posthumously, a la Hari Seldon,
An excellent look at religion, faith and the challenging of them, in a story that’s nominated for both Hugo and Nebula and is now online to read.
The Before Michaela Cannon returns in another enthralling ‘Sunspin’ installment!
Short in the reading, likely to be long in the memory.
..a story that benefits from careful reading, there’s a lot of thought gone into its writing, with some clever imagery and thoughtful turns of phrase.
Gritty, sweaty, emotional drama, with the focus on the human relationships rather than the science or the technology, as is Lake’s trademark.
A tight drama from Lake in his ‘Sunspin’ setting.
A late arrival on my doorstep, and it’s taken much longer to finish the review than I had hoped. Note to self : faster dude, faster!
As Lake invariably does he puts effort into creating a interesting background to his story, and its visceral in terms of the action and denouement.
A big book, with a huge amount of top quality SF.
A strong issue, with stories by Jason Sanford, Rebecca J. Payne, Colin Harvey, Lavie Tidhar, Shannon Page and Jay Lake.
High quality writing, subtly poetic, and giving the impression that you’re watching one part of a long, long story with real characters.
Set in the same ‘post-Mistake’ setting of Lake’s ‘Torquing Vacuum’, which appeared in Clarkesworld Magazine a few weeks back, and which impressed me.
The backdrop, hinted at on a galactic level (they’re in a ‘post-Mistake’ universe), with genetic modification, and privilege and status to contend with, is a mature one. The same sex relationship is a refreshing change, and it’s an altogether satisfying read.
Jason Stoddard. Softly Shining in the Forbidden Dark. A far future drama with a strange
Paul di Filippo. The Furthest Schorr : 32 Fugues on the Paintings of Todd Schorr.
Only a couple of years ago things were looking rosy for the British SF magazine
PDF/eBookMan version reviewed. Tom Purdom. Bank Run. Sabor Haveri, ultra-rich banker, finds his idyllic boating
Ian McDonald. Little Goddess. The (PDF) issue gets off to a strong start with the
Stories by : Alastair Reynolds, Aliette de Bodard, Charles Coleman Finlay, Daryl Gregory, Dominic Green, Elizabeth Bear, Garth Nix, Geoff Ryman, Gord Sellar, Greg Egan, Gwyneth Jones, Hannu Rajaniemi, Ian McDonald, James Alan Garner, James. L. Cambias, Jay Lake, Karl Schroeder, Kristine Kathryn Rusch, Mary Robinette Kowal, Mary Rosenblum, Maureen F. McHugh, Michael Swanwick, Nancy Kress, Paolo Bacigalupi, Paul McAuley, Robert Reed, Stephen Baxter, Ted Kosmatka
An excellent collection, with only a couple of weaker contributions. A couple are more fantasy than steampunk, but there is high quality writing throughout and a couple of stories that linger (Youmans, Lanagan and Lake) for some time.
Stories by : Neil Gaiman, Peter S. Beagle, Cory Doctorow, Ellen Klages, Christopher Rowe, Margo Langanan, Walter Jon Williams, Jeffrey Ford, Benjamin Rosenbaum, Frances Hardinge, Tim Powers, Paolo Bacigalupi, Geoff Ryman, Jay Lake, Robert Charles Wilson, M. Rickert, Robert Reed, Kelly Link, Elizabeth Hand, Connie Willis, Paul Di Filippo, Gene Wolfe, Benjamin Rosenbaum, Ian McDonald
Sixteen stories, of which I’d say 8 hit the mark. It’s a collection of fairly traditional SF, eschewing the new speculative, as perhaps might be expected with the authors for the most being well established. The majority of the stories could have been written anytime during the 1990s, making it a good, if safe collection, and a solid start.
Overall, the quality of the stories is high, and a fine collection showcasing primarily British authors, although perhaps just a tad below the quality of last year’s ‘Constellations’.