/lit/ - Literature

>>20285899
Straying from the Path (2011) - Carrie Vaughn

This is the Highest Step in the World (2004)
A dramatic retelling of Joseph Kittinger's 1960 jump from 102,800 feet. Ten years after the publication of this story, 2014, Alan Eustace exceeded that by jumping from 135,908 feet. I don't think that undercuts this story, but I also didn't find it that interesting.
Meh

Peace in Our Time (2004)
The two last surviving US war veterans preside over the burial of the former third last. The two reminisce about the last war they were in and worry that no one will be left to commemorate them. A worldwide pandemic had killed so many that sending people to fight was no longer feasible. War must go on though, and so autonomous machines were sent to kill.
Ok

Silence Before Starlight (2001) [Trade Guild]
A crewed mission has come to Europa to confirm whether it has any life. Strange and mysterious happenings occur to them and their equipment. As per the author, this is intended to a fairytale set in space. I put [Trade Guild] on these stories because the term is used in them, but they seem to be extremely loosely connected at very best and may just be a generic term Vaughn uses. I may be missing other similar possibly connected series of stories.
Meh

The Happiest Place (2009)
A Disneyland cast member discovers a magical tiara that turns her into a fairy godmother that can grant wishes. However, seeing all the suffering there is in the world can quickly make anyone yearn for death.
Blah

Swing Time (2007) [Temporal Transit Authority]
Two time traveling thieves keep coming across each other. Each time traveler has a specific action they perform, a catalyst, to travel through time.
Ok

The Librarian’s Daughter (2002)
A dark fairytale of a girl who wears the skin of a horse to dream prophecy.
Ok

The Bravest of Us Touched the Sky (2004)
Two female pilots are assigned to fly a heavily modified plane with a doctor of psychology along with them to see how they react, for classified reasons. A horror/mystery/thriller story.
Meh

The Heroic Death of Lieutenant Michkov (2002)
In the hopes of delighting his emperor Michkov presents embellished tales of heroism from the front lines rather than than the dismal reality of that the dispatches report.
Ok

Real City (2006)
A director wants to try something that hasn't been done in decades. Many think him foolish for trying to make a film on-set with actors. Everyone knows that these days that movies, which all are interactive, are created in a bluebox that uses people only for branding purposes and as an aid to ease production as everything else is computer-generated imagery. It's also a romance story.
Enjoyable

In Time (2001)
A story about Emily Dickinson and her dog Carlo.
Blah

Story Notes (2011)
I enjoy reading the notes authors write about their stories and I wish it were a regular inclusion.