What I'm Reading

I decided to take a break from Fantasy for a bit (I just finished SM Stirling's Sword of the Lady with an appalling realization -- that I have to wait till September to read the next chapter!) and picked up a nice little anthology from the discount table at Chapters. The Starry Rift (edited by Jonathan Strahan) has sixteen SF short stories that harkens back to the golden age of SF. Some nice works here, including stories by Neil Gaiman and Alastair Reynolds among many others. I'm about a quarter way in so far, and definitely digging the shorter format; admittedly, I'm hoping for inspiration for my own endeavours.

Couple quick notes on some of what I've read thus far:

Ass-Hat Magic Spider by Scott Westerfeld: This was a very simple story, and the one that most inspires me for the story I'm currently working on. A very straightforward concept (involving such a basic item as a bathroom scale of all things) with a cast of only two characters. And yet, in only the very limited number of pages available, the author manages to form that wonderful bond between protagonist and reader. There is a nice little bit with a connection of sorts to a work of classic fiction; a theme I noticed showed up in a few stories in this anthology.

Orange by Neil Gaiman: I've read a few stories by Neil Gaiman; I suppose the thing I can most say about this one is that it was the most unique format I've seen used in a short story. He certainly had me wondering where he was going with this one.

If you enjoy a good SF yarn, this is a nice little book to pick up, with a good selection of popular authors. Check it out. The book cover links to Amazon if you're interested in purchasing the book.