A boy goes through a mirror to a sort of steam punk/fairy land world, I think to find his missing father. I keep reading the title as "Feckless", I am the LOLZ
Two young brothers are hiding out in Venice from their aunt who wants to separate them so she can adopt the younger one. Pretty good story, and a map is always a plus. Would have been nice to know there was a glossary at end...
Edited by Diana Gabaldon. Series editor John Joseph Adams. Twenty short stories, some I liked, some I didn't.
Contents:
1. Life Sentence by Matthew Baker -- This one was.. interesting.
2. Another Avatar by S.P. Somtow -- Don't remember this one, probably didn't care for it.
3. Between the Dark and the Dark by Deji Bryce Olukotun -- I don't remember this one.
4. Thirty-Three Wicked Daughters by Kelly Barnhill -- I liked this one, it was OK.
5. Bullet Point by Elizabeth Bear -- I enjoyed this story.
6. The Eight People Who Murdered Me (Excerpt from Lucy Westenra's Diary) by Gwendolyn Kiste -- I didn't like this one.
7. The Archronology of Love by Caroline M. Yoachim -- Didn't like this one much.
8. Shape-ups at Delilah's by Rion Amilcar Scott -- "Magical female barbers" someone said. Well, it was different.
9. The Galactic Tourist Industrial Complex by Tobias S. Buckell -- OK, it was OK.
10. The Bookstore at the End of America by Charlie Jane Anders* -- Bookstores/libraries, they are (almost) always good. This one was, felt like it left me hanging, though.
11. Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island by Nibedita Sen -- Never see a story done as a bibliography. Points for that!
12. The Freedom of the Shifting Sea by Jaymee Goh* -- Today I learned about Bobbit Worms. At least, fantasy ones.
13. Sacrid's Pod by Adam-Troy Castro* -- Space prison,... OK.
14. Canst Thou Draw Out the Leviathan by Christopher Caldwell -- I don't remember this one. Yes I do, gay sex on a whaling ship. Surprisingly OK.
15. Thoughts and Prayers by Ken Liu -- I didn't care for this one.
16. The Time Invariance of Snow by E. Lily Yu -- I REALLY didn't care for this one, and I read Anderson's fairy tales when I was a kid.
17. The Robots of Eden by Amil Menon -- I don't remember this one.
18. Erase, Erase, Erase by Elizabeth Bear -- This one left me not caring for it.
19. A Brief Lesson in Native American Astronomy by Rebecca Roanhorse -- I've read two books by this author that I liked.
20. Up From Slavery by Victor LaValle --I don't know, it was interesting, I guess.
Quote:
It is full of dried ink, because I am a terrible pen custodian. -- From "Erase, Erase, Erase
Quote:
For a second or two I admired her. Then I returned to our regularly scheduled train crash. -- From "Up From Slavery
Quote:
... it was from the early days after Trump's inauguration, and I was bracing myself for what was sure to be an endless litany of unspeakable horrors... -- From "Contributors' Notes", specifically Kelly Barnhill. She is referring to the FIRST inauguration.
In an alternative time line it seems hippopotamuses have been introduced to the Mississippi river region to serve as a food source. Well, Houndstooth has a agreement with the Government to rid the area of feral hippos. They think he is going to trap them. No, his plan involves dynamite. Also, revenge.
River Of Teeth #2. What's left of the gang is still separated from the last book, plus a baby. I'm not sure what happened, but all of a sudden the story is over and everyone has reconnected. I think everyone (well, everyone important) is still alive, too! What a hippo nightmare!
Shadow gets out of prison, meets a bunch of crabby gods who have ended up in America, where they aren't doing so well. A much better book then that sentence would suggest! Good stuff.
Fat Charlie discovers a few interesting things about his estranged father when he attends dad's funeral. Raised some self-examinations on my part about father-son relationships, karaoke. Read the Thorndike Press Large Print edition.
Words I Had To Look Up:
saveloy (pg. 188) -- A saveloy is a type of vividly red sausage served in English fish and chip shops.
Quote:
"I think I ought to show you something," he said. ..."Is it something kinky?"... "It's not ... a model train set, it it?"
Co-authored by Terry Prachett. Armageddon, witch hunters, satanic nuns. It is all here!
Words I Had To Look Up:
Snatch pastry (pg. 357) -- A greedy fellow. Dick Turpin (pg. 340) -- An 18th century English highwayman.
Quote:
"What was that, Mr. Shadwell?" Madame Tracy looked at him sharply. "I said, De 'il ding a divot aff yer wame wi' a flaughter spade," said Shadwell. That'll be quite enough of that kind of language, Mr. Shadwell," said Madame Tracy... -- Pg. 276.
Quote:
"What's a Velvet Underground?" he said. "You wouldn't like it," said Crowley. "Oh," said the angel dismissively. "Be-bop." -- pg. 78.
Richard stops to help a wounded girl, has to deal with the denizens of London Below. Extremely excellent.
Quote:
"You've a good heart," she told him. "Sometimes that's enough to see you safe wherever you go." Then she shook her head. "But mostly, it's not." -- pg. 3
A baby inadvertently escapes the murderer of his family when he crawls away from his crib, out the door, and into a graveyard where the ghosts (and others) take care of him. Very excellent.
Words I Had To Look Up:
flibbertigibbet (pg. 29) -- Second book I've read this week to use the word!
Cassie takes the problem of immature men into her own hands. And basement.
Words I Had To Look Up:
a thin veneer of drywall and Sheetrock (pg. 44) -- Are they not the same thing?
I don't know the Dewey decimal system all that well (pg. 102) -- She is talking about a UCLA library, they probably use LC. And I think the "d" in decimal should be capitalized. schmeared a bagel (pg. 170) -- The relationship between "schmear" and "smear" struck me.
bottle of...chloroform languishing...after a stint at learning photography (pg. 186) -- Today I Learned of its uses in the photographic arts.