Nothing Ever Happens in Rock City, by Jack McDevitt

I read a story like Nothing Ever Happens in Rock City, and it makes me wonder if I just don't like short stories.  This one was nominated for a Nebula in 2002.  And it's not a bad story.  It's just not much of anything.  Not-too-bright liquor store owner hears about the discovery of aliens, and barely notices.  OK, whatever.  I don't mind having read it, but I would not have gone out of my way for it.  Two stars because it isn't offensive or incompetent, but sometimes they work pretty hard to fill a category.

The Bleeding Man, by Craig Strete

This is one I have read before, and was glad to read again.  It's Strete's most famous story, I believe, now collected in If All Else Fails.  Strete's images and ideas are extroardinary, which is a good thing as his characters tend to cardboard, other than the mystical ones.  This story is the best example, a completely inexplicable man, bleeding continuously at a rate no one could sustain.  Very simply described and told, yet complete.  The characters' reaction is revulsion, yet the way Strete describes him is not overly horrific.  Mostly it's the simplicity, the lack of over-the-top adjectives and creepy tension.  It's a man in an institution. 

Read this for a thoughtful horror fix, it's a good surrealism example.  3 stars.

Time Deer, by Craig Strete

Craig Strete is a fine author from the intersection of Native American and stoner culture, with lots of deeply surreal work to his name.  The collection this story is in, If All Else Fails, has an introduction by Jose Luis Borges, no less.  This story is just a little taste, there is a better example coming, but Time Deer is representative.  Nominally about an old man being committed, it wanders in to explore what Native American life ending would be like, as his mind wanders away.  It's short, so painted in stark caricature, but indicative nonetheless.  The collection is worth checking out.

Accelerando, by Charles Stross

Accelerando is a "fix-up" novel, I guess meaning it's assembled from short stories and novellas, because that is what it is.  I came across this while reading the award winners from 2000-2005 on Free SF Online.  Several of its components have been nominated for awards: "Lobsters", "Halo", "Nightfall", "Elector".  And when I went to read them, I found that the novel was actually pretty seamless, so decided to read the whole thing.

And it was quite a commitment--bloody LONG, it seemed like, especially being densely packed with near future/singularity jargon almost impossible to avoid in describing it.  Obviously a labor of love, also, taking him five years to put together.  It is on the whole a fairly entertaining period piece, kind of a William Gibson satire or parody, careening off the edge of weird.  It just does manage to make sense all the way through, which I am sure was a tremendous challenge.  Did I say it was long?  Three weeks to read it!  Not counting the Firefly interlude, even.  So it's an interesting speculation on what would happen if change just kept accelerating.  Good thing it isn't.  Change just doesn't work that way, it differentially penetrates and our poor meatminds hold it back, which is on the whole a good thing, as long as they hold out.  After all, once our computers start to program themselves (see a recent Dilbert, am too lazy to get the link) it's all over.  3 stars.

Firefly, directed by Joss Whedon

I took a break from reading for awhile to watch a TV series, something I haven't done in 10 years or so.  I prefer my fiction in words.  But I got a pretty strong  recommendation to watch Firefly, and have followed stories on it since it came out in 2002, so I went for it.  The link is to the Amazon Streaming Video page.  It's a mild (OK not so mild) stretch of "free", but it was free to me as I am a Prime subscriber (well worth it for prepaid 2-day shipping).  In reading about it and seeing the sequence of the releases, it was pretty amazing how badly Fox sabotaged it. 

Did I enjoy it?  Yes, watched all 14 episodes over 15 nights.  And I think it improved the experience to see it in its intended sequence.  But did it rock my world, like the devoted fans?  Not quite that much.  I think the Western aspect ends up being overplayed, to the point where the poor folk in the outer reaches are somehow making it as an aesthetic choice that is more than a fad.  Outland managed the ethos without the affected style.  And since I saw Gunsmoke and Bonanza growing up, the characters weren't showing me a lot that was new.  But the action is good, and most of the characters are appealing.  If you are an SF fan and have not seen it, it does not take long to get a sense of what it's about.  Not near the commitment of Buffy the Vampire Slayer or Lost.  3 stars.

To Kiss a Star, by Amy Sterling Casil

To Kiss a Star was nominated for a Nebula for best novelette in 2001.  I had a feeling I'd read it before, and was correct, though it has been awhile.  And it's a nice Lifetime Network kind of story, where a severely physically handicapped but mentally intact girl struggles with the idea of being implanted in a starship as a lone pilot.  It's solid on the emotional front and all, worth one read but probably not two.  I give it 3 stars for award nomination and good writing.

Stealing Alabama, by Allen Steele

Stealing Alabama was a Hugo nominee for best novella in 2002.  It's an alternate history, and the exact background is somewhat hard to figure.  One discerns that the South basically won the civil war, pushing the North back to New England and claiming much of what is known now as America, including the informal name.  The protagonist of the story is a descendent of Robert E. Lee, named after him.  And the center of the action is the first starship, named the Alabama.

The story is solid and the alternate history is fun to puzzle out, it's a real change from many versions of the South surviving the Civil War that I have read.  The characters are a little stiff but the SF is pretty basic space opera, which appeals to me.  It's not going to rock your world, but it will fill a couple of hours and leave you entertained.  I give it 3 stars.