Book Review: FLOWERS FOR THE SEA

TITLE: Flowers for the Sea

AUTHOR: Zin E. Rocklyn

112 pages, TorDotCom Publishing, ISBN 9781250804037 (paperback, also available in e-book and audio)

DESCRIPTION: (from the publisher): We are a people who do not forget.

Survivors from a flooded kingdom struggle alone on an ark. Resources are scant, and ravenous beasts circle. Their fangs are sharp.

Among the refugees is Iraxi: ostracized, despised, and a commoner who refused a prince, she’s pregnant with a child that might be more than human. Her fate may be darker and more powerful than she can imagine.

MY RATING: 4 out of 5 stars

MY THOUGHTS: Zin E. Rocklyn’s debut is a stellar entry into the cosmic horror genre, a novella that leaves you unsettled and feeling small in the face of the universe even while you admire the tenacity of the main character.

Cosmic (or “Lovecraftian”) horror tends to be expansive and claustrophobic at the same time. The greater cosmos makes itself known to humans who are overwhelmed by it, usually in places that are tight and dark with odd architecture or geometry at play. Setting the action on a boat alone at sea certainly ticks those boxes off but limiting most of the action to the few places on the vessel that the outcast, disdained Iraxi is allowed to visit makes the book feel even more claustrophobic. There is no sense of a larger, supportive community that might normally feature in a lost-at-sea adventure. The desperation of 1743 days at sea, with no land in sight, is palpable. Rocklyn infuses the book with so many visceral sensory details: the sweat and grime on Iraxi and the people she interacts with, the pervasive salt water, the smells of food and humans. Most notably, there are the physical details of Iraxi giving birth to her possibly inhuman (or more than human) child: bloody, painful, brutal – words which also describe the novel’s one detailed sex scene.

It is implied that Iraxi has been pregnant for most of the voyage, or at least far longer than would be natural. While other women have died, or have survived with the baby dying instead, she has labored on waiting to deliver this child. The rest of the denizens of the ship’s society know something is not right, but not what. Iraxi does as well, and throughout the book she explores her past, analyzing what led her here. She knows what her decisions have cost her and those she loves, but she is also resolutely not ashamed to be who she is regardless of how the people around her (including current and former lovers) think.

At times the novella feels post-apocalyptic, at times like a completely separate fantasy world. Massive flooding (rising sea levels?) forced these people into their current situation, and it’s clear they are the poor, the unwanted, the exiled (in Iraxi’s case); they are cast out by soldiers of the prince Iraxi denied. This also, to me, makes the book feel a bit like a slave ship narrative. While there are no richer (whiter?) overseers on the ship, no destination in sight at which the human cargo will be sold, there is also no sense that signing onto the trip was really voluntary, that those on the ship might find a safe harbor to land in.

And then of course, there’s the cosmic horrors that eventually manifest, deadly and disturbing. I won’t spoil anything about their arrival and effect on the characters, but they are nightmare-inducing.

Flowers for the Sea is a truly stellar debut for a writer I cannot wait to read more from.

NOTE: I received an advance reading copy from TorDotCom Publishing via NetGalley well in advance of the book’s publication date in exchange for an honest review. This review is obviously long overdue.

2022 Sunday Shorts Intro Post

As mentioned in a few recent posts, or at least hinted at, I hit a wall somewhere in the middle of 2021 and stopped posting to my blog. I felt guilty about it, of course, but the motivation just wasn’t there. That means it’s been six months or more since any of my intended regular features appeared. So I thought I’d use the first post of 2022 for each feature to re-introduce them.

Welcome to the first Sunday Shorts of 2022.

I love short fiction, and Sunday Shorts is the feature where I get to blog about it. I’ve considered promising to review a short story every day, like ‘Nathan Burgoine did a while back on his blog, but that’s a lot of pressure. And while no one will fault me if I miss days, I’ll feel guilty, which will lead to not posting at all. So better to stick to a weekly post highlighting a couple/three stories, as I’ve done in the past.

The stories featured will range in length from flash fiction to novellas, because I love all the lengths. And this seems like the right time to mention what those lengths are, at least according to The Hugo Awards:

·       Novella: 17,500 – 40,000 words (roughly 58 – 133 pages at 300 words/page)

·       Novelette: 7,500 – 17,500 words (roughly 25 – 58 pages)

·       Short Story: less than 7,500 words (roughly 25 pages or less)

In addition, many organizations/websites break “Short Stories” down into smaller categories, such as:

·       Flash Fiction: 1,000 words or less (some sites say 1,500 or less and some say 750)

·       Micro-fiction: 500 words or less

·       Drabble: precisely 100 words

although there seems to be a lot of disagreement out there when you get down to these finer categories.

My rule of thumb regarding novellas is that they’re eligible to be featured in this column if they appear in a larger book (say, as part of an author’s collection, or a collection of several novellas, or as an addition at the back of a novel) or if they’re published on an author’s Patreon. Novellas published for sale as single volumes (regardless of who the publisher is) count as “books” and usually get reviewed that way. (Otherwise, the constant stream of excellent novellas from TorDotCom would take over this column!)

For the time being, I’m focused on short fiction in print/digital formats. At some point, I might delve into individual stories/episodes of anthology formats in other media, like television and comics. I consider it every year and haven’t made that jump yet. Maybe that should be a separate regular feature. Feel free to weigh in in the comments.

The stories I’ll talk about come from a variety of print and online sources. I tend to read a fair number of anthologies and single-author collections, and occasionally will focus on stories from those even if I’m publishing a review of the entire book. Favorite anthology editors include Ellen Datlow, Terri Windling, John Joseph Adams, dave ring, Paula Guran, and Rhonda Parrish to name a few. (I could go on and on … that’s also probably the subject of a separate post.)

I am also subscribed to a bunch of magazines that I try to read at least semi-regularly, and some of those are even free to read online. When I do my monthly “Reading Round-Up,” you are likely to see stories from the following venues listed on a regular basis:

·       Lightspeed Magazine

·       Fantasy Magazine

·       Nightmare Magazine

·       The Dark

·       Uncanny Magazine

·       The Deadlands

·       Kaleidotrope

·       Apex Magazine

·       Fireside Magazine

·       Bachelors

Future Science Fiction Digest

·       The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction

·       Tor.com

·       Mermaids Monthly (now defunct, but I have several issues to catch up on)

That said, I do try to vary the sources for the stories I review in-depth for this column, so you shouldn’t see any one of the above magazines appearing any more regularly than the others.

(In the interests of full disclosure: I’m the proofreader for the e-book editions of Lightspeed and Fantasy, and so they account for 12 of the short stories I read each month. I tend to feature them in this column less often to avoid accusations of “favoritism.” I am NOT the proofreader for Nightmare, from the same publisher.)

