The Year of Few Reviews
Today, SF Signal is hosting my review of Eight Against Reality, an anthology that showcases the members of the writing group Written in Blood. For those with limited time, here’s the capsule version: if only the stories had as much flair as the title (except for one, which was both thought-provoking and funny).
This year I must bear down on my research and my novel Shard Songs. So I won’t be reviewing for Rise Reviews, but I do have two reviews on my list. I promised one to my friend Sue Lange, the other to John DeNardo of SF Signal. They’ll get done, I just don’t know exactly when!
That was an in-depth and interesting review! It’s been a long time since I’ve read a review that was critical and specific about its reasons for being critical without the author hovering close to the “But that’s just me; your mileage may vary” door. I’ll certainly know, when you review something positively, that you mean it!
I’m curious now about this writing group. The only one whose name I recognized is Aliette’s but I seem to recall reading one thing by her that I liked, plus an interview with her.
I’m glad you enjoyed the review, Francesca! I, at least, cannot review in a vacuum. It has to be done in context. Also, you know me well enough that the lack of “your mileage may vary” meaningless noise cannot come as a surprise! And if my review makes people curious about these writers, it has fulfilled its purpose.
Aliette de Bodard has several stories on her web site, all of them far better than the one in this collection. Keyan Bowes also has links to half a dozen of her stories on her site.