Scan barcode
timinbc's review
2.0
Just because I didn't care for them doesn't mean these aren't good stories.
I read mostly sci-fi, and maybe I was expecting too much of that from an established SF author.
Instead, these are, um, what can I say, delicate vignettes that explore modern life and use speculative/fantasy elements as seasoning, or perhaps as something to lift the story out of the everyday just enough.
Just not my style. Your mileage may vary. Void where prohibited.
I read mostly sci-fi, and maybe I was expecting too much of that from an established SF author.
Instead, these are, um, what can I say, delicate vignettes that explore modern life and use speculative/fantasy elements as seasoning, or perhaps as something to lift the story out of the everyday just enough.
Just not my style. Your mileage may vary. Void where prohibited.
kiramke's review
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
Did I pick it for the title? Yes, or at least that was a bonus. Interesting and mildly unsettling collection. They do read like the stories of someone who wants to write novels, and I'll happily try the novels.
tricapra's review
5.0
What a collection. There was not a single story in this book that didn't drag some reaction from me. Most of the stories were short and surreal, with no real end point. Just a brief glimpse into the life of another person, in another situation.
The concept of "mother" fascinates me endlessly. We have such expectations, such a concrete image conjured up by one word. Maureen McHugh does not disappoint with her forays into the (often unexplored) darker sides of what this means.
Thoroughly recommend.
The concept of "mother" fascinates me endlessly. We have such expectations, such a concrete image conjured up by one word. Maureen McHugh does not disappoint with her forays into the (often unexplored) darker sides of what this means.
Thoroughly recommend.
gavinsteyn's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
theobscurereader_7's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
obscuredbyclouds's review
5.0
I find favourite authors and favourite books so much more difficult to review than books I didn't like. As it happens, Maureen F. McHugh is one my favourite authors and this is a wonderful book of 12 short stories. I liked every single one of them, but there were some stand outs.
Ancestor Money (2003) - Dead Rachel receives a letter while she's in the afterlife, telling her she's to receive ancestor money. To collect it, she needs to travel to the Chinese afterlife. (Honorable Ancestress of Amelia Shaugnessy: an offering of death money and goods has been made to you at Tin Hau Temple in Yau Ma Tei, in Hong Kong. If you would like to claim it, please contact us either by letter or phone. HK8-555-4444.)
In the Air (1995) - A woman joins a dog club where she meets a man. The ghost of her dead brother stands between their blossoming love. I loved this story so much. The melancholy, the ghost elements, the dialogue - it's perfect.
The Cost to Be Wise (1996) - The one that felt the most sci-fi in capital letters to me. This is more of novella than a short story. Set in a colony on a distant planet and told from a young woman living there; an anthropologist from another world tries to study the colony, when a heavily armed clan arrives. I'm not sure I fully got some parts of this story, to be honest (I sometimes thought I might have skipped some parts while reading) but I enjoyed it. It's rather brutal.
The Lincoln Train (1995) - An alternate history short story that won the 1996 Hugo Award for Best Short Story, the 1996 Locus Award and was nominated for the 1996 Nebula Award for Best Short Story. After the civil war, all Southerners who owned slaves, are removed from the western territories in a neo-Trail of Tears, where many of them are left to die of starvation and disease. The story is told from the pov of a young woman and her dement mother, who are forced on such a train. An alternative Underground Railroad saves her.
Interview: On Any Given Day (2001) - Short story told in a form of an interview. People can make their body young again, but are neither at home with the real youth or their actual peers then. Interesting thought experiment.
Oversite (2004) - People put chips in their children's body to monitor their whereabouts all the time. The story, like the one above, and many others in this book, examines youth and relation to parents.
Wicked (2005) - 400 word short story about everything going up in flames. the most poetic of the stories.
Laika Comes Back Safe (2002) - A young love between werewolf and human and their dog, doomed to fail.
Presence (2002) - This story about dementia and new technology to beat the disease, was both very touching and sad, and asked interesting questions about what it means to still be the same person. One of the best ones in this book.
Eight-Legged Story (2003) - Another brilliant one. A woman contemplates her relationship with her missing stepson and her husband, in 8 short parts.
The Beast (1992) - Another short, rather poetic one, that merges themes of family & monsters.
Nekropolis (1994) - I wish this one were so much longer. This is a love story between a girl who's jessed (sort of enslaved by choice) and a genetically "built" servant boy. I liked the background, the world building with the 2nd koran, and again the questions about what makes a human human, but most of all I just loved both characters.
Frankenstein's Daughter (2003) - From the point of view of a mother and her son, this resolves about the cloning of a girl gone wrong. It felt very realistic, especially the way the mother is judged by the doctors.
Most of these stories are Sci-Fi, but I often thought it felt more like magical realism. I don't know if that's simply because I hardly ever read Sci-Fi and I adore magical realism - or, if it's because all of these stories are so character-focused. The melancholic tone and the direct style is just so perfect. I really tries to read this book as slowly as I could, to savor it.
