A man sets out to tell a story of his ex, which in turns becomes a story of the world. If only he could change that story—find the moment where it all began and alter the past. But what if he can't find the beginning—or even the end? At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied. A man sets out to tell a story of his ex, which in turns becomes a story of the world. If only he could change that story—find the moment where it all began and alter the past. But what if he can't find the beginning—or even the end? At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
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No Period: A Tor.com Original
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A man sets out to tell a story of his ex, which in turns becomes a story of the world. If only he could change that story—find the moment where it all began and alter the past. But what if he can't find the beginning—or even the end? At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied. A man sets out to tell a story of his ex, which in turns becomes a story of the world. If only he could change that story—find the moment where it all began and alter the past. But what if he can't find the beginning—or even the end? At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
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karen –
WELCOME TO DECEMBER PROJECT!! this explanation/intro will be posted before each day’s short story. scroll down to get to the story-review. this is the FIFTH year of me doing a short story advent calendar as my december project. for those of you new to me or this endeavor, here’s the skinny: every day in december, i will be reading a short story that is 1) available free somewhere on internet, and 2) listed on goodreads as its own discrete entity. there will be links provided for those of you who l WELCOME TO DECEMBER PROJECT!! this explanation/intro will be posted before each day’s short story. scroll down to get to the story-review. this is the FIFTH year of me doing a short story advent calendar as my december project. for those of you new to me or this endeavor, here’s the skinny: every day in december, i will be reading a short story that is 1) available free somewhere on internet, and 2) listed on goodreads as its own discrete entity. there will be links provided for those of you who like to read (or listen to) short stories for free, and also for those of you who have wildly overestimated how many books you can read in a year and are freaking out about not meeting your 2020 reading-challenge goals. i have been gathering links all year when tasty little tales have popped into my feed, but i will also accept additional suggestions, as long as they meet my aforementioned 1), 2) standards, because i have not compiled as many as usual this year. IN ADDITION, this may be the last year i do this project since GR has already deleted the pages for several of the stories i've read in previous years without warning, leaving me with a bunch of missing reviews and broken links, which makes me feel shitty. because i don't have a lot of time to waste, i'm not going to bother writing much in the way of reviews for these, in case gr decides to scrap 'em again. 2020 has left me utterly wrung out and i apologize for what's left of me. i am doing my best. DECEMBER 19: NO PERIOD - HARRY TURTLEDOVE ...make him think i've forgotten that supervolcano trilogy—i have not—but this proustian paragraph of a story—this joycean rivverrun ouroboros—is a successful writing exercise; telling a story 'membering things past—lost love, regret, &yadda—rippling the, "what if we'd done this?/what if we'd done that?" conceit beyond the actions of two mortal lovers, spinning it wider and wider to encompass history's game changers, nature's full stops—with ample dadjoke wordplay on the word 'period' in a story containing none—though it loses cool points, from me, for canceling out the success of pulling off the challenge by gauchely going one step too far with the LOOK AT ME SUCCESSFULLY PULLING OFF THE CHALLENGE of it (meanwhile, the back of my mind chuckles and mutters, "pulling off"); which going one, two steps too far (particularly in the 'humorous' elements), was one of the big dealbreakers for me in t-dove's writing—the cringey corny neverending (riverrun) of ostensible humor; something i haven't encountered in any of the short fiction of his i've dared to read, but was supersaturating those unforgivable, unforgettable supervolcano books, so even though it's not the case here, you can kind of feel his impulse on standby, testing the air with its l'il feelers—and it's relevant, here, to mention—just as it's relevant to wearily acknowledge