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raven_morgan's review against another edition
4.0
Insert Title Here is an unthemed anthology from Australian small press Fablecroft Publishing, said by editor Tehani Wessley to be their darkest offering yet. Of note is the fact that the call for submissions for this anthology actually resulted in Fablecroft publishing two separate anthologies: Insert Title Here and Phantazein.
It is always a different experience reading an unthemed anthology. I find it harder to read more than one story in a row, since there are no connecting threads between stories, and as such, it took me longer than usual to finish this book. This is absolutely no comment on the quality of the book, of course, which is, as to be expected from Fablecroft, extremely high.
I’m not going to discuss every story in this anthology, but I will point out some of my favourites. I’ll note that I loved the darkness of this anthology (you can take the girl out of horror, but you can’t take the horror out of the girl), and all of the stories were worthwhile reading.
The book opens with a story from Jo Anderton, 2B. And holy hell, what an opening this is. I was drawn in immediately by the vivid imagery of this world: a place where things grow in strange ways, tyres growing from trees, pencils which can be planted to grow trees which fruit more pencils. If you’ve never read any of Anderton’s work, this could be a good place to start, as this story highlights her grasp of imagery and strangeness, while still being able to wring deep emotion out of only a handful of words. Dreamlike and haunting, this is one of my favourites in the anthology.
D.K. Mok’s Almost Days is another story which tends towards the dreamlike, this time taking the reader into a place called the Wings. This is definitely a story where you want to go in without being spoiled, but suffice to say that this is an incredible story. Read it, then read it again. Then go and devour everything Mok had written. You’ll thank me.
Her Face Like Lightning by David McDonald takes us deeper into human darkness: of ritual magic and sorcery and grasping for power. I feel very much like this story only begins to skim the surface of a fascinating world, and I hope that McDonald will come back to it at some point in the future (I’d happily read a novel set in this world, hint, hint, David ;)).
Sara Larner’s Living in the Light begins with one of the best first lines I think I have ever read: “My child turned into a hummingbird.”. How could you not read on after that? There is something almost feverish about this story, but in the sheer strangeness of it, there is also heartbreaking emotion. Highly recommended.
Reflections by Tamlyn Dreaver takes us to the terraformed (and failing) moon, where Hana lives with her mothers. This is a gorgeous story, short but filled with sadness, but a sorrow tinged with hope. I’ve found myself thinking of this story often since finishing it, which is always a sign of a good short story.
My last favourite, and the concluding story in the anthology, is Stephanie Burgis’ The Art of Deception. I need to make note here that Burgis is a friend, and someone who I have beta read for, but this does not influence the fact that I would have loved this story, no matter who had written it. Pure epic fantasy, which is extremely hard to make work well in the short form, with a fascinating world and characters, I kind of really hope that Burgis will expand upon this world more at some stage in the future.
Overall, this is an extremely strong collection. The stories are varied, and I suspect that most readers will find at least one or two which speaks to them. Highly recommended.
It is always a different experience reading an unthemed anthology. I find it harder to read more than one story in a row, since there are no connecting threads between stories, and as such, it took me longer than usual to finish this book. This is absolutely no comment on the quality of the book, of course, which is, as to be expected from Fablecroft, extremely high.
I’m not going to discuss every story in this anthology, but I will point out some of my favourites. I’ll note that I loved the darkness of this anthology (you can take the girl out of horror, but you can’t take the horror out of the girl), and all of the stories were worthwhile reading.
The book opens with a story from Jo Anderton, 2B. And holy hell, what an opening this is. I was drawn in immediately by the vivid imagery of this world: a place where things grow in strange ways, tyres growing from trees, pencils which can be planted to grow trees which fruit more pencils. If you’ve never read any of Anderton’s work, this could be a good place to start, as this story highlights her grasp of imagery and strangeness, while still being able to wring deep emotion out of only a handful of words. Dreamlike and haunting, this is one of my favourites in the anthology.
D.K. Mok’s Almost Days is another story which tends towards the dreamlike, this time taking the reader into a place called the Wings. This is definitely a story where you want to go in without being spoiled, but suffice to say that this is an incredible story. Read it, then read it again. Then go and devour everything Mok had written. You’ll thank me.
Her Face Like Lightning by David McDonald takes us deeper into human darkness: of ritual magic and sorcery and grasping for power. I feel very much like this story only begins to skim the surface of a fascinating world, and I hope that McDonald will come back to it at some point in the future (I’d happily read a novel set in this world, hint, hint, David ;)).
Sara Larner’s Living in the Light begins with one of the best first lines I think I have ever read: “My child turned into a hummingbird.”. How could you not read on after that? There is something almost feverish about this story, but in the sheer strangeness of it, there is also heartbreaking emotion. Highly recommended.
