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A review by emilycombs
Even Greater Mistakes: Stories by Charlie Jane Anders
5.0
I got Even Greater Mistakes via a Goodreads giveaway. First I’d ever heard or read by Charlie Jane Anders. It’s rare that I wonder if things were “meant to be,” because I don’t believe in that, or luck. But I do feel lucky to have received this one. I’m a huge fan of science fiction and fantasy—so, I was interested by default—but I had no idea this collection of short stories would be this much fun.
Each one feels like falling into the center of a world that’s always been there, a world that makes perfectly real despite the aliens, otherworldly beings, yet-to-exist tech, etc. I couldn’t breeze through it like I do with many books. I was happy to savor each story because each one offers so much to consider, down to the nature of human beings and what it means to be one.
If I had to play favorites, I’d say my most beloved were As Good as New, Fairy Werewolf vs. Vampire Zombie, Clover, A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime, The Bookstore at the End of America, and The Visitmothers. (It’s a lot of favorites. Believe me, it was hard to narrow it down.)
And, I found myself totally fangirling over the use of North Carolina cities as the setting for some of these stories, or even simply being mentioned. When I was growing up in a small town in the Triad, I absolutely never considered it a good landscape for fantasy. I wish I’d had the imagination of CJA to seamlessly transform my hometown into a space that could host zombies or vampires or fae. Would’ve been a lot more freeing to think of it that way instead of feeling trapped in a place where few people around me valued anything artsy or out of the norm. NC is a small aspect to this collection, but one that meant a lot to me.
Anyway, read it. It might be your jam, or not, but it doesn’t really matter. There are many delicious ideas/fantasies/concepts to devour. You won’t walk away from this one without plenty to think about.
Each one feels like falling into the center of a world that’s always been there, a world that makes perfectly real despite the aliens, otherworldly beings, yet-to-exist tech, etc. I couldn’t breeze through it like I do with many books. I was happy to savor each story because each one offers so much to consider, down to the nature of human beings and what it means to be one.
If I had to play favorites, I’d say my most beloved were As Good as New, Fairy Werewolf vs. Vampire Zombie, Clover, A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime, The Bookstore at the End of America, and The Visitmothers. (It’s a lot of favorites. Believe me, it was hard to narrow it down.)
And, I found myself totally fangirling over the use of North Carolina cities as the setting for some of these stories, or even simply being mentioned. When I was growing up in a small town in the Triad, I absolutely never considered it a good landscape for fantasy. I wish I’d had the imagination of CJA to seamlessly transform my hometown into a space that could host zombies or vampires or fae. Would’ve been a lot more freeing to think of it that way instead of feeling trapped in a place where few people around me valued anything artsy or out of the norm. NC is a small aspect to this collection, but one that meant a lot to me.
Anyway, read it. It might be your jam, or not, but it doesn’t really matter. There are many delicious ideas/fantasies/concepts to devour. You won’t walk away from this one without plenty to think about.