Titles are such important things. I had never read this story because of its title. It just didn’t interest me. But I’m being a completist these days, and reading what’s before me, or at least trying. I knew that “No…
Shambleau by C.L. Moore
Oh, my. I read this story with one eye closed, and my face turned as far away from it as I possibly could. I was still compelled to finish. Ick and yuck and oh, wow, is this story well done.…
The Halfling by Leigh Brackett
Okay, anyone who has come to the anthology workshop that Dean and I hold in the early part of the year knows that I don’t like carnival stories. I fell in love with Ray Bradbury’s Something Wicked This Way Comes and…
The Last Days of Shandakor by Leigh Brackett
I’m not sure what to think of this story. The imagery is memorable and profound, the sensawunder powerful, and that guilt which underlies much of sf—that we saw something lovely and ruined it—is present here as well. The story isn’t…
Mars Minus Bisha by Leigh Brackett
I’m so glad I wrote out my personal guidelines for the Tough Mothers anthology before I delved deeply into the reading. That way, I know when a wonderful story won’t fit into what I’m doing without a lot of (personal) angst. To…
Rosel George Brown
I admit: I’ve been intrigued by Rosel George Brown since I discovered her existence earlier in this project. Primarily, I’m intrigued because I had never heard of her and yet, she was nominated for Best New Writer in 1958. So…