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sophmcgraw's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
theaurochs's review against another edition
3.0
Average rating 2.9 stars! There are a few really standout stories in this collection, but the majority are pretty forgettable. Mini-reviews of each short story below!
How Quini the Squid Misplaced His Klobucar- Rich Larson
-Cool cyberpunk Barcelona heist story. Tightly constructed, clever world-building, fun classic heist-style twists. 4/5
Girlfriend's Guide to Gods- Maria Dahvana Headley
-Yes, we get it, greek myths are misogynist. This isn't quite the hot take you think it is. The attempts at self-affirmation fall flat and hollow 1/5
St Valentine, St Abigail, St Brigid- C.L. Polk
-Interesting look at witchcraft and folk magic; a sweet and effective little story 3/5
If you get my meaning- Charlie Jane Anders
-Continuation of The City in the Middle of the Night. A short and sweet story that makes no effort to hide its themes of trauma, personal growth and emotional communication. I think its pretty clever but I still think the conclusion of TCitMotN goes in the wrong direction, and this follows it. 3/5
Sinew and Steel and What they Told- Carrie Vaughan
-Really powerful emotional little story about a cyborg being 'outed', and how this effects their relationships and person. Very well written and told, short, snappy and well-formed. Hints of the wider world-building, while establishing everything necessary for the story as it is. 4/5
Little Free Library- Naomi Kritzer
-Fine and very short short story about a mysterious interaction with another world. Somewhat charming, but nothing really outstanding or impressive. 2/5
An Explorer's Cartography of Already Settled Lands- Fran Wilde
-Enchanting, enthralling story of alien belonging. What an incredible little piece of writing, beautiful prose and thoughtful narrative. 5/5
The Night Sun - Zin E. Rocklyn
-Suprisingly scary horror story, with some effective body horror and chilling elements. Like the best horror, it uses its fantastic elements to make points about the human condition. There are a few issues that prevent it from really shining, but solid story. 3/5
Anything Resembling Love - S. Qiouyi Lu
-I felt distinctly, hideously uncomfortable reading this. So mission accomplished. A heavy but effective metaphor for rape specifically and wider rape culture or just societal expectations on women and how this affects them. 4/5
Beyond the Dragon's Gate - Yoon Ha Lee
-Pretty meh. Lacklustre prose with some extended tortured metaphors that deserve to be put out their misery. Lots of exposition delivered in a clunky way. 2/5
Of Kings and Roses - Melissa Marr
-Not really into it- Alice in Wonderland fan-fiction. Fairly well-written but just nothing for me to really latch on to. 2/5
We're here, we're here - KM Szpara
-Fine? Again not really much to say about this one. Very basic look at a black-mirror type scenario, with a queer-tinter lens. 2/5
Two Truths and a Lie - Sarah Pinsker
-Interesting and creepy story, possibly pushing one too many ideas in its short space, but it plays into this and mostly carries it off. Gets more unsettling the more you think about it. 4/5
The Night Soil Salvagers - Gregory Norman Bossert
-Disjointed and too whimsical for my tastes. An interesting idea with a different take on modern fairies, but the execution left a lot to be desired. 1/5
The Ones Who Look - Katherine Duckett
-A fairly standard overview of some of the issues involved in digital immortality. Not bad, but no original takes on the idea. 3/5
Everything's Fine - Matthew Pridham
-Creepy and unnerving, but possibly over-the-top with it. A lovely examination of how we try to deal with un-deal-with-able things, full of zeitgeist for those of us who live in an ending world, but for some reason are deemed crazy if we ever address it. 4/5
Yellow and the Perception of Reality - Maureen McHugh
-Seems at once to push certain things a little too far, and other elements not nearly enough. Definitely has the makings of a great story, but the pieces don't fully align into something final. The basic premise that we can't understand reality directly, if we did it would drive us insane, is interesting but it doesn't take centre stage enough 3/5
Exile's End - Carolyn Eves Gilman
-Pretty great sci-fi that channels James Acaster's "Finders Keepers Shut Up" look at cultural appropriation in museums. Shame Le Guin did the same thing, better, 50 years ago. Also plagued by some very poor editing, but still manages to be a good story. 4/5
Flight - Claire Wrenwood
-Another fine story. Almost a tone-poem, an exercise in mood. For a story that takes place over the course of thirty years, precious little happens otherwise. It's a decent allegory for the damage done by beauty standards, and how these harmful images can be deeply ingrained. Not sure how effective the reverse chronology is. Also a good highlight on the cycle of abuse. Overall just fine, 2/5
