Thursday, January 31, 2013

Moon Flights by Elizabeth Moon

This is a collection of 15 sci fi/fantasy short stories:

  • If Nudity Offends You -- Louanne discovers that someone in the trailer park has been stealing her electricity and they're going to pay...
  • Gifts -- Dall Drop-hand leaves home to search for adventure; before he leaves, his sister gives him a bit of wood shaped like a knife and her gift could make all the difference
  • Politics -- Gunny Vargas is a member of a marine company charged with keeping a landing site safe from hostile aliens, but the real enemy might be closer to home
  • And Ladies of the Club -- When the king decides to charge taxes on women's breastplates, the lady warriors of the Ladies' Aid & Armor Society (LA & AS) will need to find a creative solution
  • Accidents Don't Just Happen--They're Caused -- Peka is a consulting engineer assigned to a space station to improve the design and prevent accidents, but she's living under the shadow of her mother, who literally wrote the book(s) in the field
  • New World Symphony -- Georges Mantenon is a specially-trained musician on his first assignment; his job is to musically represent a newly-discovered world, but it may be more challenging than he dreamed
  • No Pain, No Gain -- Girls and women all over the kingdom wake up one morning to discover that their toned arms, legs, and stomachs have been replaced with flabby ones by magic; the members of the LA & AS will have to track down the people responsible and put things to rights
  • Hand to Hand -- Ezera comes home after being at war to see her twin sister play in the symphony, but she isn't prepared for what she will hear
  • Tradition -- A naval story from World War I
  • Fool's Gold -- Cavernous Dire has accidentally been turned into a dragon, and he isn't happy about it; Mirabel Stonefist and the LA & AS decide to rescue him, but they aren't happy about it, either
  • Judgment -- When Ker finds some egg-shaped rocks filled with crystals, he starts to feel uneasy, but he can't stop his soon-to-be father-in-law from taking them home
  • Gravesite Revisited -- When the clanspeople discover that witches from the future are digging up their graves, they must rethink their traditions
  • Sweet Charity -- The annual LA & AS Charity Ball is coming up and this year, Krystal Winterborn is determined to be named Queen of the Ball - no matter what
  • Welcome to Wheel Days -- Planning a planet-wide festival is a massive undertaking, particularly since you never know what's going to go wrong...
  • Say Cheese -- The Vatta brothers are on their first run, determined that they deserve a place in the family business of space merchants, but one of them may have ruined everything with an ill-fated purchase of cheese to sell


This is a very diverse collection of short stories, although it is definitely weighted toward war and fighters. I enjoyed most of the stories which range from relatively fluffy fantasy tales (such as the stories about the Ladies Aid & Armor Society) to deep, introspective science fiction. If you like both science fiction and fantasy - or if you've thought about branching out a bit - short stories can be a good way to go. I would recommend this to fantasy fans looking for short stories, particularly those who like darker, serious stories in addition to lighter ones.

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