the inevitable urge reviewers will feel to mirror, in their reviews, the style, the cleverness, the challenge t-dove himself takes on, but i'm here to tell you—i don't want to... read it for free here DECEMBER 1: PG - COURTNEY SUMMERS DECEMBER 2: THE JUMPING MONKEY HILL - CHIMAMANDA NGOZI ADICHIE DECEMBER 3: ORIGIN STORY - T. KINGFISHER DECEMBER 4: THE GREAT SILENCE - TED CHIANG DECEMBER 5: A CLEAN SWEEP WITH ALL THE TRIMMINGS DECEMBER 6: BORED WORLD - ANDY WEIR DECEMBER 7: VAMPIRE - ROBERT COOVER DECEMBER 8: A STATEMENT IN THE CASE - THEODORA GOSS DECEMBER 9: STET - SARAH GAILEY DECEMBER 10: MARGOT'S ROOM: EMILY CARROLL DECEMBER 11: HORROR STORY - CARMEN MARIA MACHADO DECEMBER 12: TERRAIN - GENEVIEVE VALENTINE DECEMBER 13: IF AT FIRST YOU DON'T SUCCEED, TRY, TRY AGAIN - ZEN CHO DECEMBER 14: GHOUL - GEORGE SAUNDERS DECEMBER 15: DURING THE DANCE - MARK LAWRENCE DECEMBER 16: CLEARING THE BONES - CELESTE NG DECEMBER 17: THE WAITER'S WIFE - ZADIE SMITH DECEMBER 18: DEMOLITION - FIONA MCFARLANE DECEMBER 20: DON'T LEAVE ME ALONE - GG DECEMBER 21: RUB-A-DUB-DUB - TONY MILLIONAIRE DECEMBER 22: HANSA AND GRETYL AND PIECE OF SHIT - REBECCA CURTIS DECEMBER 23: BRIDESICLE - WILL MCINTOSH DECEMBER 24: I, CTHULHU, OR, WHAT'S A TENTACLE-FACED THING LIKE ME DOING IN A SUNKEN CITY LIKE THIS (LATITUDE 47° 9' S, LONGITUDE 126° 43' W)? - NEIL GAIMAN DECEMBER 25: CHRISTMAS TALE - MARK LAWRENCE DECEMBER 26: THE MONSTERS OF HEAVEN - NATHAN BALLINGRUD DECEMBER 27: TWO DREAMS ON TRAINS - ELIZABETH BEAR DECEMBER 28: THE MARTIANS CLAIM CANADA - MARGARET ATWOOD DECEMBER 29: UNDER THE WAVE - LAUREN GROFF DECEMBER 30: MR. SALARY - SALLY ROONEY DECEMBER 31: A/S/L - EMMA CLINE come to my blog!
Minnie –
4,5* A man sets out to tell a story of his ex, which in turns becomes a story of the world. If only he could change that story—find the moment where it all began and alter the past. But what if he can’t find the beginning—or even the end? The blurb describes this weird, period-less short story (aka one long sentence) better than anything I could come up with (which is a rare opinion for me to have of blurbs; I never think they to their books justice). In any case, this story is just what it says - 4,5* A man sets out to tell a story of his ex, which in turns becomes a story of the world. If only he could change that story—find the moment where it all began and alter the past. But what if he can’t find the beginning—or even the end? The blurb describes this weird, period-less short story (aka one long sentence) better than anything I could come up with (which is a rare opinion for me to have of blurbs; I never think they to their books justice). In any case, this story is just what it says - our narrator goes on a Proustian dream journey, triggered by a conversation with his daughter, that takes him through the entire history of life on Earth, both human and pre-human, desperately trying to find a scenario in some alternate universe where he and his daughter's mother might have worked out their differences and stayed together. I haven't read much Proust - who heavily inspired this piece -, but I've seen enough about the madeleine scene to know that it's a pretty good imitation in its own right. Not only do we jump right into the middle of the action, we jump right into the middle of a sentence! isn’t the way I meant to tell this story (and, as a matter of fact, I don’t think this is exactly the story I intended to tell), but there you are - And so on and so on. By the way, in case you're wondering, yes, there is indeed not a single period in the whole text - it's all just one long monologue (though not, strictly grammaticaly speaking, one sentence). It made it both challenging and interesting as well as difficult and annoying to read, and it's where the half-star detraction comes from, but since it's deliberate and pretty well-executed I have to stress that the fault lies mostly in my laziness. The strongest trait was the cynical, educated humour of the narrator; he makes allusions to, and fun of, many different historical periods and political parties, sometimes putting them in a mix that makes us a bit uneasy. It's good-hearted cynicism, though, and it made for a wholesome ending, which is always a good thing in my book. I highly recommend this, if only to kill the time in a waiting room!
chvang –
No Period? No s#%t. Harry Turtledove doesn't use a single period. It's all one long rambling run-on stream of consciousness. No period, but also no plot, no point, and no prraise. Just, no. No Period? No s#%t. Harry Turtledove doesn't use a single period. It's all one long rambling run-on stream of consciousness. No period, but also no plot, no point, and no prraise. Just, no.
