Scan barcode
qalminator's review
3.0
Knight of Chains, Deuce of Stars (Yoon Ha Lee) - Oddly lyrical (as much of Lee's work is), with a very odd solution to a rather odd problem.
Face Value (Sean Williams) - Interesting SF mystery revolving around fabricators. Read quite well by LeVar Burton on his podcast.
Pretty sure that when I first marked this, it was for the specific Yoon Ha Lee story. As GoodReads has gotten more militant, they've apparently been doing some unnecessary consolidation.
Face Value (Sean Williams) - Interesting SF mystery revolving around fabricators
Spoiler
and fraudstersPretty sure that when I first marked this, it was for the specific Yoon Ha Lee story. As GoodReads has gotten more militant, they've apparently been doing some unnecessary consolidation.
sonofthe's review
4.0
Standouts:
The Gorgon in the Cupboard by Patricia A. McKillip
Getting into the story at the beginning was a bit rough for me, but it ended up being quite good. I feel like I haven't read much recently with Greek myth influence—it seems to be mostly Judeo-Christian these days—so this story was refreshing. The conflict, if you want to call it that, was character based, each of the two main ones growing in some way. Art played a major role; the main characters are a painter and his model, and McKillip says in her interview that she did lots of reading about Pre-Raphaelite painters.
The Knight of Chains, the Deuce of Stars by Yoon Ha Lee
This one looks at games. Lee said it came from wondering if there were naturally occurring games (something like that). It features Go, which makes me happy.
The Litigation Master and the Monkey King by Ken Liu
Liu is fast becoming one of my favorite short-story authors. This one takes inspiration from a real-life horrific event in Chinese history, and models the main character after a real-life "litigation master." In the midst of the dark injustice and personal sacrifice of the story, there's a playful humor similar to what I read in Hughart's [b:Bridge of Birds|15177|Bridge of Birds A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was (The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox, #1)|Barry Hughart|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327940289s/15177.jpg|958087]—maybe from bits of Chinese film, too.
End Game by Nancy Kress
Kress is also becoming one of my new favorites. This one is about obsession and made me think about enjoying the variety of life. It also features chess.
The Others:
While not quite as good, Reynolds' At Budokan, Laidlaw's Catamounts, and Skerry's Breathless in the Deep all are memorable and fun in their own ways. I think I'll be looking for more from Skerry.
Cheney's How Far to Englishman's Bay is haunting and mysterious. I can't quite figure it out yet, though, so I don't know where to place it. I'll try to come back to it for a re-read.
See my status updates for this book to read my initial reactions and notes for each story.
The Gorgon in the Cupboard by Patricia A. McKillip
Getting into the story at the beginning was a bit rough for me, but it ended up being quite good. I feel like I haven't read much recently with Greek myth influence—it seems to be mostly Judeo-Christian these days—so this story was refreshing. The conflict, if you want to call it that, was character based, each of the two main ones growing in some way. Art played a major role; the main characters are a painter and his model, and McKillip says in her interview that she did lots of reading about Pre-Raphaelite painters.
The Knight of Chains, the Deuce of Stars by Yoon Ha Lee
This one looks at games. Lee said it came from wondering if there were naturally occurring games (something like that). It features Go, which makes me happy.
The Litigation Master and the Monkey King by Ken Liu
Liu is fast becoming one of my favorite short-story authors. This one takes inspiration from a real-life horrific event in Chinese history, and models the main character after a real-life "litigation master." In the midst of the dark injustice and personal sacrifice of the story, there's a playful humor similar to what I read in Hughart's [b:Bridge of Birds|15177|Bridge of Birds A Novel of an Ancient China That Never Was (The Chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox, #1)|Barry Hughart|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327940289s/15177.jpg|958087]—maybe from bits of Chinese film, too.
End Game by Nancy Kress
Kress is also becoming one of my new favorites. This one is about obsession and made me think about enjoying the variety of life. It also features chess.
The Others:
While not quite as good, Reynolds' At Budokan, Laidlaw's Catamounts, and Skerry's Breathless in the Deep all are memorable and fun in their own ways. I think I'll be looking for more from Skerry.
Cheney's How Far to Englishman's Bay is haunting and mysterious. I can't quite figure it out yet, though, so I don't know where to place it. I'll try to come back to it for a re-read.
See my status updates for this book to read my initial reactions and notes for each story.
bookaneer's review
3.0
For the Yoon Ha Lee story titled The Knight of Chains, the Deuce of Stars. Reminded me of Hyperion. A shorter one with a less scary Shrike. Love the beautiful, eloquent language.
scamp1234's review
4.0
This issue has quite a few outstanding short's. Yoon Ha Lee's The Knight of Chains, the Deuce of Stars is utterly brilliant! Ken Liu delivers yet again another fantastic telling with The Litigation Master and the Monkey King. I was surprised by Cory Skerrry's Breathless in the Deep and really enjoyed it. Alastair Reynolds reprint also provided a great tale with At Budokan. All the others were good making this yet again another well put together issue of my favorite magazine to date.
jokoloyo's review
2.0
Based on my understanding, the plot is simple. There are a couple of terms and definitions of Go/Baduk/Weiqi game, but the game played in the story itself is not clear for me, a linguistic Go game, maybe? I am open to anyone who can pointing how the game played on the story.
Anyway, this short story reminds me of a few good stories about games:
1. For space opera telling of playing game, I haven't found a better story than [b:The Player of Games|18630|The Player of Games (Culture, #2)|Iain M. Banks|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386922873s/18630.jpg|1494157], yet.
2. For Igo games, there are [b:The Master of Go|13752|The Master of Go (Vintage International)|Yasunari Kawabata|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327963687s/13752.jpg|1255182] and [b:Hikaru no Go, Vol. 1: Descent of the Go Master|13590|Hikaru no Go, Vol. 1 Descent of the Go Master (Hikaru no Go, #1)|Yumi Hotta|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388890941s/13590.jpg|15730]. If not familiar with the Igo game, I recommend Hikaru no Go.
Anyway, this short story reminds me of a few good stories about games:
1. For space opera telling of playing game, I haven't found a better story than [b:The Player of Games|18630|The Player of Games (Culture, #2)|Iain M. Banks|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1386922873s/18630.jpg|1494157], yet.
2. For Igo games, there are [b:The Master of Go|13752|The Master of Go (Vintage International)|Yasunari Kawabata|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327963687s/13752.jpg|1255182] and [b:Hikaru no Go, Vol. 1: Descent of the Go Master|13590|Hikaru no Go, Vol. 1 Descent of the Go Master (Hikaru no Go, #1)|Yumi Hotta|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1388890941s/13590.jpg|15730]. If not familiar with the Igo game, I recommend Hikaru no Go.
greymalkin's review
5.0
5 stars is not enough. I probably re-read this short story once a month. It's just so beautiful and amusing and poignant. This is the story that turned me into a Yoon Ha Lee fan. The fevered imagery, the poetic use of math and music and words... delightful.
More...