It seems like the well-regarded books this year are dark. At least, Bacigalupi and Miéville are the two rising sci-fi/fantasy authors and they are very dark.
In this collection, I did not enjoy Softer at all. It isn't written particularly well, the approach isn't that interesting, and I just don't want to read about a guy killing his wife casually and getting away with it.
The Fluted Girl was nifty, but still dark with strong almost sexual abuse. It isn't clear how abusive the sex is, but the rest is abusive. Kinda neat ending also.
I did like Pump Six. I had read this one previously, though I can't remember where. I identify with the guy keeping the pumps running because sometimes I feel like I am so much dumber than the people who designed the plant. I think it is mostly that I'm just one person and lots of people designed the plant, but I still like that someone is just slightly more knowledgeable than other people and still doesn't know a fraction of what he needs to. Also, I love the idea that people could build these fancy pumps that last for six centuries before finally breaking down. Yay for Engineers!
Pages: 239
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