Wives, Habits, and Guns

Shoot. It looks like I forgot to make a post last week. Don't worry. You'll be receiving two posts today. One that you should have received last week and in a few hours the one that you are supposed to receive today. So, let's see. I think I have some stories for you that I should have had up on this last Monday. Yes. Yes, I do. The stories this week are "Mantis Wives" by Kij Johnson, "The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species" by Ken Liu, and "Gun for Hire" by Mack Reynolds. Now let me get out of your way so can get to your stories.

Mantis Wives by Kij Johnson -- Clarkesworld Magazine
Now, this story isn't really a story in the traditional sense. It doesn't follow a main character, and there isn't really much of a plot. But it is still a fun little read. This story that isn't really a story is actually a list of descriptions of various ways Mantis wives kill Mantis men. Well, other ways than just biting off their heads and then devouring the rest of their bodies. It's quite funny and the images Johnson conjures can be quite vivid.

The Bookmaking Habits of Select Species by Ken Liu -- Lightspeed Magazine
Again, this story isn't really much of a traditional story. It's Liu's turn now to tell us the many different writing systems of different species, from those who write something like us to those who don't need writing any longer. This one is also quite vivid and has a spot for a chuckle here or there as well.

Gun for Hire by Mack Reynolds -- Analog, December 1960
Joe Prantera is an assassin from then present 1960. As he's about to finish off a job, he is kidnapped into the future. The men who bring Joe into the future tell him that they have a job for him, but Joe has trouble understanding much of his new future and what the point of doing such a job would be.