So many subtle ways to be human, and so many subtle ways to be wrong.

November 23, 2014 1:29 PM

Tor.com presents Max Gladstone's A Kiss With Teeth, in which an ancient evil settles down and tries out middle-class married life.
posted by The Whelk (31 comments total)

I was hoping this would be a story about Cthulhu, but you're talking about another kind of ancient evil altogether.
posted by surazal at 1:48 PM on November 23, 2014

Damn fantastic.. Thanks for the intro!
posted by bird internet at 2:16 PM on November 23, 2014

I enjoy Gladstone's work. Damn fine.

But I do not fucking understand when 'slow' replaced 'slowly.' I see it everywhere now and it makes me want to kick people off my lawn.
posted by Ik ben afgesneden at 2:52 PM on November 23, 2014 [1 favorite]

Thanks for this.
posted by fredludd at 3:04 PM on November 23, 2014

Great story, thanks Whelk.
posted by turbid dahlia at 3:15 PM on November 23, 2014

I enjoyed this very much!
posted by harrietthespy at 3:30 PM on November 23, 2014

That was fantastic. I always mean to read these Tor stories but I always put them off and fail to get back to them. Thanks for the prompt.
posted by Caduceus at 3:35 PM on November 23, 2014

The suspense! Thanks, Whelk.
posted by Dashy at 3:35 PM on November 23, 2014

I enjoyed that greatly. Thanks.
posted by COD at 3:37 PM on November 23, 2014

Sweet! Thanks for the introduction to Max Gladstone.
posted by a humble nudibranch at 4:11 PM on November 23, 2014

Max Gladstone's novels are also excellent. For people who like them, I recommend the recent novel City of Stairs, which reminded me of them and was easily a top ten.
posted by jeather at 4:30 PM on November 23, 2014

Anyone want to recommend their pick for his best work? I would like to read more..
posted by bird internet at 4:45 PM on November 23, 2014

> "Anyone want to recommend their pick for his best work?"

Three Parts Dead
posted by kyrademon at 5:03 PM on November 23, 2014 [3 favorites]

He's a new author so picking a best work is kind of hard, but Three Parts Dead is pretty damn good.
posted by jgaiser at 5:03 PM on November 23, 2014 [1 favorite]

Good story. I'm reminded more of Karen Joy Fowler's "Younger Women" than I am Max Gladstone's novels, but the novels are certainly good in other ways (and I agree with the recommendation of Robert Jackson Bennett's City of Stairs too).
posted by Monsieur Caution at 5:05 PM on November 23, 2014 [4 favorites]

I quite enjoyed that. Thanks!
posted by DriftingLotus at 5:43 PM on November 23, 2014

That was much better--much less twee--than the part of Three Parts Dead I was able to get through.
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 5:46 PM on November 23, 2014

I am recommending this left and right on social media after my wife sleepily asked me why I was smiling. (If you've read the story, you know which line made me smile.)
posted by infinitewindow at 6:11 PM on November 23, 2014 [1 favorite]

Good call on that Fowler story.
posted by ivan ivanych samovar at 6:30 PM on November 23, 2014 [2 favorites]

That was really good! Thanks for that!
posted by Pope Guilty at 8:43 PM on November 23, 2014

But I do not fucking understand when 'slow' replaced 'slowly.'

AD1500 approximately.

From the OED:
Slow (adv) a1500 Adrian & Epotys 22 in Brome Bk. 25 Than seyd þe Emprore, note slawe, ‘Arte thow wysse wysdam to teche?’
posted by lollusc at 9:43 PM on November 23, 2014 [9 favorites]

Nthing the Gladstone love, both for this story and his novels.
posted by immlass at 10:37 PM on November 23, 2014

I wish Tor.com had a story-only RSS feed. I keep unsubscribing because of all the other guff they post (there's some interesting articles, but a lot of it feels filler-y and it's all written in this super-squee uberfannish tone that grates on me significantly).
posted by Happy Dave at 2:05 AM on November 24, 2014 [1 favorite]

Happy Dave - could you create one by pointing to http://www.tor.com/stories/prose?
posted by Wretch729 at 6:29 AM on November 24, 2014

Hah! Genius, that totally worked. Feedly is sometimes a bit balky about picking up RSS feeds aside from the main one for a site, but that one is fine. Cheers!
posted by Happy Dave at 6:43 AM on November 24, 2014

Oh man, that is such a sweet story! Thanks.
posted by Elementary Penguin at 7:54 AM on November 24, 2014

Excellent story, thanks for posting it! And yes, adverbial slow has an ancient and respectable history; the idea that all adverbs are required to end in -ly is one of the sillier and more unfounded bits of peevery.
posted by languagehat at 8:57 AM on November 24, 2014 [2 favorites]

the idea that all adverbs are required to end in -ly is one of the sillier and more unfounded bits of peevery

Would you say it is nonsense up with which you will not put?
posted by Steely-eyed Missile Man at 9:07 AM on November 24, 2014

That was brilliant. Thanks for posting it, Whelk!
posted by daisyk at 9:09 AM on November 24, 2014

Hurrah, glad it worked. I hadn't thought of it until today, but I'm going to do the same thing now.
posted by Wretch729 at 9:57 AM on November 24, 2014

This was great, thanks for posting!
posted by metaBugs at 10:38 AM on November 25, 2014