In all my years as a feminist scifi fan I had some how never read any of Le Guins work. This short story collection was my first - which is an admittedly odd place to start. It was primarily dictated by what was available at the library. Many of the stories were more about culture than space travel but then that’s always been the draw of really good science fiction. I was startled by how often she has a significant focus on sex and sexual acts, but again, that’s a key part of culture.

The the final story, Paradises Lost, is almost a quarter of the whole book and was my favorite. It’s the most space focused, but really I loved it as a fascinating exploration of generational space travel.

The other story that most stuck with me was Solitude. Not so much in its plot, but in her exploration of the idea that our understanding of other cultures is so deeply narrowed by our own personal histories and understanding. That the practices of other species can’t always be made analogous to our own just to make them easier to understand - we may be entirely unable to conceptualize them.

Read out loud to kids. Their reviews..

Eleanor (age 8): 5/5. I liked how the silk wings were like butterflies. It’s about not judging people for how they look and helping others. Luna was my favorite.

Max (age 11): 4/5. My favorite part of the book was when they give Swordtail the plant drug to wake him up. Sundew is my favorite character, and you’ll see why in the future book (he’s read these all already but listens with Elly when I read).

Read aloud to kids, below are their reviews. My thoughts? Think very carefully about the character voices you start with. I dropped to a low tone for Darkstalker in the main series, and this book just about killed my throat.

Eleanor (8): 5 stars. I like how the story happened, like how they stopped him. Blob was my favorite character. I related to Clearsight the most because I’d also be mad if someone spelled me. No one’s going to like you if you make the world a worse place.

Max (11): 4.27 stars. This is my third favorite Wings of Fire! It’s a really good book and I like it. The epilogue is funny. I had mixed feelings throughout the book. The lesson was to not betray people. You can’t help people by controlling them. My favorite character is Whiteout, but I most relate to Fathom. Worried and kind.

Though I love fantasy and I love comics, I'm not particularly a superheroes reader/fan... until they're teens. Ha! I love some Runaways and Teen Titan vibes, and it seems like fantastic authors also love to take them on. Eleanor, my daughter, actually picked this one up at the library and I gave it a read. So charming. So well illustrated. So teen-awkward-romance with two of my favorite ever characters.

This was fun, but didn't quite land for me. I think this length is hard. Not a short story and not a novel - a novella. It was too short to really flush out these relationships, but long enough that the plot needed to be complex and have multiple settings. It was like Oceans 11 but with magic, which is a concept pretty tailored to my likes, but didn't work. It swung from gritty and dark to whimsical and snarky but neither felt authentic. It often felt like it was trying a little too hard, and once one cringes, its hard to un-cringe. I wanted more character interaction, I guess? More backstory? In sum, it was an easy read with a super fun concept, but needed more developing.

While probably classified appropriately as a “space opera” they only very briefly go off planet - but that aside - I enjoyed this! Definite Cowboy Beebop vibes, but more modern and certainly more queer. I appreciated the diversity and representation. The bond between the Angel, Lou, Sukyi, and Enid was so damn charming. I would have enjoyed more relationship building with the Emissaries. The final showdown on the station felt… a little too predictable? Easy? That said the several chapters of on-planet fighting were extremely well done. Writing combat effectively is really hard, and she did it well.

Also the cover? I mean, give me this book as a comic, please!!

These are first chapter books Eleanor (first grade) wants us to read out loud to her - which thrills me as we embark on a new part of our bedtime routine with much longer books but admittedly these are… well they’re fine for what they are

If you know me, you know, I like to read at least a few Agatha Christie novels per year. She’s my comfort food. With there being so many (relatively short) novels from her, they’re not all masterpieces. This one was great though. The setting plus the use of the nurse’s perspective was just so charming. It takes you straight back to 1936 - for better or worse!

Her show by the same name moved me beyond words in the book did not disappoint. Given everything that’s happened culturally since 2016 some of it feels dated but only because the world turned on its head since she wrote this. That said so much of the changes she talks about are still in place. I do think the world is somehow kinder or at least more open..?

This book is full of beautiful, righteous anger. I was so active on Jezebel in the mid-2000s. Lindy’s work was a pivotal part of my young womanhood. She was born just three years before me, and our lives were so far apart, but so similar, as she wrote. I have also spent a lifetime feeling too big too much too … everything. So, while much of the writing style of that time was often aggressive or snarky, it made me stop giving a fuck quite so intensely. I’m grateful for the courage of her words and for her too-muchness. If I’m too much, go find less.