L'Esprit de L'Escalier, by Catherynne M. Valente

Tor Books, ISBN 9781250824196, August 2021

In Greek myth, Orpheus, son of Apollo and Calliope, meets and falls in love with Eurydice. They marry and live very happily--for a short time, before Eurydice's untimely death. Orpheus descends into the underworld, and attempts to rescue Eurydice.

In this Hugo-finalist novelette, the story begins after Orpheus has succeeded, and he and Eurydice are living in the home where they were previously so happy.

Things have of course not worked out as Orpheus expected. The storytelling is delicate, sad, grim, merciless. 

Recommended.

Rocket to the Morgue (Sister Ursula #2) by Anthony Boucher (author), F. Paul Wilson (forward)

American Mystery Classics, July 2019 (original publication 1942)

Police Detective Lt. Terence Marshall, of the Los Angeles Police Department, is home with his wife, Leona, feeding their new baby, while she asks about his day. Nothing interesting, he tells her. One dead drifter, though, shot dead in a very cheap hotel. A couple of odd things, though. He had $300 on him, that wasn't stolen, and an unusual rosary, with what seems to be the wrong number of beads.

It's a puzzle.

It's a bigger, more important puzzle, when they discover the dead man also has the private phone number of Hilary Foulkes, heir and literary executor of the late giant of science fiction, Fowler Foulkes, author the adventures of Dr. Derringer. Derringer has outlived Fowler, or would, if not for the fact that Hilary Foulkes charges extremely high fees for any use of Derringer's name, image, or adventures. He's killed many literary projects, original adventures, quotes of memorable lines as chapter headers, even audio records for the National Library for the Blind. A lot of people really hate Hilary Foulkes.

Unseelie Brothers, Ltd., by Fran Wilde

Uncanny Magazine, May 2021  https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/unseelie-brothers-ltd/

The Unseelie Brothers, Ltd., are the fashionable dressmakers everyone wants a dress from--and the men their evening wear, too. Unfortunately for those hopes, the Unseelie Brothers are rarely around. As in, not every decade.

When all the fashionable ladies' phones light up with a message announcing the return of the Unseelie Brothers, they all rush to locate where the venerable old shop is now. Not all will be able to find the shop. Not all who do will gain admittance.

Vanessa Saunders was one of the privileged few years ago, when she and her sister Serena wore Unseelie Brothers dresses to a ball, and met their husbands. Vanessa's husband was and is wealthy and socially prominent. Serena's, Sam Sebastian, was working the event as a busboy. 

That Story Isn’t the Story, by John Wiswell

Galaxy's Edge, November 2021

 

Anton is living in a spooky old house in New York City. The house belongs to Mr. Bird, and so do Anton, Pavla, Yoanna, and Mr. Bird's senior familiar, Walter. Mr. Bird bites them, each one in different places on the body. It's a dark, gloomy, unpleasant life, and they're all afraid to run away.

Anton has called an old friend, Grigorii, who has arrived to pick him up, while Mr. Bird isn't around. They go to Grigorii's home, and Anton starts living a very different life.

Them Mr. Bird and the other familiars come after him. and we learn what control he has over his familiars.

What I particularly like about this story is our growing understanding of how Mr. Bird's power works, and Anton's growing understanding, too.

Recommended.

I received this story as part of the 2022 Hugo Awards Packet, and am reviewing it voluntarily.

A Spindle Splintered (Fractured Fables #1) by Alix E. Harrow (author), Amy Landon (narrator)

Macmillan Audio, ISBN 9781250824486, October 2021

It's Zinnia Gray's 21st birthday, and she does not expect to have a 22nd. Due to an industrial accident when she was a young child, she has a rare genetic disease, and no one with this disease has lived past 21. She's become quiet and not outgoing, but she does have one good friend, Charmaine--or Charm.

Charm has planned a perfect birthday party for Zinnia, built around the story of Sleeping Beauty, in the tower of an abandoned prison. Zinnia is not too sure about the perfectness of this, especially when she sees the spinning wheel, and its spindle. Nevertheless, Charm persuades her to prick her finger on the spindle--and finds herself falling through the multiverse, seeing a long line of "Sleeping Beauties." She calls out to them, and one calls back.

Proof by Induction, by José Pablo Iriarte

Uncanny Magazine, May 2021, 

https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/proof-by-induction/

Paulie Gifford, a mathematician going for tenure at his university, the same university where his father was a Professor Emeritus until his death just before the start of this story. Paulie and his father had been collaborating on a proof of a mathematical theorem--and on top of losing his father, Paulie has just lost his research partner.

But, in this world, at an unspecified point in our future, there is a technology called Coda; it records a dying person's brain in the moments of death. The recording is interactive, and "knows" everything the deceased knew at the time of death. It can't form new memories, but family members can "enter" the Coda, talk to this recording of the deceased, and ask such mundane and important questions as, "Do you have an insurance policy?"

Tangles, by Seanan McGuire

 

Art by Heonwha Cho

  Magicthegathering.com, September 2021

  Wrenn and her tree, Seven, have been partners a long time, and now Seven wants to retire permanently to his own world. Wrenn, who is a dryad but not quite like other dryads, will need to find a new tree there. This won't be easy, because of the ways in which she is different from other dryads.

Teferi is a mage, traveling for reasons of his own. Most immediately, he has come into the Kessig forest, where Wrenn searches for the right tree, ostensibly to help the Cathars find the white witch rumored to be there, and really to escape the suffocating hospitality of the local townsfolk. He has quietly wandered away from the Cathars.

They encounter each other, and confront a threat, and then an even bigger danger.

This is apparently a Magic: The Gathering short story. I've never played the game, but very much enjoyed this story.

The Sin of America by Catherynne M. Valente

Uncanny Magazine, March 2021, 

https://www.uncannymagazine.com/article/the-sin-of-america/

Sadly, I did not like this one.

It starts with what feels like a relatively long section of really drab, colorless detail, with no real reason to care about any of the people mentioned--most of whom, in the end, really do turn out not to matter in the story.

Then the story starts to get meatier, with one of the characters being identified as the chosen "sin-eater" for America, to eat all the sins of our history, in a diner in Wyoming. We learn some of the details of her life, of the people around her, and how she was chosen to be the sin-eater this time.

Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather, by Sarah Pinsker

Uncanny Magazine, March 2021

The form of this story is the comments on a site called "Lyricsplainer," discussing the lyrics and history of a folk song called, "Where Oaken Hearts Do Gather."

It appears to be a tragic romantic ballad, about a pair called Fair Ellen, and William. There is debate about what "fair" means with reference to Ellen. William might be the butcher's son, or he might have stolen something from the butcher's son, or he might be named William Butcher. Commenters make suggestions, downrate each other's suggestions, occasionally the moderator steps in.

Some of them are doing research elsewhere. One of the points of interest is a previous commenter, who went off to visit a likely location for the original story, but hasn't been heard from in a year.

The more they learn, or think they learn, the creepier it gets. Very absorbing, and quite well done.

Recommended.

Mr. Death, by Alix E. Harrow

Apex Magazine, February 2021

This is a sweet and moving story about Death, the celestial bureaucracy of death, and a junior reaper struggling with a difficult case.

The death he's supposed to witness, and the soul he's supposed to collect, is of a two-year-old boy. The reaper was among the living himself once, and suffered terrible loss, which usually makes him good at his job.

This case cuts especially close, and the reaper has a serious problem with going through the proper procedures, this time.

And that's all I can say, except it's sweet, moving, and carries a punch.

Recommended.