Reflections by Tamlyn Dreaver takes us to the terraformed (and failing) moon, where Hana lives with her mothers. This is a gorgeous story, short but filled with sadness, but a sorrow tinged with hope. I’ve found myself thinking of this story often since finishing it, which is always a sign of a good short story.
My last favourite, and the concluding story in the anthology, is Stephanie Burgis’ The Art of Deception. I need to make note here that Burgis is a friend, and someone who I have beta read for, but this does not influence the fact that I would have loved this story, no matter who had written it. Pure epic fantasy, which is extremely hard to make work well in the short form, with a fascinating world and characters, I kind of really hope that Burgis will expand upon this world more at some stage in the future.
Overall, this is an extremely strong collection. The stories are varied, and I suspect that most readers will find at least one or two which speaks to them. Highly recommended.
thiefofcamorr's review against another edition
5.0
Tehani Wessely reports that this is the darkest anthology she’s put together. Having read most if not all of her anthologies, this certainly caught my attention. On reflection having read this, I would have to agree – here we have an anthology where every single story is heart-breaking or grim or absurdly strange and wonderful, and all are incredibly read-able. A handful demand full novels set in the world using that idea or world-building, and all make me want to look for the author’s other work (if I haven’t already!)
FableCroft are going from strength to strength with each anthology better than the last – which is saying something. This one is due for release in April for Swancon in Perth, and I can’t recommend it highly enough!
2B by Joanne Anderton
I’m slowly turning into Anderton’s biggest fan or something. What a way to start an anthology! This is an incredibly strange, magical and wonderful story of a town where things grow on trees, such as pencils and car tyres. Glass flowers sprout from the security cameras the Councilmen install (which is really beautiful imagery, I love it!) Also, an incredibly peculiar thing happened to the residents of the town which I won’t go into (spoilers, sweetie) but it’s enough to deeply unnerve you, despite what a wonderful miracle it is.
Anderton’s writing is slightly distant and yet very personal, showing us how the main character Chloe appears to others and also her thoughts and views on the world and those she comes into contact with. The world is probably the most interesting part of this strange tale, leaving you wanting more. Who wants a novel using this idea? I know I do!
Oil and Bone by Dan Rabarts
Set in New Zealand, Anaru and Piripi are escorting Englishman Clark through the Southern Alps to make some money on the side of a journey they have to make anyway – to retrieve something that was stolen from them.
This is a piece that involves words of another language other than English (Māori), and it does it well, using them smoothly so the reader knows what the word means at all times, and also adding another depth to this piece, presenting the culture in a welcoming way. The tale itself however isn’t as welcoming, as it’s a tale for searching for things that may be best left where they’ve found themselves. It’s grim and twisted and delightfully dark, full of action and a bit more dark.
Almost Days by DK Mok
‘Gainful employment, on the other hand, only happened to me after I’d died.’
That’s a pretty good way at catching a reader’s attention – with a line like that, one simply must read on to find out what that involves.
This is the kind of tale where the plot needs to be a surprise, which leaves me with less to tell you now – all I can say is that this is a delightful piece that really makes you wish you had a chance at playing in their world for a time (but perhaps not for very long, I think I’d find it stressful having that much responsibility!) and that the characters are delightful. This piece has very beautiful imagery and a very, very satisfying ending.
Collateral Damage by Dirk Flinthart
In a world where military actions have been completely monetised, done strictly by contract, Mariko has now left her previous position of being head of a mercenary company in favour of forming a brokerage with a plan to bring down the now-corrupt brokerage system entirely.
This is quite a fun piece, whilst being technical and deep in the world of war and the complex systems that make it all possible. Though the plot is strong, it’s the characters that drive this one with an incredibly satisfying ending (in a different way from the previous short) as you cheer Mariko along, and the sassy closing line doesn’t hurt matters either.
Her Face Like Lightning by David McDonald
Full disclosure here, David is a mate and lately I get to proofread some of the pieces he completes. That aside, I honestly think he’s getting better each and every piece I get my hands on – now we’re just hanging out for a novel sometime soon, David!
Poor Horatio is minding his own business one night, staggering drunk, when he’s accosted as he leaves an inn. When he comes to he discovers his attacker is a giant, sent by a scary woman who knows exactly who Horatio truly is.
The dialogue in this is sharp and witty, starting to remind me slightly of Scott Lynch’s work. We see the beauty and brutality of Heaven, we see a diverse cast with an intensely developed backstory for a short story, and wow, what an ending.
This is easily one of my favourite pieces in this anthology.
