Susan DeFreitas

As with most anthologies a mixed bag.
1. A Lay of Light and Anger by Stewart C Baker – extremely dull and clichéd fantasy. DNF 0/5
2. The Night Bazaar for Women Becoming Reptiles by Rachel K Jones. Women eat reptile eggs to transform and escape. Delightfully sinuous, more weird-fiction than anything else. 5/5
3. The Wake by James Mapes. The death of gods and the stoicism of humans. 4/5
4. Black as Thread by Jessie Kwak. Interesting take on the seductions of power, even in small things. 3/5
5. A Woven Womb by C A McDonald. Rather dull story of creating a magic child. 2/5
6. Prothalamion by Tracy Mannaster. Very short but entrancing tale of strange disruptions to the life of a village. 4/5
7. The Kingdom of the Belly by Michelle Ruiz Keil. Short mythological story. OK. 3/5
8. Ib and Nib: the Ice Berries by Stevan Allred. Folk-tale in the style of Le Guin’s Karhide stories. 2/5
9. Old Souls by Fonda Lee. The acts of remembered past lives catch up with people. 3.5/5
10. The Ones Who Don’t Walk Away by Rene Denfeld. Depressing tale of imprisoned refugees. 3/5. I much prefer N K Jemisin’s “The Ones Who Stay and Fight”.
11. The Polar Explorer by Leni Zumas. A woman’s scientific work on Polar ice is ignored in the 19th century. Doesn’t really go anywhere. 2/5
12. Birds by Benjamin Parzybok. A crazy homeless man is taken up by a well-meaning but damaged woman. 2.5/5
13. Homeless Gary Busey by Timothy O’Leary. Homeless man harasses a citizen, who takes revenge and is persecuted for it. 2/5
14. Finding Joan by David D Levine. A middle-aged woman survives in post-apocalyptic Portland. 3/5
15. Becoming Human by Gigi Little. Ants survive the apocalypse and take up baking. 4/5
16. Bee, Keeper by Jason LaPier. Clunky environmental message. 1/5
17. KwaZulu-Natal by Juhea Kim. Depressing story of a boy and a hand-reared elephant. 2/5
18. Mr Uncle’s Favor by Kesha Ajose-Fisher. Really nice story of a young girl coming from America to Nigeria and making friends with the old man next door. 4/5
19. Ib and Nib and the Golden Ring by Stevan Allred. A pointless folk-tale. 1/5
20. Neuron by Lydia Yuknavitch. An electric shock transforms a girl, giving her the power to reach the girl she loves. 3/5
21. Laddie Come Home by Curtis C Chen. Quite interesting about sentient wearable tech, but the ending gives off an unappealing “western saviour” vibe. 3/5
22. The Way Things were by Jonah Barrett. Aliens offer escape to people who want to leave America, which unsurprisingly causes other people to try and stop them. 2/5
23. Valuable by Mo Daviau. Messy time travel. 2/5
24. Hard Choices by Tina Connolly. Excellent and quite humorous story of inter-species lust written in the form of a “choose your own adventure”. 4/5
25. When Strangers Meet by Sonia Orin Lyris. A strange ritual in an alien hive. 3/5
26. JoyBe’s Last Dance by Jason Arias. A self-aware marionette goes wrong. 2/5
27. The Taster by TJ Acena. A man tastes food for the millions of “digital citizens”. 3/5
28. Let It Die by Arwen Spicer. Excellent story about a girl who breaks society’s strong taboos against using ancient tech. 4/5
29. Each Cool Silver Orb a Gift by Nicole Rosevear. Rather shambolic story of building a better world after a war. 2/5
30. Wenonah’s Gift by Molly Gloss. Quiet story of post-apocalyptic village life, with a harsh twist. 4/5
31. Ib and Nib and the Hemmens Tree by Stevan Allred. Irritating and pointless folk-tale. 1/5… (mehr)

I love the voice that DeFreitas uses to write with, reflecting youth and the times. In this tale of eco-terrorism set near a small liberal college in Arizona, she raises questions of just when such criminal activity should actually be called for (if ever), without pontificating or answering herself. In the sketches she draws, she critiques the liberal college students and their sometimes-affluent parents just as much as she critiques the real estate developers and the conservative townfolk, so the book is balanced. She touches on the deep divisions between ‘red’ and ‘blue’ in America, as well as issues such as student loan debt. I loved seeing woman’s perspective on sex and male behavior, but thought the book got more tangled up in relationships than it should have. There is intelligence and humor in the way she expresses herself conversationally in the inner thoughts of her characters. I considered a slightly higher rating, but I thought the book lost momentum in the second half, and fizzled a bit towards the end. Maybe that’s the whole point though – how one ‘big event’ never solves anything, that it’s a constant struggle, and so hard to carry on the struggle against powerful forces, especially when one’s life after college naturally tends to move one on to practical matters, and the real world.

Quotes:
On America:
“’The hell with California,’ said an old man in a bolo, slamming his fist into the bar. Half of the room cheered. The other half seemed to suddenly find some point of interest in their cell phones.”

On sex:
“A dry breeze swept in through the windows with the smell of immolated sap, lifting the curtains. They lay there together atop the sheets for a moment under the wind’s caress. Which seemed far more sensual than anything that had just occurred between them.”

On terrorism:
“’Does a sane man blow up a dam? Or set fire to another man’s property?’
Does a sane man serve a corrupt state? she wanted to ask him. Does a sane man destroy lives for a living?”… (mehr)

Hot Season reminded me of all the positive idealism present in the grassroots activists I've met over the years. This hit me on the nostalgia button big time, as I've lived in a fairly progressive/hippie-type college town for the last 10 years and actually met my husband in a housing cooperative. I appreciated all the little details about that similar community in this book.

Full disclosure-I grew up with Susan, so I definitely connected with this on a fairly personal level. That being said, I loved this book. The descriptions of the Southwest are incredibly evocative-I've never felt compelled to see more of that country and Susan's story made me yearn for it.… (mehr)