2022 BookPage Most Anticipated Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Literary Hub May’s Best Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books

[STARRED REVIEW] “Miller’s (The Blade Between, 2020) debut story collection gathers together a large selection of his short fiction. Most stories use various fantastical devices to reflect on gay men, their families, or their lovers. Some stories are sf, like ‘We Are the Cloud,’ where a young gay Black man deals with the insecurity of newfound love as well as the dataport in his neck, or Miller’s rewriting of John Carpenter’s horror classic The Thing as a story of AIDS and the closet in ‘Things With Beards.’ Others are more fantastical or gothic such as ‘The Heat of Us: Notes Toward an Oral History,’ where the rage of the Stonewall Riots results in literal pyrokinesis or the fictional famous gay artist created by three men with AIDS (an echo of Miller’s last novel) in ‘Angel, Monster, Man.’ Even the stories that don’t feature gay relationships directly, such as the internal monologue of a Salvation Army chair in ‘Sun in an Empty Room,’ feature Miller’s frequent concerns of longing, heartbreak, and the deep desire for, but great difficulty of, love. Highly recommended for any reader interested in speculative fiction that concerns itself with queer themes, particularly messy or emotional ones.”
—Booklist

[STARRED REVIEW] Finding danger and humanity in their characters, the short stories of Boys, Beasts & Men marry emotional epiphanies with violence, resulting in imaginative, stirring meditations on LGBTQ+ struggles and acceptance.”
—Foreword

“Miller’s sheer talent shines through in abundance . . . Boys, Beasts & Men is an outrageous journey which skillfully blends genres and will haunt you with its original, poetic voices as much as its victims, villains, and treasure trove of leading actors.”
—Grimdark Magazine

“The stories in this collection offer a nuanced and beautiful exploration of masculinity and the many faces of love, touching on romance, desire, family, and friendship, all presented through the lens of the fantastic—with literally mind-altering drugs, resurrected dinosaurs, near-future worlds in post environmental collapse, and of course, monsters.”
—A. C. Wise, The Kissing Booth Girl and Other Stories

“Sam Miller is my hero: a fearless visionary whose stories are at once vivid, electrifying, brutal, and full of heart. Oh, the heat of them.”
—Sarah Pinsker, author of A Song For A New Day and Sooner or Later Everything Falls Into the Sea 

“Miller’s debut short fiction collection looks to appeal to both fans of his speculative and dystopian novels Blackfish City and The Blade Between, as well as those new to his body of work. . . . Queerness pulses through these fourteen stories.”
—Literary Hub

“This is the collection you are looking for. Explosive, careening, shape-shifting tales . . . haunting and defiantly tender.”
—Ben Loory, author of Tales of Falling and Flying

“Sure to please fans of cli-fi, weird sea creatures, queer SFF and pretty much everyone who wants to read something brilliant, strange and new.”
—BookPage

“Even in the darkest of these perfectly crafted stories, Sam Miller’s tragic boys yearn to be good instead of bad, strong instead of weak, whole instead of broken. May your heart ache with love for every doomed one of them; I know mine did.”
—Andy Davidson, author of The Boatman’s Daughter

“A collection of short stories that are each so atmospheric and unique, it really just blends together to form a sort of queer, magic, horror, science fiction and amazing storytelling picture. Each story is so fascinating and creates about a mood that just captures you.”
—Ash and Books

“Loneliness, manhood, and ferocious queer joy . . . thick with both the tenderness and ugliness of imperfect relationships.”
—Publishers Weekly

“In these stories Sam J. Miller writes about people on the margins and in transition, both capturing a sense of uncertainty and horror while immersing us in these worlds with sensitivity and care.”
—Carrie Vaughn, author of The Immortal Conquistador

“Miller is clearly one of the generation of writers thoroughly comfortable with genre hopping (or genre-ignoring, or genre-pillaging), and Boys, Beasts & Men is no exception to that. . . . Given the pain and joy that Miller can so vividly evoke, it’s both an admonition and a celebration.”
—Locus

“Boys, Beasts & Men is the fruit of substantial creative autonomy, a glorious nightmare wrapped around a daydream.”
—Delphic Reviews

“A strong collection of stories with themes I’m really into, dark and interesting. . .”
—Small Time Reads

“The very best horror in all its ghoulish, glorious humanity.”
—Deborah Miller, two-time winner of the PEN Syndicated Fiction Award (and also Sam’s mom)

“Every story is wildly imaginative, each one twists and bends its form to stun and titillate that much more.”
—Coffee Time Reviews

“If you’re not reading Sam J. Miller, you’re seriously missing out.”
—Nathan Ballingrud, author of Wounds and North American Lake Monsters

Praise for Sam J. Miller

“A rising star of science fiction in the US – and now worldwide.”
—Le Soir

“Sam J. Miller has proven himself a force to be reckoned with . . .”
—Barnes & Noble

“Sam J. Miller has cemented his status as one of the most visionary fiction writers of his generation. ”
—Kass Morgan, New York Times bestselling author of The 100

“[Miller] will tear your heart in two and then gently place the pieces back inside your chest—while reminding you to have a sandwich and love yourself.”
—NPR