incipientdreamer's reviews
570 reviews

 I have, so far, read Rabbit Test, To Walk The River of Stars, and Transference from this issue.

Review for Rabbit Test by Samantha Mills, winner of the 2023 Locus and Nebula Short Story Award.

Samantha Mills presents a bleak future (and past and present) outlining the history of abortion and reproductive rights. Rabbit Test is great at informing the reader of the long line of changes in legislation as well as the fickle-ness of those laws. I've been reading short fiction released in the past year and a lot of it has to do with the horrifying changes happening all over the world, but mainly in America when it comes to the different civil rights of oppressed people. It's sad that so much of our fiction has to be about that but it is also hopeful that maybe this can spread some awareness among the bigots of our age.

Mills' writing was great at making me tear up near the end because it all felt so unfair and unfixable. Women have been fighting for bodily autonomy forever and it seems like we will have to keep fighting for it evermore because no one can predict when laws and amendments get overturned. Reading this really made me consider deleting my period tracking app. The future Mills presents might be horrifying and dystopian but it isn't unimaginable, rather it's something that is true for many parts of the world.

To read more about the author's research process, check out her blog post, where she talks in detail about the history of pregnancy tests and abortion laws.

Short Story July - 3/31

Review for To Walk the River of Stars by Emily Y. Teng - 3 stars

Very very short story for today because I've had a couple of very busy days at work. This was nicely written and seemed to carry some kind of deeper meaning but I couldn't really find an interview with the author where she explained more about it.

Short Story Month - 6/31

Review for Transference by Vivian Shaw - 5 stars

Transference is about the lingering effects of a disturbing piece of art. I loved Vivian Shaw's writing, it set the mood for this story so so perfectly. Transference felt like an episode or statement from The Magnus Archives. I'm trying to think which entity it would align to (probably The Eye or The Desolation). While I was listening to TMA I couldn't help but wish Jonny would add eldritch paintings related to the entities. Much like the Litener books or the magic artefacts. This short story is exactly what I would have wanted from a TMA painting statement. I want to read more short horror fantasy pieces like this because yes this this is my niche genre! To all TMA fans, please please give this a read/listen, I swear it's worth it.

Shaw talks more about her writing process here and her love for horror. She also mentions the painting that inspired this story (go check it out! It really is disturbing!). It isn't much of a surprise that she's an M. R. James fan. No wonder her story reminded me of Magnus! I'll probably go hunting for her long and short works. She's also married to Arkady Martine which is wow, because they are both such talented people.

Short Story Month - 7/31 

 

Review for Homecoming is Just Another Word for the Sublimation of the Self by Isabel J. Kim.

She really ended it like that! Ballsy move. This is my first time reading anything by Isabel Kim, and I wasn't disappointed. Kim packs a lot of emotions and nuance in this 6k-word story. I was impressed by how she was able to address so much and still be able to develop a world that was understandable to the reader. It was rather meticulously done, and while yes I had a couple more questions (can you instance more than once?), SF isn't meant to answer all of the reader's questions (as demonstrated by that cruel ending), and I can respect that.

This story tackles a lot of the generational traumas experience by the diaspora and shows trauma and cognitive dissonance using the concept of Instances. Copies of yourself that are created when you make a big decision that has you leaving one place for another. I loved how emotionally Kim managed to make that final scene. The way Soyoung talks about the regret of leaving Korea, and regret of not leaving for America, and the way that regret would be compounded if she were able to live all the lives possible to her. It reminded me a lot of Everything Everywhere All At Once, and while the film tackled the issue differently the sentiment was almost the same.

Definitely, an author to keep an eye out for!

Read as part of Short Story July - 2/31 

 Review for If You Find Yourself Speaking to God, Address God with the Informal You by John Chu.

Very very cute. The romance in this was heart-fluttering, and I enjoyed reading this, however, there wasn't a lot happening in it. Which is fine! I still enjoyed it a lot, but I don't think it's something groundbreaking. Yes, I agreed with the Fuck the Police sentiment (because honestly fuck the police). The persecution of Asian Americans especially Asian American women was a huge issue last year specifically so I see where the author is coming from. But there wasn't any set conclusion to it, which I guess is fair enough, how do you fix systemic racism?