I also enjoy reading short fiction on authors’ websites/Patreons. Seanan McGuire is an example. For $1/month, you get access to every short story she’s published on her Patreon – all original works when they first appear. ‘Nathan Burgoine has also posted some great short fiction on his blog, including annual queer retellings/reinventions of classic Christmas carols and stories. Lucy Snyder occasionally posts short stories on her Patreon as well. Again, I could go on and on and on…

Have a favorite anthology, collection, magazine, or other online venue for short fiction that I haven’t mentioned above? Again, feel free to weigh in in the comments. I’m always looking for new places to read short fiction (as if I don’t have enough to read already!).

And of course, let me know who your favorite short fiction authors and editors are!

RoofbeamReader's 2022 To Be Read Challenge Initial Post

Most avid readers have a “to be read” pile, in our office or near our bed: books we bought intending to read, but just haven’t gotten around to it yet. Some of us have “to be read” bookcases.

If you perused my previous “2022 Reading Challenges” post, you know that I’ve actually challenged myself to clear 24 books (12 fiction, 12 non-fiction) from my TBR pile this year. I made that decision well before seeing RoofbeamReader’s announcement on his blog that he’s reinstating the 12 book TBR Challenge he started over a decade ago. Since RBR offers raffled prizes for anyone who completes his challenge, I decided I needed to participate. But upping my list of books from 24 to 36 feels like I’d be setting myself up for failure on all counts. SO, I’m considering RBR’s TBR Challenge to be a subset of my own challenge – all the books below can be found on my larger list as well.

You have to go to RBR’s website to officially sign up for the challenge if you want to be entered to win a gift card to Amazon or the Book Depository at year’s end but the basic rules (other than how to enter) are: Choose 12 books that have been on your bookshelf or “To Be Read” list for AT LEAST one full year. This means books with a publication date of 1/1/2021 or later are ineligible; books published in 2021 or earlier qualify as long as they’ve been on your TBR Pile/List. Then choose two (2) alternate titles, just in case one or two of your original twelve end up in the “did not finish” bin.

Per the rules of the Challenge, I’ll be coming back to this post to link to individual book reviews and to show progress. I’ll do this by italicizing the books I’ve read and adding “completed on [date]” to the entry.

MY 2021 ROOFBEAMREADER TO BE READ CHALLENGE LIST:

1.       The Tricky Part: One Boy’s Fall from Trespass into Grace, by Martin Moran (2005) (Finished June 28, 2022)

2.       Hollow Earth: The Long and Curious History of Imagining Strange Lands, Fantastical Creatures, Advanced Civilizations, and Marvelous Machines Below the Earth’s Surface, by David Standish (2006) (Finished July 19, 2022)

3.       Letters to the Pumpkin King, by Seanan McGuire (2014) (Finished November 30, 2022)

4.       An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz (2014) (Finished April 5, 2022)

5.       Something in the Blood: The Untold Story of Bram Stoker, the Man Who Wrote Dracula, by David J. Skal (2016) (Finished November 8, 2022)

6.       Comic Book Implosion: An Oral History of DC Comics Circa 1978, by Keith Dallas and John Wells (2018) (Finished July 23, 2022)

7.       The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, by R.A. Dick (pseudonym of Josephine Leslie) (1945, reissued in 2014) (Finished November 28, 2022)

8.       Excalibur! By Gil Kane and John Jakes (1980) (Finished September 11, 2022)

9.       Slights, by Kaaron Warren (2009) (Finished on February 13, 2022)

10.   Lord Tyger, by Philip Jose Farmer (1970) (Finished August 30, 2022)

11.   Untamed Shore, by Silvia Moreno-Garcia (2020) (Finished September 27, 2022)

12.   A Summer Beyond Your Reach: Stories, by Xia Jia (2020) (Finished December 22, 2022)

Alternates

1.       Horror Fiction in the 20th Century: Exploring Literature’s Most Chilling Genre, by Jess Nevins (2020) (Finished December 20, 2022)

2.       The Red Lamp, by Mary Roberts Rinehart (1925, reissued in 2018)

2022 Reading Challenges

I always set myself more than one reading challenge per year. Some carry over from year to year, and some are new. Some are broad and some are themed. And in many cases, books read will help me meet more than one challenge. Here’s this year’s list.

TO BE READ CHALLENGE

The idea (formulated by RoofBeamReader at his blog several years ago) is to pick 12 books (plus 2 alternates in case you find yourself unable to finish a couple of your main choices) that have sat unread on your bookshelf for a year or more. Books published in 2021 wouldn’t be eligible, nor would re-reads. This year, I’ve again decided to pick 24 books (12 fiction, 12 non-fiction) but no alternates. I did not do well on this challenge in 2021, but I’m getting back on the horse. I plan to come back to this post and add “date completed” for each book. Here are my lists for 2022 (not listed in intended reading order):

FICTION:

1.       The Mystery of the Sea by Bram Stoker

2.       The Ghost and Mrs. Muir by R. A. Dick

3.       Dune by Frank Herbert

4.       Excalibur! by Gil Kane and John Jakes

5.       Lord Tyger by Philip Jose Farmer

6.       The Book of Lost Saints by Daniel Jose Older

7.       Slights by Kaaron Warren - Completed February 13, 2022

8.       Let Me In by John Ajvide Lindqvist

9.       The Red Lamp by Mary Roberts Reinhart

10.   Unexpected Stories by Octavia E. Butler - Completed February 20, 2022

11.   Untamed Shore by Silvia Moreno-Garcia

12.   A Summer Beyond Your Reach by Xia Jia

NON-FICTION:

1.       Twilight at the World of Tomorrow by James Mauro

2.       Something in the Blood: The Untold Tale of Bram Stoker by David J. Skal

3.       Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxane Dunbar-Ortiz - Completed April 5, 2022

4.       The Celluloid Closet by Vito Russo

5.       The Tricky Part: One Boy’s Fall from Trespass into Grace by Martin Moran

6.       Comic Book Implosion: An Oral History of DC Comics Circa 1978 by Keith Dallas and John Wells

7.       Letters to the Pumpkin King by Seanan McGuire

8.       First Family by Joseph J. Ellis

9.       Classics on Infinite Earths by Julian Darius

10.   Hollow Earth by David Standish

11.   A Kind of Magic: Making the Original Highlander by Jonathan Melville

12.   Horror Fiction in the 20th Century: Exploring Literature’s Most Chilling Genre by Jess Nevins

(NOTE 1: Last year’s two alternates, Classics on Infinite Earths and Hollow Earth, are now in the main list.)

NOTE 2: For the first time in a few years, Adam Burgess is once again hosting the TBR Challenge on his website. Because of the way the rules for his TBR Challenge work, I’m going to make a separate post, and 14 of the above 24 books will officially be a part of his TBR Challenge as well as this larger one.

