2009 Stories 75-79
I thought I posted reviews of these first two stories a few days back. Either I posted to the wrong community, or I'm imagining things. Both are equally possible.
75. Salvation by Lawrence Person (you can find it at www.revolutionsf.com/fiction/salvation/01.html) Very short piece that is hard to describe without giving the whole thing away. Basically, what happens if Jesus came back ... every single day, and sometimes more than once a day, and not in the way His followers expected at all?
76. Clearing God's Name by Nathan Englander, from STORY, Autumn 1999. Another short one, basically about who turned their back first: God, or Adam. Vividly descriptive for such a short piece.
The fact that both of these pieces are less than two pages long and both have stuck with me since I read them ... ten years ago? ... impresses me. I know I've read at least one other story by Englander over the years, but I can't think of another story by Person that I've read.
Also finally read the remaining three Harry Dresden short stories. I would say only the last would sort of spoil something that happens in one of the two most recent books. All three are by Jim Butcher, of course.
77. Something Borrowed (from My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding). Harry gets roped into being best man at the last moment for the wedding of two good friends of his. As is usual, things do not go exactly as planned. I would have liked at least a bit more screen-time for the soon-to-be-wed couple, but after all it is a Harry Dresden short story.
78. Day Off (from Blood Lite). Butcher, on his website, described this story as basically, "Harry takes a day off from everything and sits at home reading a good book ... hey, it could happen!" Needless to say, things do not go as he'd like them to: a variety of small mishaps threaten to become something larger. This is Butcher doing madcap slapstick comedy, and it works very well with Harry's personality.
79. The Warrior (from Mean Streets). All I can say about this one is: it's one of those stories where the bad guy takes advantage of Harry's well-known personality traits to get what he wants. There is a great, powerful scene for one of Harry's friends near the end. You really should read the novel "Small Favor" before reading this story, though.
75. Salvation by Lawrence Person (you can find it at www.revolutionsf.com/fiction/salvation/01.html) Very short piece that is hard to describe without giving the whole thing away. Basically, what happens if Jesus came back ... every single day, and sometimes more than once a day, and not in the way His followers expected at all?
76. Clearing God's Name by Nathan Englander, from STORY, Autumn 1999. Another short one, basically about who turned their back first: God, or Adam. Vividly descriptive for such a short piece.
The fact that both of these pieces are less than two pages long and both have stuck with me since I read them ... ten years ago? ... impresses me. I know I've read at least one other story by Englander over the years, but I can't think of another story by Person that I've read.
Also finally read the remaining three Harry Dresden short stories. I would say only the last would sort of spoil something that happens in one of the two most recent books. All three are by Jim Butcher, of course.
77. Something Borrowed (from My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding). Harry gets roped into being best man at the last moment for the wedding of two good friends of his. As is usual, things do not go exactly as planned. I would have liked at least a bit more screen-time for the soon-to-be-wed couple, but after all it is a Harry Dresden short story.
78. Day Off (from Blood Lite). Butcher, on his website, described this story as basically, "Harry takes a day off from everything and sits at home reading a good book ... hey, it could happen!" Needless to say, things do not go as he'd like them to: a variety of small mishaps threaten to become something larger. This is Butcher doing madcap slapstick comedy, and it works very well with Harry's personality.
79. The Warrior (from Mean Streets). All I can say about this one is: it's one of those stories where the bad guy takes advantage of Harry's well-known personality traits to get what he wants. There is a great, powerful scene for one of Harry's friends near the end. You really should read the novel "Small Favor" before reading this story, though.