Welcome to The Feminist Bibliothecary’s Lite Reads, where we read a different short story every week, and discuss it here and on social media. Chosen for both Black History Month and Valentine’s Day, this week’s Lite Reads selection is The Effluent Engine by N.K. Jemisin.
The Effluent Engine was originally written for Steam-Powered: Lesbian Steampunk Stories (edited by JoSelle Vanderhooft, published in 2011), and has since been published as well on the author’s website, in Lightspeed Magazine, and in N.K. Jemisin’s recent (November 2018) short story collection How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? The story is an alternate history and steampunk tale featuring adventure and romance with a Haitian spy and an American inventor.
N.K. Jemisin (1972- ) is a US-American writer known for her award-winning science fiction and fantasy works. Some of her best-known novels include The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms (2010), The Killing Moon (2012), and The Fifth Season (2015). Her most recent book is her short story collection How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? (2018). Jemisin has won multiple Hugo Awards, multiple Locus Awards, and a Nebula Award, along with many other award nominations. She studied psychology in school and went on to be a psychologist, but now works as a writer full time.
You can read the story in full for free on the website for Lightspeed Magazine or on Jemisin’s own website, with a brief introduction from the author. You can also read The Effluent Engine in Jemisin’s short story collection How Long ‘Til Black Future Month? I was unable to find an audio recording of only this story, but there is a complete audiobook available for the collection.
Join us in the comments section here, or on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram, to participate in discussions throughout the week. You can also join in on the discussion at Litsy by following @elizabethlk and the #litereads hashtag.
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