Street Magicks

Street Magicks (2016) edited by Paula Guran

I believe it took me less than a year to finish this anthology. Hopefully this is a new trend for me.

• “Freewheeling” by Charles de Lint
• “A Year and a Day in Old Theradane” by Scott Lynch
• “Caligo Lane” by Ellen Klages
• “Socks” by Delia Sherman
• “Painted Birds and Shivered Bones” by Kat Howard
• “The Goldfish Pond and Other Stories” by Neil Gaiman
• “One-Eyed Jack and the Suicide King” by Elizabeth Bear
• “Street Worm” by Nisi Shawl
• “A Water Matter” by Jay Lake
• “Last Call” by Jim Butcher
• “Bridle” by Caitlín R. Kiernan
• “The Last Triangle” by Jeffrey Ford
• “Working for the God of the Love of Money” by Kaaron Warren
• “Hello, Moto” by Nnedi Okorafor
• “The Spirit of the Thing: A Nightside Story” by Simon R. Green
• “A Night in Electric Squidland” by Sarah Monette
• “Speechless in Seattle” by Lisa Silverthorne
• “Palimpsest” by Catherynne M. Valente
• “Ash” by John Shirley
• “In Our Block” by R. A. Lafferty

“Freewheeling” by Charles de Lint this is a story I’d read several times previously, in other anthologies. It is a good story, but sad.

“A Year and a Day in Old Theradane” by Scott Lynch is a story I got hung up on. I like Scott Lynch, but had a difficult time getting into this story.

“Shouldn’t I have a hangover?”

“I took it while you slept,” said Ivovandas. “I have a collection of bottled maladies. Your hangover was due to be the stuff of legends. Here be dragons! And by ‘here,’ I mean directly behind your eyeballs, probably for the rest of the week. I’ll find another head to slip it into, someday. Possibly I’ll let you have it back if you fail me.”

“Caligo Lane” by Ellen Klages is a story I ended up re-reading when I picked the anthology back up. It is beautiful and marvelous and very sad.

When geography or politics makes travel or escape impossible, she is the last resort. Each life saved is a mitzvah.

Once, when she was young and in a temper, she crumpled one into a ball and threw it across the room, muttering curses. A man in Norway found himself in an unnamed desert, confused and over-dressed. His journey did not end well.

“Socks” by Delia Sherman is the story of a girl with an affliction who finds her voice.

“Painted Birds and Shivered Bones” by Kat Howard is about a werebird. Or a cursed man. Or a woman recovering herself.

Some days were good days, days when Maeve could walk through her life and not be aware of any of the adjustments she performed to make it livable.

“The Goldfish Pond and Other Stories” by Neil Gaiman is… well… it’s a Neil Gaiman story.

“One-Eyed Jack and the Suicide King” by Elizabeth Bear this one I read twice and still was unsure about.

“Street Worm” by Nisi Shawl is a story of a girl–a teen whose parents think she’s seeing things that aren’t there.

“A Water Matter” by Jay Lake I mostly skimmed.

“Last Call” by Jim Butcher is another Dresden files short story. It was fine.

“Bridle” by Caitlín R. Kiernan I didn’t bother to read, since I don’t like her writing (she writes horror, which I dislike; It’s nothing personal).

“The Last Triangle” by Jeffrey Ford is a story I started and then got distracted. It’s actually an interesting story about magic and science–or rather geometry.

“The Last Triangle is an equilateral triangle; all the sides are equal,” she said.

I failed math every year in high school, so I just nodded.

“Working for the God of the Love of Money” by Kaaron Warren I mostly skimmed; it was darker and sadder than I wanted to read.

“Hello, Moto” by Nnedi Okorafor is about science and witchcraft.

“The Spirit of the Thing: A Nightside Story” by Simon R. Green is a John Taylor story I’d read previously, but still enjoyed.

They didn’t know anything. They hadn’t seen anything, because they didn’t come to a bar like this to take an interest in other people’s problems.

“A Night in Electric Squidland” by Sarah Monette I surprised myself by enjoying. Possibly because it was a police procedural of sorts, I found myself wanting to read more about the characters.

Mick, observing the pretty young man with the eye of an expert, saw that he was not as young as he was trying to appear, and he would be prettier if he admitted it.

“Speechless in Seattle” by Lisa Silverthorne started and didn’t finish.

“Palimpsest” by Catherynne M. Valente started and then realized that I generally dislike her short stories, so skipped.

“Ash” by John Shirley was not for me.

“In Our Block” by R. A. Lafferty was an odd and amusing story.

An interesting collection, although there were a lot of stories that were not for me.

Rating: 7/10

Published by Prime Books

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