Karen Memory, by Elizabeth Bear

Having finished all the books and stories I could find related to the 2015 Hugo, Nebula, and World Fantasy Awards, I branched out to the Locus awards.  Lots of fine material there.  I settled on novel nominee Karen Memory because it was available as an e-book from my local library and I have enjoyed many Elizabeth Bear novels.

Karen Memery is a "seamstress" in Rapid City, somewhere along the West Coast during the Gold Rush.  The seamstressing is done on her back.  She has the good fortune to work for Madame Damnable, an extraordinarily tough and fair madame who is well connected in Rapid City politics.  The setting is Gold Rush steampunk--we have mostly horsepower for getting around, but electricity, dirigibles and advanced engineering are readily available.  A Mad Scientist license in Rapid City costs about the same as one for being a seamstress.

Things get rough when Peter Bantle, a nasty local pimp, gets higher ambitions and decides to run for mayor with outside money and a steampunk mind control device.  He is also harboring a serial murderer of white streetwalkers that brings Bass Reeves, a black US Marshal, to town.

The story is basically a good one.  We have romance (lesbian--almost feels required), adventure, strong women and strong men.  Bear is a good writer and brings it together well.  But there are a lot of problems that detract from enjoyment. 

Most steampunk novels, and lots of alternate history novels, are based around a speculation about the effects of a technological advance that takes place several decades ahead of time, like flight, electricity or computing.  The story then flows from the logical consequences of that advance.  But Bear is not a steampunk author--she writes fantasy.  That seems to show here, since the steampunk advances feel random and don't coherently drive change.  We have dirigibles, "surgery machines" that somehow harness analog power to do advanced medical care, and sewing machines that are operated from the inside like a tank (literally so later).  And a mind control device that acts through a focusing device at a distance, like some sort of early Bluetooth.

The title character's name is after a friend of the author's.  She alludes to the name pun early on but doesn't do anything with it. Karen has memories, but she does not exemplify or otherwise interact significantly with Memory in the book.

Karen speaks in rural dialect, which I find kind of distracting. 

All in all this feels like a book that didn't come together nearly as well as it could have.  The afterword describes her research and adds a lot to the enjoyment, which is why in the end I will give it 3 stars.  Possibly a stretch to consider it for an award.

Please Report Any Changes, by Scott Marengo

The last of my Wired Science Fiction issue reviews.  Please Report Any Changes is just a sad one, really from any time, about those who share their lives to alleviate their loneliness.  The narrator is part of a Belsen family, one whose every activity is monitored for a ratings service.  He's proud of it and his social life consists of relating to the technician assigned to his account.  But when his wife moves out he doesn't report the change, and eventually the service isn't interested in him anymore.  All the Lonely People.  It's sad but not terribly enlightening, though it is decently written.  In the end I can't give it more than 2 stars. 

The L7 Gene, by Jeanne Thornton

Another from the Wired Science Fiction Issue.  The L7 Gene ponders the ethics of cloning and gene manipulation in a way close to, but not the same as, the many other stories I've read on this topic.  I've read plenty, fictional and non, on designer babies.  But what if you could clone your existing, "imperfect" child and correct the mistakes?  The story explores a specific case, one where it is possible to correct the sex selection issue that produces transgender females.  There's some understandable resentment.  And what does the clone do?  Not quite groundbreaking but very current and very well done.  3 stars

Life On Garbage Island, by Ben Lasman

Another good one from the Wired Science Fiction Issue.  Life on Garbage Island describes a new landmass made from the various garbage vortexes in the Atlantic.  A place where people go to start over.  It has a great quote--"Life out here was a big adjustment from Brooklyn. Everything about it was so much nicer."  The protagonist, Francis, struggles to get by on a variety of gigs, noting that many on the island seem to somehow be independently wealthy.  He soldiers on and hooks up with a fellow garbage denizen for a trash romance.  There's a lot Lasman has to say here, the very idea of living off others' garbage is one that gives plenty of room to roam.  I say 3 stars.

The Great Dying, by Lydia Millet

Continuing the Wired Science Fiction Issue.  The Great Dying is probably the darkest of the issue's stories.  Basically about the end of the world due to climate change.  The protagonist is a teenager, not yet 18, whose parents have paid for a service to commit suicide.  They grew up in our time, when we could drive cars, eat meat, and other such extravagances.  The earth is in its last acceleration to full-on climate change, and they just can't face it.  The teens are understandably bitter, that the people who helped to bring this on aren't going to stick around for the hard part.

It's well written but a tough read if you think this is pretty close to the outcome we're going to have.  I don't quite think it will be that bad, but there's certainly a pretty good possibility of it.  3 stars for effective sadness.

The Current Entertainments, by Glen David Gold

Another from the Wired Science Fiction issue.  The Current Entertainments is told as a review of a "verite", Lemoin's Assaut Sur L'Univers.  It's very well done, with lots of good literary references--reads like a real, culturally aware review.  I would aspire to write those at some point, I don't do much of it here.  But the story is very much worth reading, it is deep and complex and makes you think.  3 stars

A., by Etgar Keret

More from the Wired Science Fiction issue, and I'd say this is one of my favorites.  Might be an award nominee this year.  Stories with single letter titles are kind of a grabber, so A. was interesting right away.  The story is as artsy as one would expect from such a title, but not more so--it was readable.  A. is some manner of artificial person, and the story of his upbringing and end is absolutely fascinating.  He and his fellows seem to age prematurely, and at the start that looks like the story's technical gimmick.  But it's not.  Can't say much more without spoiling it, so go read it.  4 stars.