I feel bad putting this in (it totally isn’t going in my Goodreads or LibraryThing) because I never finished it. It just wasn’t working for me in the car… every time I started a new short story, I had to re-invest and figure out a whole new world, plot, characters, etc. Badbury is definitely more “reading on a sunny bench” material, not “stay awake and entertained during your two hour commute” material. It doesn’t help that it was front-loaded with several stories I didn’t like.
"The Kilimanjaro Device"
A stranger shows up, looking for a local old man who has passed away -- an author who inspired him, and many others, but who didn't die at the right time. Enter his wibbly-wobbly-timey-wimey runs-on-wanting-it-hard-enough pickup truck. I dunno, I really just did not connect with this one.
"The Terrible Conflagration Up at the Place"
Drunken Irishmen plot to overthrow a local lord, because that's what all the cool kids are doing. The lord ends up quietly bamboozling them into carrying paintings around. Another one I didn't really connect with.
"Tomorrow's Child"
Through the magic of Victorian technobabble, a young couple gives birth to a small blue pyramid. Weird, but interesting.
"The Women"
Wife vs. mysterious female seaweed entity. The imagery was cool, but I wasn't a huge fan of the way he characterized women/femininity. Not to mention the complete lack of communication and empathy between wife and husband. Why try to trick your husband by sending him on stupid errands for hotdogs and sunblock, instead of, oh, maybe "I don't know why, but I don't feel safe; can we go somewhere else?"
"The Inspired Chicken Motel"
A family during the Great Depression. A chicken farm. An egg with a mysterious message on it. What? I liked the family dynamics, at least.
“Downwind from Gettysburg”
A descendant of John Wilkes Booth murders an electric Abraham Lincoln. Actually pretty good, although not nearly as sci-fi as it sounds.
"Yes, We'll Gather at the River"
Inhabitants of a small town come to terms with a new highway, which will take traffic and commerce away from their community. I kept waiting for something sci-fi to happen… or, I don’t know, anything to happen.
“The Cold Wind and the Warm”
A gaggle of sweet, pretty, effervescent, attractive men descend onto a traditional Irish town. This was an insanely fun read, and not just because of the casting call going on in my head.
"Night Call, Collect"
A man stranded for decades, alone, on the moon, is terrorized by interactive recordings he set for himself way back in his younger days. Felt like very classic scifi.
"The Haunting of the New"
An author comes back to find his raunchy, rich old flame is depressed, and her home has kicked her out. I wasn’t sure how to take this one; I liked it -- I liked her -- but the ending was very sex-negative.
"I Sing the Body Electric!"
After their mother dies, a young family brings in an electric grandma to take care of them. WONDERFUL -- reminds me of Data from Star Trek, for obvious reasons. I kept imagining Cate Blanchett playing an ageless robotic grandma.
"The Tombling Day"
A family digs up an old graveyard to make room for new construction. One of the graves belongs to grandma’s ex-fiance, who died when they were young -- and he hasn’t aged a day. I didn’t like grandma, but the story was weird and interesting.
"Any Friend of Nicholas Nickleby's Is a Friend of Mine"
An anachronistic Charles Dickens rolls up into town and makes friends with a young boy. Interesting read, although it felt like it was supposed to resonate with something deep inside the reader… and whatever that something is, I don’t have it.
As-yet unlistened-to :
"Heavy-Set"
"The Man in the Rorschach Shirt"
"Henry the Ninth"
"The Lost City of Mars"
“The Blue Bottle”
“One Timeless Spring”
“The Parrot who Met Papa”
“The Burning Man”
“A Piece of Wood”
“The Messiah”
“G.B.S. : mark V”
“The Utterly Perfect Murder”
“Punishment Without Crime”
“Getting Through Sunday Somehow”
“Drink Entire : Against the Madness of Crowds”
"Christus Apollo"
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