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The Long View
A university student seeks special accommodations for her new support animal, causing havoc all around her.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
31 pages, ebook
First published April 27, 2022
About the author
Susan Palwick
80 books72 followersSusan Palwick is an Associate Professor of English at the University of Nevada, Reno, where she teaches writing and literature.
Raised in northern New Jersey, Palwick attended Princeton University, where she studied fiction writing with novelist Stephen Koch, and she holds a doctoral degree from Yale. In the 1980s, she was an editor of The Little Magazine and then helped found The New York Review of Science Fiction, to which she contributed several reviews and essays.
Palwick's work has received multiple awards, including the Rhysling Award (in 1985) for her poem "The Neighbor's Wife." She won the Crawford Award for best first novel with Flying in Place in 1993, and The Alex Award in 2006 for her second novel, The Necessary Beggar. Her third novel, Shelter, was published by Tor in 2007. Another book, The Fate of Mice (a collection of short stories), has also been published by Tachyon Publications.
Susan Palwick is a practicing Episcopalian and lay hospital chaplain.
Raised in northern New Jersey, Palwick attended Princeton University, where she studied fiction writing with novelist Stephen Koch, and she holds a doctoral degree from Yale. In the 1980s, she was an editor of The Little Magazine and then helped found The New York Review of Science Fiction, to which she contributed several reviews and essays.
Palwick's work has received multiple awards, including the Rhysling Award (in 1985) for her poem "The Neighbor's Wife." She won the Crawford Award for best first novel with Flying in Place in 1993, and The Alex Award in 2006 for her second novel, The Necessary Beggar. Her third novel, Shelter, was published by Tor in 2007. Another book, The Fate of Mice (a collection of short stories), has also been published by Tachyon Publications.
Susan Palwick is a practicing Episcopalian and lay hospital chaplain.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews
May 17, 2022
Elliott is the Director of Animal Affairs at a University that deals in emotional support animals for the students there. Today, he finds out that Tatiana Prentiss is bringing a new support animal who is supposed to be a dragon. They don't know what to expect until they actually find out that it is in fact a dragon. So, turns out that Tatiana actually managed to summon a dragon and they feel that the dragon is in pain and Tatiana doesn't realize that. Tatiana has ADHD, PTSD, and BPD.
The cover is beautiful and the blurb is vague which definitely made me read this story. I think this was supposed to be about people with mental health issues and diagnoses and working with young people along with a bit of fantasy thrown in there. I don't know what I was expecting from this story but it was not what I actually got. I understand there is a profound hidden meaning in here but nothing works here for me, unfortunately.
1 star
The cover is beautiful and the blurb is vague which definitely made me read this story. I think this was supposed to be about people with mental health issues and diagnoses and working with young people along with a bit of fantasy thrown in there. I don't know what I was expecting from this story but it was not what I actually got. I understand there is a profound hidden meaning in here but nothing works here for me, unfortunately.
1 star
May 4, 2022
I loved the idea for this, but the actual execution fell flat for me. I wasn't sure where the reader was meant to fall on the sympathies, by the end, and it wasn't quite a comfortable length - we ended up with a little too much story, that needed either some trimming or to be allowed more space to fully develop.
Solid idea though, I'll definitely look into the author's other work.
Solid idea though, I'll definitely look into the author's other work.
September 25, 2024
Meh. This was not the dragon I was looking for.
➽ Review to come and stuff.
➽ Review to come and stuff.
May 15, 2022
I will admit that I am not sure about this short story - true the medium of shorter fiction is always a challange to convey everything you want to say but with a limited word count however it felt like this story was going for the extreme from the go.
However rather than extreme actions it was personalities - from the implied abuse of metal health support to the retaliatory behaviour of parents and the undeserving children. Don't get me wrong I have seen these attitudes levelled at people first hand but in this case its almost used as a way of either dismissing them or dismissing the reader for incorrectly recognising them. And I think that is what I struggle with the most - the suggestion that the reader has drawn the wrong conclusion - when in fact all you can work on are the words written in front of you.
The story itself was very well written and I see that other works by Susan Palwick are very highly praised - however this feels more like a moral exercise - one of those "hypothetical scenarios" people are asked to work through rather than a work of fiction.