Empty Monuments by Marissa Lingen & Alec Austin
Discovering an entire planet that’s completely devoid of life – bacteria included – is certainly worrying, baffling, thought impossible. Parmesh is driven to distraction by it, but Meleiana, pilot of the Zhang He, seems to think it can all be explained. They and others are there to map solar systems, catalogue lifeforms and match what they find to previous builders so they can try decode who’s responsible for that particular part of space. As they look closer, things appear to be stranger and stranger, and going by how the rest of the anthology has been so far, you start getting a little worried as to what they’re going to discover.
This piece does an excellent job of explaining what they’re all doing to a reader who has little-to-no scientific background and knowledge. It’s also excellent at building up to a whole big something, making it impossible to put down until you discover just what’s going on here. It’s also excellent having a main character who doesn’t know science either – she’s just there to get them there and get them out – and it works marvellously as a window into the plot.
Then wow. This ending? It really packs a punch, and really leaves you thinking. What would we have done if we’d discovered the same thing?
Beyond the Borders of All He Had Been Taught by Alan Baxter
Barran is the Guardian of the Temple of the Relic. Sometimes he protects the temple from people sent by other nations trying to steal the relic, and sometimes it’s people sent by the king to test Barran and make sure he’s still worthy of the title. With this great honour comes a lot of time for thought though, as Barran hasn’t left the temple since he was 19 and confirmed in the service. He understands blind faith and the value in it, however perhaps it isn’t as simple as that.
This is quite an engaging story, though I would have liked to see more of the character Belane. The ending especially works well; this is a well measured short story that delivers well.
Circa by Caitlene Cooke
Circa is a time-traveller – not much more needs to be said to explain why this short is particularly excellent. This piece deals with the balance in the universe, and how two instances of the same person or object cease to exist in the same universe – it causes a seizure, the universe can’t handle it. It also shows what happens if someone is dragged through time – spoiler alert: it’s not pretty.
This piece is packed full of action and quick-thinking, as Circa has to figure out a way to save herself or if not that, make the best of a bad situation. This is complicated and timey-wimey and pretty dang-excellent.
Living in the Light by Sara Larner
Another excellent beginning that makes it impossible not to read on: ‘My child turned into a hummingbird. He was a premature birth, so I expected some complications.’ This also works well to set the tone, as the tale results in a slightly unnerving, magical and incredibly sad piece of literature. As someone who’s seen far too many doctors (though not for anything as severe as poor Clara) I can relate to the mother not wishing to take her child to the doctor, but you can feel her growing panic also, even if you’re not a mother.
This piece is written with a sort of distance, and you get the feel of the mother taking a step back to try to understand what on earth is happening here. You become transfixed by the pace of what becomes normal for her, and then increasing as sometime as simple as a night-light going out spells something much more significant. The ending packs a punch like so many others in this anthology, but for this one my mouth dropped open as it all fell into place. This one is certainly one that’ll last with me.
Always Another Point by Alexis Hunter
Jenna is trapped on a ship, suffering double miseries and on the run. Another piece where the less said about the plot in this review means better reading for you on your first read of this anthology.
You can only read on with sympathy for this one, hoping she gets out okay and gets a chance to heal – from more than one heartache. This piece parallels many issues and discrimination we have in the world today, and is also incredibly sad. However, it also ends in hope. This is a strong piece that needs to be read, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Footprints in Venom by Robert Hood
Agul Tana has a job – to save New Uruk by bringing back old King Gilhamesh which shall somehow fix their troubles. Though the new world is suffering the same troubles that ruined our current Earth they’ve long left behind, the founders have looked to ancient religion and mythology for the answers.
This is a complex piece that involves the goddness Ishtar and deals with the surreal. It’s emotive and sensual and certainly contains a lot of big ideas that are worth pondering for a time, even if it means putting down the anthology for a few minutes to do so.
Salvatrix by Marianne de Pierres
Ralph is a shearer, who sometimes works for a place rumoured to lock up the mistress when the Governor is away. Places like this are always good for gossip when you have different tier levels of servants and workers, but Ralph reckons there’s some truth to it – especially when one of the housemaids he’s diddling, Liza, is upgraded to the mistress’ attendant. The mistress is also incredibly beautiful, and Ralph soon finds himself entangled in something he couldn’t dream of walking away from, especially as it turns out Ralph may be connected to her in more ways than a simple shearer.
This is written with an easy hand, capturing the lingo used of the time such as slang for the cigarettes and lifestyle, smoothly weaving this all together into something a bit mystical and fantastic. This makes the outback a little magical, and makes you wonder of the possibility of what could be happening out there in the little towns of ours where there’s few eyes and ears to record what they’ve witnessed.