365 SHORT STORIES CHALLENGE

Every year, I challenge myself to read one short story per day. Some years I keep the pace pretty well, and some years I fall behind and then scramble to catch up (and some years, I catch up and fall behind again, and some years I blow past the goal handily). I used to post thoughts on each individual story over on my now-largely-defunct LiveJournal; this year I plan to review a story or two in-depth each Sunday and then do a monthly “round-up” of all stories read that month. I’m defining “short story” as anything from flash fiction to novella-length. If a novelette or novella is published as a stand-alone book (eBook or otherwise), that story will also count towards my annual Goodreads “Books Read Challenge.”

GOODREADS CHALLENGE

Goodreads allows members to set a challenge. In 2021, I set a goal of 125 books and read 140. For 2022, I’m setting the same goal of 125 to start with, and we’ll see what happens. Goodreads counts magazines as “books,” so I count them for this challenge as well if I read every page of the magazine. Of course, any book read for the TBR Challenge, or the other challenges mentioned in this post count towards this one.

GRAPHIC NOVEL CHALLENGE

I own far more graphic novels and trade paperback collections of classic comics than I’ve read. In 2017 I started trying to turn that around, and I’m again setting a goal in 2021 of reading one graphic novel per week, so 52 for the year, tracking them in the monthly Reading Round-Up Posts.

NON-FICTION CHALLENGE

As with graphic novels, I tend to get intrigued by and purchase far more non-fiction books than I actually end up reading. In an effort to clear some shelf-space, justify the money spent, and increase my knowledge a bit, I’m continuing the challenge I started last year, but tweaking it. I would like to read two (2) non-fiction books per month, or 24 for the year. Twelve (12) of those have been identified above in the To Be Read Challenge, and the rest will be newer books (either purchased in 2021 and so ineligible for the To Be Read Challenge, or newly acquired as the year goes on).

READ THE BOOK / WATCH THE MOVIE CHALLENGE

I have so many books in my collection that are the basis for classic (and sometimes not-so-classic) movies that I thought it would be fun to read some of them and then see how the movies compare. In 2021 I didn’t do so well on this challenge, but I’m game to try again, and of course track them in the monthly Reading Round-Up posts, under the Page-to-Screen feature title and tag. I’ve never set a numeric goal for this challenge, but let’s aim for 12 “Page-to-Screen” posts this year.

COMPLETE THE SERIES CHALLENGE

In previous years I’ve challenged myself to come “up to date” on series I’d started but fallen behind on. Last year, I challenged myself to also read one series that I own but have not read. Titles that I have read in each series are indicated with (read in [month]). Last year, I completed two out of the four series intended. This year, I’m just going to list the series I didn’t complete last year, and not add any new series to the challenge. I plan to come back to this post and add “date completed” for each book individually and for each series as a whole. If I complete any other series on my shelves, I’ll come back and add that series to this entry.

THE VELVETEEN SERIES by Seanan McGuire

1.       Velveteen Vs. The Junior Super-Patriots

2.       Velveteen Vs. The Multiverse

3.       Velveteen Vs. The Seasons

THE CHRISTMAS CHRONICLES by Jeff Guinn

1.       The Autobiography of Santa Claus

2.       How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas

3.       The Great Santa Search

THE SHADOWSHAPER TRILOGY by Daniel José Older

1.       Shadowshaper – read in 2015

2.       Shadowhouse Fall

3.       Shadowshaper Legacy

MONTHLY MINI-CHALLENGES

In 2019 for the first time, I set myself some monthly mini challenges based on various factors. I’m going to do it again in 2021, but list those challenges here as well:

January: No specific challenge

February: Authors from Africa or of African descent (for Black History Month)

March: Women Authors (for Women’s History Month)

April: Poetry (for National Poetry Month)

May:  Asian/Pacific Authors (for Asian Pacific / South Asian Heritage Month)

June: Queer Authors (for Pride Month)

July: No specific challenge (to catch up on challenges I’ve fallen behind on)

August: Classic and New Pulp Authors (because Pulpfest/Farmercon is held this month)

September: Hispanic authors (Hispanic Heritage Month)

October: Horror! Horror! Horror! (because Halloween, obviously)

November: Noir (because “Noirvember”)

December: Winter Holiday-related Fiction (Christmas, Hannukah, etc.)

2021 Reading Round-Up

I totally fell off of doing monthly “reading round-ups” detailing exactly what I read during the last quarter of 2021. I thought about catching up on those before posting the annual summary, but … life. Yeah.

So here’s part one of the annual summary, covering what I read/listened to in 2021. There will be two more annual summaries, one covering what I watched and the other what covering what writing/proofing/editing I did.

 Looking over this summary, it’s clear that I set myself too many reading challenges in 2021 and managed to not complete most of them. But I did complete some, and I did read A LOT even without meeting the challenges. It wasn’t a lack of reading time or motivation so much as a TOO MANY CHOICES. I could have read twice or three times as many books and still not put a real dent in my physical or virtual TBR piles. Overall, I’m going to count the year as a “win.”

Goodreads Challenge:

I challenged myself to read 125 books. I read 140 books from approximately 67 different publishers.

Here’s the breakdown:

• Fiction: 131 books

  • 2 anthologies

    • 1 horror

    • 1 mix of science fiction, fantasy, and horror

  • 8 single-author collections

    • 2 mix of science fiction, fantasy, and horror

    • 2 horror

    • 1 fantasy

    • 3 poetry

  • 24 graphic novels

    • 6 super-hero

    • 6 horror

    • 10 fantasy

    • 1 crime/mystery

    • 1 sport (mixed martial arts)

  • 12 magazines

    • 12 issues of Lightspeed Magazine

  • 36 novels

    • 3 crime/mystery

    • 4 horror

    • 12 fantasy

    • 8 science fiction

    • 7 romance

    • 2 pulp-adventure

  • 2 novelettes

    • 1 fantasy

    • 1 mystery

  • 44 novellas

    • 4 horror

    • 12 fantasy

    • 14 romance

    • 2 drama

    • 12 science fiction

  • 3 play scripts

    • 1 memoir (Year of Magical Thinking)

    • 1 drama (Amadeus)

    • 1 Shakespeare (Macbeth)

• Non-Fiction: 9 books

  • 1 TV/movie criticism

  • 1 movie-craft

  • 6 memoirs

  • 1 true crime

Other Book Stats:

# of Authors/Editors: approximately 117 (including graphic novel artists; I need to be better at listing all the creators of graphic novels somehow). The following breakdown is estimated because not every author shares their personal information online, and many people overlap categories, but roughly:

·              33 female creators

·              5 Trans/Non-Binary

·              30 LGBTQIA+

·              21 BIPOC

·              10 Asian

·              2 Latinx

Shortest Books Read: 54 pages (Dust to Dust by Jess Faraday; A Little Village Blend by ‘Nathan Burgoine)

Longest Book Read: 565 (Everything in All the Wrong Order by Chaz Brenchley) (The Sandman Act Two audiobook accounts for roughly 632 pages of graphic novel, so technically that’s longer)

Total # of pages read: 26,840

Average # of pages per book: 189

# of Rereads: 11 (including annual rereads of Roger Zelazny’s A Night in the Lonesome October, ‘Nathan Burgoine’s Handmade Holidays and Faux Ho Ho, Ken Schole’s If Dragon’s Mass Eve Be Cold and Clear, and Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol)

Monthly Breakdown:

·         January: 12

·         February: 12

·         March: 13

·         April: 9

·         May: 13

·         June: 8 (tied for fewest read in a month)

·         July: 12

·         August: 9

·         September: 8 (tied for fewest read in a month)

·         October: 14

·         November: 14

·         December: 16 (most read in a month)

Review-wise on Goodreads I gave 19 three-stars, 81 four-stars, and 40 five-star reviews.

