I think One Man's Treasure has a great premise, maybe could use more development to give the conclusion a heavier hit. Sarah Pinsker is an amazing author and other work I have read by her sets the bar really high. The discarding of magical items as a premise is great, and using that process to dispose of a body is great too. A novel could have a lot of twists and turns before getting to the reveal. A fun story to think about.
Sunday, February 2, 2025
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi, by Shannon Chakraboty
The title describes this book quite well. And the first pages of the book describe Amina al-Sirafi very well. The book is a straight up adventure read with a female protagonist. She is a giant and strong, but also revels in her appreciation of men and sex. The book comes in halves--some people like the first half, some the second more. In the first half she and her adventures are more on a human scale. Then she undergoes a magical transformation and from there her character and the action are more bombastic. I liked the transition, for me it refreshed the book at the halfway point. In the end I give it 4 stars rather than 5--it left me entertained but not moved. If you want entertainment with a strong female protagonist this is your story.
The Quantum Magician, by Derek Kunsken
The Quantum Magician introduces us to Belisarius Arjona, Homo Quantus. Engineered to calculate, find patterns, and understand. But in his ...
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The introduction to Slow Tuesday Night is by Gardner Dozios, the great editor, and he tells us that "only those stories that were the ...
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There are some interesting theories out there on what Gene Wolfe's "The Ziggurat" short story means . Indeed, Wolfe is heavil...
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Shadow Christ is an awfully tough story to explain. It's sort of about playing with time, and religion, and deeper cultural commentary...