Thursday, May 30, 2024
Seeds of Mercury, by Wang Jinkang / 水星播种 (author), 王晋康, Alex Woodend (translator)
Wednesday, May 29, 2024
The Year Without Sunshine, by Naomi Kritzer
The world has undergone some kind of catastrophe resulting in clouds thick enough to block sunshine--and this is following several lesser disasters that had already created challenges for modern life. Not everything is cut off. Electricity is available several days a week. Medicines are getting hard to get, but authorities, apparently federal authorities, have made life-critical medications, such as insulin, a priority.
When the internet fails, Alexis and a neighbor, Tanesha, set up a booth they call WHATSUP, where neighbors previously communicating via WhatsApp can leave messages for each other.
Tuesday, May 28, 2024
One Man’s Treasure, by Sarah Pinsker
Monday, May 27, 2024
Ivy, Angelica, Bay, by C.L. Polk
On the Fox Roads, by Nghi Vo
Tor Books, ISBN 9781250333490, February 2023
A Chinese American girl in 1930s America hooks up with two Chinese American bank robbers, Jack and Lai. The girl's parents had lost the deed to their store to the bank, and then Jack and Lai robbed the bank and took the deed with the rest of what they stole. Now, the girl wants to steal it back from them.
Two adult bank robbers aren't overcome by a young teen girl, but they offer her a chance to earn it back. She becomes their lookout, getaway driver, and occasional more active participant in some crimes.
Along the way, she gets dressed up as a boy for one job, and finds this feels much more natural to her. Or rather, him. He learns the ways of Chinese magic, and not just the "fox roads," or spirit roads of Chinese mythology.
Sunday, May 26, 2024
Tasting the Future Delicacy Three Times, by Baoshu (author), Xueting C. Ni (translator)
Galaxy’s Edge Vol. 13: Secret Room in the Black Domain, published by New Star Press, February 2023 (Chinese cover displayed)
A tycoon, who famously delights in gourmet meals from every cuisine, is invited to a unique experience. It's unique, all right, and he experiences tastes that range from the very good to the truly excellent, to the most stunning ever. Something he has never tasted before.
But there are complications.
The Mausoleum's Children, by Aliette de Bodard
Saturday, May 25, 2024
How to Raise a Kraken in Your Bathtub, by P. Djèlí Clark
Better Living Through Algorithms, by Naomi Kritzer
Friday, May 24, 2024
Answerless Journey, by Han Song (author), Alex Woodland (translator)
Published in Adventures in Space: New Stories by Chinese & English Science Fiction Writers, Flame Tree Press, ISBN 9781787588158, April 2023
The Locked Coffin: A Judge Dee Mystery (Judge Dee #6) Lavie Tidhar
Good enough, for a vampire mystery. I'll admit that the use of the name, "judge Dee," annoys me.
Thursday, May 23, 2024
I Am AI: A Novelette, by Ai Jiang
Ai is a cyborg living in grim world, a self-built community on the edge of the city of Emit, controlled by the New Era corporation. There are jobs at New Era, but they are grim, relentless, soul-crushing jobs. And every citizen, working for New Era, or living on the edge in Ai's community, owes a large debt to New Era for just the necessities of surviving to adulthood.
The Job at the End of the World, by Ray Naylor
Tor.com, https://reactormag.com/the-job-at-the-end-of-the-world-ray-nayler/ August 2023
The story of a disaster worker, no, sorry, a resilience worker. The narrator goes to disaster areas, rebuilds, and moves on to the next disaster. They've been doing it for years. now, they're tired, and wealthy. They retire, go to the lovely home they've built in a lovely, and hopefully safe spot.
Things don't go as planned.
Could be grim, but it isn't.