Ahoy there me mateys! I received this short story collection eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. So here be me honest musings . . .
Title: lake of souls
Author: Ann Leckie
Publisher: Orbit
Publication Date: TODAY! (hardcover / e-book)
ISBN: 978-1596069664
Source: NetGalley
This is the complete collection of Ann Leckie’s short fiction. Given I am a major fan of her work, reading this was delightful. Some of the stories I had previously read. But fans will love to have them all in one place. Plus there is a new novella!
Side Note: I will link to the stories online where ye can read them for free. Not many of them are these days.
I will try to give ye an idea of the bare bones and thoughts on the stories:
“Lake of Souls” – I absolutely loved this novella and could have read a lot more about the sentient crustacean-like creatures and their culture. Felt bad for the humans in this though.
“Footprints” – Cooper is alive after a crash. His nameless companion looks human but isn’t. She is unnerving. Her talking teddy bear is just plain creepy. Super short. I want more.
“Hesperia and Glory” – There is not a well in the cellar. Mr. Atkins sure thinks there is. Is he crazy? What is the truth? Where is Hesperia? Loved the ending of this one.
“The Endangered Camp” – The bird-like creatures are trying to flee Earth and get to Mars. A disagreement breaks out about what to do when the Earth has a catastrophe. Viscous but fun matriarchal culture. The best one won.
“Another Word for World” – I really loved this story! There is an original culture and a refugee culture. One older woman is the daughter of an interpreter for the refugees. The other is a young Sovereign. Deals with the problems with treaty translations when both sides may not want the mistakes to be fixed.
“The Justified” – A dictator is justified. Or so they think. A servant is summoned back to deal with insurrection. Interesting consequences occur. Interesting world building and politics.
“Bury the Dead” – A short story about what happens on the first Thanksgiving after Grandpa has died. Fun women power! Click here for me original review.
“The Sad History of the Tearless Onion” – A dude tries to make a tearless union. Unintended consequences ensue. Funny!
Tales from the Imperial Radch
“Night’s Slow Poison” – A local planet is protected by The Crawl – a monotonous space journey. The planet is afraid of spies. A local member of the Watch starts a friendship with a passenger. The ending brings up interesting ramifications to the planet. Click here for me original review of this. Click here for the Ann Leckie’s inspiration for this story.
“She Commands Me and I Obey” – A ball game determines world politics. A young novice finds out political secrets and is a key figure in determining the outcome of the game. I love this one! Click here for me original review.
“The Creation and Destruction of the World” – This seems to be a myth from the Imperial Radch world. Click here for Ann Leckie’s comments on this story.
Tales from the Raven Tower Universe
“The God of Au” – The Godless on their fleet of ships try to avoid dependence on any god. They arrive at the island of Au and have to deal with its god, Steq. This was long but the ending made it all worth it.
“The Nalendar” – Umri is tricked by a skink shaped god to look for a treasure. She is avoiding a slave holder who wants her as his concubine. Nothing goes as planned. Umri is a fabulous character. Another excellent ending.
“The Snake’s Wife” – The kings of Therete are cursed by Artau Ehat, Lord of the Sky. The curse can be broken in one specific way. Neither humans nor gods play nicely. A rather sad tale overall.
“Marsh Gods” – Ten year-old Voud gets three frogs which she trades to a Crane for answers to three questions. She wants to get out of marrying the neighbor. A missing brother shows up. A trial is called. Gods and trickery are involved. Voud helps outsmart them all.
“The Unknown God” – Aworo, Lord of Horses, god of the Western plains has made the river Nalender angry because he cursed one of her own. He is seeking Truth while playing with human characteristics. A unknown frog god and a foolish merchant help him out.
“Saving Bacon” – This story was funny. It involves a family of fearsome intelligent women, a silly male whose purpose is to marry for the betterment of the family, a sparrow that is not a sparrow, and a pig that is a pig (named Bacon).
“Beloved of the Sun” – A sacrifice is drawn into a conflict with Lord Sun and other gods. This was a nice ending to the collection.
Now that I have read these stories, I need to reread the Raven Tower. Arrrr!
Goodreads’ website has this to say about the book:
Hugo, Nebula, and Arthur C. Clarke award-winner Ann Leckie is a modern master of the SFF genre, forever changing its landscape with her groundbreaking ideas and powerful voice. Now, available for the first time comes the complete collection of Leckie’s short fiction, including a brand new novelette, Lake of Souls. Journey across the stars of the Imperial Radch universe. Listen to the words of the Old Gods that ruled The Raven Tower. Learn the secrets of the mysterious Lake of Souls. And so much more, in this masterfully wide-ranging and immersive short fiction collection from award-winning author Ann Leckie.
To visit the author’s website go to:
Ann Leckie – Author
To buy the collection go to:
lake of souls – Book
To add to Goodreads go to:
Yer Ports for Plunder List
Previous Log Entries for this Author
Imperial Radch Series – Sci-Fi
night’s slow poison – Book 0.5
she commands me and i obey – Book 0.6
ancillary justice – Book 1 (Second Reflections)
ancillary sword – Book 2 (Second Reflections)
ancillary mercy – Book 3 (Second Reflections)
provenance – Book 4
translation state – Book 5
Standalones – Fantasy
raven tower
Captain's Quarters 