Wait for Night - Stephen Graham Jones
-Yep, it's a vampire story all right. Drenched in Americana and a machismo that feels like a holdover from an earlier age, not necessarily in a good way. You could say there's a lot going on between the lines here, but to me it comes across more as lazy. Take just a little more time to show us something. Not super interested 2/5
Solution - Brian Everson
-It is, wait for it, fine. A fun take on the scientist-despairing-at-the-state-of-humanity trope, who then takes action to change the world. For the better? Who could say. Perhaps we deserve to let go of our time in this world. There are interesting elements here that should have been explored further, like the relationship with the daughter. 2/5
Hearts in the Hard Ground - G. V. Anderson
-Ok, now this is a brilliant ghost story. Genuinely haunting, emotional, ghosts that tie in to the psyche/trauma of the characters. Lovely detailed setting, I can see the house very clearly. Only a couple of characters but they are well fleshed out in the time we spend with them. Excellent 5/5
The Perfection of Theresa Watkins - Justin C. Key
-A little confused, with some fairly heavy racial commentary. Interesting look at identity and controlling relationships. Definitely has the seeds of an interesting story. 3/5
The Ashes of Around Twenty-Three Strangers - Jeremy Packert Burke
-Not really sure. As in, have read it and still not sure what its about. Could have been a tale about humans wrecking the planet but thenwe've got the weird rain-in-houses thing going on, plus the corpses of giant gods? I never got a sense of the world we are in, so it all felt a little disconnected. Great title though. 2/5
Placed into Abyss - Rachel Swirsky
-Very similar in idea to HitHG from earlier, but could not be more opposite in execution. Really heavy-handed "the ghosts are your trauma" story that shoe-horns in some quantum woo nonsense as well. None of this worked for me unfortunately 1/5
City of Red Midnight: Usman T. Malik
-Excellent and gorgeous fairy-tale, with delightful interlocking layers of narrative, each on feeling distinct in voice and setting. The ability to bring worlds to life so vividly in such a small handful of words is just delightful. 5/5
The Little Witch- M. Rickert
-Fine whimsical little story about Halloween. Didn't love it, and the edges were poorly defined. Some people like this in a short story, for me it was too far, frustrating. 2/5
Judge Dee and the Limits of the Law - Laive Tidhar
-Really cool vampire story! I like this one a lot. Spooky, atmospheric, that great feeling of good vampire stories with entrenched rules and regulations governing the secret horrors of the night. We are also in the indistinct medieval Europe that best suits this kind of monster. Great work 4/5
The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex - Tamsin Muir
-I strongly dislike the tone that Muir strikes. Sorry. I didn't like it in Gideon the Ninth and I don't like it here. This is a short enough dose of it that it is manageable, and the story and world-building here is quite interesting. Not sure if it would work as a standalone, maybe it does. There's a distinct air here of Sherlock Holmes, deducing the answer to impossible mysteries. There isn't enough set-up for the reader to reach these conclusions independetly, so the mystery aspect doesn't work for me either. 2/5
How Quini the Squid Misplaced His Klobucar- Rich Larson
-Cool cyberpunk Barcelona heist story. Tightly constructed, clever world-building, fun classic heist-style twists. 4/5
Girlfriend's Guide to Gods- Maria Dahvana Headley
-Yes, we get it, greek myths are misogynist. This isn't quite the hot take you think it is. The attempts at self-affirmation fall flat and hollow 1/5
St Valentine, St Abigail, St Brigid- C.L. Polk
-Interesting look at witchcraft and folk magic; a sweet and effective little story 3/5
If you get my meaning- Charlie Jane Anders
-Continuation of The City in the Middle of the Night. A short and sweet story that makes no effort to hide its themes of trauma, personal growth and emotional communication. I think its pretty clever but I still think the conclusion of TCitMotN goes in the wrong direction, and this follows it. 3/5
Sinew and Steel and What they Told- Carrie Vaughan
-Really powerful emotional little story about a cyborg being 'outed', and how this effects their relationships and person. Very well written and told, short, snappy and well-formed. Hints of the wider world-building, while establishing everything necessary for the story as it is. 4/5
Little Free Library- Naomi Kritzer
-Fine and very short short story about a mysterious interaction with another world. Somewhat charming, but nothing really outstanding or impressive. 2/5
An Explorer's Cartography of Already Settled Lands- Fran Wilde
-Enchanting, enthralling story of alien belonging. What an incredible little piece of writing, beautiful prose and thoughtful narrative. 5/5
The Night Sun - Zin E. Rocklyn
