Review – Laughter at the Academy by Seanan McGuire (4/5 stars)

Reading Level: Adult
Genre: Fantasy/Science Fiction/Horror
Length: 442 pages
Publisher: Subterranean Press
Release Date: October 31, 2019
ASIN: B07YN3JNRF
Stand Alone or Series: Stand Alone
Source: Bought for Kindle
Rating: 4/5 stars

Series Info/Source: Stand Alone. Bought for Kindle

Summary (4/5): This was a collection of short stories, most of them somewhat urban fantasy in feel but they go from fantasy to horror to science fiction. They were decent but like all short story collections there were some I loved and some I didn’t enjoy as much.
My favorites of the bunch were:

“Frontier ABCs: The Life and Times Of Charity Smith, Schoolteacher”: This one was about a school teacher/professional awesome fighter who travels from planet to planet teaching kids about humanity’s origins and saving kids’ lives. It was really well done and would make a fantastic full length series

“Lady Antheia’s Guide to Horticultural Warfare”: I really enjoyed this story about an alien plant that leads the takeover of Earth in Victorian times. It was ironic and viciously funny.

“Down, Deep Down, Below the Waves”: In this story a student of science invites some friends home for an experiment of her own. This was a longer story and I really enjoyed it a ton.

If you are a big Seanan McGuire fan this is a must read. While I don’t think McGuire is as good at short stories as some, she does have really creative ideas that make you think and her stories are always intriguing.