*Note* This review and rating is ONLY for Ursula Vernon's pieces, the Hugo award-winning novelette, The Tomato Thief and a short story, Razorback. The Tomato Thief A perfect story for the end of the year. http://www.apex-magazine.com/the-toma...Mixing Native mythology with classic fairytales and the rise of the railroad can have lovely results. For a few moments, on New Years' Eve, in the cold and dark north, I was in the hot, dry desert, baking in the sun.“I need your old mule,” Grandma Hark...

I've said it before, and I'll say it again - Grandma Harken is a stone cold badass and if one day I could be even a tenth of the woman she is I'd be utterly content. This novelette has everything the discerning fantasy reader should need. A feisty old lady who refuses to fall asleep so hard she stabs herself with a ladle, Koschei the deathless, very ripe tomatoes on white bread with a pinch of salt and a dab of mayonnaise, and train gods and their priests. All things that I regularly look for, a...

A short story you can read here:http://www.apex-magazine.com/the-toma...Grandma Harken is old but she isn’t stupid and she’s pretty darn annoyed when something steals her tomatoes. Tomatoes are hard to grow in the desert; they need to be staked, watered and nursed to ripen. She guards hers jealously.The same people in town who muttered about black magic swore that she was using unholy powers on her tomatoes. This was a little more plausible than general black magic, because obviously if you had

At first I thought I was not going to like "Tomato Thief" as much as Jackalope Wives. Stolen tomatoes seemed too light, to frivolous. I should have had more faith in Vernon. This was an excellent story, if anything better than the first, dense with personality, world-building, and good writing."Razorback" was a little less my speed -- a little too sad -- but also excellent.I liked the poem "Various Kinds of Wolves" by J.J. Hunter(view spoiler)[here: have a red capor a red shirtin this story you

“The world was hard and fierce, but it also contained tomato sandwiches, and if that didn’t make it a world worth living in, your standards were unreasonably high.” Surprising, heartwarming, delightful! This weird tale about an old lady growing tomatoes is more epic than most epic fantasies out there!Grandma Harken doesn’t like company. She lives in the wilderness all by herself, because that’s the best spot for growing tomatoes. And her tomatoes are the best! So sweet and juicy! She

Hugo Award winner for Best Novelette 2017.Mother of God!Grandma Harken lives close to the desert. She lives with her Tomcat and tends to her garden with absolute care. If you are imagining a nice elderly woman who smells of cookies and sweets, try stealing her tomatoes and see what happens next!Our Grandma Harken is grumpy and wise, but at the moment she is annoyed because someone is stealing her valuable juicy tomatoes. She is even more furious when she finds out that the thief is a shape-shift...

There are quite of few fairy-tale inspired stories in the Hugo nomination list this year and this is one of them. I liked it but the third act was a bit too rushed. Loved that sassy coyote though.

**I have read two short fictions in this volume, Razorback, and The Tomato Thief, both by Ursula Vernon. My review is for these two only.**I read The Tomato Thief about three years ago after reading two awesome stories from Vernon, the exquisite The Jackalope Wives and the gritty Razorback, but never reviewed it and found that it had faded from my memory in comparison to the other two. I thought that my little shortie November project would be a great time to revisit this story that I know I enj...

Ah, a return to the old tales of the Coyote and the Raven, with a special appearance from a couple of dragons, a mule, and an old woman. :)This is the first story I've ever read by Ms. Vernon, but I'm sure it's not going to be my last. There's a lot of old Soutwestern Tales in her and since I've spent most of my life submerged in that whole world, it kinda felt a bit like I was going home.Bring on the trains and the mythology, I say, give me a tale of trickery and world-building in the grand old...