-Suprisingly scary horror story, with some effective body horror and chilling elements. Like the best horror, it uses its fantastic elements to make points about the human condition. There are a few issues that prevent it from really shining, but solid story. 3/5
Anything Resembling Love - S. Qiouyi Lu
-I felt distinctly, hideously uncomfortable reading this. So mission accomplished. A heavy but effective metaphor for rape specifically and wider rape culture or just societal expectations on women and how this affects them. 4/5
Beyond the Dragon's Gate - Yoon Ha Lee
-Pretty meh. Lacklustre prose with some extended tortured metaphors that deserve to be put out their misery. Lots of exposition delivered in a clunky way. 2/5
Of Kings and Roses - Melissa Marr
-Not really into it- Alice in Wonderland fan-fiction. Fairly well-written but just nothing for me to really latch on to. 2/5
We're here, we're here - KM Szpara
-Fine? Again not really much to say about this one. Very basic look at a black-mirror type scenario, with a queer-tinter lens. 2/5
Two Truths and a Lie - Sarah Pinsker
-Interesting and creepy story, possibly pushing one too many ideas in its short space, but it plays into this and mostly carries it off. Gets more unsettling the more you think about it. 4/5
The Night Soil Salvagers - Gregory Norman Bossert
-Disjointed and too whimsical for my tastes. An interesting idea with a different take on modern fairies, but the execution left a lot to be desired. 1/5
The Ones Who Look - Katherine Duckett
-A fairly standard overview of some of the issues involved in digital immortality. Not bad, but no original takes on the idea. 3/5
Everything's Fine - Matthew Pridham
-Creepy and unnerving, but possibly over-the-top with it. A lovely examination of how we try to deal with un-deal-with-able things, full of zeitgeist for those of us who live in an ending world, but for some reason are deemed crazy if we ever address it. 4/5
Yellow and the Perception of Reality - Maureen McHugh
-Seems at once to push certain things a little too far, and other elements not nearly enough. Definitely has the makings of a great story, but the pieces don't fully align into something final. The basic premise that we can't understand reality directly, if we did it would drive us insane, is interesting but it doesn't take centre stage enough 3/5
Exile's End - Carolyn Eves Gilman
-Pretty great sci-fi that channels James Acaster's "Finders Keepers Shut Up" look at cultural appropriation in museums. Shame Le Guin did the same thing, better, 50 years ago. Also plagued by some very poor editing, but still manages to be a good story. 4/5
Flight - Claire Wrenwood
-Another fine story. Almost a tone-poem, an exercise in mood. For a story that takes place over the course of thirty years, precious little happens otherwise. It's a decent allegory for the damage done by beauty standards, and how these harmful images can be deeply ingrained. Not sure how effective the reverse chronology is. Also a good highlight on the cycle of abuse. Overall just fine, 2/5
Wait for Night - Stephen Graham Jones
-Yep, it's a vampire story all right. Drenched in Americana and a machismo that feels like a holdover from an earlier age, not necessarily in a good way. You could say there's a lot going on between the lines here, but to me it comes across more as lazy. Take just a little more time to show us something. Not super interested 2/5
Solution - Brian Everson
-It is, wait for it, fine. A fun take on the scientist-despairing-at-the-state-of-humanity trope, who then takes action to change the world. For the better? Who could say. Perhaps we deserve to let go of our time in this world. There are interesting elements here that should have been explored further, like the relationship with the daughter. 2/5
Hearts in the Hard Ground - G. V. Anderson
-Ok, now this is a brilliant ghost story. Genuinely haunting, emotional, ghosts that tie in to the psyche/trauma of the characters. Lovely detailed setting, I can see the house very clearly. Only a couple of characters but they are well fleshed out in the time we spend with them. Excellent 5/5
The Perfection of Theresa Watkins - Justin C. Key
-A little confused, with some fairly heavy racial commentary. Interesting look at identity and controlling relationships. Definitely has the seeds of an interesting story. 3/5
The Ashes of Around Twenty-Three Strangers - Jeremy Packert Burke
-Not really sure. As in, have read it and still not sure what its about. Could have been a tale about humans wrecking the planet but thenwe've got the weird rain-in-houses thing going on, plus the corpses of giant gods? I never got a sense of the world we are in, so it all felt a little disconnected. Great title though. 2/5
Placed into Abyss - Rachel Swirsky
-Very similar in idea to HitHG from earlier, but could not be more opposite in execution. Really heavy-handed "the ghosts are your trauma" story that shoe-horns in some quantum woo nonsense as well. None of this worked for me unfortunately 1/5
City of Red Midnight: Usman T. Malik
