pickY‘all, I‘d be shocked to learn Ellen Kushner‘s SWORDSPOINT wasn‘t an influence on BURNING BRIGHT. The parallels leap out throughout this twisty-turny tale of queer folks roped into a political scheme-fest, but BURNING BRIGHT is also very much its own thing. Scott concerns herself with gaming and info tech; with what art might look like in the distant future; with change when stasis can no longer satisfy. It‘s a slow read but a damned good one. ⬇️
It‘s #bookandbeer time! I started BURNING BRIGHT about six months ago and drifted away from it for no good reason. Now I‘m gonna see if I can sink back in.
The beer is The Last Strawberry by Fuggles & Warlock Craftworks out of Richmond, BC, and it‘s quite tasty despite its headless state. It‘s like a fruit beer and a regular beer had a delicious baby; ie, it tastes a bit like kombucha but not a LOT like kombucha, as your average fruit beer does.
I had EPIC PLANS to sink into this baroque SF offering while I drank a peppermint mocha, but the coffee was cool enough to drink quickly so I only got through a couple of pages before it was time to move along.
My trip prep took me to the thrift store, where I found BURNING BRIGHT by Melissa Scott and a super-cool WICKED shirt for $3.50 total. It's not obvious in the photo, but both Elphaba and Glinda are stitched on, not printed.
Burning Bright | 
(Also, the awful cover makes a bit more sense once you know the lady dressed as Glinda is actually an enormous puppet.) 5y