![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Link Anthology 8/31/08, Short!Fic Edition
Aug. 31st, 2008 05:21 pmVia Strange Horizons, which seems to specialize in stories that I don't expect to like but end up liking anyway (and with a readable site layout):
* "Little Brother (TM)" by Bruce Holland Rogers, a just-longer-than-flash SF story about sibling rivalry that starts out ordinary with a dark twist ending.
* "Huntswoman" by Merrie Haskell, a unique fantasy retelling of Snow White in sparkling, sparse prose. The end didn't entirely convince me, but I admire its boldness and the story proper is just beautiful.
* "The Jenna Set" by Daniel Kaysen, one of the longer online stories that have sustained my interest. It's semi-plausible SF written in a light and entertainingly sardonic style, the characters very realistic and reminding me of contemporary romance novels like Sex as a Second Language. Although I must say, I prefer the geeky Kelly/Abbie relationship over the protagonist's (Jenna/Ray).
* From Clarkesworld, "Orm the Beautiful" by Elizabeth Bear is a melancholy dragon story set in alternate-present-day--and a dragon story rec from me is rare indeed; I still can't get past the first chapter of Temeraire.
* I actually dislike the style of "The Empire of Ice Cream" by Jeffrey Ford, and I don't find the characters particularly compelling, but: synesthesia! And musical composition! And the ending satisfactorily resolves the central conflict without dipping into my expectations, which was, well, unexpected. (Don't recall who rec'd this story originally, but![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
yhlee would like the musical bits a lot, I think.) Warning: the site archives, where I read this, has a terrible split-color background. You'll probably want to be smarter than me and Ctrl-A/Ctrl-C the story into Word or Notepad.
I conclude that endings are absolutely crucial for me; I culled several stories from this linkblogging post because the ending fell flat, and the ending of Ford's piece let it slip in despite the protagonist's irritating arrogance.
* "Little Brother (TM)" by Bruce Holland Rogers, a just-longer-than-flash SF story about sibling rivalry that starts out ordinary with a dark twist ending.
* "Huntswoman" by Merrie Haskell, a unique fantasy retelling of Snow White in sparkling, sparse prose. The end didn't entirely convince me, but I admire its boldness and the story proper is just beautiful.
* "The Jenna Set" by Daniel Kaysen, one of the longer online stories that have sustained my interest. It's semi-plausible SF written in a light and entertainingly sardonic style, the characters very realistic and reminding me of contemporary romance novels like Sex as a Second Language. Although I must say, I prefer the geeky Kelly/Abbie relationship over the protagonist's (Jenna/Ray).
* From Clarkesworld, "Orm the Beautiful" by Elizabeth Bear is a melancholy dragon story set in alternate-present-day--and a dragon story rec from me is rare indeed; I still can't get past the first chapter of Temeraire.
* I actually dislike the style of "The Empire of Ice Cream" by Jeffrey Ford, and I don't find the characters particularly compelling, but: synesthesia! And musical composition! And the ending satisfactorily resolves the central conflict without dipping into my expectations, which was, well, unexpected. (Don't recall who rec'd this story originally, but
yhlee would like the musical bits a lot, I think.) Warning: the site archives, where I read this, has a terrible split-color background. You'll probably want to be smarter than me and Ctrl-A/Ctrl-C the story into Word or Notepad.I conclude that endings are absolutely crucial for me; I culled several stories from this linkblogging post because the ending fell flat, and the ending of Ford's piece let it slip in despite the protagonist's irritating arrogance.
