Comments on: Mr. Penumbra’s Twenty-Four-Hour Book Store

By: Matt

Matt — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 14:41:04 +0000

I just listened to Mr. Penumbra on Escape Pod (and yes, I am that far behind on episodes and yes, my iPod is now full to the brim), and I just wanted to say thanks for a wonderful half-hour of quirky, geeky, odd-ball story fun. It was a real pleasure listening to this.

By: Kealapono Marie

Kealapono Marie — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 08:08:06 +0000

Watching ‘Tale of a Vampire’ while I search for a 24 hour bookstore and happened upon your story. Nice treat. I still wish there were a 24-hour bookstore in Austin, but I really enjoyed your story.

By: ami

ami — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 19:26:36 +0000

amazing, so delighted to find your site via Chris Guillebeau’s link. I’ve been wondering whether fiction writers have a place on the internet — your site makes the answer a resounding YES! thank-you.

By: Robin Taylor Roth

Robin Taylor Roth — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 20:17:57 +0000

Captivating — and magical! Thanks, Robin!

By: Larry Larsen

Larry Larsen — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 11:53:41 +0000

Awesome job, Robin. Saw it on Reddit which resulted in me reading it again. :)

By: Claudia

Claudia — Sun, 17 Jan 2010 21:59:57 +0000

What a delightful tale! You managed to mix the best of 2 — apparently opposed — worlds, bridging them to bring us to a higher level of consciousness ( on our environment, way of living…)
I loved it so much! humour, poetry, suspense, philosophy.., what a rich story!
And I’m thankful to you for taking the time of constructing such a beautiful story! In this world of 140 characters formatted messages — which have also a kind of a beauty — it is simply nourishing.
I love “This thing loves book” !!!
Thank you!

By: Elizabeth

Elizabeth — Sat, 16 Jan 2010 12:58:07 +0000

just finished Mr Penumbra, found it compelling, am still digesting, but first thought: for potential dialogue, this makes a great companion piece to Bradbury’s Fahrenheit 451 which I have sitting on the table next to me as next to read –ironically, doesn’t seem to be available for kindle
(do you become a book ? or does the book become you?)

By: robin

robin — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 02:26:21 +0000

Grenadine: If it makes it any more palatable—and it probably doesn't—the tenses were all carefully considered, if inconsistent. In another version, I "normalized" it... and it just didn't read as well to me! Micro-tone and -voice beat out macro-consistency for me in this case. But, all that said, I hear you; it definitely jumps around.

By: Grenadine

Grenadine — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 23:32:20 +0000

I really like this a lot, but the inconsistent tenses bugged me a bit*. I thought the story would end back at the beginning, in the manner of the traditional creepy story, but it didn’t — almost like you forgot where you started out. “That was a month ago”; “now I’m dating Kat”; but you started out at 2:02 am in the bookstore when you disovered the visualization, and ended up after the dinner party that followed that.

*OK, maybe a bit more than a bit. But I did like the story, I swear!

By: Pam

Pam — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 17:45:34 +0000

Great story. Can’t wait to read more.

By: Dragan

Dragan — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 14:34:01 +0000

The best thing I’ve read this year! Thank you very much!

By: no more faze one « the last site on earth

no more faze one « the last site on earth — Sun, 06 Dec 2009 00:48:15 +0000

[…] you have twenty minutes to burn, do yourself a favor and check out Mr. Penumbra’s Twenty-Four-Hour Book Store by Robin Sloan. If you don’t read good, you can catch […]

By: Greg

Greg — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 00:50:24 +0000

I got the hear the story on Escaepod and I wanted to say that I was impressed and inspired to write again… Loved the tale thanks

By: Mark

Mark — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 04:47:19 +0000

I first heard this story on Escape Pod and on reading it again here I was pulled right into the world of Penumbra and friends. Positively believable. Mindblowing. Fantastic. Alongside Linkworlds by Will McIntosh (Strange Horizons), I think this is one of the best SF stories I have ever read. Thank you for transporting me.

By: Lee

Lee — Wed, 25 Nov 2009 16:04:19 +0000

This is one of the Best short stories I have ever read.…
Awesome work, very well done!