Format Summary:

• 19 audiobooks

• 53 e-books

• 68 print

  • 19 hardcovers

  • 49 softcovers

366 Short Stories Challenge:

Each year, I challenge myself to read one short story per day. I read 362 stories in 2021, narrowly missing the goal.

Total # of pages read: approximately 5,711 pages of fiction

Average story length: 16.75 pages

Shortest story: 1 page long (“Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, “Wrath of a Queer God” by Anthony Moll)

Longest story (novella): 250 pages (“Halfway Through the Wood” by Seanan McGuire, on her Patreon).

The breakdown of where the stories appeared:

• 15 Magazines (197 stories)

  • Apex

  • Asimov’s

  • Bachelors

  • Fantasy

  • Fireside

  • Future

  • Kaleidotrope

  • Lightspeed

  • Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction

  • Nightmare

  • The Dark

  • The Deadlands

  • The New Yorker

  • Tor.Com

  • Uncanny

• 5 Anthologies (56 stories)

  • Body Shocks

  • Clockwork, Curses, and Coal

  • Decision Points

  • Giving the Devil His Due

  • Glitter + Ashes

• 6 Single-Author Collections

  • Davi Rhii Omnibus by Bryan Thomas Schmidt

  • Everything In All the Wrong Order by Chaz Brenchley

  • How Long Til Black History Month by N.K. Jemisin

  • Nine Bar Blues by Sheree Renée Thomas

  • The Witch in the Almond Tree and Other Stories by C.S.E. Cooney

  • Underworld Dreams by Daniel Braum

• 3 published as “back-matter” in novels

  • Calculated Risks by Seanan McGuire

  • The Wizard of Venus by Edgar Rice Burroughs

  • When Sorrows Come by Seanan McGuire

• 22 Stand-alone (self-pubbed or publisher-pubbed in print or e-format)

  • 12 Seanan McGuire (Patreon)

  • 1 Mysterious Bookstore (Printed pamphlet giveaways)

  • 8 ‘Nathan Burgoine (author website)

  • 1 Bram Stoker (e-pub of “To the Rescue”)

24 stories were re-reads (including a number of annual Christmas stories), the rest were “new to me” in 2021. I gave only 3 stories a 2-star rating. 150 got a 3-star rating, 162 got 4 stars, and 47 got 5 stars.

226 different authors wrote those 362 stories, under the auspices of more than 26 editors (estimated because I couldn’t always find “edited by” information for self-pubbed/website/chapbook stories). The following breakdown is estimated because not every author shares their personal information online, and some people overlap categories, but roughly:

·              129 female creators

·              4 Trans/Non-Binary

·              32 LGBTQIA+

·              33 BIPOC

·              10 Latinx

·              15 Asian

Monthly Breakdown:

·         January: 26

·         February: 53

·         March: 25

·         April: 39

·         May: 20

·         June: 13 (fewest read)

·         July: 24

·         August: 17

·         September: 23

·         October: 54 (most read)

·         November: 31

·         December: 37

Graphic Novel Challenge:

Because I own so many, I challenged myself to read one graphic novel per week. I didn’t make it, reading a total of only 24 from 10 different publishers:

·              DC Comics: 3

·              Marvel Comics: 4

·              BOOM!: 7

·              Aftershock: 3

·              Titan: 2

·              Image: 1

·              Source Point: 1

·              Northwest: 1

·              Turtleback: 1

·              Scholastic Books: 1

You can see in the “books” section above what the genre breakdown was among the graphic novels.

To Be Read Challenge: I challenged myself to read 12 fiction books and 12 non-fiction books that had been on my bookshelves for over a year (meaning nothing published in 2019) and assigned 2 alternate titles for each category. I didn’t do well with this challenge. The 9 titles I did read are identified in italics, with completion dates:

FICTION:

1.       The Mystery of the Sea by Bram Stoker

2.       How Long ‘til Black Future Month by NK Jemisin – Finished February 28, 2021

3.       The Ghost and Mrs. Muir by R. A. Dick

4.       Dune by Frank Herbert

5.       Monstress Volume 1 by Marjorie Liu and Sana Takeda – Finished July 5, 2021

6.       Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller – finished June 20, 2021

7.       Excalibur! by Gil Kane and John Jakes

8.       Lord Tyger by Philip Jose Farmer

9.       The Book of Lost Saints by Daniel Jose Older

10.   Slights by Kaaron Warren

11.   Minky Woodcock: The Girl Who Handcuffed Houdini by Cynthia Von Buhler – Finished March 24, 2021

12.   The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum – finished December 30, 2021

Alternate #1: Let Me In by John Ajvide Lindqvist

Alternate #2: The Red Lamp by Mary Roberts Reinhart

NON-FICTION:

1.       Poisoning for Profit: The Mafia and Toxic Waste in America by Alan A. Block and Frank R. Scarpitti – Finished January 31, 2021

2.       An Ordinary Man by Paul Rusesabagina – Finished February 17, 2021

3.       Twilight at the World of Tomorrow by James Mauro

4.       Faery Tale: One Woman’s Search for Enchantment in a Modern World by Signe Pike – Finished March 20, 2021.

5.       Something in the Blood: The Untold Tale of Bram Stoker by David J. Skal

6.       Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxane Dunbar-Ortiz

7.       The Celluloid Closet by Vito Russo

8.       The Tricky Part: One Boy’s Fall from Trespass into Grace by Martin Moran

9.       Comic Book Implosion: An Oral History of DC Comics Circa 1978 by Keith Dallas and John Wells

10.   Letters to the Pumpkin King by Seanan McGuire

11.   The Measure of a Man by Sidney Poitier – Finished February 27, 2021

12.   First Family by Joseph J. Ellis

Alternate #1: Classics on Infinite Earths by Julian Darius

Alternate #2: Hollow Earth by David Standish

Non-Fiction Challenge: I didn’t do well on this one, either. I challenged myself to read 24 non-fiction books in 2021, and I only read 9. (Not as good as 2020’s 11, better than 2019’s 4)

Read the Book, Watch the Movie Challenge: I didn’t set a numbered goal for this one in 2020, and looking back I don’t think I managed a single paired reading/watching.

