User Profile

Soh Kam Yung Locked account

sohkamyung@bookwyrm.social

Joined 3 years, 4 months ago

Exploring one universe at a time. Interested in #Nature, #Photography, #NaturePhotography, #Science, #ScienceFiction, #Physics, #Engineering.

I have locked this account. If you would like to follow me, please fill in your Mastodon bio and post at least one toot (a simple introductory toot will do), so I have an idea who you are and that you are a real person, not a robot or a spam account.

This link opens in a pop-up window

Soh Kam Yung's books

Currently Reading

Connie Willis: A lot like Christmas (2017) 4 stars

Collects twelve Christmas tales with a speculative twist, in an expanded edition of the author's …

A enjoyable bundle of Christmas tales

4 stars

A lovely set of SFF stories set around Christmas, with a lot of humour, human emotion and a number of missed opportunities for people to know each other better. The author also takes the opportunity to give her opinion (through the characters) on what she thinks is the best Christmas film to watch or book to read. A list of recommended Christmas films, books and stories is also given at the end.

  • "Miracle": the Spirit of Christmas Present (as in gift) visits an office lady who wants to be noticed by a fellow worker. Only, the spirit apparently keeps messing up her gifts, while waiting for her to discover her desire. Which she met her with the help of another fellow worker.

  • "All About Emily": a stage actress encounters an android in the form of a teenage girl, whom she fears may take over her acting job. But what the …

avatar for sohkamyung Soh Kam Yung boosted
Connie Willis: A lot like Christmas (2017) 4 stars

Collects twelve Christmas tales with a speculative twist, in an expanded edition of the author's …

Review of 'A lot like Christmas' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This is a terrific collection of Christmas fantasy stories by the fabulous Connie Willis, with a couple of should-be classics and some other fascinating stuff. Willis spends more time on pop culture like movies and songs than on religion, thought she does some of that as well. Most of the stories are quite funny.

The book starts off brilliantly with "Miracle," a very funny and charming story about a woman plagued by a genial but hugely irritating Christmas spirit. This is a must-read.

Other great stories include Now Showing, Newsletter, and All Seated on the Ground.

The weirdest story is the Kafkaesque "In Coppelius's Toyshop." If you've ever wondered what a Kafka Christmas story would be like, this is it.

Most of the rest are also fun but leave less of an impact. There's a murder mystery that has virtually nothing to do with Christmas and is almost entirely the …

avatar for sohkamyung Soh Kam Yung boosted
Sarah Gailey: Have You Eaten? (EBook, 2024, Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom) 3 stars

The complete serialized novella from Hugo Award-winning author Sarah Gailey, in which a fractured group …

A story featuring recipes, but not much context to me

3 stars

A story set at a time where civilization has partially collapsed, and a group of people living together are surviving the best they can. Then, one of their members vanish, only to make contact some time later, leading to members of the group to go out to try to find her.

Unfortunately, I feel I am missing the context and background of the characters in the story, giving me the feeling that I've wandered into the middle of the story, not the beginning. Apart from the inclusion of recipes in the story, I did not get much out of it.

Nghi Vo: City in Glass (2024, Doherty Associates, LLC, Tom) 4 stars

A demon. An angel. A city.

The demon Vitrine—immortal, powerful, and capricious—loves the dazzling city …

A story about a city blessed (or cursed) to have a demon and, later, an angel.

4 stars

A fascinating story about a city that is cursed (or blessed) by a demon that loves the city and the people who live in it, in a world where demons, angels (and other beings) can affect the lives of people and animals in subtle, and sometimes, devastating ways.

The demon drops hints and alters the destinies of people, keeping the city a lively place, which she then notes down in her book, which she keeps in her heart. But it comes to an abrupt end when angels appear and devastate the city. In her rage, the demon curses one of the angels.

The demon goes through the remains of her city, remembering the people that once lived there and the places they occupied, and starts to clean up. She occasionally meets the cursed angel, now bound to remain on earth as long as her curse remains in him. She rages …