Favourite short stories for January
Feb. 4th, 2016 06:22 pmUrban fantasy where the fantasy is, in the author's words, 'commonplace enough to make the weather report'. I have to say, the warding precautions are so complex I honestly think the authorities have a point saying '...Actually just don't even try.' Though I also see the point that people will be desperate enough. So, probably there should be licensed practitioners or something.
It Brought Us All Together, by Marissa Lingen
(A reread as I perform browser-tab maintenance.) This is about grief and reminds me a lot about the earthquakes even though it's nothing to do with that.
So Much Cooking by Naomi Kritzer
Food blog + bird flu pandemic = all of the earthquake feels that got missed out by the previous story.
Yuanyuan’s Bubbles by Liu Cixin
The utility of beauty: blowing soap bubbles as climate change-induced drought threatens a city.
Today I Am Paul by Martin L. Shoemaker
This was sweetly sad (reminding me of the recent Dutch documentary about a care-bot prototype being alpha-tested) and then I reached the last line and the only thing that stopped me bawling my eyes out was that I was visiting family and I didn't feel like explaining.