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anna_hepworth's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
This collection is from 1990; seven of the eight stories are reprints with original publication dates between 1978 and 1986. The stories have not aged well, and have a feel of even older stories. They paint an image of Turner as a bigot, a person with significant class prejudice, and a willingness to use racial slurs as parts of casual conversation. The way women are treated, the casual eugenics, and any number of other details made my skin crawl. And yet, despite it being 25 years since I've read this collection, I recognised one of them instantly, and some of the others as 'oh, yeah, that was a thing' (there are some themes that were very of their time)
Each story has a short intro by the author, which give some useful context, as well as the strong indication that short fiction was not Turner's strength.
The last story, "The Fittest", starts in 2023, where the climate crisis has wreaked more havoc than we see today, but is still a chilling forcast as to what might happen (the forecasting of 60m of sea level rise, which has not yet happened, but which I think appears in the novel derived from this -- The Drowning Towers--being higher than the more recent forecasts I've seen).
Overall: Turner's writing is good, the plots are mediocre, the world building is good, and the characters are all horrible people.
Each story has a short intro by the author, which give some useful context, as well as the strong indication that short fiction was not Turner's strength.
The last story, "The Fittest", starts in 2023, where the climate crisis has wreaked more havoc than we see today, but is still a chilling forcast as to what might happen (the forecasting of 60m of sea level rise, which has not yet happened, but which I think appears in the novel derived from this -- The Drowning Towers--being higher than the more recent forecasts I've seen).
Overall: Turner's writing is good, the plots are mediocre, the world building is good, and the characters are all horrible people.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, Ableism, and Misogyny
Minor: Suicide
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