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I've read all of these. They're all really good, and I found ranking them quite hard! Still, rank them I must, so:
1) “Small Changes Over Long Periods of Time,” by K.M. Szpara
2) “Extracurricular Activities,” by Yoon Ha Lee
3) “The Secret Life of Bots,” by Suzanne Palmer
4) “Wind Will Rove,” by Sarah Pinsker
5) “A Series of Steaks,” by Vina Jie-Min Prasad
6) “Children of Thorns, Children of Water,” by Aliette de Bodard
Small Changes packs a lot into not very many words, and there were definitely times when I wondered if it could have done with being a little longer. A lot about bodies and how we relate to them, and a very good "what if?" about vampires and trans people.
Extracurricular Activities feels a lot like fanfic of the author's own novels, and I wonder if someone who hadn't encountered them would enjoy it as much as I did. Shuos Jedao is such a great character, though, and this was a very entertaining escapade.
The Secret Life of Bots stars Bot 9, and old multi-function bot re-activated to deal with a vermin problem on an ageing starship. As events progress, we learn why the ship has re-activated it, and see how it interacts with the newer models of bots. There's a lot of wry humour in this, but also enough tension to keep you hooked.
I'm not, as a rule, a fan of the generation ship sub-genre; but Wind Will Rove's reflections on the importance of history, why we choose to preserve some cultural artefacts and not others, and on making music together kept me reading this.
A Series of Steaks is another finely put together piece of work, with a nicely twisty plot and some fun characters. I enjoyed this a lot.
Children of Thorns is set in a wider universe, but not one I'm familiar with; it's a prequel to House of Binding Thorns. I quite liked it (and might try and track down one of the associated novels), but I think there was too much world-building assumed for it to really work for me.
1) “Small Changes Over Long Periods of Time,” by K.M. Szpara
2) “Extracurricular Activities,” by Yoon Ha Lee
3) “The Secret Life of Bots,” by Suzanne Palmer
4) “Wind Will Rove,” by Sarah Pinsker
5) “A Series of Steaks,” by Vina Jie-Min Prasad
6) “Children of Thorns, Children of Water,” by Aliette de Bodard
Small Changes packs a lot into not very many words, and there were definitely times when I wondered if it could have done with being a little longer. A lot about bodies and how we relate to them, and a very good "what if?" about vampires and trans people.
Extracurricular Activities feels a lot like fanfic of the author's own novels, and I wonder if someone who hadn't encountered them would enjoy it as much as I did. Shuos Jedao is such a great character, though, and this was a very entertaining escapade.
The Secret Life of Bots stars Bot 9, and old multi-function bot re-activated to deal with a vermin problem on an ageing starship. As events progress, we learn why the ship has re-activated it, and see how it interacts with the newer models of bots. There's a lot of wry humour in this, but also enough tension to keep you hooked.
I'm not, as a rule, a fan of the generation ship sub-genre; but Wind Will Rove's reflections on the importance of history, why we choose to preserve some cultural artefacts and not others, and on making music together kept me reading this.
A Series of Steaks is another finely put together piece of work, with a nicely twisty plot and some fun characters. I enjoyed this a lot.
Children of Thorns is set in a wider universe, but not one I'm familiar with; it's a prequel to House of Binding Thorns. I quite liked it (and might try and track down one of the associated novels), but I think there was too much world-building assumed for it to really work for me.