Edited by Paula Guran

I'm very much a fan of good time travel stories, so when this anthology came up for review, I couldn't resist. Also there was a story included by Michael Moorcock, whose fantasy writing I've enjoyed before. Like most anthologies with stories from a lot of different writers, there were some that were more interesting to me than others.

The editor, Paula Guran, introduces the subject with some well informed historical facts about theories of time travel from different religions and cultures, including Ancient Egypt. Newton and other philosophers get a mention for their thoughts on the subject and actually this intro was one of the most interesting parts of the book!

There are 18 stories. I have a preference for time travel adventures, and found many of the stories not quite what I expected. The first few felt a little slow to get to anything to do with time travel. The subject seems to have been widely interpreted and some stories dealt with perceptions more than actual scifi time travel.

The Man Who Ended History by Ken Liu had an interesting theory about paired particles that allow us to see light through space that got my interest, but even this was more how to view the past than to actually travel there. The Carpet Beds of Sutro Park by Kage Baker was particularly interesting, though depressing and there was some good time travel action in Mating Habits of the Late Cretaceous by Dale Bailey, though it was mainly about a failing marriage and a holiday hunting dinosaurs.

The Mists of Time by Tom Purdom was a very well written story about a slaver ship and First Flight by Mary Robinette Kowel was also a particularly well written story that had been recommended to me before. The Time Travel Club by Charlie Jane Anders brought in the movement of the earth in the mechanics of time travel, which I found interesting and September At Wall and Broad by Kristine Kathryn Rusch was another with especially good writing.

Thought Experiment by Eileen Gunn was one of the best in my opinion and had some original ideas about how time travel works, though they were reminiscent of the psychological method used in Somewhere in Time by Richard Matheson with adaptations.

There seem to be a lot of time travel tourist stories around recently, not just in this collection but in general. I think the genre generally works better in novel form than in short stories, but that's just my personal opinion. The stories in this collection were all well written from a technical point of view, though some held interest more than others. Not a bad collection, but there was nothing so amazing that it would make me rush out to see what else the author has done.

I read this, and two other novels, while travelling out of state to set up funeral arrangements for my father in law. I needed a distraction, this did just that. For that I give much thanks to the author, Elizabeth Bear.

This definitely is much faster paced than the first book. My only complaint about the first was that it felt a bit sluggish, but despite that it was also a great read. While this book could be read without reading the first in series, I don't recommend doing so. Certain aspects would be misses.

Bear is great at character building. They are among some of the most memorable I have read about. I much so have loved reading about Gage in this series. He was once a man, now part automaton. His scenes in this book were very engrossing.

There were questions from the first book which were answered in this, but this book also left questions and loose ends. I am impatiently waiting for the third book for those answers. I am curious to see if I am correct about a few things.

Thank you Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for being allowed to read an arc edition of this book.

Originally published at midureads.wordpress.com on September 23, 2018.

Married by Morning by Lisa Kleypas

This series is light, entertaining, and satisfies all my once-in-a-blue-moon romance cravings. I know the setting and the characters are familiar. While they may be cut out from the same stencil: the guys are manly and stubborn and the ladies are quirky and non-traditional. These books are still fun to read! Here is my review of the previous book in this series.

Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear

This was supposed to be a steampunk book but I didn’t see much of that genre in it. Besides that, I really enjoyed reading it and will definitely be picking up the next one. My only quibble with it is the same one that I have with the graphic novel, Saga. The inclusion of colored, queer, etc. characters for the sake of inclusion seems artificial to me. I dunno, maybe I’m not used to reading about them, which is why I feel this way. The solution would be to read more off-the-path books and see if I still feel this way. Don’t see anything wrong with having more books to read. Do you?

Tea with the Black Dragon by R.A. MacAvoy

Ugh, this book frustrated me to no end. I don’t get why it was written in the first place. It wasn’t even interesting the way Tooth and Claw had been! If the story isn’t interesting but the characters are, that usually makes it up to me. When the characters are just plain boring or annoying too, nothing can redeem a book. It was true for this one. Fortunately, it was a small book!

So, I didn’t get much reading done in August and was late to post the wrap-up. Switching jobs will do that to ya!

This book took me a long time to read because I checked it out, didn't finish in time, and then came back months later.  I think this was a detriment to the book or actually my feelings about the book.  I really wasn't enjoying it when I came back to finish it.  I hate the love triangle even though everyone gets along.  And Richard was getting a lot irritating.  Not my favorite of the series.

I'll start with complaints. 
1. If your book is written in English, if you use another language in same book make sure you have the English translation. I've seen this done before in many book I've read. It's irritating if you don't have access to the internet to translate sometimes whole paragraphs of dialogue.
2. When the POV changes, maybe list in the paragraph title whose POV it is or maybe "Casey thought. . ." so we have an idea who is talking. One chapter took me over 1-1/2 pages to figure out whose POV it was.

I loved the ending. The one man, two women (not lesbian) thing - I just couldn't imagine it working so smoothly. Overall, a good book/series.