Sunday Short: Sofie Samatar's Selkie Stories are for losers.

This week's short is Sofie Samatar's “Selkie Stories Are for Losers” (link).

National Geographic - Hawaiian Monk Seal

I loved this short. The unnamed narrator tells the story of meeting Mona and tells the story of her mother leaving and tells the stories of selkies. Prior to an excellent short story read earlier this year in the Sword and Laser Anthology (Saltwater Skin by Kristy Sutherland), I had not known anything of selkie mythos. Samatar's short story is a great introduction to the myth.

The story's narration caught me -- as a reader you were invited to feel the emotional impact the event of the narrator's mother leaving had. The prose grips you. And by the final lines, you realize that the title is more than just a quirky start -- and as a reader I always delight when things get turned around on me like that!

Favorite line: "...selkie stories are only for losers stuck on the wrong side of magic—people who drop things, who tell all, who leave keys around, who let go."

Rating: 5/5.

Next week, we will finish up the Hugo nominees with John Chu's “The Water That Falls on You from Nowhere”, available on Tor.com.

Have any recommendations for a good Sunday short to explore after this final nomination? Leave them in the comments below!