Lake of Souls

Ann Leckie is in another league. Her prose feels angular. Indeed, that’s why the Ancillary Series is so successful. The world she created in those books mirrors the way her writing feels. It’s as if she has more crayons in her box and they’re all razor sharp.

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Ihak had dwindled away to almost nothing. In the flickering light of the single oil lamp he seemed faded and so completely without substance that one feared a gentle word might blow him away, but for the skin laid across him to keep him warm.

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I didn’t enjoy this as much as I'd expected to, not because the writing isn’t phenomenal, but because much of it went over my head. At the conclusion of many of these stories, I was left wondering what I’d just read.

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The table spread with bread, fruit, and cheese sat at Aunt Eone’s right elbow, well within striking distance. Of course, when it comes to Aunt Eone, “striking distance” is a matter of semantics, since she is an excellent markswoman and the breakfast table furnished a plenitude of ammunition.

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I knew from experience that the cheese would leave me smelling like goats for the rest of the day, and the crabapple preserves would stain my jacket indelibly.

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Even though I didn’t understand it, I liked the first story in this book best. It’s told from the perspective of two wildly different life forms and left me scratching my head in wonder at the end of it.

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If you like to read things that leave you with something to think about, this collection is a great choice.

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Some of the stories are set in the Imperial Radch universe, some in the universe of the Raven Tower, but most are stand-alone stories and many of them have to do with gods.

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Eventually a brown crane came wading along the margin of the island and walked with careful, backward-kneed steps to where Voud sat. It kr-kr-kr-kred and then said, “Good morning, little girl.”

“I’m not a little girl! I’m ten!”

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The crane took two steps backward, flapped its wings. “You have frogs?”

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Voud picked up the bag. “Three.”

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“They’re small, and weak. One question.”

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“They’re perfectly good frogs! Three frogs, three questions.”

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This collection of short stories would be excellent for a holiday. Each story requires thought and focus but the book portions them out in small bites.

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