Ministry of Karma by Ian Creasey
Anthea, pregnant, is looking to the tarot and other mystic signs for knowledge, but it’s only fretting her as every omen seems to be bad and gloomy. Using a dowser she’s come to discover what kind of lives her unborn son has previously experienced, but the news can only be grim when the dowser advises to call her husband back into the room once she’s done, so they can receive the news together.
The idea behind this one is really dang interesting – and quite true of what already happens today, and what could continue happening if the testing they’re speaking of being available does eventually become commonplace. I’d certainly love a novel set in this world, perhaps at the start of Anthea’s working life or when everything started to change. This has got miles and miles to discover through it, and another one of my absolute favourites in an already-strong and fantastic anthology.
Reflections by Tamlyn Dreaver
Hana has lived her whole life on the moon with her mothers, who run research on the atmosphere and why it’s failing. Though she knows she’s being difficult, Hana doesn’t want to leave and this manifests in pouts and whines to no effect – they all have to leave. Then Hana discovers something wonderful.
What I liked about this one was how realistic it was – you’d have to read the end to see what I mean, but I’m glad it didn’t go in the direction I was expecting. This is short and sweet, strong and well written. It’s also good pacing against the previous piece which is quite a bit longer, so they make good juxtaposition against each other.
Sins of Meals Past by Matthew Morrison
Written in second person – which is not common and hard to pull off successfully as it is done here – we are a nurse who’s helping an old man who is slowing dying in his own home rather than a hospital or care facility. He has all the things necessary, and each scene describes in minute detail how every faculty of the nurse is attended to – what order things are done in, where the waste is thrown, how a patient is observed and moved around. This old man we’re attending to however is quite peculiar, and you only get more and more unnerved by it all as we read on.
Like one of the previous pieces in this anthology, here we have a short story that explains something I personally don’t know about – medical terms galore, and uses them so expertly and fluidly that we easily understand what’s going on, and almost feel like we’re almost equipped to do what we’re reading we’re doing. This is a fairly deep story, another that will surely last with me for a long time.
The Final Voyage of Saint Brendan by Tom Dullemond
Captain Brendan is sailing under Fleet captain Plymouth, hunting down and/or chasing down islands. Island hunters, they’re trying to harpoon a small island as their own great island is dying. They’re London’s last hope, and the speech Plymouth gives Brendan surely leaves him something to think about.
This another short piece that packs a good punch, grim and dark but feeling completely right in the actions they take. This reminds me a little of one of the more recent Doctor Who episodes, in the best of ways.
One Who Knows by Darren Goossens
Sara and a few others are stationed on a planet to collect various kinds of data. Sara’s role is to observe and be-friend the local population of region 2138B4, and currently she’s closest to Eng, who is pregnant. With medical training Sara offers her abilities to the group for scratches to precent blood-poisoning and such, but is told she won’t be able to be present for the birth, as this is only for certain, very few and very specific people to attend. This doesn’t stop her from monitoring the huts themselves at the time of the birth though, which means when something goes wrong, she knows about it and makes her way there from the base with haste, and begs to be allowed to help.
This is quite a delicate piece, hitting the heart-strings and showcasing many different characters with quite a lot of depth with such few lines to them each. Deceptively simple, this shows that you don’t need action in a short story when characters drive it so damn well.
The Last Case of Detective Charlemagne by Kathleen Jennings
This one begins with an extract discussing said detective, telling us that they’re a long-running series of pulp crime novels, and it works exceptionally well in wishing they existed! I always love to read about writers and their writing, and this is no exception, with the added bonus of witty dialogue that really adds to the style of pulp crime fiction.
There are multiple layers to this one, leaving the reader to find more to think on after a re-read. It also has such a sad but true line near the end which I won’t spoil by writing here – it really needs to be read through the natural course of the short story in order to pack the punch it gives. This short story will speak miles to those who read voraciously.
The Winter Stream by Daniel Simpson
Another incredibly hard-to-read, sad piece that involves family and the complete and utter sadness that can come from it, as well as the sacrifice for something so utterly worth it, but still – what a life to have. There’s quite a few pieces in this anthology that follow this style – be sure to read this anthology with breaks so you don’t get completely morose over it! (In a good way, it’s such an emotive collection of works.)
This follows a man who has been looking after his very young son, Lucas, for an extraordinarily long time. He’s an old man now and growing increasingly worried for the future – the rest of the family having been unable to cope with the situation, and having left them behind a long time ago. As a reader you’re left wondering what you would have done in their situation – would you have been unable to do anything but what the father has chosen to do, or would you join the side of seemingly everyone else? This also speaks on what it means to be human, and whether such a thing can be counted so simply to the seven signs, as is documented in here. A heartbreaking piece that’s really well written.
