Today’s links Kelly Link’s “Book of Love”: A deceptively quirky tale with rusty razors at its core. Hey look at this: Delights to delectate. This day in history: 2004, 2009, 2014, 2019, 2023 Colophon: Recent publications, upcoming/recent appearances, current writing projects, current reading. Kelly Link’s “Book of Love” (permalink) Kelly Link is one of science fiction’s most important writers, a master of the short story to rank with the likes of Ted Chiang. For a decade, Kelly’s friends have traded whispers that she was working on a novel – a giant novel – and the rumors were true and the novel is glorious and you will love it: https://www.bloomsbury.com/uk/book-of-love-9781804548455/ https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/239722/the-book-of-love-by-kelly-link/ It’s called The Book of Love and it’s massive – 650 pages! It is glorious. It is tricky. If you’ve read Link’s short stories (which honestly, you must read), you know her signature move: a bone-dry witty delivery, used to spin tales of deceptive whimsy and quirkiness, disarming you with daffiness while she sets the hook and yanks. That’s the unmistakeable, inimitable texture of a Kelly Link story: deft literary brushstrokes, painting a picture so charming and silly that you don’t even notice when she cuts you without mercy. Turns out that she can quite handily do this for hundreds of pages, and the effect only gets better when it’s given space to unfold. Hard to tell you about this one without spoilers! But I’ll tell you this much. It’s a story about three teenaged friends who return from death…Pluralistic: Kelly Link's "Book of Love" (13 Feb 2023)