Jales ☾ –
Eu amo fluxo de consciência, e mostrada como foi aqui, simplesmente ótimo trabalho. Referências e ligações com relacionamentos. Muito bom mesmo!
Logann –
that was utterly spectacular
Colleen –
This, for me, was an amusing little story.....all in stream-of-consciousness writing....with, of course, no periods....but I'll use extras (ellipses, commas, etc.) to make up for those he was missing. I could really relate to his inner dialogue about relationships gone wrong and the epic influence that ripples throughout all humankind from the drama of those relationships...You know, the ones that we all have. Just a lovely little diversion and the over-analysis in which my mind has indulged...o This, for me, was an amusing little story.....all in stream-of-consciousness writing....with, of course, no periods....but I'll use extras (ellipses, commas, etc.) to make up for those he was missing. I could really relate to his inner dialogue about relationships gone wrong and the epic influence that ripples throughout all humankind from the drama of those relationships...You know, the ones that we all have. Just a lovely little diversion and the over-analysis in which my mind has indulged...on, oh, so many occasions.
Michael –
This is a strange story. The title made sense fairly quickly once you realised that the story was a single sentence I.e. no full stops as we English say or no periods as the Americans say. 10/10 for originality but, alas, the story did nothing for me. Certainly, not one of Harry Turtledove’s best.
Barry –
An interesting exercise in creativity, something Harry Turtledove hardly lacks but beyond the cleverness, I didn't find it particularly compelling. Could be a commentary on me rather than the work of course. An interesting exercise in creativity, something Harry Turtledove hardly lacks but beyond the cleverness, I didn't find it particularly compelling. Could be a commentary on me rather than the work of course.
Cliff Dalton –
No Period, Period a strange story; what is stranger is I was able to follow the whole story and when I began I thought the damn thing wasn't formatted correctly but it was just right for No Period, Period a strange story; what is stranger is I was able to follow the whole story and when I began I thought the damn thing wasn't formatted correctly but it was just right for
Mark Moxley-Knapp –
A fun, unusual read. Sort of free-association thoughts about relationships and history. Hey, it's a short story, give it a shot. A fun, unusual read. Sort of free-association thoughts about relationships and history. Hey, it's a short story, give it a shot.
Serg Koren –
Interesting experiment in form. A bit disorienting to start and get into, but once you figure it out, just go for the ride. Too many “and”s for me. ;)
Nathan –
This was a pretty strange one. It was more of a person's reflection on their life rather than a story. This was a pretty strange one. It was more of a person's reflection on their life rather than a story.
Zoe's Human –
DNF when that vein in my head started to throb It's a 15 page run-on sentence. Need I say more. DNF when that vein in my head started to throb It's a 15 page run-on sentence. Need I say more.
Micah –
Father converses with his daughter after the breakup. Ends up in a self reflective narrative of what went down and in relation to worldly events.
emily –
oof, that was not for me. i understand the conceit, but the story wasn't enough to keep me reading through it. oof, that was not for me. i understand the conceit, but the story wasn't enough to keep me reading through it.
Matthew –
mostly relatable
JasonAA –
The book is called No Period, so of course, the author writes it with no period. Not a one. The whole thing is just one rambling, stream of conscious paragraph. I normally like Harry Turtledove, but this one just wasn't for me. It feels more like a writing exercise or something written on a bet. The book is called No Period, so of course, the author writes it with no period. Not a one. The whole thing is just one rambling, stream of conscious paragraph. I normally like Harry Turtledove, but this one just wasn't for me. It feels more like a writing exercise or something written on a bet.
Farzana –
Mr M. Ford –
Jenny Baran –
Star-Jelly☆ –
Christian –
*JEN the booknerd* –
Anahit Amirkhanyan –
Julia –
Dale –
Sarah Smith –
Ellie at BookBucket –
Snarkelpuss –
Gary –