Complete the Series Challenge: Challenged myself to complete reading 5 complete series, actually completed 2 series:

THE VELVETEEN SERIES by Seanan McGuire

1.       Velveteen Vs. The Junior Super-Patriots

2.       Velveteen Vs. The Multiverse

3.       Velveteen Vs. The Seasons

CARSON OF VENUS by Edgar Rice Burroughs

1.       Pirates of Venus – read in January 2020

2.       Lost on Venus – completed in August 2021

3.       Carson of Venus – completed in August 2021

4.       Escape on Venus – completed in August 2021

5.       The Wizard of Venus – completed in August 2021

THE CHRISTMAS CHRONICLES by Jeff Guinn

1.       The Autobiography of Santa Claus

2.       How Mrs. Claus Saved Christmas

3.       The Great Santa Search

THE FRANKENSTEIN NOVELS by Frank Schildiner

1.       The Quest of Frankenstein – read in 2018

2.       The Triumph of Frankenstein – completed in July 2021

3.       The Spells of Frankenstein – completed in July 2021

THE SHADOWSHAPER TRILOGY by Daniel José Older

1.       Shadowshaper – read in 2015

2.       Shadowhouse Fall

3.       Shadowshaper Legacy

So there’s my year in reading! Next post will be my year in viewing (television, movies, and live events).

Book Review: WHERE THE DROWNED GIRLS GO

TITLE: Where the Drowned Girls Go (Wayward Children Book 7)

AUTHOR: Seanan McGuire

160 pages, TorDotCom, ISBN 9781250213624 (hardcover, also in e-book and audio)

DESCRIPTION: (from the Goodreads page): Welcome to the Whitethorn Institute. The first step is always admitting you need help, and you've already taken that step by requesting a transfer into our company.

There is another school for children who fall through doors and fall back out again.
It isn't as friendly as Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children.
And it isn't as safe.

When Eleanor West decided to open her school, her sanctuary, her Home for Wayward Children, she knew from the beginning that there would be children she couldn't save; when Cora decides she needs a different direction, a different fate, a different prophecy, Miss West reluctantly agrees to transfer her to the other school, where things are run very differently by Whitehorn, the Headmaster.

She will soon discover that not all doors are welcoming...

MY RATING: 5 stars out of 5.

MY THOUGHTS: Seanan McGuire’s “Wayward Children” series has settled into a comfortable rhythm: the odd numbered books are set in the present and usually involve several students going on a quest, while the even numbered books show us someone’s portal adventure – usually a character we’re already familiar with. In Book 6, Across the Green Grass Fields, McGuire veered from expectations by giving us the portal story of a brand-new character with no ties to the “present day” volumes. She continues to break expectations in Book 7, Where the Drowned Girls Go (releasing tomorrow, January 4, 2022), by having a student we’ve come to love decide that Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children is no longer a place she wishes to be and requesting transfer to the other boarding school we’ve heard mention of. Cora’s had enough of quests, enough of trauma, enough of other beings trying to gain control over her life. It’s not a spoiler to say that despite Eleanor’s most persuasive arguments, the transfer goes through; the book isn’t focused on whether Cora will leave but rather what happens when she does.

I don’t think it’s out of line to call this Seanan’s “gothic romance without the romance” installment of the series, as opposed to the gothic horror of Down Among the Sticks and Bones and Come Tumbling Down. I love the Moors. I want an entire series set in the Moors. I don’t honestly think we’ve seen the last of the Moors. But this is not that kind of gothic story. No vampires, no revenants, no deep-dwelling elder gods (the last of which is exactly what Cora is trying to escape being controlled by). What this story has is a mansion walled off from all surrounding civilization, with dark drafty halls and stern unsmiling adult caretakers and rooms students aren’t allowed to visit and a headmaster with a secret; it has a scared and unhappy girl who thinks she has nowhere else to turn falling under the sway of someone who turns out to be at least as controlling as what she’s running away from and who must find her way out before things go from bad to worse. (And this is a Seanan McGuire book, so you know things are going to get worse before they get better.) I loved all the gothic tropes McGuire incorporates and occasionally upends. The Whitehorn Institute has an embedded, palpable sense of menace. I don’t know that I would describe Eleanor West’s Home as particularly joyous (the students are mostly happy, yes, many seem as content as kids waiting for a portal to reopen to the place the truly feel at home can be, but joyous? No.), but it looks like a constant carnival compared to the Whitehorn Institute. So dour and grey a place must haunt us going forward, and I have no doubt that we haven’t seen the last of the place or of its staff, remaining students, and headmaster.

The wonderful thing about the “Wayward Children” series is that the installments really can be read in any order. Each installment includes whatever information a reader might need to “catch up” on previous volumes without having everything about those previous volumes spoiled. In Drowned Girls, we are reminded of (or introduced to) the bits of Come Tumbling Down and Beneath the Sugar Sky that are pertinent to Cora’s present journey, and they are enough to refresh ongoing readers’ memories and hopefully intrigue new readers.

And this is Cora’s journey we’re on. Mood and classic tropes can only take us so far if we don’t care about the character we’re following into the place. And we do care about Cora. Even if you haven’t read any of the previous books she’s appeared in, you’ll care about her within the first few pages. You’ll recognize her fear that the home she loves is out of her reach, that she’s stuck in a world that doesn’t understand her, that she’s drawn the attention of otherworldly beings who might, through her, find a way to lay waste to the home she loves. (Okay, yeah, most of us don’t encounter that last one – but many of us do encounter thoughts in our own heads that feel otherworldly and controlling and that we’d do anything to escape from. Has McGuire given us ocean-dwelling elder gods as a metaphor for mental illness? I think maybe she has.) You will recognize her need to do something, anything, to change her situation because her situation has become unhealthy and untenable. And you will recognize all the doubts that come along with the thing she does, and the steps she takes to make things as right as she can.

Cora is not the only familiar character appearing in Where the Drowned Girls Go. But telling you who else shows up and what roles they end up playing is a level of spoiler to which I will not descend. Because of when I’m posting this, it’s likely the book is already available in e-format wherever you are, with the print edition easily orderable. So get to it. You won’t be disappointed if you like gothic tales, boarding school tales, tales with magic and danger and in which portals are not the only way to find adventure.

NOTE: I did receive an e-ARC of this title from the publisher via NetGalley.

Sunday Shorts: Three from Uncanny #41

I love short fiction, and Sunday Shorts is the feature where I get to blog about it. Posts will range from flash to novellas. At some point, I might delve into individual stories/episodes of anthology formats in other media, like television and comics, but for the time being, I’m sticking to prose in print and audio.

Today I’m taking a look at three stories from the chock-full-of-greatness Uncanny Magazine #41, their July/August 2021 issue, edited as always by Lynne M. Thomas and Michael Damian Thomas. Seriously, there’s a ton of great stuff in this (and every) issue of Uncanny. Go back their current Kickstarter to fund year 8 of the magazine.

