This story takes place in a world where the Hindenburg disaster never happened. As a result, airships never became discredited as a mode of transport, and continued to flourish. By the present day, airships are making a comeback as a more eco-friendly, and fuel efficient, alternative to airplanes. The story follows a reporter who is interviewing a couple who work on a long haul cargo airship.



This was a well-written story, as per usual with Ken Liu. Though, I'm not sure how realistic it is. Airships were on the way out way before Hindenburg. They had a nasty tendency to crash and/or explode. Plus, since they were large and slow-moving, they made easy targets during war. Still, it is fun to imagine what it would be like if airships were still widely used. For what it's worth, some people have proposed reviving airships specifically to be more fuel-efficient and eco-friendly. I'd imagine that might come at the cost of speed, but I digress.



The husband and wife make for an interesting pair. She was just a peasant girl in China until he met her during a haul. They each take shifts running the ship for six hours with the other sleeps. At best, they'll only meet for a few minutes each day. Their conversations, and arguments, can last absurd amounts of time. Their relationship isn't the most romantic in the world, but they make it work. Hey, at least they get more personal time together when they arrive at their destination.



Another excellent story from Ken Liu that I'm more than happy to recommend.

This story is part of Chris Roberson'sseries. It's set in a world where China kept its treasure fleet and went on to conquer most of the world. The bits of the world not under Chinese control or influence are part of the Aztec Empire. The story follows Johnston Lien, a woman whose grandparents immigrated to China from Vinland. She's visiting the city of Guangdong to research the construction of Gold Mountain, the world's first space elevator. To that end she's interviewing McAllister James, one of the original workers on Gold Mountain.Okay, that description seriously sells this story short, but I don't want to give too much away. First a word on names; the names are rendered in the East Asian style of family name first and given name second. Now that we've got that out of the way, let's talk plot. McAllister tell of the absolutely inhuman conditions he and his fellow Vinlanders were subjected to by their Chinese employers. Not only that, but he also speaks of the considerable prejudice and bigotry they faced while trying to make better lives for themselves. The really sad part is, barring a few science fiction related bits, all of that really happened, but in our world it was the other way around.For that matter, it is best to think of this story as a mirror image of our own world. Chris has said that this was what he intended, and he hopes that the story gives readers new appreciation of the trials and tribulations of immigrants throughout history. He has more than succeeded in that regard. Even in the darkness there a glimmers of hope, such as Johnston, that show that the Vinlanders have been able to survive and even thrive despite the odds. This was my first exposure to theseries, which grew out of the Sidewise award winning short story "O One", and I can't wait to find more.This story is mostly told from a male perspective, but Kate still manages to pack quite the emotional punch nonetheless. It's an alternate history take on the immigrant’s tale that will keep you thinking. Very much recommended.This story takes place in either the 1950s or 1960s after a nuclear war occurred in the late 1940s or early 1950s. It's unclear who fired the first shot, or who exactly the United States was fighting, but frankly it's kind of unimportant. What is important is that the world has become severely irradiated and society has been forever changed. The story is told from the point of view of a girl named Sylvie and a boy named Martin who are about to come of age. As part of this process they, and everyone else their age, will be tested for fertility. Failing this test has potentially dire consequences.Another summary that doesn't do nearly enough justice, so let me elaborate. You know that war I mentioned? Well it's going on, and men who flunk the fertility test get conscripted into it. The fertility test itself has some potentially eugenic undertones, as blacks and Asians are automatically disqualified. Polyandry has become necessary to keep society together due to all the men who've died in the war and the general fertility crisis. Throughout the story we get glimpses of the various advertising campaigns used by the government to distract people from how terrible the world is.Wow, this was a powerful story. You really get the sense that this isn't just a world that's dying, but a world that is potentially on its way out. Some of the most poignant moments were the little bits of off-hand information. For example, it's mentioned that there are more Japanese in Utah than in Japan. This story is a nice example of atompunk. What is atompunk you ask? Atompunk is anything set in the future as envisioned by the 1950s, but with a more cynical twist. It's closely related to Raygun Gothic, but that tends to be more idealistic. To give one example,is atompunk, whileandare Raygun Gothic.The general feel of this story can best be described as an atompunk take onor. Like I've mentioned before, the world building in this story is absolutely breathtaking. What's also breathtaking is how well Kate's narration captured the emotions of this story. Given how many award nominations it received, and more