Orm the Beautiful

Orm the Beautiful should be the titular story of the novel. The many stories in here like the Chords of Orm. ( )

Didn't do it for me.

Not infuriatingly bad or anything, but after a couple of stories the writing style started to grate on me. It seemed very ... self-conscious, I guess. Like watching a Joss Whedon film and getting the feeling that he's standing right there, watching you intently, eager for verification that every carefully-selected phrase elicits a smile of appreciation, that every over-thought detail receives its nod of recognition.

I ended up touring the stories more or less at random, giving each a couple of paragraphs, but none of them grabbed me. I read through the title story, since it is probably the best one in the lot. It was okay, but somehow managed to be hazy and vague while still bogged down with irrelevant detail. I don't even know how that's possible, so hey, achievement unlocked. ( )

Shoggoths in Bloom is a collection of short stories by prolific science fiction and fantasy writer Elizabeth Bear. Like any collection, there were stories I liked and stories that I didn’t care for. However, I’d say that I enjoyed the majority of stories in the collection.

At least a few of the short stories relate to full length novels or series by Elizabeth Bear. “Love Among the Talus” is the story of a princess in the world of her Eternal Skies series, a fantasy series in a setting based on Central Asia. However, it stands completely alone and you don’t at all need to be familiar with the series.

Another short story, “Cryptic Coloration” was about a mage in New York. I enjoyed it enough that I would actually really love to read a full length novel… and apparently one exists! Now there’s yet another book added to my TBR list. Possibly one of the reasons I liked it so much was that I was convinced the main character was ace (it’s not textual, but just let me have this one).

Two of the stories “Tideline” and the titular “Shoggoths in Bloom” had previously won awards. Between the two, I preferred “Tideline,” the story of an aging AI built for war raising a boy while it rusts away on a beach after the apocalypse. I’m guessing “Shoggoths in Bloom” draws on Lovecraft, but I’m not familiar with the mythos.

Other highlights include “Annie Weber,” a short but striking tale from the perspective of a barista, puzzled by the numerous people claiming to be Annie Weber. “Orm the Beautiful” is the story of the last dragon and how he responds when his hoard is destroyed. “The Inevitable Heat Death of the Universe,” the story of the last man, woman, and shark left in the universe, was too conceptual for me, but I really loved these lines:

“There, under the false and dying sun, becalmed on a make-believe sea, they do not make love. She is a lesbian. He is sworn to a celibate priesthood.”

The whole trope about the last man and woman left in the world inevitably hooking up is one that’s always annoyed me, so I appreciating the way this story went.

The stories are all speculative in nature, but they span a wide variety of genres and subgenres, from alternate history to urban fantasy to science fiction mysteries. Overall, I’d say it was worth the time I put into it.

Originally posted on The Illustrated Page. ( )

"Tideline": Loooooooved it. I love it when Bear gives souls to soulless things, eg robots. Plus the new importance of oral storytelling in post-apocalyptic world so yeah FEELINGS. 5/5

"Sonny Liston Takes the Fall": This one is very understated and at first I was like "ehhh that was ehhhh" but it stuck in my brain and percolated for a while and it's really quite lovely. 5/5

"Sounding": Whales, man, they'll kill ya??? I didn't really get this one. 2/5

"The Something-Dreaming Game": heebie-jeebies, auto-erotic asphyxiation style. I liked the ambiguousness of whether what is happening is actually happening. 4/5

"The Cold Blacksmith": Shenanigans with Weyland Smith (from Promethean novels). Some things are harder to fix than others so it kinda sucks when you have a "fix-it-all" geas, DOESN'T IT. 4/5

"In the House of Aryaman, a Lonely Signal Burns": Parrot-cats and side-notes on astronomy and a really fabulous little murder mystery. LOVED IT. 5/5 PS I would like more in this universe.

"Orm the Beautiful": There are a LOT of stories in this collection about how the person who pays isn't necessarily the person who benefits. This is one of them. Dragons and miners museums and I loved it. 5/5

"The Inevitable Heat Death of the Universe": Well there's a shark and it...well it eats everything. 3/5

"Love Among the Talus": I started reading it and wondered how Bear would invert princess-in-the-tower, and then she did it and it was horrible and beautiful and ugh. 5/5

"Cryptic Coloration": The constant POV-switches really annoyed me and messed up my feeling of suspense. Despite that, there's nothing really WRONG with this monster-hunt feat. freshmen college girls. 4/5

"The Girl Who Sang Rose Madder": I loved the ending, but at the same time I didn't quite believe the character's journey to making that choice. 3/5

*rest of review to come* ( )

"Tideline": Loooooooved it. I love it when Bear gives souls to soulless things, eg robots. Plus the new importance of oral storytelling in post-apocalyptic world so yeah FEELINGS. 5/5

"Sonny Liston Takes the Fall": This one is very understated and at first I was like "ehhh that was ehhhh" but it stuck in my brain and percolated for a while and it's really quite lovely. 5/5

"Sounding": Whales, man, they'll kill ya??? I didn't really get this one. 2/5

"The Something-Dreaming Game": heebie-jeebies, auto-erotic asphyxiation style. I liked the ambiguousness of whether what is happening is actually happening. 4/5

"The Cold Blacksmith": Shenanigans with Weyland Smith (from Promethean novels). Some things are harder to fix than others so it kinda sucks when you have a "fix-it-all" geas, DOESN'T IT. 4/5

"In the House of Aryaman, a Lonely Signal Burns": Parrot-cats and side-notes on astronomy and a really fabulous little murder mystery. LOVED IT. 5/5 PS I would like more in this universe.

"Orm the Beautiful": There are a LOT of stories in this collection about how the person who pays isn't necessarily the person who benefits. This is one of them. Dragons and miners museums and I loved it. 5/5

"The Inevitable Heat Death of the Universe": Well there's a shark and it...well it eats everything. 3/5

"Love Among the Talus": I started reading it and wondered how Bear would invert princess-in-the-tower, and then she did it and it was horrible and beautiful and ugh. 5/5

"Cryptic Coloration": The constant POV-switches really annoyed me and messed up my feeling of suspense. Despite that, there's nothing really WRONG with this monster-hunt feat. freshmen college girls. 4/5

"The Girl Who Sang Rose Madder": I loved the ending, but at the same time I didn't quite believe the character's journey to making that choice. 3/5

*rest of review to come* ( )