meganbaxter

When I got this out from the library, I didn't realize it was short stories. And even then, it wasn't until I sat down with it and started to think that, hey, some of these stories seem awfully familiar, that I realized that a couple of years ago I read that mammoth book of Greg Bear's short stories, and so, yes, I had read all of these before.

But it had been a few years, and I remembered enjoying the stories the first time, so I settled in to read them again. (Except for Mandala, which I reread as part of Strength of Stones not that long ago.)

And did enjoy them a second time. The title story is great, the novella Hardfought at the end is great, and all the stories in between are enjoyable. Many of his protagonists are strong, complex women, and that pleased me to no end.

I was annoyed that the jacket leaf gave away what was going on in Hardfought before I got to read it again - I would have enjoyed making that discovery at the same time the characters did. It is a piercing critique of the distortions that happen in a society perpetually at war.