However rather than extreme actions it was personalities - from the implied abuse of metal health support to the retaliatory behaviour of parents and the undeserving children. Don't get me wrong I have seen these attitudes levelled at people first hand but in this case its almost used as a way of either dismissing them or dismissing the reader for incorrectly recognising them. And I think that is what I struggle with the most - the suggestion that the reader has drawn the wrong conclusion - when in fact all you can work on are the words written in front of you.
The story itself was very well written and I see that other works by Susan Palwick are very highly praised - however this feels more like a moral exercise - one of those "hypothetical scenarios" people are asked to work through rather than a work of fiction.
April 28, 2022
Here we have lots of well-meaning commentary about disability and trauma coping methods that comes across as judgemental, some weird digs about "extreme wicca" (complete with a line asking a character to convert to the author's religion of choice), an implication that getting arrested at a civil rights gathering makes one immune to bigotry, and plenty of jabs at "today's" university students. I'll be avoiding this author with extreme care in the future. The extra star is from the concept of a dragon as an emotional support animal, despite the pretentious take it turned.
May 23, 2022
A quirky short about a university campus rife with emotional support animals in a variety of shapes and sizes - guinea pigs, miniature ponies, and now, an ancient dragon. It's cute and quick and cozy.
August 3, 2022
This is one of those good tales that starts out funny, but then turns grim and serious, but hopeful, towards the end. In the story, the student body administrator has to deal with handling various student 'emotional support animal' issues (like: are pigs allowed to wallow?). But one student, who claims to have various other issues like ADHD, etc. shows up with a request (actually no: a DEMAND) to be allowed an unusual supernatural support animal that she has somehow restrained using witchcraft.
This humorous situation turns grim when those involved (except the student) realize the animal is intelligent and is suffering due to the restraining spell. But attempts to get the student to let it go only escalate the crisis that can only be resolved by making the student face the truth about herself. Fortunately, that would also involve the university taking the long view about what the student actually achieved during the crises.
This humorous situation turns grim when those involved (except the student) realize the animal is intelligent and is suffering due to the restraining spell. But attempts to get the student to let it go only escalate the crisis that can only be resolved by making the student face the truth about herself. Fortunately, that would also involve the university taking the long view about what the student actually achieved during the crises.
April 30, 2022
here
enjoyable
enjoyable
May 14, 2022
A bit twee, leans towards heavy-handed, but pretty fun. As always, I enjoy a sympathetic villain. Very brief takes on growing up vs. maturing, weaponized trauma, grace and forgiveness, and how the privileged will use any means to maintain their position. Yes, it is indeed anti-"woke" in the sense that the author is pointing out that having a hard life and a difficult brain doesn't give you an excuse to shit on other people and that people will use anything to get what they want, even well-meaning liberal politics.
May 1, 2022
I was so excited for this story, but ended up feeling pretty hurt by it. It might be one of those times I’m not smart enough to recognise satire or something, but up until near the end the entire story felt like it was mocking people with mental and emotional disorders, and critiquing ‘wokeness’ in general. I’m not sure it’s redeemed by the MC’s last-minute realisation that ‘he’d been too blind to see’ the truth of things.
The dragon was beautiful, but the story left me feeling bruised.
The dragon was beautiful, but the story left me feeling bruised.
May 1, 2022
This was a big miss for me. If it was supposed to be satire, it came across as belittling of the subject matter. I didn't at all appreciate the pathologizing of mental illness making someone a villain. Not cool.
June 21, 2023
It was an interesting premise to start but something didn't flow well and I didn't enjoy the characters, an odd little story that I'm not sure what it was trying to do.
July 10, 2022
I'm not sure what this story was trying to do, but it ends up insulting every physical and mental grouping possible.
May 24, 2022
Creative and touching, however, while it satirized the modern-day "Woke" culture, I don't think the author gave it enough credit or nuance that it deserved. While the narrator makes fun of the story antagonist-Tatiana's abuse of the system and ridicules her many disorders (which deserves it, somewhat), the author doesn't match it with the careful nuance and care that she extends to the side characters who are supposed to be good, like Bonnie and Mickey.
Instead, she hastily brushes over Tatiana's inner struggles as a vague "pain" and "issues", without ever delving into why she may be that way.
Instead, she hastily brushes over Tatiana's inner struggles as a vague "pain" and "issues", without ever delving into why she may be that way.
May 30, 2022
Ugh. This one grates on every last nerve.
