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hwesta's review against another edition
4.0
Always hard to review an anthology.
I somehow didn't expect Leckie's short fiction to be as profoundly weird as many of these stories were, and I'm not sure why.
I liked the titular Lake of Souls, even though it felt incomplete. Maybe it was saying something about telling a story from an inhuman pov, where the human is a side character and not needed for narrative resolution?
I was disappointed by the Radch stories; most of them felt like they could have been standalone. I think I like IR for the characters, and having no characters in common hurt my enjoyment.
All the Raven Tower stories were absolute bangers. I love that world and the stories were all lots of fun. Lots to clever tales of trickery and wordplay and tricksy ways to get what you want or hoist someone else on their petard.
I somehow didn't expect Leckie's short fiction to be as profoundly weird as many of these stories were, and I'm not sure why.
I liked the titular Lake of Souls, even though it felt incomplete. Maybe it was saying something about telling a story from an inhuman pov, where the human is a side character and not needed for narrative resolution?
I was disappointed by the Radch stories; most of them felt like they could have been standalone. I think I like IR for the characters, and having no characters in common hurt my enjoyment.
All the Raven Tower stories were absolute bangers. I love that world and the stories were all lots of fun. Lots to clever tales of trickery and wordplay and tricksy ways to get what you want or hoist someone else on their petard.
Graphic: Violence, War, and Death
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, Murder, Infidelity, and Sexism
Castration, misgenderingjopopipo's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
amanova's review against another edition
3.5
I love Ann Leckie’s writing, but this collection was pretty meh to me.
timinbc's review against another edition
4.0
By my standards, there are more good ones here than in the average collection of shorts.
There's a good variety, and no shortage of imagination.
I'm not sure I understood the title story completely, but it is an ambitious study of the meaning of some concepts we take for granted.
The Wodehouse tribute was fun, and any doubt about it being one was dispelled when our hero called someone a blister.
I was distracted in "Lake of Souls" by two things that always annoy me - an Important Character has gray eyes (as they ALWAYS do, grr) AND rides a horse to death (ditto). I read the rest of the story expecting the "forgetting to eat" thing and a "crisp white shirt."
A later story had another one I detest: that any female character over 50 has to call everyone else "child," AND has to do it every other sentence.
I enjoyed the Raven Tower stories more than the novel. They were like a series of exercises built on a single theme (the limitations of the gods). Each was done cleverly, with interesting characters. And they reminded me to go and read Pratchett's "Small Gods" again.
But all in all, this is a good collection.
There's a good variety, and no shortage of imagination.
I'm not sure I understood the title story completely, but it is an ambitious study of the meaning of some concepts we take for granted.
The Wodehouse tribute was fun, and any doubt about it being one was dispelled when our hero called someone a blister.
I was distracted in "Lake of Souls" by two things that always annoy me - an Important Character has gray eyes (as they ALWAYS do, grr) AND rides a horse to death (ditto). I read the rest of the story expecting the "forgetting to eat" thing and a "crisp white shirt."
A later story had another one I detest: that any female character over 50 has to call everyone else "child," AND has to do it every other sentence.
I enjoyed the Raven Tower stories more than the novel. They were like a series of exercises built on a single theme (the limitations of the gods). Each was done cleverly, with interesting characters. And they reminded me to go and read Pratchett's "Small Gods" again.
But all in all, this is a good collection.
trashthatmatters's review against another edition
4.25
First third was not very good, second was pretty good, last third was banger after banger
zlwrites's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
wynwicket's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
4.0
The stories didn't pack quite as much of a punch as her novels, but I really liked the ones set in her Raven Tower universe!
zarap's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.75
pshotts's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75