Six SFF works to brighten gloomy days

Ratika Deshpande’s work has appeared in Flash Fiction Magazine and Every Day Fiction. She has also written for Submittable’s blog, Discover. She’s good at summarizing long conversations, better at finishing work before the deadline, and best at making bad jokes. She lives in New Delhi, India, and is currently pursuing a bachelor’s degree in Applied Psychology.

At Tor.com Deshpande tagged six SFF titles to brighten gloomy days, including:

The Tale of Despereaux by Kate DiCamillo

Kate DiCamillo’s homely fairy tale starts with the birth of a very tiny mouse with very big ears. But it also starts before that, when a rat living in the dark dungeons of a castle discovers light, and before that, when a girl is told again and again that no one cares what she wants, and even before that, when a princess loses her mother at a banquet. The Tale of Despereaux is the story of how all these people and light and darkness and revenge and love (and soup!) come together.

I read the book—which I’d initially ignored at a thrift shop—when I was much older than the intended audience. But despite that, it was the first book that made me feel quite so many things; I loved it so much that if my house were ever on fire, this is one of the first books I’ll rescue. It’s the ultimate comfort read for lonely days, days when you could do with a hug, a nice blanket, and a warm bowl of soup.

Read about the other entries on the list.

--Marshal Zeringue