Any short stories not having their own entries will be reviewed in the overall anthology.

Begone - Daryl Gregory

I was informed by images of many a psycho killer across the genre, but while I was kinda meh through most of the story, the ending made up for it. If I must put a reaction to it, I have to say it puts a new spin on the whole women's lib movement. I want to say we've got a self-hating man, too, and well beyond the point of emasculation.

The concept is interesting on the surface, but deep below the psychopathology, it revels in how little power men have over their own lives in the presence of women. It's fantasy, granted, but its message is a double edged sword. It compliments and insults women equally.

No Decent Patrimony - Elizabeth Bear

Honestly, I sometimes drown out stories about gerontocracies. It started out pretty good, full of immediacy and excitement, reminiscent of a Miltonesque scene, but by the end, I just couldn't connect. Let all of them die was all I really got out of it. Kinda funny if you think about it, but not so much. I'd almost have rather have seen a cross pollination with a secret society of lizards with human faces set as English Aristocracy, but again, that's my burden.

The Evening Line - Mike Resnick

Not normally my cup of tea, but it was amusing to see a bunch of wizards in a bar back and bet on a bunch of floozies who wanted to marry a wizard slob who had just won a lucrative bet. Its light tone and quasi-humorous chicagoboys was obviously a homage, but having failed to read the original series, this was at least good for a few smiles.

Writer's Block - Nancy Kress

I used to love her stories when I was a kid. Now days, they're hit or miss. Unfortunately, this one was a miss. It was a bit too disjointed and it staggered about like a jerky zombie. I don't mean to be cruel. It's the decision to write it as a constant restart that turned me off. I also sometimes like stories that break the fourth wall, but this one was just annoying. No offense! I'm not judging the author as a whole, after all, I am definitely a fan of some of her books and short stories! :) I just don't like this one.

Highland Reel - Jack Campbell

Fae and the last of the Highlanders. Sounds heroic, no? Well there's little action and just a smidge of romance, but at least there's a few slices of history and idealism to make it interesting. The MC is out of time and place. I enjoy such things as much as anyone, but I think I might have liked this better as a full novel instead of what boils down to a few scenes.

The Red Menace - Lavie Tidhar

This happens to be one of my favourites out of the bunch. I enjoyed the alternate history of WWII with quantum teleportation in the hands of Russia, but more importantly, I loved the amount of details that let me visit it.

Declaration - James Patrick Kelly

Somewhat interesting tale of declaring one's independence of life in favor of a better virtual life. It had a fully integrated worldview, nice reasoning, and solid premise in direct contradiction to the Matrix's postulation. It was a good take, but I think more could have been happening.

Karin Coxswain, or Death as She Truly Lived - Paul Di Filippo

This one was a truly fun and raunchy tale of a demon from her own perspective and how she dealt with a sloppy ex who fell into her lap after he died. It was her dialogue and internal dialogue that really shined. Like I said, it was very fun.

Fireborn - Robert Charles Wilson

Well developed mixing of an interesting alien species and humans who dance together. Pretty imagery. They were well crafted, bordering on awesome. To a lesser score, the firedancer's lives and reincarnations were very interesting. Deceptively simple.

Every Fuzzy Beast of the Earth, Every Pink Fowl of the Air - Tad Williams

A huge dash of Metatron and Gabriel on a huge worldbuilding spree. It's kind of a writer's wet dream. It was pretty cute. ( )

Famous first lines launch all new stories. Normally, I don't enjoy short stories because, well, they are short. However, I LOVED nine of these stories and really enjoyed the rest of them. These short stories I will listen to multiple times. Each is short, but complete. The narrators are perfect complements to each story. A collection not just for short story fans, but for all speculative fiction fans! ( )

Audiobook, Listening Length: 11 hours and 59 minutes
Collection of short stories

Overall: A mediocre collection, some were nice, but couldn't really listen to all of them. I usually go for highly entertaining audio books and this was not a such book. I don't like abandoning books, but I really can't listen no more. Tried with few of the other stories without really being engaged. Maybe I will finish it some day.

Individual ratings:

Fireborn by Robert Charles Wilson ★★☆☆☆

The Evening Line by Mike Resnick [1/2]

No Decent Patrimony by Elizabeth Bear ★★★☆☆

The Big Whale by Allen M. Steele ★☆☆☆☆
That was disappointing. I liked the style but it was lacking on content and the ending was most disappointing.

Begone by Daryl Gregory [did not listen]

The Red Menace by Lavie Tidhar [1/2]

Muse of Fire by John Scalzi ★★★★☆
This one was interesting and funny, and thought the ending was predictable a bit it was highly entertaining and dark.

Writer’s Block by Nancy Kress ★★☆☆☆
A bit confusing in the beginning, liked just the ending.

Highland Reel by Jack Campbell ★★★★★
A lovely fairy tale story, taking place in Scotland.

Karin Coxswain or "Death as She Is Truly Lived" by Paul Di Filippo ★☆☆☆☆
Listened to amost half of it and did not get anything. Too much talk, too little happening. Also the jargon was difficult for me.

The Lady Astronaut of Mars by Mary Robinette Kowal ★★★★★
A heart-breaking story. Beautiful and sad. I did shed the occasional tear with this story.

Every Fuzzy Beast of the Earth, Every Pink Fowl of the Air by Tad Williams ★★★★★
Too short and entertaining. The story of Earth's creation. I'm not sure how appropriate it is for the highly religious. It is about God's daughter and what she did on his one and only resting day.

Declaration by James Patrick Kelly [did not listen] ( )