This is the April 2006 update of my New Year’s Resolution.


QUICK STATS:

   STARTING SF-POINTS©: 98

   SF-POINTS© EARNED THIS MONTH: 56 (QUOTA: 30)

   YEAR-TO-DATE SF-POINTS©: 154 (YTD QUOTA: 120)

PREVIOUS MONTHS:
Jan
Feb
Mar

DATE READ STORY YEAR WRITTEN AUTHOR SOURCE RATING TYPE POINTS YTD POINTS
04/06/06 “Good Mountain” 2005 Robert Reed One Million, A.D. edited by Gardner Dozois NA 4 102
04/07/06 “A Piece of the Great World” 2005 Robert Silverberg NA 4 106
04/08/06 “Mirror Image” 2005 Nancy Kress NA 4 110
04/08/06 “The Chiaroscurist“ 2005 Hal Duncan Electric Velocipede NV 2 112
04/X09/06 “Thousandth Night” 2005 Alastair Reynolds One Million, A.D. edited by Gardner Dozois NA 4 116
04/10/06 “Born-Again“ 2005 K.D. Wentworth 2005 Nebula Award Short Fiction Reading Project SS 1 117
04/11/06 “Missile Gap” 2005 Charles Stross One Million, A.D. edited by Gardner Dozois NA 4 121
04/12/06 “Riding the Crocodile” 2005 Greg Egan NA 4 125
04/13/06 “The End of the World as We Know It“ 2004 Dale Bailey 2005 Nebula Award Short Fiction Reading Project SS 1 126
04/14/06 “Clay’s Pride“ 2004 Bud Sparhawk NA 4 130
04/16/06 “Magic for Beginners“ 2005 Kelly Link NA 4 134
04/16/06 “The Faery Handbag“ 2004 Kelly Link NV 2 136
04/16/06 “I Live With You“ 2005 Carol Emshwiller SS 1 137
04/17/06 “Singing Down My Sister“ 2005 Margo Lanagan SS 1 138
04/18/06 “Flat Diane“ 2004 Daniel Abraham NV 2 140
04/19/06 “Left of the Dial“ 2004 Paul Witcover NA 4 144
04/21/06 “Identity Theft“ 2005 Robert J. Sawyer NA 4 148
04/21/06 “Still Life With Boobs“ 2005 Anne Harris SS 1 149
04/22/06 “Nirvana High“ 2004 Eileen Gunn and Leslie What NV 2 151
04/22/06 “There’s a Hole in the City“ 2004 Richard Bowes SS 1 152
04/24/06 “Into the Gardens of Sweet Night“ 2005 Jay Lake Fictionwise NV 2 154

KEY:VI=Vignette (.25 points), SS=Short Story (1 point), NV=Novelette (2 points), NA=Novella (4 points)

NOTE: Click the Source link to see the associated review. Miscellaneous reviews follow

“The Chiaroscurist” by Hal Duncan [2005 novelette] (Rating: ) [Read 04/08/06]

  • Source: Electric Velocipede
  • Synopsis: An chiaroscurist – an artist who specializes in monotone pictures which highlight might and shadow – sculpts the face of god in a monastery.
  • Review: Duncan’s creates a great mood in his writing. There are several touching scenes as we come to know that Iosef, the model for the artist’s work, is ridiculed for his dwarfish stature. In the end, we realize that this is not so much a story about the artist as it is of Iosef. A very good story.




“Into the Gardens of Sweet Night” by Jay Lake [2003 novelette] (Rating: ) [Read 04/24/06]

  • Source: Fictionwise
  • Synopsis: A young man named Elroy, having recently finished a spiritual quest at a monastery, becomes gainfully employed by a talking pug named Wiggles. Together, the unlikely pair embarks on an eye-opening journey to find the fabled Gardens of Sweet Night.
  • Review: The first half of this wonderful sf story reads like fantasy. That’s a fine line to walk and is not always done successfully, but Lake pulls it off beautifully. I am reminded of the same pseudo-magical atmosphere that was in Silverberg’s Nightwings. While the idea of talking animals sounds lame as a first impression, I am again reminded (as I was with Ian McDonald’s “Floating Dogs” and also with Bradley Denton’s “Sergeant Chip“) that quality storytelling can make anything sound plausible with no sacrifice to quality. In Lake’s perhaps too-scantily-drawn far-future, nanotech and genetic engineering have give rise to a brother race of animals. (Not to be confused with lowly beasts, thank you!) Wiggles (love the name!) enlists young Elroy to assist him in his return to the Gardens, the religious equivalent of Eden (Eden is, in fact, one of the 6 other Gardens) from which he was cast out. Elroy is surprised to learn that the gardens are not fables but space stations that orbit the Earth and are run by a much-feared Lord, who seeks out Wiggles for taking the forbidden fruit – an apple, natch. Elroy’s worldview focuses so much on the definition of personal freedom that he fails to see opportunities to achieve it. All told, this is an excellent, atmospheric story. With dirigibles!
  • Note: Nominated for the 2004 Hugo Award for best novelette.



Related posts:

  1. 2/06 UPDATE: My New Year’s Resolution
  2. FINAL UPDATE: My New Year’s Resolution
  3. UPDATE: My New Year’s Resolution
  4. 1/06 UPDATE: My New Year’s Resolution
  5. UPDATE: My New Year’s Resolution

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