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zoe brooks

July 13, 2016

The recommended INVADERS really explores the outer limits of literature

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized anthology, bill capossere, black gate, bookshots, elizabeth story, fantasy, fantasy literature, goro fujita, invaders, invaders: 22 tales from the outer limits of literature, jacob wesiman, john o'neill, leah dearborn, Lit Reactor, magic realism, review, science fiction, zoe brooks

Reviews for Jacob Weisman’s anthology INVADERS: 22 TALES FROM THE OUTER LIMITS OF LITERATURE are flooding in.

Photo by Jill Roberts

At FANTASY LITERATURE, Bill Capossere found the book easy to recommend.

As with most collections, whether they be of stories, poems, or essays, I found INVADERS: 22 TALES FROM THE OUTER LIMITS OF LITERATURE, edited by Jacob Wesiman, to be a mixed bag overall, with some weak stories, some solidly good ones, some very good ones, and several absolutely great ones, more in fact than I typically find in an anthology, making this an easy collection to recommend.

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INVADERS has 22 stories. A quarter of them are out-and-out great. Another quarter or so are very good. And most of the rest are solid, enjoyable pieces told in skillful prose. Which makes INVADERS one of the better anthologies I’ve read lately.

Zoe Brooks of MAGIC REALISM praises INVADERS.

Whilst these stories are science fiction and not magic realism, many of the writers contributing to the anthology are already authors of magic-realist fiction, who have been invited to try their hands at speculative fiction. The resulting stories are remarkable and fascinating. One of the consequences of asking these literary authors to write sci-fi was there was generally a strong focus on the human element in the stories – relationships, sexual relations and indeed the nature of being human (something particularly appropriate to the sci-fi genre).

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This collection really explores the outer limits of literature as it claims. I recommend it to you.

For LIT REACTOR, Leah Dearborn gives the anthology the Bookshots treatment.

INVADERS seems to be a collection designed with the task of subverting and upending stereotypes about “genre” fiction in mind. Its authors weave complex speculative fiction within the short spaces alloted them. Whether a conscious effort or not, it does an admirable job of showcasing how seamlessly science fiction themes can be blended with a more traditionally literary voice. The stories are smart and balanced, with a dark side but highly readable.

INVADERS covers a lot of ground between its 22 short stories. Sometimes the invaders are interpreted as evil metal giants, sometimes they’re adults in a land of children. It’s an interesting theme that the various authors clearly enjoy toying with. The stories range from ostensibly serious to comedy—oh, never-mind-that’s-actually-really-serious-and-you-waited-until-the-last-page-to-sucker-punch-the-reader. There’s some darkness, a few laughs, and a lot of expertly crafted hooks.

John O’Neill of BLACK GATE is excited about the book.

When I was at the Nebula Awards weekend I had a chance to catch up with my friend Jacob Weisman, publisher of Tachyon Books, and I asked him about his upcoming anthology INVADERS: 22 TALES FROM THE OUTER LIMITS OF LITERATURE. I had assumed it was a collection of alien invasion tales but, as he patiently explained to me, that’s not it at all. Jacob has gathered a superb batch of stories by literary authors who have invaded science fiction — and left distinct footprints behind.

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

Cover by Goro Fujita

Design by Elizabeth Story

March 26, 2015

THE ESSENTIAL W. P. KINSELLA is for anyone who wants to read a master of the short story form

Alec Checkerfield Uncategorized baseball, canada, collection, first nations, Hobbema Indian Reservation, magic realism, review, short stories, the essential w. p. kinsella, w. p. kinsella, zoe brooks

For MAGIC REALISM, Zoe Brooks praises THE ESSENTIAL W. P. KINSELLA.

Last January I reviewed W.P. Kinsella’s last novel BUTTERFLY WINTER. Now Kinsella’s publishers have produced this collection of his finest short stories. Kinsella will always be best known for his baseball magic-realist novel SHOELESS JOE, which became the film FIELD OF DREAMS. But this collection shows that his work is more diverse than his famous opus would suggest.

There are a number of magic-realist baseball stories including the story that started it all, Shoeless Joe Jackson Comes to Iowa. Although I know nothing about baseball I really enjoyed Kinsella’s stories, which are less about a sport than about questioning the human condition or exploring concepts.

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Alongside these clearly magic-realist baseball stories you will find a number of more realistic Canadian First Nation stories set on the Hobbema Indian Reservation. I had not come across these stories before, which poke fun at the Canadian authorities’ and white population’s attitude to the First Nations. I was firmly on the side of the narrator, the young Cree Silas Ermineskin, and his mates chuckling at their exploits and wry comments.

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In addition to the baseball and Hobbema Indian stories, the collection includes a number of standalone stories. I particularly enjoyed two very different stories about mature men falling in love. Lieberman in Love is an unusual take on a man’s relationship with a prostitute and The Last Surviving Member of the Japanese Victory Society is a story about intercultural love in face of opposition from the woman’s mother. The latter story is probably my favourite in the collection and has such an emotional honesty about it that I was not surprised to read the author’s moving dedication to his deceased wife at its end.

I recommend this book to anyone who wants to read a master of the short story form.

Read the rest of Brooks’ review at MAGIC REALISM.

For more info about THE ESSENTIAL W. P. KINSELLA, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover art by Thomas Canty.

Cover design by Elizabeth Story.