#carrie vaughn

[sophia-sol]

8 original fiction recs (4 short stories, 3 novelettes, 1 novella)

One Flew Over the Songhua River, by Qi Ran, translated by Andy Dudak

➤ scifi short story translated from chinese; originally published in 2021

➤ it's a fascinating outside-outside pov, a nephew telling the story of his aunt, whose story is that of her famous physicist-astronaut husband

➤ the multiple layers of abstraction work well for this story -- and the narrative loops around itself in how it's told, too, wandering forwards and backwards in time to circle around the heart of things

➤ which is really a story about family and about place and about how you decide what to prioritise in your life

➤ it's lovely and thoughtful and wistful. I really liked it!

➤ 7k words in length

Himalia, by Carrie Vaughn

➤ Scifi novelette about growing up somewhere you always know you're going to have to leave eventually, because it was never intended to be permanent

➤ and leaving your best friend behind, who wants to never leave, because it's home

➤ it's really good!! I had a lot of feelings about the characters, and the way Niri is drawn in Jenny's life through her absence in this day of her return

➤ also it's set in space, on one of the satellites of Jupiter!

➤ 8k words in length

The Weight of Your Own Ashes, by Carlie St. George

➤ scifi short story about a multi-bodied alien in a relationship with a human

➤ questions of identity, of whether you're being seen for who you truly are by people who want to interpret the whole world as being inhabited by people like them, eyes closed to the reality of differences

➤ I loved the intertwining of the worldbuilding and the relationship drama, and I loved that we got to see Yonder's relationships with other people, friends and siblings and so forth, the ways those relationships are different than the one with Alice

➤ 6k words in length

Half Sick of Shadows, by Elle Engel

➤ post-apocalyptic novelette about a girl who's the only survivor left in a tower that protected her and her ancestors from the outside world

➤ the whole story is just Lena and her interiority as she faces the realities of her situation, as she grows and changes and develops the strength of will to do what needs to be done

➤ and it's so well done! I was captivated the whole time

➤ 10k words in length

Blackjack, by Veronica Schanoes

➤ fantasy novelette about a jewish grandmother, after the death of her daughter, facing and dealing with the ways her troubled first marriage affected her life and her daughter

➤ Schanoes is so good at character and setting and emotion!

➤ and it's always great to have a story where the hero is an older woman

➤ 12k words in length

The Spindle of Necessity, by B. Pladek

➤ short story about a trans man who's obsessed with the m/m novels of a dead historical novelist who he's convinced was trans

➤ and about the dreams he has where he meets her and talks with her

➤ it's a story that feels unsatisfying but like, in a satisfying way?

➤ idk how to explain! it makes me want to reread it 3 more times and think about the way one's relationship with oneself is mediated through the stories one reads and loves

➤ it's really good

➤ 6k words in length

An Intergalactic Smuggler's Guide to Homecoming, by Tia Tashiro

➤ a scifi short story set in space, about a smuggler who left her sister behind when she left the shitty planet she grew up on

➤ but her latest mission has her returning to that planet to deliver the goods

➤ (the goods are hundreds of teeny tiny sentient bioluminescent jellyfish fleeing civil war)

➤ I enjoyed the worldbuilding, and the difficult emotions about family, and how the things that felt world-endingly true at 17 don't need to be true forever

➤ 7k words in length

Between Blades, by Filip Hajdar Drnovšek Zorko

➤ a full novella published online for free the same way a short story would be!

➤ secondary world fantasy about two women from the outskirts of empire, who don't fit the identities their cultures expect of them but who are also out of place within the empire

➤ they're gladiators in a partnership where one in a pair of gladiators takes a "swordform" and the other wields them

➤ great characters and great worldbuilding and great reflections on identity in this context!

➤ I loved Leris and Gerthe, and Ulmo too

➤ and the Empress herself and her story is fascinating, and I can see how in a different narrative her backstory would be the focus of a heroic narrative, and I love that that's not the story we get, this isn't a "monarchy is good with the right person in charge" kind of story like so much fantasy is

➤ the narrative perspective on religion is really cool too

➤ 36k words in length

[judgingbooksbycovers]

The Naturalist Society

By Carrie Vaughn.

[azazel-dreams]

The Cormac and Amelia Case Files by Carrie Vaughn

Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

[wannabe-british-fangirl]

~ books read in 2022 ~

#21: Questland by Carrie Vaughn

“Okay, Professor Cox, so yeah, what I want to do is show that Moby Dick and Pokemon are both symbolic of rampant capitalism by portraying the inherently destructive nature of the relentless pursuit of abstract consumerism.” The kid took a gasping breath and seemed relieved to have gotten all that out at once.

[quirkycatsfatstacks]

Review: Lost Worlds and Mythological Kingdoms

Editor: John Joseph AdamsAuthors: James L. Cambias, Becky Chambers, Kate Elliot, C.C. Finlay, Jeffrey Ford, Theodora Goss, Darcie Little Badger, Jonathan Maberry, Seanan McGuire, An Owomoyela, Dexter Palmer, Cadwell Turnbull, Genevieve Valentine, Carrie Vaughn, Charles Yu, E. Lily Yu, Tobias S. BuckellPublisher: Grim Oak PressReleased: March 8, 2022Received: NetGalley Do you love stories of…

[siena-sevenwits]

Older Robin Hood as one of the barons who brought about Magna Carta, as a casually dropped background detail? Yes please!

[lifblogs]

This friendship, man! *clenches fist* The intensity of the second paragraph too!

[bookjotter6865]

Winding Up the Week #398

An end of week recap “I finally found a setting for despair…So I put it on my schedule for twice a month; I think that’s a reasonable amount of time to feel hopeless about everything…” – Philip K. Dick We are heading off to Liverpool this weekend to spend time with friends and celebrate a wedding, which is the reason why this post is a little (ahem!) early. However, I hope to see you at the usual…

[azazel-dreams]

Badlands Witch (ebook short story) by Carrie Vaughn

Rating: ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

The Kitty Norville series in reading order:

Kitty and the Midnight Hour

Kitty Goes to Washington

Kitty Takes a Holiday

Kitty and the Silver Bullet

Kitty and the Dead Man's Hand

Kitty Raises Hell

Kitty's House of Horrors

Kitty Goes to War

Kitty's Big Trouble 

Kitty Steals the Show

Kitty Rocks the House 

Kitty in the Underworld 

Low Midnight

Kitty Saves the World 

Kitty's Greatest Hits (short stories)

Kitty's Mix Tape (short stories)

Also set in the world of Kitty:

The Immortal Conquistador (about Rick the vampire)

short stories featuring Cormac (available as a ebook)

Dark Divide

Badlands Witch

Fatal Storm

Charmed Waters

[impossiblelibrary]

So funny that The Naturalist Society isn't the Romantasy one. What a slow burn!!! I can see a couple different ways this can shake up and still be a happy ending, but gees, it's going to be a close one.