I can't even begin to understand the mentality of people who actually put into words sentiments like "making a horse do tricks/limiting its movement/bending it to your will" is really a fine thing to do, but making a dragon do tricks is "unfathomable cruelty". Because... ? Really there is no reason, except that the word "domesticated" was thrown in there. Also "majestic". I don't think these are legit criteria.
But even within the author's own perspectives, the whole thing falls short, because she bases the dragon on Tolkein and other similar classic depictions of great, wise, sentient, dragons... And then says "well, animals do this or that so...". How is the dragon less than a person? Even in this speciesist view?
I get people who compartmentalize their complicity in torturing and killing animals (I don't justify it, but I get it). I also get people who genuinely think it's okay to torture and kill animals (ditto). But I really can't stand people who implicitly place themselves as the "good guys" while explicitly describing really fucked up "logic" regarding animals (and in this case, also folks with mental illness, disabilities, and people involved with social justice causes). So to me, that is just a lack of intelligence, and I never asked to read a load of stupid.
I can't even begin to understand the mentality of people who actually put into words sentiments like "making a horse do tricks/limiting its movement/bending it to your will" is really a fine thing to do, but making a dragon do tricks is "unfathomable cruelty". Because... ? Really there is no reason, except that the word "domesticated" was thrown in there. Also "majestic". I don't think these are legit criteria.
But even within the author's own perspectives, the whole thing falls short, because she bases the dragon on Tolkein and other similar classic depictions of great, wise, sentient, dragons... And then says "well, animals do this or that so...". How is the dragon less than a person? Even in this speciesist view?
I get people who compartmentalize their complicity in torturing and killing animals (I don't justify it, but I get it). I also get people who genuinely think it's okay to torture and kill animals (ditto). But I really can't stand people who implicitly place themselves as the "good guys" while explicitly describing really fucked up "logic" regarding animals (and in this case, also folks with mental illness, disabilities, and people involved with social justice causes). So to me, that is just a lack of intelligence, and I never asked to read a load of stupid.
April 14, 2024
First, that cover!!! all the *heart eyes*
The artist is Corinne Reid and you can see a fuller, and a close up, version of Tatiana and the dragon here: http://www.corinnereid.com/#/thelongview/
Second, I don't know. The story pushes buttons for people and perhaps their interpretation of the story is tinted by their own life experiences. There are comments to read on the story's link at tor.com https://www.tor.com/2022/04/27/the-long-view-susan-palwick/ I think they are good to read after reading the story, to help see other's perspectives and interpret for yourself what the story means or what the author was attempting to get across.
Setting is a college campus. The story opens with: “Sir,” Bonnie said, “we have a situation.”
Elliott looked wearily up at her. It was only ten in the morning and he’d already fielded three companion animal challenges.
The "situation" is a unique companion animal and the person that needs it.
I think the story pushes us to fight our assumptions and points out some issues we all struggle with.
Really, go read the story comments on tor.com
The artist is Corinne Reid and you can see a fuller, and a close up, version of Tatiana and the dragon here: http://www.corinnereid.com/#/thelongview/
Second, I don't know. The story pushes buttons for people and perhaps their interpretation of the story is tinted by their own life experiences. There are comments to read on the story's link at tor.com https://www.tor.com/2022/04/27/the-long-view-susan-palwick/ I think they are good to read after reading the story, to help see other's perspectives and interpret for yourself what the story means or what the author was attempting to get across.
Setting is a college campus. The story opens with: “Sir,” Bonnie said, “we have a situation.”
Elliott looked wearily up at her. It was only ten in the morning and he’d already fielded three companion animal challenges.
The "situation" is a unique companion animal and the person that needs it.
I think the story pushes us to fight our assumptions and points out some issues we all struggle with.
Really, go read the story comments on tor.com
August 7, 2022
Review of eBook
As director of the university’s Office of Animal Affairs, Elliott has to deal with the support animals for the students. Tatiana Prentiss, a student with a reputation for being difficult and for suing when she does not get her way, has said she will bring her new support animal to the office. Everyone in the office is deeply concerned about Tatiana’s new support animal.
It’s a dragon.
=========
A bit of satire finds its way into this short story that takes aim at how some manipulate and use any means to get whatever it is that they want. At first, Tatiana isn’t particularly likable, but the unfolding story gives her an opportunity to consider some alternatives in the way she interacts with others. It’s quirky, a bit grim, a tad humorous here and there, and gives readers some food for thought.