The Falcon Races by Thoraiya Dyer
This is the type of short story I could never hope to do justice with for a review. Irrumburri is the first protagonist that we meet, and we see her receive a phone call from her husband to say he’s been unfaithful to her. She calls her sister to talk about how awful he is, even though they “disagree on almost everything in life”. Karima is the second protagonist we follow, Irrumburri’s sister. Then we have Solomon, her son. Together we see a well-rounded view of their family, and what troubles them.
This short story has an incredibly deep blend of cultures in it, some which feel very close to what I see each day, living in this part of Australia. It does culture very well, showing how strong it is in their lives and how it leads their every breath. This is an incredibly well done piece, one I would expect to see used in classrooms up here in future.
The Art of Deception by Stephanie Burgis
Hrabanic used to be the most famous swordsman in the region, but since he was fired by the archduke, he’s turned into almost a nobody. His landlady and love has to go home, soon, to the White Library – and with that, my interest is certainly piqued. He promises to keep her safe which she takes as a promise to go with her to this dreaded library, and from here he has no option but to go with her.
This piece was a whole lot of fun – epic fantasy through and through, another that makes me wish we had a whole novel of these characters and this world. This is one of those character-driven pieces with the added bonus of an excellent magic system which gives us an incredibly strong ending to this anthology, which is strong overall. Sometimes in anthologies you find a short story or three doesn’t manage to capture your interest or you just can’t bring yourself to continue reading it… in this anthology however, each and every single story is as strong as the next, and all were supremely readable. Tehani Wessely has done a stand-out job with this anthology!
FableCroft are going from strength to strength with each anthology better than the last – which is saying something. This one is due for release in April for Swancon in Perth, and I can’t recommend it highly enough!
2B by Joanne Anderton
I’m slowly turning into Anderton’s biggest fan or something. What a way to start an anthology! This is an incredibly strange, magical and wonderful story of a town where things grow on trees, such as pencils and car tyres. Glass flowers sprout from the security cameras the Councilmen install (which is really beautiful imagery, I love it!) Also, an incredibly peculiar thing happened to the residents of the town which I won’t go into (spoilers, sweetie) but it’s enough to deeply unnerve you, despite what a wonderful miracle it is.
Anderton’s writing is slightly distant and yet very personal, showing us how the main character Chloe appears to others and also her thoughts and views on the world and those she comes into contact with. The world is probably the most interesting part of this strange tale, leaving you wanting more. Who wants a novel using this idea? I know I do!
Oil and Bone by Dan Rabarts
Set in New Zealand, Anaru and Piripi are escorting Englishman Clark through the Southern Alps to make some money on the side of a journey they have to make anyway – to retrieve something that was stolen from them.
This is a piece that involves words of another language other than English (Māori), and it does it well, using them smoothly so the reader knows what the word means at all times, and also adding another depth to this piece, presenting the culture in a welcoming way. The tale itself however isn’t as welcoming, as it’s a tale for searching for things that may be best left where they’ve found themselves. It’s grim and twisted and delightfully dark, full of action and a bit more dark.
Almost Days by DK Mok
‘Gainful employment, on the other hand, only happened to me after I’d died.’
That’s a pretty good way at catching a reader’s attention – with a line like that, one simply must read on to find out what that involves.
This is the kind of tale where the plot needs to be a surprise, which leaves me with less to tell you now – all I can say is that this is a delightful piece that really makes you wish you had a chance at playing in their world for a time (but perhaps not for very long, I think I’d find it stressful having that much responsibility!) and that the characters are delightful. This piece has very beautiful imagery and a very, very satisfying ending.
Collateral Damage by Dirk Flinthart
In a world where military actions have been completely monetised, done strictly by contract, Mariko has now left her previous position of being head of a mercenary company in favour of forming a brokerage with a plan to bring down the now-corrupt brokerage system entirely.
This is quite a fun piece, whilst being technical and deep in the world of war and the complex systems that make it all possible. Though the plot is strong, it’s the characters that drive this one with an incredibly satisfying ending (in a different way from the previous short) as you cheer Mariko along, and the sassy closing line doesn’t hurt matters either.
Her Face Like Lightning by David McDonald
Full disclosure here, David is a mate and lately I get to proofread some of the pieces he completes. That aside, I honestly think he’s getting better each and every piece I get my hands on – now we’re just hanging out for a novel sometime soon, David!