-Excellent and gorgeous fairy-tale, with delightful interlocking layers of narrative, each on feeling distinct in voice and setting. The ability to bring worlds to life so vividly in such a small handful of words is just delightful. 5/5
The Little Witch- M. Rickert
-Fine whimsical little story about Halloween. Didn't love it, and the edges were poorly defined. Some people like this in a short story, for me it was too far, frustrating. 2/5
Judge Dee and the Limits of the Law - Laive Tidhar
-Really cool vampire story! I like this one a lot. Spooky, atmospheric, that great feeling of good vampire stories with entrenched rules and regulations governing the secret horrors of the night. We are also in the indistinct medieval Europe that best suits this kind of monster. Great work 4/5
The Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex - Tamsin Muir
-I strongly dislike the tone that Muir strikes. Sorry. I didn't like it in Gideon the Ninth and I don't like it here. This is a short enough dose of it that it is manageable, and the story and world-building here is quite interesting. Not sure if it would work as a standalone, maybe it does. There's a distinct air here of Sherlock Holmes, deducing the answer to impossible mysteries. There isn't enough set-up for the reader to reach these conclusions independetly, so the mystery aspect doesn't work for me either. 2/5
terst's review against another edition
3.0
There's a bit of everything in this book, from the very good (Exile's End, a beautiful, touchy story masterfully written), the very band (we're here we're here, a fanfiction with no scifi elements, basically) and the average. All in all, the average is average, so 3 stars would be appropriate for me.
smalefowles's review against another edition
4.0
The fact that it took me an absurdly long amount of time to actually finish this collection should be considered to cast no aspersions on its merit.
This is a very strong collection overall, and I love that it gives me the opportunity to encounter new authors. Tor is a treasure, and now I have to read these every year. Hopefully the 2021 collection won't take me quite as long.
My favorite stories were "Exile's End" (I still think about this one), “City of Red Midnight: A Hikayat” (so well-crafted), “How Quini the Squid Misplaced his Klobučar” (a clever, fun heist story), "Two Truths and a Lie" (so creepypasta!), and “Hearts in the Hard Ground” (a ghost story with feelings).
There were a few emotionally brutal stories, like “Placed into Abyss (Mise en Abyse)”, which I'm glad I read but wouldn't read again. Some heavy-handed metaphors, too--"Flight" and "Anything Resembling Love"--but they were effective.
Overall, very strong and I look forward to starting the 2021 set.
This is a very strong collection overall, and I love that it gives me the opportunity to encounter new authors. Tor is a treasure, and now I have to read these every year. Hopefully the 2021 collection won't take me quite as long.
My favorite stories were "Exile's End" (I still think about this one), “City of Red Midnight: A Hikayat” (so well-crafted), “How Quini the Squid Misplaced his Klobučar” (a clever, fun heist story), "Two Truths and a Lie" (so creepypasta!), and “Hearts in the Hard Ground” (a ghost story with feelings).
There were a few emotionally brutal stories, like “Placed into Abyss (Mise en Abyse)”, which I'm glad I read but wouldn't read again. Some heavy-handed metaphors, too--"Flight" and "Anything Resembling Love"--but they were effective.
Overall, very strong and I look forward to starting the 2021 set.
catbooking's review against another edition
4.0
Tor collections are usually all win for me. This time there were more than a couple of stories that just did not grab me. On top of that, there seems to have been a theme running through a lot of these stories, a theme of rape/sexual assault/abuse. And while the theme and the exploration of the topic are important, having to read story after story about people suffering in that one specific way from that one specific sort of trauma got too much too fast. I think that is in part why so many stories did not grab me, feeling emotionally exhausted I did not want to put in extra work to keep my attention.
That said, there were many really good stories that are worth checking out. The list of the ones I enjoyed is below.
St. Valentine, St. Abigail, St. Brigid by C.L. Polk
Sinew And Steel And What They Told by Carrie Vaughn
Little Free Library by Naomi Kritzer
Anything Resembling Love by S. Qiouyi Lu
Two Truths And And A Lie by Sarah Pinsker
The Ones Who Look by Katharine Duckett
Everything’s Fine by Matthew Pridham
Yellow And The Perception Of Reality by Maureen McHugh
Exile’s End by Carolyn Ives Gilman
Flight by Claire Wrenwood
Wait For Night by Stephen Graham Jones
Placed Into Abyss by Rachel Swirsky
City Of Red Midnight by Usman T. Malik
That said, there were many really good stories that are worth checking out. The list of the ones I enjoyed is below.
