A 3.66 collection, so this is very good. In fact, down to Legions In Time it is extremely good, with every story a 4 or better. After that, it weakens. It is Swanwick, so it isn't bad or anything, just not up to the standard of the rest A few of these are also vignette type pieces that are supposed to be a little silly, as a lot of his short shorts can be.

Still, a fine book.

Dog Said Bow-Wow : Hello Said the Stick - Michael Swanwick
Dog Said Bow-Wow : The dog said bow-wow - Michael Swanwick
Dog Said Bow-Wow : Slow life - Michael Swanwick
Dog Said Bow-Wow : Triceratops summer - Michael Swanwick
Dog Said Bow-Wow : Tin marsh - Michael Swanwick
Dog Said Bow-Wow : An episode of stardust - Michael Swanwick
Dog Said Bow-Wow : The skysailor's tale - Michael Swanwick
Dog Said Bow-Wow : Legions in time - Michael Swanwick
Dog Said Bow-Wow : The little cat laughed to see such sport - Michael Swanwick
Dog Said Bow-Wow : The bordello in Faerie - Michael Swanwick
Dog Said Bow-Wow : The last geek - Michael Swanwick
Dog Said Bow-Wow : Girls and boys come out to play - Michael Swanwick
Dog Said Bow-Wow : A great day for brontosaurs - Michael Swanwick
Dog Said Bow-Wow : Dirty little war - Michael Swanwick
Dog Said Bow-Wow : A small room in Koboldtown - Michael Swanwick
Dog Said Bow-Wow : Urdumheim - Michael Swanwick

Energetic weapon surprise.

4 out of 5

Canine anti-tech adventures.

4 out of 5

Flying first contact breakdown breakthrough confession comeback.

4 out of 5

Time loop holiday.

4.5 out of 5

'Naughty girl. Papa spank!' I wish! Wahhh!

4 out of 5

Just a vixen for a con.

4 out of 5

I'm not a bloke, but you can kiss me anyway, airship boy.

4 out of 5

Slave escape chronowar torpedo overrun takedown homage revolution.

4.5 out of 5

Feline literary pursuit.

3.5 out of 5

Star-woman nice degradation, some nasty, Ned.

3 out of 5

Dying profession.

2.5 out of 5

Godmaking and removal, squid variety included.

3.5 out of 5

Prehistoric backengineering.

3 out of 5

Dead message.

3 out of 5

Right role for reveal.

3 out of 5

Learn your letters, Nimrod.

4 out of 5


http://notfreesf.blogspot.com/2009/11... ( )

It's so difficult to assign an overall rating to a collection of short stories, as each rates individually. This is a strong collection though, with only one or two stories worthy of skimming or skipping.

The collection starts off with a bang with "'Hello,' Said the Stick," a short, clever Hugo-nominee about a talking stick and the unlucky people who stop to pick it up. Right away, Swanwick's skill and playfulness as a storyteller are on display, as the briefest of stories has enough bite to feel satisfying, and enough depth to feel as though a much larger, fully-realized world lies behind this modest tale.

This volume also includes three Hugo-award winning short stories--"Slow Life," a hard science fiction story of first contact, "Legions in Time," a story that begins like a classic Twilight Zone episode and ends like a Post-Modernist war story, and "The Dog Said Bow-Wow," the first of three blissfully fun Darger and Surplus stories that follow the exploits of the two gentlemanly yet roguish con men in a post-apocalyptic renaissance.

Other highlights are the gentle and sentimental "Triceratops Summer" that evokes a bit of Clifford Simak, "The Bordello in Fairie," which puts Swanwick's signature humor and bawdiness to work, and "A Small Room in Koboldtown," a locked-room mystery with a voodoo/fey twist. "Urdumheim," the final story in the collection, is a treat for fans of creation stories, weaving many early human tales into one unified and unique one, with plenty of original Swanwick thrown in for good measure.

The misses in the collection are few, thankfully, but take up a fair bit of real estate. Most notable among the disappointments is the never-before-published novella, "The Skysailor's Tale," which I felt it necessary to abandon before any semblance of plot took over. The piece felt laborious and purposeless--and I have to wonder if that is why it was never published elsewhere first. "The Last Geek" is interesting but feels more like an exercise in prose, and "Dirty Little War," while mixing a 70's dinner party and the Vietnam War in a fashion somehow reminiscent of something by Robert Silverberg, feels more like a "New Weird" piece written a bit too literally.

But despite a few misses (and after all, what collection of this kind *doesn't* have a few misses?) this is a strong collection, and shows off Swanwick's mastery of the form. ( )

A collection of short stories, any one of which is better than most of Swanwick's excellent novels. The stories are accessible, and wryly humorous. Swanwick writes SF like fantasy, creating compelling character-driven stories in which the technology is incidental rather than the central focus. ( )