“From the Archives of the Museum of Eerie Skins: An Account” by C.S.E. Cooney

Sometimes when reading a story narrated in first person, I find myself wondering to whom the narrator is speaking. C.S.E. Cooney neatly addresses the issue by positing this whole story as a transcript of an interview with Firi Kanaphar, former wolfcaster in the city of Doornwald, as she relates how the loss of her wolfskin resulted in a societal shift in the relationship between wolfcasters (and other shifters) and witches. This is a wonderful slow-burn story, told conversationally, that builds to a horrific climax where revenge is achieved but the narrator’s life has already been irrevocably changed. The loss of Firi’s wolf-skin is a potent metaphor for rape or dismemberment, and the treatment of wolfcasters by witches is an equally obvious metaphor for racial prejudice. The story also addresses power dynamics – the abuser’s ability to continue to harm the abused even from a distance – and the ability of art to foment social justice and social change when the structures that are supposed to do so fail. It’s a powerful story that I am sure will reveal more layers and inspire deeper thinking each time I re-read it. (Side note: fans of Cooney’s “The Witch in the Almond Tree” and “The Bone-Swans of Amandale” will notice some familiar names in cameo appearances as well as place names.)

“The Wishing Pool” by Tananarive Due

“The Wishing Pool” is about the power and costs of wishes, in the finest fairy tale tradition. Joy ventures out to her family’s remote cabin to check on her ailing father, who is not doing well since his wife’s passing. The sights and sounds remind Joy of a brief childhood friendship centered around a “wishing pool” located between their cabins, and how their few wishes came true but went wrong (as is expected in this kind of story). Joy is desperate for her father to be happy and healthy again – but is she desperate enough to risk wishing on the pool and savvy enough to craft the wish in such a way to avoid it going wrong? Due imbues the story with all of the modern frustrations of dealing with an ailing parent who will not seek out the medical attention they so clearly need: carving out time from regular life and work to travel a great distance to check in on them, the realization that their health has deteriorated far more than suspected (in this case, lung disease and cognitive/memory decline), shouldering the decision-making burden when other siblings fail to step up. All of this adds great depth to Joy as a character and to the memories that bring her to her ultimate decision. I also appreciated Due including what ‘Nathan Burgoine sometimes refers to “that slight nod to reality that makes some people uncomfortable.” In this case, it’s a mention of how the family came to have this remote cabin: built by her grandfather to “hide from lynch mobs roused by their envy that a negro businessman could afford a shiny new Ford Model T.” It’s a throw-away line, but a reminder of history and a moment that ties this story with fantastical elements to our reality.

“Immortal Coil” by Ellen Kushner

Students of drama have been as fascinated by what we don’t know about the life of William Shakespeare as what we do know of his work, and it’s always fun reading genre stories that investigate that life. I personally also tend to be a little obsessed with genre stories about writers that explore their relationship with craft, process, and legacy (see, for instance, my “Top Ten-ish Stephen King Books”). Ellen Kushner brings both of those interests together in “Immortal Coil,” which gives us a mid-career(ish) William Shakespeare seeing what seems to be the ghost of his deceased friend and fellow playwright Christopher Marlowe. The figure leads Will on a merry chase across town using book titles as clues to where to go next, and when they finally are face-to-face, the truth of the situation is laid out and Will is made an offer. Kushner beautifully addresses the question every creative person asks themselves eventually: is it preferable to walk away/retire/die at the height of your career or to stay in the game/live a longer life and watch your skills, and reputation, deteriorate? I won’t spoil Will’s choice, nor the delightful coda Kushner gives the story. But I will say that I wonder if, given the opportunity, I would make the same choice.

Series Saturday: Frank Schildiner's Frankenstein novels

This is a blog series about … well, series. I love stories that continue across volumes, in whatever form: linked short stories, novels, novellas, television, movies, comics.

The Frankenstein novels (3 volumes)

Written by Frank Schildiner

published by Black Coat Press (2015 – 2019)

Titles:

·       The Quest of Frankenstein (2015)

·       The Triumph of Frankenstein (2017)

·       The Spells of Frankenstein (2019)

Mary Shelley’s classic creation Frankenstein has spawned more sequels and reinterpretations than I have the energy to count at the moment. Back in 1957-58, French screenwriter Jean-Claude Carrière wrote a series of novels featuring Frankenstein’s Monster, now named Gouroull and traveling the world following an agenda of his own making. Gouroull has utter disdain for humanity as a whole and is as likely to murder temporary allies as he is enemies. I’ve never read the Carrière novels (English translations appear to be out of print and highly priced on the secondary market), but I have read Frank Schildiner’s three sequels published by Black Coat Press, which are the subject of today’s post.

Frank Schildiner is a wonderful “new pulp” author whose work runs from pulp adventure (The New Adventures of Thunder Jim Wade) to sword-and-sorcery (The Warrior’s Pilgrimage) to espionage (The Klaus Protocol) to westerns, science fiction, and horror. Much of his work mixes genres, and the Frankenstein novels are no exception. Primarily horror, the books also include elements of classic pulp adventure (scientific or occult investigator type characters) and espionage thrillers (the political machinations of the fictional South American country in which The Triumph of Frankenstein takes place).

Gouroull himself is a far cry from the sympathetic Monster of Shelley’s original novel (who simply wanted to understand his place in the world and have a mate to love) and the childlike force of nature of the early Universal Studios films. If any connection/comparison is to be made, I’d say the Monster as played by Bela Lugosi (when evil hunchback Ygor’s brain had been transplanted into the Monster’s body) comes closest tonally to Carrière/Schildiner’s Gouroull. But where Lugosi’s Monster simply had the potential to be a Force of Evil, Gouroull IS that force. We are meant to be afraid of a creature made by Man but unaffected by human emotions of love and want. Gouroull’s search for someone capable of creating him a Mate is powered by the biological imperative to propagate the species as much as by his disdain for weaker/lesser humanity – there’s not a speck of sentiment or loneliness to be seen. This makes Gouroull a hard character to sympathize with – which is not the same as making him a hard character to root for.

On the contrary, throughout the three books I found myself mostly wanting Gouroull to succeed, mostly because the other characters he encounters and does battle with are even less friendly/sympathetic. (I say “mostly” only because Gouroull’s quest in The Spells of Frankenstein involves bringing the Elder Gods of the Lovecraft Mythos back to Earth, and I mean really, who wants that mission to succeed?) Gouroull does battle with vampires (including but not limited to several “soul clones” of Dracula), sorcerers, necromancers, ghosts, mad scientists (paging Doctors Herbert West and Elizabeth Frankenstein) and other supernatural menaces, but even the theoretically heroic characters he meets (monster hunters named Hezekiah Whately and Martin Mars) are reprehensible, highlighting the worst in human greed and hubris. It’s a pleasure to see characters like these get their come-uppance against a force of nature they cannot overcome.