I loved the title for this, and what it meant in the story. It was very clever and witty so props to Chu for that.

This won Best Novelette in both the Locus and Nebula Awards 2023. Not sure if this was the best choice since I have yet to read the other nominees, but I did feel like the scifi/fantasy aspect was a very very small part of the story.


 

Season 2 had this very Virgil and Dante type theme to it. I would say Orpheus and Eurydice but that's a bit too on the nose lol. I've realized that I'm not a big fan of "journey" stories where the characters are on a long winded quest from point A to point B and have to fight monsters and do side quests on the way (ehm The Hobbit ehm). These journey stories are even less enjoyable when they're set in a hellscape or in this case The Dreamlands. that's just a me thing as it makes me feel weary and tired. 

Apart from that I think the most enjoyable part of this season was the development of Arthur and John's relationship, especially after the events of the Season 1 finale. I loved Episode 18 "The Madness" to bits and it's easily my fav episode of the show yet! The season finale was another thing that needs mentioning. I really did not think it would be as emotionally charged as it ended up being. I was in shock the last 15 minutes of it. Still can't believe that happened. It was so so heartbreaking. And what a cliffhanger! Damn you Harlan!!

I'm excited for what Season 3 holds for me, as I am completely in the dark (no pun intended), though I do feel like I need a slight break from the show, just to take it all in. Also, I have no idea when Season 4 will end so don't want to have to wait for months for my next fix.

The sound design was a lot better this season as well. The violin piece at the end of Episode 20 had my heart breaking it was so wonderfully composed and placed. I still have the complaint of the lack of female characters in the show (I understand why from a meta perspective) but what pisses me off is the way those that are dead or off page are treated. Faroe's death seems awfully like fridging and that doesn't make me feel very good. We have yet to find out how Bella died but I am pretty nervous.

In the mean time, tell me what to dip my toes into next?

 As if my love for Dr Mensah wasn't enough before, I love her even more after reading this. It was also nice to look at Murderbot from an outsider's perspective. Usually, we've only been in its head so this was a cool new change. I am now fully up to date with all the Murderbot-released content :') 

 

Murderbot solves a murder mystery!

This was a fun stand-alone novella set before the events of Network Effect. I had this saved for a rainy day, and I'm very glad because it was the first book I didn't dnf in ages. Granted this wasn't my top fav of the Murderbot novellas, mainly because it didn't have many of my beloved side characters. But I still enjoyed Murderbot being forced to interact with Preservation security agents to solve a murder.

I'm going to read the Murderbot prequel short stories next. Can't wait for the full length novel coming out this fall!

 

 DNF @ 30%

I have been in a particularly vicious mood regarding books, and this book being something other than what I had expected it to be going in, didn't really help. To be fair, that fucking Canva-generated cover should have been a dead give away but I guess I was too stupid. I wasn't in the mood to read a book about people dying, especially when I didn't care at all about those people. The Jordans were kinda cute I guess but they had barely any stuff and I didn't want to read about the boring other friends.

Send help because ya girl is drowning here 

 I like weird stuff. Books that are "too strange" are something I actually enjoy mainly because of creativity even if the plot and writing is a mess. I knew The Salt Grows Heavy was going to be a disturbing horror novella with body horror and gore, but I found myself feeling a bit too nauseous even before things got properly...wet. Trust me, I tried skipping through the rather grisly bits but for a 100 page book that doesn't really count for much. Plus the author lovess to use big fancy words to make her story seem more mature or artsy, and I didn't vibe with it. This is literally the opening sentence of the book:

Which is sad because I was in a very mermaid-y mood after watching the live action for Disney's Little Mermaid.

Guess I am officially in a summer reading slump :) Audio dramas and Re: Dracula seem to be the only stuff I can keep my attention to.