Poor Horatio is minding his own business one night, staggering drunk, when he’s accosted as he leaves an inn. When he comes to he discovers his attacker is a giant, sent by a scary woman who knows exactly who Horatio truly is.
The dialogue in this is sharp and witty, starting to remind me slightly of Scott Lynch’s work. We see the beauty and brutality of Heaven, we see a diverse cast with an intensely developed backstory for a short story, and wow, what an ending.
This is easily one of my favourite pieces in this anthology.
Empty Monuments by Marissa Lingen & Alec Austin
Discovering an entire planet that’s completely devoid of life – bacteria included – is certainly worrying, baffling, thought impossible. Parmesh is driven to distraction by it, but Meleiana, pilot of the Zhang He, seems to think it can all be explained. They and others are there to map solar systems, catalogue lifeforms and match what they find to previous builders so they can try decode who’s responsible for that particular part of space. As they look closer, things appear to be stranger and stranger, and going by how the rest of the anthology has been so far, you start getting a little worried as to what they’re going to discover.
This piece does an excellent job of explaining what they’re all doing to a reader who has little-to-no scientific background and knowledge. It’s also excellent at building up to a whole big something, making it impossible to put down until you discover just what’s going on here. It’s also excellent having a main character who doesn’t know science either – she’s just there to get them there and get them out – and it works marvellously as a window into the plot.
Then wow. This ending? It really packs a punch, and really leaves you thinking. What would we have done if we’d discovered the same thing?
Beyond the Borders of All He Had Been Taught by Alan Baxter
Barran is the Guardian of the Temple of the Relic. Sometimes he protects the temple from people sent by other nations trying to steal the relic, and sometimes it’s people sent by the king to test Barran and make sure he’s still worthy of the title. With this great honour comes a lot of time for thought though, as Barran hasn’t left the temple since he was 19 and confirmed in the service. He understands blind faith and the value in it, however perhaps it isn’t as simple as that.
This is quite an engaging story, though I would have liked to see more of the character Belane. The ending especially works well; this is a well measured short story that delivers well.
Circa by Caitlene Cooke
Circa is a time-traveller – not much more needs to be said to explain why this short is particularly excellent. This piece deals with the balance in the universe, and how two instances of the same person or object cease to exist in the same universe – it causes a seizure, the universe can’t handle it. It also shows what happens if someone is dragged through time – spoiler alert: it’s not pretty.
This piece is packed full of action and quick-thinking, as Circa has to figure out a way to save herself or if not that, make the best of a bad situation. This is complicated and timey-wimey and pretty dang-excellent.
Living in the Light by Sara Larner
Another excellent beginning that makes it impossible not to read on: ‘My child turned into a hummingbird. He was a premature birth, so I expected some complications.’ This also works well to set the tone, as the tale results in a slightly unnerving, magical and incredibly sad piece of literature. As someone who’s seen far too many doctors (though not for anything as severe as poor Clara) I can relate to the mother not wishing to take her child to the doctor, but you can feel her growing panic also, even if you’re not a mother.
This piece is written with a sort of distance, and you get the feel of the mother taking a step back to try to understand what on earth is happening here. You become transfixed by the pace of what becomes normal for her, and then increasing as sometime as simple as a night-light going out spells something much more significant. The ending packs a punch like so many others in this anthology, but for this one my mouth dropped open as it all fell into place. This one is certainly one that’ll last with me.
Always Another Point by Alexis Hunter
Jenna is trapped on a ship, suffering double miseries and on the run. Another piece where the less said about the plot in this review means better reading for you on your first read of this anthology.
You can only read on with sympathy for this one, hoping she gets out okay and gets a chance to heal – from more than one heartache. This piece parallels many issues and discrimination we have in the world today, and is also incredibly sad. However, it also ends in hope. This is a strong piece that needs to be read, and I can’t recommend it highly enough.
Footprints in Venom by Robert Hood
Agul Tana has a job – to save New Uruk by bringing back old King Gilhamesh which shall somehow fix their troubles. Though the new world is suffering the same troubles that ruined our current Earth they’ve long left behind, the founders have looked to ancient religion and mythology for the answers.
This is a complex piece that involves the goddness Ishtar and deals with the surreal. It’s emotive and sensual and certainly contains a lot of big ideas that are worth pondering for a time, even if it means putting down the anthology for a few minutes to do so.
Salvatrix by Marianne de Pierres
Ralph is a shearer, who sometimes works for a place rumoured to lock up the mistress when the Governor is away. Places like this are always good for gossip when you have different tier levels of servants and workers, but Ralph reckons there’s some truth to it – especially when one of the housemaids he’s diddling, Liza, is upgraded to the mistress’ attendant. The mistress is also incredibly beautiful, and Ralph soon finds himself entangled in something he couldn’t dream of walking away from, especially as it turns out Ralph may be connected to her in more ways than a simple shearer.