Even though Gouroull is the focus of each book, these are very much ensemble cast novels. Chapters switch between various characters’ points of view as they are drawn into contact with the Monster, and we get insight into who they are before they encounter in (and why they’re searching for him, when they are) as well as how their encounter changes them (when they survive, that is). It’s an effective way to build tension in each book, but is particularly effective in The Spells of Frankenstein, where we meet a pair of heroic human characters of Schildiner’s creation who I would love to see more of in their own books/stories: the Muslim adventurers Faisal and Fatimah. (To a lesser extent, I was also intrigued by  Moraika, the tribal wise woman/shamaness Schildiner created for a sub-plot in Triumph and would like to see her plotline continued as well.)

As is the wont of many “new pulp” writers, Schildiner tosses “easter eggs” liberally throughout these books – nods at classic horror and adventure literary and movie characters. And he does it in ways that don’t distract from the on-going narrative. If you know who is being referenced, great. If not, you can always check the author’s notes at the end of each book. I found those notes inspiring interest in a long list of books I’ve not yet read and movies I’ve not yet seen, especially where the nods were in the form of pastiche or homage rather than outright use of a character.

It’s rare these days for an author to write a series in which the books can be read in any order. Like Seanan McGuire’s Wayward Children series, Frank Schildiner’s Frankenstein books each stand alone, complete unto themselves while still having an obvious place in the overall structure of the series. Read the series in publication order (as I did) or in character chronology order (or, I guess, if you’re one of the lucky folks who have the Carrière novels, read Schildiner’s books where they take place within that chronology), whichever fits your fancy.

There may or may not be further Gouroull novels by Schildiner and Black Coat Press. If there are, I look forward to which gaps in the character’s history Schildiner fills in next. If there aren’t, these books together still tell a trio of tales about a version of Frankenstein’s Monster that is not sympathetic but is compelling.

Reading Round-Up: June 2021

Not quite as belatedly, the monthly summary of what I read and listened to in June 2021!

BOOKS

I read 8 books in June: 3 in print, 5 in e-book format, and 0 in audio format. They were:

1.       Lightspeed Magazine #133 (June 2021 issue), edited by John Joseph Adams. The usual fine assortment of sf and fantasy short stories. This month’s favorites for me were Sam J. Miller’s “The Nation of the Sick,” Nalo Hopkinson’s “Inselberg,” Adam R. Shannon’s “When You Die on the Radio,” and Theodora Goss’s “How to Become a Witch Queen.”

2.       Lumberjanes Vol 18: Horticultural Horizons by Shannon Watters, Kat Leyh, Kanesha C. Bryant, Julia Madrigal, others. Collects issues 69-72 of the monthly comic run, in which the ‘Janes follow camp director Rosie into the woods and discover a creeping killer vine and Rosie’s former best friend Abigail. A really solid storyline this time out spotlights each of the ‘Janes and gives us more background/movement with Rosie and Abigail.

3.       All We Ever Wanted by Seth King. Near the end of his life, a grandfather writes down the story of his lost true love, another man. King charts their hidden love affair across the decades, starting with their first meeting in the 1950s. It’s full of love, but also heart-breaking and angering.

4.       The Girl from the Sea by Molly Knox Ostertag. A new original graphic novel from the creator of the “Witch Boy” series that I love so much. This one takes place on a coastal Island community and focuses on a teen girl who is hiding her sexuality until she can leave – but the selkie she meets might alter those plans. Heartfelt and lovely.

5.       May the Best Man Win by ZR Ellor. A transgender boy who is already class president and a head cheerleader decides to compete with his ex-boyfriend for the Homecoming King crown. Their battle threatens to hurt each other and people they love. I got so invested in this I was yelling at the characters for being so single-minded and selfish.

6.       Blackfish City by Sam J. Miller. In a post-climate change future, various denizens of the titular city find their lives intertwining when a mysterious woman on a mission comes to town. A great ensemble story with lots of characters to root for, and rich assholes to root against.

7.       A Writer Prepares by Lawrence Block. Block’s memoir of his early days working for a literary agency in New York, writing crime fiction and erotica for paperback publishers and paying his dues to build a career.

8.       Fair Youth by M. Dalto and Laynie Bynum. A modern-day, gender-flipped take on the oft-speculated relationship between Elizabethan playwrights William Shakespeare and Christopher Marlowe, only here they’re budding scriptwriters in Hollywood.

STORIES

I have a goal of reading 365 short stories (1 per day, essentially, although it doesn’t always work out that way) this year. Here’s what I read this month and where you can find them if you’re interested in reading them too. If no source is noted, the story is from the same magazine or book as the story(ies) that precede(s) it.

1.       “The Nation of the Sick” by Sam J. Miller, from Lightspeed Magazine #133 (June 2021 issue), edited by John Joseph Adams

2.       “Different People” by Timothy Mudie

3.       “Inselberg” by Nalo Hopkinson

4.       “Do Nothing” by Indria Isa Richardson

5.       “A Tableau of Things That Are” by Adam-Troy Castro

6.       “Wolf Tones” by Sofia Samatar

7.       “When You Die on the Radio” by Adam R. Shannon

8.       “How to Become a Witch Queen” by Theodora Goss

9.       “Dos Coyotes” by Catherine J. Cole, from Fantasy Magazine #68 (June 2021), edited by Christie Yant and Arley Sorg

10.   “Your Ticket to Hell” by Rajan Khanna

11.   “The Port of Le Havre, Night Effect, 1873” by Christine Tyler

12.   “A Gift from the Queen of Fairie to the King of Hell” by Cara Masten DiGirolamo

13.    “To Build a Better” by Seanan McGuire, on the author’s Patreon page.

So that’s 13 short stories in June, possible the fewest I’ve ever read in a calendar month since I started tracking my short story reading. Fewer than “1 per day” and I’m behind again for the year. (June 30th was the 181st day of 2021.)

Summary of Reading Challenges:

“To Be Read” Challenge: This month: 0 read; YTD: 6 of 24 main titles read. (0 of 4 alternate titles read)

365 Short Stories Challenge: This month: 13 read; YTD: 176 of 365 read.

Graphic Novels Challenge:  This month: 2 read; YTD: 15 of 52 read.

Goodreads Challenge: This month: 8 read; YTD: 67 of 125 read.

Non-Fiction Challenge: This month: 1 read; YTD: 9 of 24 read.

Read the Book / Watch the Movie Challenge: This month: 0; YTD: 0 read/watched.

Complete the Series Challenge: This month: 0 book read; YTD: 0 of 14 read.

                                                          Series fully completed: 0 of 4 planned

Monthly Special Challenge:   June’s mini-challenge was to read some works by LGBTQIA+ authors for Pride Month. I did well, as the majority of the books read were by queer-identifying creators (apart from the Block memoir), and several of the short stories were as well.

I decided not to set a mini challenge for July and to use the month to catch up on some of the on-going challenges. We’ll see how that goes…

Reading Round-Up: May 2021

Once again belatedly, the monthly summary of what I read and listened to in May 2021!

