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A review by mary_soon_lee
Unforeseen: Stories by Molly Gloss
5.0
This may be my favorite collection I've ever read. Of the seventeen stories, I marked eight(*) as excellent. The stories range from mainstream, to fantasy, to science fiction. They display a breadth of voice and character, yet certain elements recur. A love of landscape, of birds and animals. Quiet, understated prose. Beautifully evoked characters. A tenderness. Grief. Loneliness. The use of detail, especially naturalistic detail, is superb.
Fourteen of the stories had been published previously between 1984 and 2016. Three are original to this collection. I had read several of them before, and they were as outstanding on re-reading as they had been the first time. One, "Personal Silence," had introduced me to Molly Gloss's work almost 30 years ago, and led me to her books, starting with "The Jump-Off Creek," a mainstream novel centered on a woman homesteader: a book I have read, and re-read, and read aloud to family.
A few weeks before this, I read Ted Chiang's collection "Stories of Your Life and Others," which is also excellent. Where Chiang's stories are deeply considered, fiercely intelligent explorations of fantastical premises, Gloss's stories, even when they are science fiction, explore character more than premise. They are deeply felt, deeply moving, compassionate works. Several remind me, in the best way, of Ursula K. Le Guin, another of my favorite authors.
One caveat. The stories tend toward the bleak. I loved them. I loved the characters. But I found it best to read them one a day, pacing myself.
(*) For the curious, those eight, in the order they appear in the book, are as follows: "Interlocking Pieces," "Personal Silence," "Seaborne," "Lambing Season," "The Blue Roan," "The Everlasting Humming of the Earth," "Joining," and "The Grinnell Method."
About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).
Fourteen of the stories had been published previously between 1984 and 2016. Three are original to this collection. I had read several of them before, and they were as outstanding on re-reading as they had been the first time. One, "Personal Silence," had introduced me to Molly Gloss's work almost 30 years ago, and led me to her books, starting with "The Jump-Off Creek," a mainstream novel centered on a woman homesteader: a book I have read, and re-read, and read aloud to family.
A few weeks before this, I read Ted Chiang's collection "Stories of Your Life and Others," which is also excellent. Where Chiang's stories are deeply considered, fiercely intelligent explorations of fantastical premises, Gloss's stories, even when they are science fiction, explore character more than premise. They are deeply felt, deeply moving, compassionate works. Several remind me, in the best way, of Ursula K. Le Guin, another of my favorite authors.
One caveat. The stories tend toward the bleak. I loved them. I loved the characters. But I found it best to read them one a day, pacing myself.
(*) For the curious, those eight, in the order they appear in the book, are as follows: "Interlocking Pieces," "Personal Silence," "Seaborne," "Lambing Season," "The Blue Roan," "The Everlasting Humming of the Earth," "Joining," and "The Grinnell Method."
About my reviews: I try to review every book I read, including those that I don't end up enjoying. The reviews are not scholarly, but just indicate my reaction as a reader, reading being my addiction. I am miserly with 5-star reviews; 4 stars means I liked a book very much; 3 stars means I liked it; 2 stars means I didn't like it (though often the 2-star books are very popular with other readers and/or are by authors whose other work I've loved).