than earned, do I really need to tell you I recommend it?In this story 1940s England is invaded and conquered by an ethereal empress who commands power over ice and snow. At first it seems that things will be just fine, but it soon becomes apparent that England may never see spring again. Resistance groups pop up, but they face considerable challenges from the empress' wolves, secret police and even certain trees.There are probably some of you scratching your heads wondering how this story exists. As long as the words Aslan, Narnia and Pevensie never appear in the story then no copyrights or trademarks have been violated. Since they don't...well, there you go. Personally, I think it worked out better for not having a group of meddling kids and their lion god swoop in to save the day. It was much more effective to leave the fate of this frozen world undetermined.The imagery and descriptions are absolutely stunning. This story can very much be viewed as an allegory for what it's like to live under a dictatorship. There's initially new opportunities for the disenfranchised, a cult of personality, rewriting of history and the arts, secret police and other totalitarian staples all with a magical twist to them. For the third time in a row we have a great Kate Baker narration with this story.It's a powerful story about magical totalitarianism that you won't want to miss.This story is set in Ancient China and follows a candyman named Tangren Ao. He has the power to project his consciousness into the candy animals he crafts by calling upon the legendary animals of the Chinese Zodiac. He soon finds himself having to play detective after his friend Lun gets framed for a fire monkey attack in the market place.I was always fascinated by the Chinese Zodiac when I was a kid, which can probably be blamed by my obsession with theseries. As such this story had a certain appeal to me. It was a nice touch that the main character preformed magic through candy. I guess you could say he was a...candymancer. Huh, huh? Okay, back to the review. I liked how the system of magic was described as well as the way the spirits were written. Tony is definitely a writer I'll keep an eye out for in the future.It's short, sweet and to the point. I recommend it.This story follows a man named Mouse who has the ability to travel through time. He's been trying to win the affections of a rich fellow named Ezra Levitz, who has a fascination with the past. Mouse is determined to use his power to win Ezra's affection.Yeah, not the best summary, but it is a great story.typically doesn't accept very many time travel stories, so when they do it's almost guaranteed to be good. I liked how Mouse had to keep trying because everything he brings to Ezra looks so recently made it comes off as a forgery. It was also interesting how most of Mouse's time travel investments failed because the banks he used failed. At times it felt like the story was commenting on such get-rich-quick type stories.The times Mouse visits were all great, though when he went to the Thirty Years War and encountered Count Tilly my initial thought was "it's the guy from theseries!" Yeah, I gotta put more actual history into my reading rotation. It was also nice to see another homosexual romance represented among the stories.A story about love and time travel. I happily recommend it.This story is set during the days of the Mexican-American War and follows three Americans from various walks of life who become spies for Mexico. They'll be granted land and Mexican citizenship if all goes well after the war. However things don't go quite as they planned.This story is historical fantasy, but of a decidedly magical realism variety. There are a few blink-and-you'll-miss-it hints of fantastic goings on, but for the most part it reads more like a historical fiction short story. Perhaps the magical realism is fitting, given that the story does take place primarily in Latin America. You really don't see to many stories set during the Mexican-American War, so this story was a rather refreshing change of pace. Then again, most American History textbooks spend, at most, a paragraph or two on the entire war, but I digress.Many of the characters have sympathetic motivations for their action, and I liked how the story touched on some of the injustices and inequalities going on in America at the time. If you're a fan of Westerns you should enjoy this story. A story about an often neglected historical era. Very much recommended.This story is set in a world where the United States and Canada fell apart in the 1930s and 1940s due to technocracy movements. By the present day the many fractured nations of North America are entangled in multiple wars. The story follows a man and a woman who are traveling and doing their part for the wars.Yeah, this one didn't really do it for me. The first problem I had was that the alternate history elements were really more for backdrop than any particular relevance to the story. Actually, it didn't even fell like even that much. This story could easily have been set in the near future and it wouldn't have made any difference to the plot. The other main reason was that, well, I didn't feel the characters were very engaging. That's not to say I thought the story was particularly bad, just that it wasn't very engaging to me.Shaun and Mur do a pretty good job with the narration, but not enough to make up for the lackluster story. This story was from the early day whenhadn't quite found its footing and before Kate took over the narration. I didn't care for this one, but maybe it'll be more appealing to you. It's at the very least worth checking out.