Taura Mineaux

This is the fifth and final part of my book club notes on The Black Fantastic. [Part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4.]


"Spyder Threads" by Craig Laurance Gidney (2021)

( Disabled fashion models keep disappearing after they work with a mysterious designer. )


"The Orb" by Tara Campbell (2021)

( An environmentalist cult creates an ever-growing, consuming entity. )


"We Travel the Spaceways" by Victor LaValle (2021)

( A homeless man hears voices from deep space. )


"Ruler of the Rear Guard" by Maurice Broaddus (2022)

( A Black American woman travels to Ghana to join a pan-African repatriation movement. )


the end

Though these last few stories weren't my favorites, the collection overall had some strong entries. It was noted that there was more group consensus about which stories we liked and which we didn't than there has been in some other books we've read, so the discussions ended up being a little shorter than usual.

The group plans to continue with This All Come Back Now, the first ever published anthology of speculative fiction by Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors.

The 1979 alt-history novel Malafrena, set in Le Guin's fictional Central European country Orsinia in the years leading up to a revolution, was only available from my library as part of The Complete Orsinia. In addition to the novel, this 2016 omnibus edition includes a new introduction from the author, as well as all eleven stories comprising Orsinian Tales, two other stories which were anthologized in her 1996 collection Unlocking the Air, and three short poems, two of which were previously unpublished. So if you love Orsinia, this edition seems to be the definitive way to experience it!

Unfortunately I don't love Orsinia, and I didn't love Malafrena either, though I didn't dislike it as much as I disliked Orsinian Tales.

The novel centers on Itale Sorde, a young political activist from the provinces who moves to the capital city and starts a newsletter that is critical of Austrian rule and promotes the restoration of an independent Orsinian monarchy. The narrative is somewhat sprawling, also keeping up with some of the people Itale left behind at home, as well as following various of his friends and associates even when their paths diverge from his.

The things I liked about it were the vivid descriptions of physical setting and what it is like for the characters to be present as events are unfolding. I've never been in a violent political insurrection, and I do not think Le Guin ever was either, but I felt very convinced by the living, breathing details of how she wrote the one towards the end of this book. The confusion, the waiting, the hiding, the crowding and pushing and knocking down, the uncertainty about who is where, who's in charge, and if anyone is winning—it feels real. (The realistic, non-idealized depiction of a battle was also one of the things that stuck with me from Planet of Exile.)

( The things I didn't like were many of the same things I didn't like about Orsinian Tales. [cut for length and negativity] )

Back in 2008 the creators of Homestar Runner released a short escape-the-room Flash game starring Strong Bad's nebulously-defined private eye/crooked cop alter ego, Dangeresque. I played it, it was fun. Then in 2023 they revamped the original game and re-released it with two brand new episodes, so of course I bought that, and it sat in my Steam library for a year. Then they threw in a free DLC that added another episode, and it sat in my Steam library for two more years.

But this year I'm going to get my Steam backlog under control. This time for really real.



The first episode has Dangeresque trapped in his office until he can "solve" a cold case (i.e. fabricate evidence out of whatever's lying around). I think it's pretty close to the original Flash game, though I haven't played that in 18 years, so who knows. In the second episode, Dangeresque flees the scene but runs into car trouble (i.e. a bomb under the hood that he has to defuse). The trilogy wraps up with Dangeresque forced into an alliance with his gangster nemesis Perducci, whose other enemies are plotting to bump him off. Once you've beaten the three main episodes, you unlock the fourth, this time starring Homestar's alter ego Dangeresque Too as villanous goons have him trapped in an elevator. All told, it's about three hours of gameplay.

If you like Homestar Runner and you like point-and-click adventure games, you will like this. I do, and I did. The writing is funny, the puzzles are absurdist but fair, and if you blow yourself up the game just puts you right back where you were before you did the dumb thing you did. I would play ten more of these if they made them, though I can't guarantee I would play them within a punctual timeframe.

Dangeresque: The Roomisode Triungulate is on Steam for $7.99 USD, and includes the free DLC.