This is written with an easy hand, capturing the lingo used of the time such as slang for the cigarettes and lifestyle, smoothly weaving this all together into something a bit mystical and fantastic. This makes the outback a little magical, and makes you wonder of the possibility of what could be happening out there in the little towns of ours where there’s few eyes and ears to record what they’ve witnessed.
Ministry of Karma by Ian Creasey
Anthea, pregnant, is looking to the tarot and other mystic signs for knowledge, but it’s only fretting her as every omen seems to be bad and gloomy. Using a dowser she’s come to discover what kind of lives her unborn son has previously experienced, but the news can only be grim when the dowser advises to call her husband back into the room once she’s done, so they can receive the news together.
The idea behind this one is really dang interesting – and quite true of what already happens today, and what could continue happening if the testing they’re speaking of being available does eventually become commonplace. I’d certainly love a novel set in this world, perhaps at the start of Anthea’s working life or when everything started to change. This has got miles and miles to discover through it, and another one of my absolute favourites in an already-strong and fantastic anthology.
Reflections by Tamlyn Dreaver
Hana has lived her whole life on the moon with her mothers, who run research on the atmosphere and why it’s failing. Though she knows she’s being difficult, Hana doesn’t want to leave and this manifests in pouts and whines to no effect – they all have to leave. Then Hana discovers something wonderful.
What I liked about this one was how realistic it was – you’d have to read the end to see what I mean, but I’m glad it didn’t go in the direction I was expecting. This is short and sweet, strong and well written. It’s also good pacing against the previous piece which is quite a bit longer, so they make good juxtaposition against each other.
Sins of Meals Past by Matthew Morrison
Written in second person – which is not common and hard to pull off successfully as it is done here – we are a nurse who’s helping an old man who is slowing dying in his own home rather than a hospital or care facility. He has all the things necessary, and each scene describes in minute detail how every faculty of the nurse is attended to – what order things are done in, where the waste is thrown, how a patient is observed and moved around. This old man we’re attending to however is quite peculiar, and you only get more and more unnerved by it all as we read on.
Like one of the previous pieces in this anthology, here we have a short story that explains something I personally don’t know about – medical terms galore, and uses them so expertly and fluidly that we easily understand what’s going on, and almost feel like we’re almost equipped to do what we’re reading we’re doing. This is a fairly deep story, another that will surely last with me for a long time.
The Final Voyage of Saint Brendan by Tom Dullemond
Captain Brendan is sailing under Fleet captain Plymouth, hunting down and/or chasing down islands. Island hunters, they’re trying to harpoon a small island as their own great island is dying. They’re London’s last hope, and the speech Plymouth gives Brendan surely leaves him something to think about.
This another short piece that packs a good punch, grim and dark but feeling completely right in the actions they take. This reminds me a little of one of the more recent Doctor Who episodes, in the best of ways.
One Who Knows by Darren Goossens
Sara and a few others are stationed on a planet to collect various kinds of data. Sara’s role is to observe and be-friend the local population of region 2138B4, and currently she’s closest to Eng, who is pregnant. With medical training Sara offers her abilities to the group for scratches to precent blood-poisoning and such, but is told she won’t be able to be present for the birth, as this is only for certain, very few and very specific people to attend. This doesn’t stop her from monitoring the huts themselves at the time of the birth though, which means when something goes wrong, she knows about it and makes her way there from the base with haste, and begs to be allowed to help.
This is quite a delicate piece, hitting the heart-strings and showcasing many different characters with quite a lot of depth with such few lines to them each. Deceptively simple, this shows that you don’t need action in a short story when characters drive it so damn well.
The Last Case of Detective Charlemagne by Kathleen Jennings
This one begins with an extract discussing said detective, telling us that they’re a long-running series of pulp crime novels, and it works exceptionally well in wishing they existed! I always love to read about writers and their writing, and this is no exception, with the added bonus of witty dialogue that really adds to the style of pulp crime fiction.
There are multiple layers to this one, leaving the reader to find more to think on after a re-read. It also has such a sad but true line near the end which I won’t spoil by writing here – it really needs to be read through the natural course of the short story in order to pack the punch it gives. This short story will speak miles to those who read voraciously.
The Winter Stream by Daniel Simpson
Another incredibly hard-to-read, sad piece that involves family and the complete and utter sadness that can come from it, as well as the sacrifice for something so utterly worth it, but still – what a life to have. There’s quite a few pieces in this anthology that follow this style – be sure to read this anthology with breaks so you don’t get completely morose over it! (In a good way, it’s such an emotive collection of works.)