BOOKS

I read 13 books in May: 8 in print, 3 in e-book format, and 2 in audio format. They were:

1.       Lightspeed Magazine #132 (May 2021 issue), edited by John Joseph Adams. The usual fine assortment of sf and fantasy short stories. This month’s favorites for me were Andrea Kriz’s “There Are No Hot Topics on Whukai,” Gene Doucette’s “Hypnopompic Circumstance,” Kristina Ten’s “Bones in It,” and Howard Andrew Jones’s “The Palace in the Moonlight.”

2.       Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard. A princess haunted by a fire that occurred when she was a political prisoner of another nation must navigate negotiations with the representatives of that same colonizing nation as an adult, complicated by the arrival of a new friend and an old lover.

3.       Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters by Aimee Ogden. Sci-fi “retelling” of The Little Mermaid, although that retelling is briefly in flashbacks and the story really focuses on the characters quite a few years later. FULL REVIEW HERE.

4.       Burning Roses by S.L. Huang. A novella about running from one’s past mistakes and the uses and misuses of personal power, featuring a version of Red Riding Hood and a version of Hou Yi who help each other deal with their slowly unveiled pasts.

5.       Adler, Volume 1 by Lavie Tidhar (writer), Paul McCaffrey (artist). Collection of the graphic novel series teaming up versions of fictional characters Irene Adler, Jane Eyre, Miss Havisham, orphan Annie, and others against Ayesha.

6.       Miles Morales: Spider-Man Volume 4: Ultimatum by Saladin Ahmed (writer), Cory Smith, Carmen Carnero, Javier Garrón, others. Collection of issues 16-21 of the monthly comics run.

7.       The Chosen and the Beautiful by Nghi Vo. Vo’s reinvention of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, narrated by Jordan Baker, who here is a queer Asian adoptee in a world where magic actually works. FULL REVIEW HERE.

8.       Ms. Marvel by Saladin Ahmed Volume 3: Outlawed by Saladin Ahmed (writer), Minkyu Jung, others. Collection of issues 13-18 of the monthly comics run, in which Kamala and friends must avoid being caught by government agency CRADLE while acting as super-heroes without adult sponsors.

9.       Ghost-Spider Volume 2: Party People by Seanan McGuire (writer), Ig Guara (artist), others. Collecting issues 6-10 of the monthly comics run, during with Gwen navigates life on two different Earths and meets her Earth’s versions of Sue and Johnny Storm. Shame this run was cancelled so early.

10.   Shang-Chi by Gene Luen Yang Volume 1: Brothers & Sisters by Gene Luen Yang (writer), Dike Ruan, Philip Tan (artists). Collection of the monthly mini-series that introduced a new status quo for Shang-Chi in the comics, as he learns he has more biological half-siblings than he ever thought he could have. It’s not the Shang-Chi I grew up reading, but an interesting reinterpretation.

11.   The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I don’t remember reading this in either high school or college, but after reading Nghi Vo’s reinterpretation, I felt like I had to in order to understand her inspiration. It’s an interesting story as far as it goes, with some interesting turns of phrase.

12.   The Witch in the Almond Tree & Other Stories by C.S.E. Cooney. Three wonderful fantasy short stories featuring magic, romance, and a bit of erotica. I listened to the audiobook narrated by the author and loved every minute of it.

13.   Dodge & Twist: A Sequel to Oliver Twist by Tony Lee. I listened to the audio production, which was more of a radio play than a reading (and my understanding is that Lee wrote it specifically as such for Audible). It’s a fun tale of Oliver and Dodger running into each other in their early twenties and getting involved in a caper together. I’m not sure it’s quite the sequel “Dickens would have written,” as some of the press materials claimed, but it’s a fun and fast-paced tale nonetheless.

STORIES

I have a goal of reading 365 short stories (1 per day, essentially, although it doesn’t always work out that way) this year. Here’s what I read this month and where you can find them if you’re interested in reading them too. If no source is noted, the story is from the same magazine or book as the story(ies) that precede(s) it.

1.       “Hypnopompic Circumstance” by Gene Doucette, from Lightspeed Magazine #132 (May 2021 issue), edited by John Joseph Adams

2.       “Carnivores” by Rich Larson

3.       “There Are No Hot Topics on Whukai” by Andrea Kriz

4.       “Saudade” by Nelson Rolon

5.       “An Invitation to a Burning” by Kat Howard

6.       “Bones In It” by Kristina Ten

7.       “Dead Men in Central City” by Carrie Vaughn

8.       “The Palace in the Moonlight” by Howard Andrew Jones

9.       “Like Birdsong, The Memory of Your Touch” by Izzy Wasserstein, from Fantasy Magazine #67 (May 2021), edited by Christie Yant and Arley Sorg

10.   “The Sweetest Source” by J.L. Jones

11.   “Disenchantment” by P.H. Low

12.   “By Our Own Hands” by Anya Leigh Josephs

13.    “By Any Other” by Seanan McGuire, on the author’s Patreon page.

14.   “Girl” by Jamaica Kincaid, from The New Yorker (June 26, 1978)

15.   “Crooked House” by Nina Kiriki Hoffman, from The Dark #72 (May 2021), edited by Sean Wallace

16.   “Of Claw and Bone” by Suzan Palumbo

17.   “Water Child” by Frances Ogamba

18.   “The Witch in the Almond Tree” by C.S.E. Cooney, from The Witch in the Almond Tree and Other Stories

19.   “Witch, Beast, Saint” by C.S.E. Cooney

20.   “Braiding the Ghosts” by C.S.E. Cooney

So that’s 20 short stories in May. Fewer than “1 per day” but I’m still slightly ahead for the year. (May 31st was the 151st day of 2021.)

Summary of Reading Challenges:

“To Be Read” Challenge: This month: 0 read; YTD: 6 of 24 main titles read. (0 of 4 alternate titles read)

365 Short Stories Challenge: This month: 20 read; YTD: 163 of 365 read.

Graphic Novels Challenge:  This month: 5 read; YTD: 13 of 52 read.

Goodreads Challenge: This month: 13 read; YTD: 59 of 125 read.

Non-Fiction Challenge: This month: 0 read; YTD: 8 of 24 read.

Read the Book / Watch the Movie Challenge: This month: 0; YTD: 0 read/watched.

Complete the Series Challenge: This month: 0 book read; YTD: 0 of 14 read.

                                                          Series fully completed: 0 of 4 planned

Monthly Special Challenge:   May’s mini-challenge was to read some works by authors of Asian Pacific and/or South Asian descent, for Asian Pacific and South Asian Heritage Month. Didn’t do too badly on this one: three novels (de Bodard, Huang, Vo), one graphic novel (Shang-Chi by Yang, Ruan, Tan and co.).

June’s mini-challenge is, quite naturally, LGBTQIA+ authors and works, since June is Pride Month.