St. Valentine, St. Abigail, St. Brigid by C.L. Polk
Sinew And Steel And What They Told by Carrie Vaughn
Little Free Library by Naomi Kritzer
Anything Resembling Love by S. Qiouyi Lu
Two Truths And And A Lie by Sarah Pinsker
The Ones Who Look by Katharine Duckett
Everything’s Fine by Matthew Pridham
Yellow And The Perception Of Reality by Maureen McHugh
Exile’s End by Carolyn Ives Gilman
Flight by Claire Wrenwood
Wait For Night by Stephen Graham Jones
Placed Into Abyss by Rachel Swirsky
City Of Red Midnight by Usman T. Malik
richie_beamand's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
4.0
zoes_human's review against another edition
4.0
A standout speculative fiction anthology of short stories published on Tor. com. Too many excellent works to even try to call out just the best of them.
anobrega85's review
medium-paced
3.75
Didn't really love any, didn't hate any. One or other felt like they should have been read in their own serialized context. Some authors are quite good at showing their "voice", making this, as is usual of Tor.com's best of collections, a nice way to not only read good short fiction but also to get to know different authors that might interest you.
My particular favourites would be Little Free Library by Naomi Kritzer - a quick whimsical fantasy - and Solution by Brian Evenson - a beautifully written quite chilling story of not so far from reality sci-fi.
How Quini The Squid Misplaced his Klobučar - 3,5
The Girlfriend's Guide to Gods - 3
St. Valentine, St. Abigail, St. Brigid - 3,5
If You Take my Meaning - 4
Sinew and Steel and What They Told - 4
Little Free Library - 4,5
An Explorer's Cartography of Already Settled Lands - 3,5
The Night Sun - 3
Anything Resembling Love - 4
Beyond the Dragon's Gate - 3,5
Of Roses and Kings - 3
We're Here, We're Here - 3
Two Truths and a Lie - 3,5
The Night Soil Salvagers - 2
The Ones Who Look - 4
Everything's Fine - 4
Yellow and the Perception of Reality - 3,5
Exile's End - 4
Flight - 4
Wait for Night - 4
Solution - 4,5
Hearts in the Hard Ground - 4
The Perfection of Theresa Watkins - 3,5
The Ashes of Around Twenty-three Strangers - 3
Placed into Abyss - 2
City of Red Midnight: A Hikayat - 4
The Little Witch - 3
Judge Dee and the Limits of the Law - 4
Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex - 3,5
My particular favourites would be Little Free Library by Naomi Kritzer - a quick whimsical fantasy - and Solution by Brian Evenson - a beautifully written quite chilling story of not so far from reality sci-fi.
How Quini The Squid Misplaced his Klobučar - 3,5
The Girlfriend's Guide to Gods - 3
St. Valentine, St. Abigail, St. Brigid - 3,5
If You Take my Meaning - 4
Sinew and Steel and What They Told - 4
Little Free Library - 4,5
An Explorer's Cartography of Already Settled Lands - 3,5
The Night Sun - 3
Anything Resembling Love - 4
Beyond the Dragon's Gate - 3,5
Of Roses and Kings - 3
We're Here, We're Here - 3
Two Truths and a Lie - 3,5
The Night Soil Salvagers - 2
The Ones Who Look - 4
Everything's Fine - 4
Yellow and the Perception of Reality - 3,5
Exile's End - 4
Flight - 4
Wait for Night - 4
Solution - 4,5
Hearts in the Hard Ground - 4
The Perfection of Theresa Watkins - 3,5
The Ashes of Around Twenty-three Strangers - 3
Placed into Abyss - 2
City of Red Midnight: A Hikayat - 4
The Little Witch - 3
Judge Dee and the Limits of the Law - 4
Mysterious Study of Doctor Sex - 3,5
badmc's review
4.0
As every omnibus, some were a hit, and some were a miss. More on the 'hit' side, though. How Qini the Squid misplaced his Klobučar (Rich Larson) exhilarated me, The Perfection of Theresa Watkins (Justin C. Key) made my skin crawl, Judge Dee and the Limits of Law (Lavie Tidhar) made me want more, and Two Truths and a Lie (Sarah Pinsker) and Yellow and the Perception of Reality (Maureen McHugh) made me love its characters.
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