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caedocyon's review
4.0
When I saw the title, I was hoping for something silly about how sentient life is united by a need to gamble. This is more serious, about writing and reading, the different ways to pass knowledge and when it might be wiser to let it go---and sometimes, when it's a good thing that your species is being slowly ossified by the pursuit of knowledge. The ending was a little gooey, I didn't think it was really necessary that the {insert name generator here, idr} ~mystically understood~ the meaning of the lost books, just that they made something beautiful and useful out of them.
Heard on the Lightspeed podcast, 7 August 2012 episode.
Heard on the Lightspeed podcast, 7 August 2012 episode.
acrisalves's review
4.0
Não, não foi a toa que agora em 2014 resolvi ler uma edição de 2012. A edição kindle encontra-se disponível gratuitamente para leitura e foi das primeiras coisas que peguei agora quando adquiri um mini tablet para leitura. O que não me tinha apercebido era da enorme edição que era, e dos autores que nela participaram. Para além de várias histórias podem encontrar artigos não ficcionais e entrevistas. Sobre as histórias podem ler mais nos posts de cada uma:
Continua em
https://acrisalves.wordpress.com/2014/11/07/lightspeed-magazine-agosto-de-2012/
Continua em
https://acrisalves.wordpress.com/2014/11/07/lightspeed-magazine-agosto-de-2012/
athryn's review
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
A good collection of stories, a few I'd read before. I think "Cotillion" stood out of the most to me among the ones I hadn't read before, really liked that one.
arkron's review
2.0
Copied from my blog.
Bookmaking in the sense of writing books (not gambling) is done by all species in the universe. Liu gives us a five alien cultures which differ heavily in the way they write.
One sub chapter per culture, this short story reads like encyclopaedic entries. The entries are loosely connected, contain no story or character, even a frame is missing. Even though it is very imaginative, and I liked the single descriptions, the selection feels random and more like a brainstorming session in creative writing. It might give me insights to the author's intention how to and what about he wants to write. As such, it works as an introductory story for his collection. But I didn't buy into it, I didn't feel a pulpish sense of wonder, it didn't catch me emotionally or SFionally.
2 stars rounded up.
Bookmaking in the sense of writing books (not gambling) is done by all species in the universe. Liu gives us a five alien cultures which differ heavily in the way they write.
One sub chapter per culture, this short story reads like encyclopaedic entries. The entries are loosely connected, contain no story or character, even a frame is missing. Even though it is very imaginative, and I liked the single descriptions, the selection feels random and more like a brainstorming session in creative writing. It might give me insights to the author's intention how to and what about he wants to write. As such, it works as an introductory story for his collection. But I didn't buy into it, I didn't feel a pulpish sense of wonder, it didn't catch me emotionally or SFionally.
2 stars rounded up.
gayancalime's review
kat howard's short is the best thing i've read so far this year.
competencefantasy's review
4.0
Everything about this is weird compared to the social structure I'm used to, but it's so relevant to my life.
rrrrj's review
4.0
Oh, confusing! It looks like the reviews for individual stories in this issue have been consolidated. My stars/tags here were for "Love Might Be Too Strong a Word".
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