Tadiana Jones delivers the third review for FANTASY LITERATURE of Jacob Weisman’s INVADERS: 22 TALES FROM THE OUTER LIMITS OF LITERATURE.

This collection of 22 speculative fiction stories, previously published in various magazines and collections, is by a group of respected authors known primarily for their non-SF genre writings. It may be the most unusual and stylistically diverse science fiction story collection I’ve ever read.

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With their roots more firmly in literary than speculative fiction, these are all imaginative stories that, for the most part, have some extra heft to them, more attention to style, theme and symbolism, a greater commitment to subtlety. They gave me more food for thought than the typical science fiction short story. At the same time, their more literary nature sometimes gave me a mental run for my money. Some of these stories are opaque and difficult to parse, and they tend to end on an ambiguous note that can frustrate a reader who is looking for a more easily understood story with a clear resolution.

I’d recommend this collection to readers who are willing to stretch their brains and are open to more literary types of stories, with their frustrations as well as their rewards.

ALISHAREADS enjoyed the anthology.

If you ever needed a manual on how to write a good short story, this collection would well and truly suffice.

Each story is bursting with imagination; exciting prose; thought-provoking vision. These stories are the cream of the crop, truly fine examples of what make speculative fiction so fascinating. Every piece has a crisp, literary quality to its writing, perfectly melded with the surreal ideas and themes explored within them.

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I will certainly be reading more work from the authors showcased in this collection, and also more from Tachyon Publications’ backlist: after releasing this and the wonderful CENTRAL STATION, they are swiftly becoming one of my favourite publishers!

For more info about INVADERS: 22 TALES FROM THE OUTER LIMITS OF LITERATURE, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Goro Fujita

Design by Elizabeth Story