4thace reviewed Her Smoke Rose Up Forever by Alice Bradley Sheldon
Review of 'Her Smoke Rose Up Forever' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This is another short and medium story collection set in as many universes as stories. The author famously wrote under a man's name for most of these, as "Raccoona Sheldon" for one, and it is a learning experience to see her she depicts the inner life of men and women in her stories. There are aliens too, some intelligent, some not, and some just inscrutable. Some are set on Earth, a couple within the Solar System, and a few are in some place very far away. The plots go places which pushed the boundaries of science fiction. There are plenty of places where a content warning might be appropriate to add these days, and places where a phrase or situation sticks out as coming from a different era from ours. The best stories fairly crackled with intensity while some of the others here feel as though I didn't have a …
This is another short and medium story collection set in as many universes as stories. The author famously wrote under a man's name for most of these, as "Raccoona Sheldon" for one, and it is a learning experience to see her she depicts the inner life of men and women in her stories. There are aliens too, some intelligent, some not, and some just inscrutable. Some are set on Earth, a couple within the Solar System, and a few are in some place very far away. The plots go places which pushed the boundaries of science fiction. There are plenty of places where a content warning might be appropriate to add these days, and places where a phrase or situation sticks out as coming from a different era from ours. The best stories fairly crackled with intensity while some of the others here feel as though I didn't have a sense about where they were going and why. Even the ones which seemed weaker had moments where something memorable would emerge from the interplay between character setting, and theme.
There were two narrators for the audiobook alternating between stories who both did a good jobs of bringing out the tales and all the characters' voices in them. The writing got to the point without excess description or long speeches mostly, and did not tend to drag. By the end It felt like a monumental collection to get through.
