What fantasy can do that realism can't: show the incremental ways that prejudice can be eroded step by step, first with proximity that breeds tolerance, then grudging recognition, then finally identification...by removing us from our familiar context. Pratchett shows something as simple as a board game undermining dangerous fundamentalist beliefs about good and evil and doubts about whether "those people" are really (sic) human.
All in a highly entertaining tale that cannot be summarized without sounding dangerously absurd. With dwarf opera and pork futures.

I've reread this several times and still find it compelling. This innocent-looking time travel story reveals itself to be a deeply-thought examination of revolution, idealism, youth vs. age, political and military expediency: all the elements of a man looking back on the beginnings and middle of his life when faced with the possibility that he can't go back to it. I think it's the best Sam Vimes book. (With Thud! a close second.) As with all the Pratchett books, but especially those featuring Vimes, the insistence on decency and fairness, even against Vimes' own prejudices, makes it an old-fashioned heroic tale that resonates with the legacy of the counter-culture. It's just that in Pratchett's world, the legacy is embodied in a zombie. (Also a sixties legacy, after all.)

I loved this book. I have a degree in Anthropology, and one of the most disturbing aspects of my coursework was experiencing directly how our close relatives are held in captivity so we can "observe" and often experiment on them. Ms. Rorby bases her story on the real abuses that have occurred when chimpanzees and other primates are sent off to what are basically prisons to live out the rest of their lives once their initial usefulness is over. Ms. Rorby let's us see the world through a deaf girl's eyes, and relates her own developing relationship to the world to that of Sukari, the chimpanzee who is also learning sign language. The developing bond between the two is presented with a deft touch. The book is realistic in showing that not all families are happy or "normal."
The moral dilemma Sukari's captivity presents is painful but is ultimately resolved in a way that is realistic yet satisfying. Young readers will appreciate the happy ending.

This is the second book by Ms. Rorby that I've read and loved. Her books are immensely relatable for kids, yet sophisticated in presenting complex characters in difficult situations. She presents dramatic situations that enable the reader to empathize not only with her human characters, but with the animals that are trapped or endangered by humans. Never sentimental, this book is deeply moving, presenting the dilemma of a young girl on whether to help a dolphin being held in captivity for human use, or ignore the animal's suffering because its presence is one of the few things her autistic brother can relate to. Well-researched and based on fact, I would recommend this book highly to any younger reader.

I participated in the Kickstarter campaign to publish this book and was very happy with the result. I was in a writing workshop with one of the authors and loved her work and wanted to support it, but there are many well-known sf writers included here, and a variety of styles - from horror to lyrical fairy tale to noirish realism with an unexpected twist. I enjoyed it very much.

The first time I ever read something truthful about the reality of girls' relationships as they grow from children into women.

A virtuoso story about the relationship between us and the animal we have made in our image.

I read this book when it had just been nominated for the Booker and Mr. Rushdie was relatively unknown in the U.S. What a wonderful prolixity of language and ideas! I still love it best of all his books. I was to read Lawrence Sterne a year later and recognized the spiritual twinship.

Very helpful, straightforward guidance on meditation practice

Buddhism as literature. One of the most profound and yet accessible texts.

This collection of essays include some that have influenced my understanding of the history of the languages and literatures of Great Britain, as well as the uses and misunderstandings of Fantasy.

A wonderful collection of talks given by one of the most incisive and profound Zen teachers I've ever met.