Challenge 815

Hold That Nose

In L. S. Popovich’s Echoes From Dust, Izzalia is oblivious to her beast-form’s depredations. Did Virgil warn her about it in chapter 29? What is Izzalia’s responsibility for it?
In Ernst Schoen-Rene’s The Memory Broker, what is the ultimate effect of “memory brokering” on individuals and culture?
In Gary Beck’s Rapt, what would human societies be like if people had anything approaching a dog’s sense of smell?
In A. M. Townsend’s Psychedelic Sunrise, are Janice and Henri likable or not? What do they seem to have in common?
In Charles C. Cole’s Tuffy McShane Supports the Arts, what seems to account for literary success or, at least, notoriety?
In Edward Ahern’s Low Tide, how might the ocean “spit into the clouds”? What is liable to happen when it does?
In Ryan Thorpe’s The Spirit Animal:
1. How does Trent feel about his spirit animal? How does his spirit animal seem to feel about him?
2. Does the concept of a “spirit animal” exist anywhere in the sense that the story describes it? How might First Nations or Native Americans feel about it? Is it cultural appropriation or a cultural parody?
In Scott Hughes’ Songcaster and Little Dune:
1. What might be the origin of the Kogs’ death cult?
2. Can the fantasy world be classified as “post-apocalyptic”? If so, what might the apocalypse have been, and what might have preceded it?
3. How might Novah and the Songcaster join forces in a common cause?