A review by triscuit807
The Collected Kagan by Janet Kagan

4.0

Janet Kagan died too soon and underappreciated. I love her novels "Uhura's Song" (the best Star Trek novel ever, and it stars Uhura!) and "Hellspark", and the linked story novel "Mirabile". This collection of short stories and novelettes is just that...an anthology and as such it is a bit uneven and lacking in theme. Kagan is best known for her her sense of humor combined with her exploration of alien cultures (like her novel Mirabile), and I think those stories are among the best in the collection (Winging It, Fighting Words, The Nutcracker Coup, Face Time). Also very enjoyable are the ones with her wry sense of humor (the Xmas ones, e.g. Christmas Winding and Standing in the Spirit, The Last of a Vintage Year, Standing in the Spirit, and The Stubbornest Broad on Earth). I'm still not sure what to make of Naked Wish Fulfillment (unicorns at a porn filming), but it was amusing if startling. And then there is the harshness of No Known Cure, censorship, AIDS and public gay trial complete with stonings - that was the most atypical story in the book. The other stories are good too, but less remarkable. I would have read this anyway, but it fits in my 2016 Reading Challenge "read a collection of stories by one person" (Read Harder 2015).