Short story collection, all about time traveling and falling in love. Some authors took the assignment literally (Theodora Goss’s A Letter to Merlin, in which time-traveling agents, sent to influence the behavior of historical figures, try to communicate with one another); others take a more roundabout route (Zen Cho’s The Past Life Reconstruction Service, in which people get to relive their past lives in search of answers for their present lives). Other standouts were Sam J. Miller’s Unabashed, or: Jackson, Whose Cowardice Tore a Hole in the Chronoverse, a poignant and unforgettable wail of pain; and Time Gypsy by Ellen Klages, which creates one of those beautiful perfect cause-and-effect time-travel loops while also pulling in themes of feminism, gay rights, and found family. Really great collection overall.
Tag: author-alix e. harrow
The Once and Future Witches, by Alix E. Harrow
I started out loving this book, then found myself getting bored and just tolerating it; fortunately it picked up towards the end. Harrow painted herself into a corner by making her characters obvious archetypes; as such they could never really grow as characters, just asymptotically approach their fated roles. Although the language was lovely and poetic, the book couldn’t decide whether it wanted to be a fairy tale (in which every encounter was fated) or a story in which the characters could pretend to have agency, instead of just making their peace with their foreordained roles.