This follows a man who has been looking after his very young son, Lucas, for an extraordinarily long time. He’s an old man now and growing increasingly worried for the future – the rest of the family having been unable to cope with the situation, and having left them behind a long time ago. As a reader you’re left wondering what you would have done in their situation – would you have been unable to do anything but what the father has chosen to do, or would you join the side of seemingly everyone else? This also speaks on what it means to be human, and whether such a thing can be counted so simply to the seven signs, as is documented in here. A heartbreaking piece that’s really well written.
The Falcon Races by Thoraiya Dyer
This is the type of short story I could never hope to do justice with for a review. Irrumburri is the first protagonist that we meet, and we see her receive a phone call from her husband to say he’s been unfaithful to her. She calls her sister to talk about how awful he is, even though they “disagree on almost everything in life”. Karima is the second protagonist we follow, Irrumburri’s sister. Then we have Solomon, her son. Together we see a well-rounded view of their family, and what troubles them.
This short story has an incredibly deep blend of cultures in it, some which feel very close to what I see each day, living in this part of Australia. It does culture very well, showing how strong it is in their lives and how it leads their every breath. This is an incredibly well done piece, one I would expect to see used in classrooms up here in future.
The Art of Deception by Stephanie Burgis
Hrabanic used to be the most famous swordsman in the region, but since he was fired by the archduke, he’s turned into almost a nobody. His landlady and love has to go home, soon, to the White Library – and with that, my interest is certainly piqued. He promises to keep her safe which she takes as a promise to go with her to this dreaded library, and from here he has no option but to go with her.
This piece was a whole lot of fun – epic fantasy through and through, another that makes me wish we had a whole novel of these characters and this world. This is one of those character-driven pieces with the added bonus of an excellent magic system which gives us an incredibly strong ending to this anthology, which is strong overall. Sometimes in anthologies you find a short story or three doesn’t manage to capture your interest or you just can’t bring yourself to continue reading it… in this anthology however, each and every single story is as strong as the next, and all were supremely readable. Tehani Wessely has done a stand-out job with this anthology!
anna_hepworth's review
2.0
I read this as a judge for the 2015 Aurealis Awards. This review is my personal opinion and does not necessarily reflect the opinion of any judging panel, the judging coordinator or the Aurealis Awards management team.
Disclaimer: I'm working from offline notes, and I didn't make notes of all the story titles or plot lines. Which means that I'm not going to be very specific about some of the stories.
This anthology is uneven, tedious, the stories were poorly edited. There were several where I felt that there was the kernel of a fabulous story, but it hadn't got there. The opening story is lovely, but somehow promises a different anthology to the one that it opens -- might have been a great opening story in a different anthology. And many of the stories just left me uncomfortable, and not in the way that the story has asked me to go outside my comfort zone, but more because they were just icky.
Stand out stories
Empty monuments - This is the kind of story that I was hoping to have more of when I read the opening story.
Living in the light - this is the first real horror of the book. I was never sure whether it was metaphorically/allegorically about post-natal depression, but the finishing section made me uncomfortable from the strength of the writing, rather than the lack.
and a general complaint about Australian sf/f/h genre fic -- there seems to be a preponderance of ‰Ычcountry people are evil/nasty/bad‰ЫЄ. There are enough awful people in the cities, why do there have to be so many horrid stories set in the country. It might be better if I thought many of the writers were country folk, but rather, it feels like demonisation of the other.
Disclaimer: I'm working from offline notes, and I didn't make notes of all the story titles or plot lines. Which means that I'm not going to be very specific about some of the stories.
This anthology is uneven, tedious, the stories were poorly edited. There were several where I felt that there was the kernel of a fabulous story, but it hadn't got there. The opening story is lovely, but somehow promises a different anthology to the one that it opens -- might have been a great opening story in a different anthology. And many of the stories just left me uncomfortable, and not in the way that the story has asked me to go outside my comfort zone, but more because they were just icky.
Stand out stories
Empty monuments - This is the kind of story that I was hoping to have more of when I read the opening story.
Living in the light - this is the first real horror of the book. I was never sure whether it was metaphorically/allegorically about post-natal depression, but the finishing section made me uncomfortable from the strength of the writing, rather than the lack.
and a general complaint about Australian sf/f/h genre fic -- there seems to be a preponderance of ‰Ычcountry people are evil/nasty/bad‰ЫЄ. There are enough awful people in the cities, why do there have to be so many horrid stories set in the country. It might be better if I thought many of the writers were country folk, but rather, it feels like demonisation of the other.
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