Tenth of December

Not every story here earns its length. Al Roosten centers on a title character nobody finds compelling enough to carry a whole piece, and My Chivalric Fiasco, set at a Renaissance fair, strikes several readers as the oddest, weakest entry in the book. Escape from Spiderhead has the strongest premise but too little room to develop it: one reader admits “I wanted character development and back story” the short form never gives. Early pieces read as showy before the collection settles down, one reviewer saying flatly “Saunders writes in an extremely pretentious manner,” and another that they “failed to find or feel a connection with most of these stories.” Even the title story splits opinion, with one reader admitting “I kind of thought it was sappy” next to its harder-edged neighbors.