Grandma Harken, from Vernon's short story Jackalope Wives is trying to find the person wily enough to steal a perfectly ripe tomato from an old woman's garden, navigating train gods and cracks in reality to do so. Another absolute GEM of a short story from Ursula Vernon, available to read for free at: The Tomato Thief(If you haven't already read the first story, do read it first at: Jackalope Wives)

Grandma Herken was a crusty old bitty. She lived on the outskirts of town near the desert. A solitary old soul, she claimed she would "rather get bit by a rattlesnake than the neighbors". Grandma's true love was her garden of magnificent, juicy tomatoes. Why would anyone steal her prized possession nightly while she was dreaming of enjoying a tomato sandwich? With wit, magic, and determination she tries to catch the tomato thief. Discovery of a shape-changer, a mockingbird-woman named Marguerite...

I so LOVED Jackalope Wives. This one gives us a little more info about a lead character in the other story. I loved that extra insight. And the writing is simply musical. Hard to believe how much the author is able to pack into a short story, albeit a longer one. Highly recommended. Both of these. Karen's review has links to Jackalope Wives, as well as a bunch (a dozen, at least) of other short stories. It truly IS like Christmas. ☃

I reread The Tomato Thief since this novelette was nominated for a 2017 Hugo award (ETA: it won!), and I've upped my rating to 5 stars on reread. It's a marvelous southwestern desert story with an original mythology that tips its hat to Native American and Russian folklore (check out Koschei), and it's free online at Apex Magazine. Review first posted on Fantasy Literature:The Tomato Thief is Ursula Vernon's a sequel to Jackalope Wives, her Nebula award-winning short story about Grandma Harken a...

A companion piece to Vernon's 'Jackalope Wives.' (https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...)This one didn't have quite the emotional impact of that piece, for me, but it's still a welcome return to this magic-infused Southwest.An elderly witch loves her gardening, and any gardener can relate to her anticipation of the first ripe tomato, fresh off the sunwarmed vine. But something - or someone - steals that first tomato... and the second... and the third. There's nothing to do but to lie in wait.

What a treat. It's rare that I feel the atmosphere, the mood, the vibe of a story as keenly as here. The desert, cacti and water. I loved the voice, the characters and the world, and particularly the confrontation, which evoked the familiar folklore tales of my childhood. I see there was a reason to keep this tab open all these months.

WELCOME TO DECEMBER PROJECT!last year, amy(other amy) tipped me off to this cool thing she was doing: the short story advent calendar, where you sign up to this thingie here and you get a free story each day. i dropped the ball and by the time i came to my senses, it had already sold out, so for december project, i'm going rogue and just reading a free online story a day of my choosing. this foolhardy endeavor is going to screw up my already-deep-in-the-weeds review backlog, so i don't think i w...

Read this last year (2016). Didn't realize it had an entry on GR. Great story, free online. Also didn't realize it's part of a series of stories. Which is awesome, there is more to read that was written about these characters in this world! Five stars. Recommended if you like fairy tales from out West (in US).

Found this on the Hugo awards list as it is a short story, well, I said why not. Truly it's a nice story a fairytale really that starts with a simple plot and it developes into a grand adventure. I liked the main character as she was quite entertaining and sassy. Plus, the twists were many and therefore kept the internet high throughout the story.

Wow. I see why it won a Nebula. This one rings true for the country south of the Gila River, where I lived for well over a third of my life. I miss it. The Gila Dragon! That Grandma Harken is quite a gal. Don't know about the Train Gods.You can read Carol's and Tadiana's reviews, if you want more, and if you use a bit of Google-fu. More importantly, read the story:https://www.apex-magazine.com/the-tom...This one has echoes of both "Spud and Cochise" and "They Bite". And if you missed either of t...

“When someone in the desert asks for water, you give it to them. There weren’t many rules in the desert, but that was one of them.”Good use of Arizona native and desert history and lore to add depth to this short story, a 2017 Hugo finalist for novelettes (whatever they are.) Another story with a mature--very mature--female protagonist. There must be a special on them this year. “There’d been a time, when she was young and immortal, when [redacted] she could have danced in the track that they le...