You can download the book from the publisher for free: https://smallbeerpress.com/books/2006/06/01/mothers-other-monsters/
Ancestor Money (2003) - Dead Rachel receives a letter while she's in the afterlife, telling her she's to receive ancestor money. To collect it, she needs to travel to the Chinese afterlife. (Honorable Ancestress of Amelia Shaugnessy: an offering of death money and goods has been made to you at Tin Hau Temple in Yau Ma Tei, in Hong Kong. If you would like to claim it, please contact us either by letter or phone. HK8-555-4444.)
In the Air (1995) - A woman joins a dog club where she meets a man. The ghost of her dead brother stands between their blossoming love. I loved this story so much. The melancholy, the ghost elements, the dialogue - it's perfect.
The Cost to Be Wise (1996) - The one that felt the most sci-fi in capital letters to me. This is more of novella than a short story. Set in a colony on a distant planet and told from a young woman living there; an anthropologist from another world tries to study the colony, when a heavily armed clan arrives. I'm not sure I fully got some parts of this story, to be honest (I sometimes thought I might have skipped some parts while reading) but I enjoyed it. It's rather brutal.
The Lincoln Train (1995) - An alternate history short story that won the 1996 Hugo Award for Best Short Story, the 1996 Locus Award and was nominated for the 1996 Nebula Award for Best Short Story. After the civil war, all Southerners who owned slaves, are removed from the western territories in a neo-Trail of Tears, where many of them are left to die of starvation and disease. The story is told from the pov of a young woman and her dement mother, who are forced on such a train. An alternative Underground Railroad saves her.
Interview: On Any Given Day (2001) - Short story told in a form of an interview. People can make their body young again, but are neither at home with the real youth or their actual peers then. Interesting thought experiment.
Oversite (2004) - People put chips in their children's body to monitor their whereabouts all the time. The story, like the one above, and many others in this book, examines youth and relation to parents.
Wicked (2005) - 400 word short story about everything going up in flames. the most poetic of the stories.
Laika Comes Back Safe (2002) - A young love between werewolf and human and their dog, doomed to fail.
Presence (2002) - This story about dementia and new technology to beat the disease, was both very touching and sad, and asked interesting questions about what it means to still be the same person. One of the best ones in this book.
Eight-Legged Story (2003) - Another brilliant one. A woman contemplates her relationship with her missing stepson and her husband, in 8 short parts.
The Beast (1992) - Another short, rather poetic one, that merges themes of family & monsters.
Nekropolis (1994) - I wish this one were so much longer. This is a love story between a girl who's jessed (sort of enslaved by choice) and a genetically "built" servant boy. I liked the background, the world building with the 2nd koran, and again the questions about what makes a human human, but most of all I just loved both characters.
Frankenstein's Daughter (2003) - From the point of view of a mother and her son, this resolves about the cloning of a girl gone wrong. It felt very realistic, especially the way the mother is judged by the doctors.
Most of these stories are Sci-Fi, but I often thought it felt more like magical realism. I don't know if that's simply because I hardly ever read Sci-Fi and I adore magical realism - or, if it's because all of these stories are so character-focused. The melancholic tone and the direct style is just so perfect. I really tries to read this book as slowly as I could, to savor it.
You can download the book from the publisher for free: https://smallbeerpress.com/books/2006/06/01/mothers-other-monsters/
eraofkara's review
4.0
Weird, wackadoo fiction in the same vein as Kelly Link, Aimee Bender, and George Saunders.It definitely left me wanting to check out her other books.
_bxllxe_'s review
3.0
I immediately thought of Kelly Link. Each story had that delicious slipstream fantasy/sci-fi vibe that I loved in Link’s 2016 collection, Get In Trouble. My favorite stories were The Cost to Be Wise, Laika Comes Back Safe, and Nekropolis. The reoccurring theme of impaired memory was of note, I wonder if Alzheimer’s has affected anyone close to McHugh. I also enjoyed seeing the futuristic “minder” devices pop up in several different stories.
lamusadelils's review
4.0
Wow. Confieso que no estaba muy entusiasmada con este libro, pero me llamó la atención porque se puede conseguir gratuitamente aqui en Goodreads y decidí aprovechar la oportunidad.
Comencé a leerlo sin fijarme mucho en el género o las clasificaciones e ingenuamente esperaba clichés sobre las madres. Sin embargo, en un par de páginas superé mi escepticismo. Las historias tienen conceptos interesantes. Son una mezcla de ciencia ficción con un lado humano acerca de las relaciones familiares. Por supuesto, algunas de las historias agradan mas que otras, pero en general son buenas.
Comencé a leerlo sin fijarme mucho en el género o las clasificaciones e ingenuamente esperaba clichés sobre las madres. Sin embargo, en un par de páginas superé mi escepticismo. Las historias tienen conceptos interesantes. Son una mezcla de ciencia ficción con un lado humano acerca de las relaciones familiares. Por supuesto, algunas de las historias agradan mas que otras, pero en general son buenas.