We read 11 short stories for book club in August. I thought most of them were good with a couple of them being just ok. I'll post them in order of favorite to least favorite. Make sure you scroll down to the end to see our themed refreshments.
Signal Moon by Kate Quinn
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Category: Adult, Short Story
Genre: Historical Fiction, Sci-fi, Fantasy
Content:Strong language
A short story about an impossible connection across two centuries that could make the difference between peace or war.
Yorkshire,
1943. Lily Baines, a bright young debutante increasingly ground down by
an endless war, has traded in her white gloves for a set of headphones.
It’s her job to intercept enemy naval communications and send them to
Bletchley Park for decryption.
One night, she picks up a transmission that isn’t code at all—it’s a cry for help.
An
American ship is taking heavy fire in the North Atlantic—but no one
else has reported an attack, and the information relayed by the young US
officer, Matt Jackson, seems all wrong. The contact that Lily has made
on the other end of the radio channel says it’s… 2023.
Across an
eighty-year gap, Lily and Matt must find a way to help each other: Matt
to convince her that the war she’s fighting can still be won, and Lily
to help him stave off the war to come. As their connection grows
stronger, they both know there’s no telling when time will run out on
their inexplicable link.
I really enjoyed this short story. If you've seen the movie frequency or the short lived TV show that was on the CW then this is similar in that there is a radio that allowed a couple of people to communicate with each other across time. For me this packed just the right amount of an emotional punch along with character development or a short story.
Bastard, Sword by Tim Pratt
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Category: Adult
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Strong language
Betrayed by his companion and robbed of everything down to his boots, Rodrick wakes to find himself in the very tomb he meant to rob. Fortunately, Rodrick can still turn a profit—he just needs to slip past a slumbering linnorm, retrieve a talking sword with a wit as sharp as its blade, and return in one piece to his employer. Yet a talking sword may have goals of its own... From Hugo Award-winner Tim Pratt comes a dark comedy of theft and danger set in the award-winning world of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game.
The Veldt by Ray Bradbury
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Category: Adult, Short Story
Genre: Sci-fi, Horror, Fantasy
Content: Clean
The advanced technology of a house first pleases then increasingly terrifies its occupants.
I really enjoyed this story. It was a very well crafted short story that
somehow packed a lot into just a few pages. And that ending! The house
that does everything for you and the theme of technology making people
lazy feels very ahead of it's time for 1951. But then again, those ideas
were floating around back then. It's where the seeds of the smart home
began.
The Ransom of Red Chief by O. Henry
My rating: 4 of 5 stars
Category: Adult, Young Adult, Children, Middle Grade, Short Story
Genre: Fiction, Classic, Humor
Content: Clean
Two men kidnap a mischievous boy and request a large ransom for his return.
A fun short story about kidnappers who kidnap a boy who ends up being more than they can handle. I wouldn't be surprised if this inspired Dennis the Menace and Kevin McCallister from Home Alone. I thoroughly enjoyed it.
Rappaccini's Daughter by Nathaniel Hawthorne
My rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
Category: Adult, Short Story
Genre: Classic, Gothic, Horror, Fantasy, Sci-fi
Content: Clean
“Rappaccini’s Daughter” is one of the best-known short stories by the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne (1804–1864).
First
published in 1844, it tells a story settled in medieval Padua, where
Giovanni Guasconti, a young student, started to frequent the house of
Giacomo Rappaccini, a physician who grows a garden of poisonous plants.
Guasconti is told by another physician to avoid Rappaccini, but he falls in love with his daughter Beatrice…
“Rappaccini’s Daughter” has been the source for several plays and screen adaptations.
I find Hawthorne's writing style to be hard to get into, so sometimes it was hard
to stay focused on the story. Despite that, I did enjoy this, although not quite as much as
would have liked to. There were aspects of this story that I appreciated, and the more I've thought it, the more I like it. There are different
theories about what the story means. One being that it parallels the
fall from grace, the expulsion from the Garden of Eden, and the original
sin, with the genders of Adam and Eve reversed. Another is that mortals
should not play God, with the story showing the consequences of
interfering with the laws of nature. And yet another is that the story
shows that Giovanni, unable to accept Beatrice's uniqueness, attempts to
make her normal and then ends up losing her instead. This last one is
very similar to the conclusions I drew from another of Hawthorne's short
stories, The Birthmark. All three of these theories seem plausible.
On
a weird note, if Hawthorne was alive today I can't help but think he
would be writing about super heroes and villains. Poison Ivy anyone?
Also, I have to give a shout out to the Youtube channel, The Well Told Tale, for giving voice to this story. Superbly done!
