Short Stories I Read In April

Today, I’m here to talk about the short stories, miscellaneous posts, and podcast episodes I read and or listened to in April.

Go Fish by Ian Rogers (Tor.com, April 15, 2020)

One of the first short stories I read in April was Go Fish by Ian Rogers. It was a pretty entertaining story. At times, it was spine-tinglingly scary. It also read like an episode of Xfiles. Instead of extraterrestrials though, there were ghosts and a number of paranormal and horror elements.

An Explorer’s Cartography of Already Settled Lands by Fran Wilde (Tor.com, April 22, 2020)

This story was the first one I’ve read by Fran Wilde. It was about a navigator who was mapping a landscape that was already inhabited. This story was an absolute treat. It was enthralling, somewhat haunting, and atmospheric. The Navigator’s perspective was fascinating, and I enjoyed the different sections of the story where each “map”—or landscape/people—were described. This one was all around an enjoyable story.

From around the web…

• Illustrating Flyaway: Kathleen Jennings on Creating Art and Prose Together (Kathleen Jennings; Tor.com, April 1, 2020)
• Short Stories and Sad Endings: A Conversation with Martha Wells (Arley Sorg; Clarkesworld, Issue 163, April 2020)
• Now Is the Perfect Time to Sit Down and Watch Bedknobs and Broomsticks (Emmet Asher-Perrin; Tor.Com)
• Printrun Podcast Episode’s #127 and #128
• Science VS Science Fiction: Not The Solar System We Grew Up With (James Davis Nicoll; Tor.Com, April 24, 2020)
• The Power of Equine Names (Judith Tarr; Tor,Com, April 20, 2020)

Sketchbook: Watercolor...

  

Comments: Like most people, I currently have more time on my hands. So I did a couple of random watercolor sketches in one of my smaller unfinished sketchbooks. The reference photos I used were ones I took of the faux plants around my house. My use of watercolor (Sakura Koi) here was mainly to block in the general shapes before I went in with colored pencil....

Music Monday (117): Hayley Williams, Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande

   Rules:

• Music Monday is a weekly meme hosted by Lauren Stoolfire at Always Me that asks you to share one or two songs that you've recently enjoyed. For the rules, visit the page HERE 

Breana: While searching for more new music, I realized that Hayley Williams released a new album. I like the work she does with the band, Paramore, so I was excited to give Petals For Armor a listen. One of my favorite songs from it is Pure Love.  

Andrea: This week, I was browsing through the new releases, and I noticed that Lady Gaga and Ariana Grande released a new song. You can listen to Rain On Me below.

What are you listening to this week?

I listened to Shadow Works by Kerli

Recently, I finally sat down to listen to Shadow Works by Kerli in full. It came out last year on February 22nd and I was super stoked for it. However, I never got around to it. Looking back now, I wasn’t in the mood. But, I was still listening to Savages and Where the Dark Things Are. Slowly, but surely I started branching out into other songs. First was Mimicry, then Giving Up the Ghost, and then before I knew it, the entire album. I felt like I re-discovered something I was missing out on. 

There are darker tones and hard hitting sounds in Shadow Works. Yet there are also the softer, more emotional ones –like Better, Giving up the Ghost, and One. I want to focus on One for a second, because it was the track that really pulled me into the album. After listening closer, and I mean really listening, I felt like I understood the album a little more than before. 

The Opening of the Way (Intro), Purification (Interlude), and Shadow Works (Outro) are all vocalized tracks that are simply ethereal (well the entire album is). I often find myself putting them on repeat. At the end of the day I’ve thoroughly enjoyed Shadow Works. 

Thanks for reading. 

Do you have any albums that you revisited and totally loved? 

Review: All Systems Red by Martha Wells

Title: All Systems Red
Series: The Murderbot Diaries #1
Author: Martha Wells
Source/Format: Tor ebook club freebie; ebook
More Details: Science Fiction
Publisher/Publication Date: Tor.com; May 2, 2017

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Synopsis from Goodreads...

In a corporate-dominated spacefaring future, planetary missions must be approved and supplied by the Company. Exploratory teams are accompanied by Company-supplied security androids, for their own safety. But in a society where contracts are awarded to the lowest bidder, safety isn’t a primary concern. On a distant planet, a team of scientists are conducting surface tests, shadowed by their Company-supplied ‘droid — a self-aware SecUnit that has hacked its own governor module, and refers to itself (though never out loud) as “Murderbot.” Scornful of humans, all it really wants is to be left alone long enough to figure out who it is. But when a neighboring mission goes dark, it's up to the scientists and their Murderbot to get to the truth...

All Systems Red is a novella I’ve been hearing about for a while, and it’s been on my TBR list for just as long. I finally decided to pick it up again. All Systems Red is the first book I’ve read by Martha Wells, and in general I enjoyed my initial introduction to the Murderbot Diaries. The story was good, and due to its length it was very fast paced with plenty of action and even a hint of mystery. The Murderbot’s perspective was fun to read from, due in part to its personality quirks—such as its habit of preferring entertainment to doing its job. Considering that it was a SecUnit—and thus a standard part of planetary missions in All Systems Red—its commentary about itself and the corporate-domination of exploration was one of my favorite aspects about the story. The setting was also interesting. Given that Murderbot plus its clients were on a remote planet to study it, the different environments—and the flora and fauna found there—were described in detail. Wells has created a highly entertaining story and world in All Systems Red. The ending left off in a place that was satisfying. However, it also left room for more stories. So I’m going to eventually get around to the next books in the series.