The Universe Box by Michael Swanwick


Short stories:

Starlight Express -- (5*) Haunting. Visceral, ghostly, and above all, rich in worldbuilding and future speculation. I'm sure it'll stick with me for some time.

The Last Days of Old Night -- (4*) A delightful retelling of old fairy tales, but with hardcore fantasy, rather SFish flare that's all Swanwick. Very entertaining.

The Year of the Three Monarchs -- (3*) Very Conan fantasy/allegory about living by, dying by swords.

Ghost Ships -- (4*) A self-proclaimed autobiographical story, down-to-earth and reflective for a ghost story.

The White Leopard -- (5*) Cool VR/Drone, but the connections with others gave it heart. Only then to twist a knife in by the end. Wicked.

Dragon Slayer -- (4*) Timey-Wimey fantasy done right.

The Warm Equations -- (4*) Disaster and friendship. But mostly about friendship.

Requiem for a White Rabbit -- (5*) DARK. So many great facets to this story, and each slams.

Dreadnought -- (5*) This one snuck up on me GOOD and kicked my ass. Loved, loved it. Wildly great characters.

Grandmother Dimetrodon -- (3*) I really wanted to like this more, but for the premise. It may be true, and the setting is interesting and strange, but the whole story just sat wrong to me.

The Star-Bear -- (4*) Reads like a love story to a literary friend. But very Russian, either way. :)

Nirvana Or Bust -- (4*) Change. Death, change, and synthesis. I rather liked this one.

Reservoir Ice -- (5*) Truly excellent time travel story. And extremely messy.

Artificial People -- (5*) People are people. What a damning sentiment.

Huginn And Muninn -- (5*) A proper send off for Alice Sheldon, her imagination, and a what-if about her suicide. Very creative.

Cloud -- (3*) More of a standard story without fantastical elements. Didn't really grab me.

Timothy: An Oral History -- (5*) Truly a fantastic story, stand out on all levels. No men. Just women in the world. :) Enter the only man... :)

Annie Without Crow -- (5*) Gods of Romance and Trickery up to their grand glories. Yet again.

The Universe Box -- (4*) Heist-like god wonkiness messing with them damn mortals again. And it's fun. Very fun.


Overall, I love this collection of short stories by Swanwick. I might even go as far to say that he's one of the best short fiction writers, period. The craft screams on page. I wouldn't miss it for the world, if I were you.

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