How Long 'Til Black Future Month? By N.K. Jemisin

 


How Long 'Til Black Future Month is an anthology of the author N.K. Jemisin's speculative fiction short stories. Now, I've read a number of short story anthology's over the years.  Most have a range of short stories that can be primarily categorized as ok, with one or two really good, and a few not so great.  N.K. Jemisin's anthology of stories bucks this trend as all her stories can be categorized as very good, with a few that are amazing.

I really love N.K. Jemisin's writing.  She's one of my favorite authors, and I haven't yet read a story of hers, whether it's a short story or novel, that I didn't love or really like. So going into this series, I expected the same quality of story, and was not disappointed.

If you decide to pick up this book, I highly recommend you read the introduction.  In it, Ms. Jemisin  discusses how difficult it is to write a good short story.  How there is an artform to weaving an excellent short tale, and she is right.  I've read plenty of only ok, and some downright awful, short stories in my time, and Ms. Jemisin avoids the pitfalls of a badly written short story with deftness and mastery.  As a fan of her work, it was also fun to read some of what were either clearly early versions of some of her novels, or stories that took place in the same world as some of her novels. My favorite story was the last one, Sinners, Saints, Dragons, and Haints, in the City Beneath the Still Waters. It's a story that takes place in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, and that's all I'll say about it.

I listened to the audio book of these stories.  There were two to three narrators, and they were really good.  I enjoyed this book so much that I got the physical book and I anticipate rereading these stories again and again.

Even though I have no idea if anyone enjoys this blog, and even though no one is asking for these reviews, I hope if you stumble across it, you choose to pick up this book. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/40855636

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