Lake of Souls by Ann Leckie

Source: NetGalley – Many thanks to the publisher!
TL;DR: A really fantastic collection, some more challenging than others but nearly all were winners for me.

Plot: Each plot was well drawn and worked within the confines of the story. Ann Leckie has a real knack for short stories.
Characters: A good variety of characters existed here, all of them were fairly similar on reflection but they stood out individually within their worlds.
Setting: Ranging from Hard Science Fiction to Fantasy worlds these were varied and fun.
Stories/Cohesion: Overall I really enjoyed these. There was not a solid through line from each story to the next but the stories within established worlds followed the rules and fit well together in the setting.

Thoughts:

Ann Leckie makes my brain really work. Her writing is just involved enough and her ideas so creative, that I am always happy to put in the effort and time to see what she’s come up with. These stories, on the whole, did not disappoint.

Ranging from stories in her hard SF world of the Imperial Radch to stories in her fantasy world of the Raven Tower, and more in between there is a fantastic range. The best part to me was the fact that even without prior knowledge of The Raven Tower story I was easily able to pick up context, and I think those stories might have been some of my favorites. Even the one story that made me deeply uncomfortable (The Snake’s Bride), I can understand what she was aiming for or attempting to say.

I highly recommend this collection, in fact I pre-ordered my own copy on finishing the arc. A great collection from an author quickly becoming a favorite for me.

4 out of 5 tiny talking salamander gods