#24in48 ~ Update 3

18 stories
9:31 hours

Quick update on the past six stories:

13 – “Monkey King, Faerie Queen” by Zen Cho
Genre: mythological mash-up
Quote: You don’t know who Sun Wukong is? You’re kidding! You haven’t heard of the Great Sage Equal to Heaven, the one who is Mindful of Emptiness, the Exquisite and Most Satisfactory Prince of Monkeys, defier of gods and Buddhas alike, scorner of other people’s dignity and personal inspiration to little monkeys everywhere?
Comment: The most fun I’ve had all weekend.

14 – “Ghoulbird” by Claude Seignolle
Genre: horror
Quote: ‘What a pity that this fabled Ghoulbird of yours is only a legend; otherwise, I would have listened to its song and applauded with enthusiasm!’
Comment: But, of course, the ghoulbird isn’t just a legend. Best not confuse a harbinger with the doom it announces.

15 – “The Tomato Thief” by Ursula Vernon
Genre: fantasy
Quote: …obviously if you had unholy powers, you’d want to use them on your tomatoes.
Comment: Considering how much I’ve always liked Ursula Vernon’s art, I’m surprised I haven’t read that much of her fiction. This is a Southwester fairy tale with tendrils into other stories. I dig it.

17 – “Lich-House” by Warren Ellis
Genre: science fiction
Quote: The house watched, and managed, the smallest parts of its anthropic usage. It made the occupant feel like her house liked her: that her house could feel and think.
Comment: Eh, wasn’t feeling this story of a smart house and its “aggressively non-networked intruder.”

16 – “Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers” by Alyssa Wong
Genre: horror
Quote: They’re never as strong as they think they are.

18 – “Magdala Amygdala” by Lucy A. Snyder
Genre: horror
Quote: The truth is, unless you’ve been living in some isolated Tibetan monastery, you’ve already been exposed to Polymorphic Viral Gastroencephalitis.

Comment: I haven’t cared too much for the last three stories in this group and two of the last three (#16 & #18) suffer the same problem. The news has been filled with lots of ugliness lately; I find no catharsis in serial killers and zombies.