My review of Analog’s May issue is now up at The Portal.

http://sffportal.net/2011/05/analog-may-2011/

My review of the Apexology Horror anthology is now up at The Portal.

http://sffportal.net/2011/01/apexology-horror/

There’s a discussion (mainly in Japanese) going on about Hokkaido Green and Salary Ninja (two of my stories set in Japan) on Twitter.

http://togetter.com/li/66026

Most people enjoyed the story and said I captured the atmosphere of Japan well.

A couple of people said the bear in the story reminded them of Totoro.

Some people are translating some of their favorite phrases of the story into Japanese.

I even got compared to the creators of Doraemon.

A lot of the discussion talks about where to get good ramen.

Some feedback on Stone Flowers, my short story that was published in Fantasy last month.

Lois Tilton in Locus:

A poignant short tale about the loneliness of immortality. The author speaks of the significant of the gods’ flesh becoming solid and visible again, but I must admit it evades me. Are they becoming corporeal and mortal? Or withering away like the cherry blossoms?

–RECOMMENDED

Aidan Doyle “Stone Flowers”  - 掌編。日本が舞台なんで思わず読んでしまった（作者は日本に4年住んでいたオーストラリア人）。かつて神として祀られ、今では忘れられた男の話。雰囲気はすごくいいのだが、雰囲気だけかも。

http://twilog.org/wishigame/date-100906

He liked the story’s setting.

And LiveJournal user Anachred had these really nice things to say:

Here are some stories that are just gorgeous, and made me love webzines that can publish stories of the kind I like. Fantasy Magazine, for example…

Stone Flowers by Aidan Doyle which is sad and luminescent and…well, smells right. The description put me square in a place I know, but told me a story I didn’t.

http://anachred.livejournal.com/140571.html

Reading By Numbers, my first SFWA-level published story has garnered some nice feedback.

Fantasy Magazine interviewed me about the story.  After reading the interview, quite a few people (including computer programmer friends) realised they’d missed the hidden codes in the story.

Sean Wallace, Fantasy Magazine’s publisher wrote: “Here at FM we like to occasionally run something really strange and wonderful,
and you don’t get stranger than with Aidan Doyle’s “Reading By Numbers”:
http://oldcharliebrown.livejournal.com/287013.html

Molly Tanzer, the magazine’s assistant editor describes it as “weird, creepy and beautiful.”
http://paperfruit.wordpress.com/2009/11/25/newsfeed/#more-557

Readers left some very nice remarks in the story’s comments section.  The most common reaction seemed to be that the story was “creepy.” One reader even went as far as saying “This is the most enjoyable story I’ve read all year.”
http://www.fantasy-magazine.com/2009/11/reading-by-numbers/#comments

Language Computeer writes: “any number of you mathematico-linguistic slipstream fiction fans might enjoy this story: Reading by Numbers, by Aidan Doyle.  If you like math or horrorish SF — and especially if you like both — you’ll probably enjoy it.”
http://trochee.livejournal.com/2009/11/24/

My fellow Clarionite and Queen of Wrongtown, Angela Slatter graciously plugged the story, writing: “This story has a higher IQ than I do.”
http://angelaslatter.com/2009/11/23/reading-by-numbers/

The most awesome Tessa Kum, a Clarion Souther from 2005 describes the story as “naaaaasty”
http://silence-without.blogspot.com/2009/12/see-these-other-horns-lo-i-blow-them.html

Lois Tilton at The Internet Review of Science Fiction gave it a recommendation, saying: “the narrative is original, fresh and engaging.”
http://www.irosf.com/q/zine/article/10609

Rich Horton describing Fantasy Magazine’s fiction for 2009 says: “Other good work came from Catherine J. Gardner, Ari Goelman, Paul Jessup, Megan Arkenberg, and Aidan Doyle.”
http://ecbatan.livejournal.com/87459.html