User Profile

I love Darger and Surplus.

If you like a weird post-post-apocalyptic future like out Gene Wolfe's [b:The Shadow of the Torturer|60211|The Shadow of the Torturer (The Book of the New Sun, #1)|Gene Wolfe|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1329650008l/60211.SX50.jpg|762497], and you like lovable rogue conmen, you have to read Swanwick's Darger and Surplus stories.

An outstanding of collection of linked short stories.

These would appeal to anyone who has an interest in people surviving impossible childhoods and how all of it can wind up messing up a whole life.

The stories were often bleak, but still there's hope.

If you're a Yoon Ha Lee fan, you don't need my review to know you have to read this.

If you're a fan of modern science fiction, you have to read Yoon Ha Lee and you should probably start with [b:Ninefox Gambit|26118426|Ninefox Gambit (The Machineries of Empire, #1)|Yoon Ha Lee|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1446557461l/26118426.SY75.jpg|46065520].

Emma Donoghue is a guaranteed good read.

What set this one apart for me is
- it had the type of characters you don't see many stories about, and
- the two main characters aren't that nice, but you wind up liking them anyway.

This was fun.

If you enjoy gentle humour, fantasy, and foreign culture, the chronicles of Master Li and Number Ten Ox, are rewarding.

But I have to admit that I was sad to learn that Barry Hughart had intended to write seven books, not only three, in the series, but had a falling out with his publishers. And now he's gone, so we'll never get more.

I'm not super-big on mysteries, but a I found this story about a non-magic person surrounded by magicians engaging.

It's sad that this series is finished. But it is a satisfying ending.