As director of the university’s Office of Animal Affairs, Elliott has to deal with the support animals for the students. Tatiana Prentiss, a student with a reputation for being difficult and for suing when she does not get her way, has said she will bring her new support animal to the office. Everyone in the office is deeply concerned about Tatiana’s new support animal.
It’s a dragon.
=========
A bit of satire finds its way into this short story that takes aim at how some manipulate and use any means to get whatever it is that they want. At first, Tatiana isn’t particularly likable, but the unfolding story gives her an opportunity to consider some alternatives in the way she interacts with others. It’s quirky, a bit grim, a tad humorous here and there, and gives readers some food for thought.
June 27, 2022
Elliott yearned, as he so often did, for the days when only actual service animals, highly trained to perform specific and crucial tasks, had been allowed on campus. Emotional support animals had been a gray area for a long time; they were technically covered under disability law, but required no training or documentation. University disabilities offices around the country had been quietly discouraging them, but then some provost or other had realized that, like parking, they could be a sizeable source of income.
July 12, 2022
I think this was okay, but not the best it could have been. It's definitely satirical of today's "woke" culture, but the execution was not there. It was on the extreme side and a few of the implications felt too much for such a short story.
It was either too long with too much unnecessary information, or it was too short and should have been more fleshed out and turned into a (few) chapters, instead of one long text. The idea was okay but it felt like a school assignment, to write whatever comes to mind when you hear a certain phrase or passage.
It was either too long with too much unnecessary information, or it was too short and should have been more fleshed out and turned into a (few) chapters, instead of one long text. The idea was okay but it felt like a school assignment, to write whatever comes to mind when you hear a certain phrase or passage.
Read
August 27, 2022there are things this story is trying for and i'm not sure it has the skill or the range to do it. some people are seeing it as satire and i think i get that. i don't think it has the finesse to suceed. i do like what i think it was trying to do and there are elements that i did think were great. i've seen it called tone deaf and honestly that's more on the side i see it. uncomfortable.
March 3, 2024
One of my bucket list items is get a Tor cover. Look how pretty that is.
A troublesome student insists that she needs a dragon as her support animal for uni.
But the issues are about more than just that.
~~~
I am not sure; this read like a parody of real people needing support and having an alphabet of acronym issues… so it’s a hand wobble from me.
3 stars
A troublesome student insists that she needs a dragon as her support animal for uni.
But the issues are about more than just that.
~~~
I am not sure; this read like a parody of real people needing support and having an alphabet of acronym issues… so it’s a hand wobble from me.
3 stars
June 19, 2024
Interesting enough premise, but this one missed the mark. This felt like a middle grade story that wasn’t advertised that way, which isn’t something I enjoy. There was a lack of depth to pretty much everything, from story to characters. It’s hard for me to say much else beyond that this was kind of a letdown.
October 5, 2022
Read online: https://www.tor.com/2022/04/27/the-lo...
What a creative and interesting idea for a campus job! My only criticism is that it was wrapped up too quickly and neatly, with the character change coming too fast, but overall I really enjoyed reading this.
What a creative and interesting idea for a campus job! My only criticism is that it was wrapped up too quickly and neatly, with the character change coming too fast, but overall I really enjoyed reading this.
December 25, 2022
funny weird. first half was very 'old man shaking fist at children'. i'm not in a giving mood, so i won't give this the benefit of doubt and say it might have been satire. it would be some suckass and confusing satire anyway so it doesn't really matter
April 28, 2022
Palwick is always pretty great.
April 28, 2022
This hit me in feels I didn't expect. Maybe a little too current climate for me taste but otherwise enjoyable
April 28, 2022
A very unpleasant college student captures a dragon for her emotional-support animal, and she has to learn a hard lesson.
April 29, 2022
3.5 STARS
I wasn't sure where the story was going at first but I was pleasantly surprised.
https://www.tor.com/2022/04/27/the-lo...
I wasn't sure where the story was going at first but I was pleasantly surprised.
https://www.tor.com/2022/04/27/the-lo...
April 29, 2022
I loved this short story!
April 30, 2022
Would have gotten a bonus star if Tatiana had been eaten.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 41 reviews