The Disk by Jorge Luis Borges
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Category: Adult, Short Story
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Clean
A woodcutter who lives in the midst of a deep wood in old England tells the reader of the time a man appeared at his door and asked for lodging.
An interesting story. I liked it but didn't love it. The story illustrates the lengths someone will go to obtain something they want, only in the end to not have it. There's a real irony in the fact that it's there but he can't find it.
We read The Two Kings and Two Labyrinths from this collection. My rating and comments are only for this one story.
The Two Kings and Two Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Category: Adult, Short Story
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Clean
A Babylonian king orders his subjects to build him a labyrinth "so confusing and so subtle that the most prudent men would not venture to enter it, and those who did would lose their way". When an Arab king visited his court, the king of Babylon told him to enter the labyrinth in order to mock him. The Arab king finally got out and told the Babylonian that in his land he had another labyrinth, and Allah willing, he would see that someday the king of Babylonia made its acquaintance.
Initially I thought this was just a story about two kings being awful to each other, but I like the way the story has two completely opposite things that have the same result.
We read the story One Man's Courage from this collection. My rating and comments are for that story only.
One Man's Courage from the L5R Fiction Archive
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Category: Adult, Short Story
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Clean
In this story, a man has to choose between his two sons which of them is going to receive the ancestral sword of his clan. Who does he choose? The son who knows what it means to win, but he does not know how to lose or the one who keeps trying?
This is a short story based on a fictional game world. I've never personally played this game but my friend has and this is a story she really likes because she likes the Crab Clan, and how they do their duty and persevere. I enjoyed the moral of the story even though I didn't have the connection to it that she had.
Certainty by Liane Merciel
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
Category: Adult, Short Story
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Clean
Faith is the greatest battle. To fallen paladin Ederras, right and wrong aren't as clear as they once were, and even the forces of good seem tainted by sin. Lost and broken, the formerly righteous warrior joins up with the crusaders of Mendev, the last bastion of civilization fighting desperately against the demonic tides of the Worldwound. There he plans to rediscover his faith—or die trying. Yet even on the edge of total destruction, humanity's base nature runs rampant, leading any crusader to is there anything left worth fighting for? From rising star author Liane Merciel comes a tale of battle both physical and ideological, set in the award-winning world of the Pathfinder campaign setting.
There's some good description in this short story but I have a hard time sometimes with stories that are based on role playing games. I felt like I was reading a story of a role playing adventure. The different characters were there to perform their roles as needed. I don't really know how else to explain it other than it has a different feel to it from a regular fantasy novel based on a world that has nothing to do with a game. I also thought this story was a little depressing, but the end was good.
Tower of Babylon by Ted Chiang
My rating: 2.5 of 5 stars
Category: Adult, Short Story
Genre: Fantasy
Content: Clean
Together with a crew of other miners and cart-pullers, Hillalum is recruited to climb the Tower of Babylon and unearth what lies beyond the vault of heaven. During his journey, Hillalum discovers entire civilizations of tower-dwellers on the tower—there are those who live inside the mists of clouds, those who raise their vegetables above the sun, and those who have spent their lives under the oppressive weight of an endless, white stratum at the top of the universe.
I'm not sure why, but stories about the tower of Babel or the tower of Babylon just don't usually interest me, and this was the same. I did end up liking the ending of this story but getting there was a bit boring at times.
The Crystal Spheres by David Brin
My rating: 3 of 5 stars
Category: Adult
Genre: Sci-fi
Content: Clean
In a universe filled with habitable worlds why have we had no contact with extraterrestrial intelligence? David Brin's "The Crystal Spheres" offers a fantastic explanation for the Great Silence. Instead of being late-comers - might humanity have come upon the scene too early?
This could have been a lot more interesting. It's a story about why we haven't been contacted by any alien species from other planets, and why we can't contact them. Unfortunately, I found it to be a bit dull at times.
For our book club meeting I topped this cake with objects that represented each story we read.
One Man's Courage- silver sword; The Two Kings and the Two Labyrinths- labyrinth; The Veldt- lion, Bastard, Sword- blue crystal sword; Certainty- paladin; The Crystal Spheres- small crystal ball; Signal Moon- radio (not the right kind of radio but it worked well enough); Tower of Babylon- tower; The Ransom of Red Chief- two feathers; The Disk- clear disk that's hard to see; Rappaccini's Daughter- ivy vine around the cake and flower in the middle of the cake.
The sword from the story Bastard, Sword made out of crackers.
With the treasure added. The sword is lying on top of treasure, specifically gold, in the story.
A cheesy Tower of Babylon
