A review by joannerixon
Writers of the Future, Vol 34 by N.R.M. Roshak, David Farland, L. Ron Hubbard, Erin Cairns, Brandon Sanderson, Jeremy A. TeGrotenhuis, Ciruelo, Eneasz Brodski, Jonathan Ficke, Amy Henrie Gillett, Diana Hart, Jerry Pournelle, Erik Bundy, Darci Stone, Orson Scott Card, Janey Bell, Vida Cruz, Cole Hehr, Echo Chernik, Jody Lynn Nye

4.0

Disclaimer: I've only read "Miss Smokey" by Diana Hart

I'm hesitant to review anything related to Writers of the Future, because I've got to start out by saying that Scientology is a violently coercive belief system run by authoritarians who deliberately ruin people in their pursuit of power, and you should never give them your money. L. Ron Hubbard was a gross old man who was a better con man than writer.

Hart is a better writer than he was, in fact, and "Miss Smokey" is a fun little story about shapeshifters set in an alternate-history 1980s United States that is complex, nuanced, and deeply flawed. This story is a step above your typical urban fantasy werewolves, and manages to include not just were-bear jokes, complicated romance and life-or-death struggle, but also a thoughtful analysis of what it means to be a second class citizen.

You should check it out. Maybe pirate it if you can, because fuck Scientology.