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A review by bookcraft
The Long List Anthology: More Stories from the Hugo Awards Nomination List (Audio Selections) by David Steffen
4.0
Solid anthology, though the audiobook seems to only have half the stories that the internet tells me the ebook contains.
If I were rating the stories individually, only one would be less than four stars ("This Chance Planet" by Elizabeth Bear, which wasn't bad or anything but just didn't click for me), and there are a handful of true stand-outs:
"Makeisha In Time" by Rachael K. Jones
This had a particularly fascinating premise that I'd love to see explored in a novel. (Which isn't to say that the short story was insufficient or somehow lacking, because it wasn't. It was just interesting enough that I want more. :-) )
"Toad Words" by T. Kingfisher
A new spin on an old, familiar fairytale. Both the premise and the prose are wonderful.
"The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family" by Usman T. Malik
I have no idea what to say about this, other than that I really liked it and I'm going to see what else the author has written.
"The Magician And Laplace’s Demon" by Tom Crosshill
I'm going to have to listen to this again and maybe sit down and read it from the ebook, because there's a lot to absorb here — much of it merely implied and suggested — and I feel like I've only scratched the surface after the first listen.
If I were rating the stories individually, only one would be less than four stars ("This Chance Planet" by Elizabeth Bear, which wasn't bad or anything but just didn't click for me), and there are a handful of true stand-outs:
"Makeisha In Time" by Rachael K. Jones
This had a particularly fascinating premise that I'd love to see explored in a novel. (Which isn't to say that the short story was insufficient or somehow lacking, because it wasn't. It was just interesting enough that I want more. :-) )
"Toad Words" by T. Kingfisher
A new spin on an old, familiar fairytale. Both the premise and the prose are wonderful.
"The Vaporization Enthalpy of a Peculiar Pakistani Family" by Usman T. Malik
I have no idea what to say about this, other than that I really liked it and I'm going to see what else the author has written.
"The Magician And Laplace’s Demon" by Tom Crosshill
I'm going to have to listen to this again and maybe sit down and read it from the ebook, because there's a lot to absorb here — much of it merely implied and suggested — and I feel like I've only scratched the surface after the first listen.