Sword and Laser Arrived!

My contributor copy of the Sword and Laser Anthology has arrived! This is the first time I've seen one of my short stories published in print, so I'm pretty excited! Want to take a peek?

The story is called False Lights and involves pirates lost in the mysterious Rift Space. I had a lot of fun writing it, so I hope people also have a lot of fun reading it. :-)

I've got another two short stories coming out in anthologies soon, and it's still a race to see which will be my first ever published short story. It's looking likely to be the Sword and Laser story, but there's still a chance one of the others may leap ahead in the final stages!

I've dipped into a few of the other stories in the Sword and Laser Anthology already and there's some fantastic stuff in there. I'm very proud to be part of it, and I'm looking forward to reading more.

Shadows Over Innsmouth - Book Review

Shadows Over Innsmouth
edited by Stephen Jones

Innsmouth, that isolated New England fishing village where “the vast huddle of sagging gambrel roofs and peaked gables conveyed with offensive clearness the idea of wormy decay.” A desolate place where the bulging, watery eyes of the residents stared from misshapen skulls, and a musty stench blended hideously with the town’s fishy odour. This is the setting of one of H. P. Lovecraft’s most famous tales, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, where hideous chants echo from Devil Reef and the Hall of Dagon.

Under the unblinking eye of World Fantasy Award-winning editor Stephen Jones, sixteen of the finest modern authors contribute stories to the canon of Cthulu. (Synopsis from back of book)

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I’ve read so many Lovecraftian stories now, enjoyed Cthulu mythos based books, movies and games, and am very familiar with the ideas and iconic elements of Lovecraft’s creation, but oddly, until this collection, I’d never actually read one of the original Lovecraft stories. This collection begins with The Shadow Over Innsmouth, which was pretty much exactly what I expected. The story is a slow starter, perhaps a little rambling in places, but with a great sense of atmosphere and, of course, a fantastically realised setting.

The other stories in the collection are all the works of other authors, all within the Cthulu mythos and with a connection to Innsmouth and to the events of the original Lovecraft story. The modern writers here are all men and all British, the former fact a bit disappointing and the latter just odd. Innsmouth itself is in America, and these stories are mostly set in America too, many in the Innsmouth area, and a few in Britain and Ireland (with one very notable exception set in Romania). The stories that break away from Innsmouth add a bit of variety, but it’s a shame that we don’t see the effect of these sinister events on more different places and cultures, and the arms of the cult of Dagon creeping over the world. There are only so many identical sleepy American towns and seaside British villages that a reader can take...

These stories, on the whole, offer exactly what you might expect from a collection of Lovecraftian stories. This is one of the strengths of the collection, but, unfortunately, I think for me it was also the main problem. I wanted to see a bit more of the unexpected. After a while, the horror and the creepy aspect of the stories begins to wear very thin as you realise that the plots and the tone of the stories mirror each other very strongly. The book continues at the same semi-religiously-paranoid pitch for large chunks, which is perfectly spot-on-Lovecraftian, but to the extent that I began to feel a little sorry for the fish-creatures and found myself taking their side a bit. Probably not the intended reaction, and not the fault of any one story, but the effect of the anthology as a whole. I understand that this collection is supposed to celebrate the original story, but I do think it’s possible to do that without having so many stories that are so similar to it. I wanted to be surprised and amazed. I wanted to see the authors really make the Lovecraftian elements their own.

This is why certain stories really stood out for me, the ones that take the familiar ideas and play with them, twist them a little, or use the atmosphere of the original story in a very different setting. These stories were Only the End of the World Again, by Neil Gaiman, and A Quarter to Three, by Kim Newman, which use a more playful attitude to give us a fresh look at Innsmouth and the kinds of people involved in the weirdness there, Down to the Boots, by D. F. Lewis, which offers a different perspective from the other stories, and The Homecoming, by Nicholas Royle, which I thought was a fantastic story and very clever in its use of the same paranoid atmosphere of the original, but applied to very different circumstances. Part of the horror for the narrator in A Shadow Over Innsmouth seems to come from a Victorian-like fear of the foreign ‘infiltrating’ society, having something of a similar feel to certain chapters in Dracula. The Homecoming uses this idea in very interesting ways, as we see citizens of a post-dictatorship Romania in constant fear of each other, and of what kinds of people may have infiltrated their world, and of a form of evil that appears to be immortal – one wave of fish-things may be defeated, but paranoia and cruelty never die. This story was so unexpected and yet made so much sense, and it was definitely my favourite of the anthology.

None of the stories in the collection were bad. To See the Sea, by Michael Marshall Smith, and Daoine Domhain, by Peter Tremayne, were, for me, particularly good examples of that heavy sense of foreboding and lurking evil that are so iconic to the Cthulu mythos. It’s just that I did get a little tired of reading one after another. I’d recommend reading a story every now and then, when you’re in the mood for something Cthulicious, rather than reading it all in one go like I did. There is plenty to enjoy here for the hardcore Lovecraft fans, but, ultimately, a little disappointing for me.


Thank you to Titan Books for providing a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Glitter and Mayhem - Book Review

Glitter and Mayhem
Edited by John Klima, Lynne M. Thomas, and Michael Damian Thomas

Welcome to Glitter & Mayhem, the most glamorous party in the multiverse.

Step behind the velvet rope of these fabulous Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror tales of roller rinks, nightclubs, glam aliens, party monsters, drugs, sex, glitter, and debauchery.

Dance through nightclubs, roller derby with cryptids and aliens, be seduced by otherworldly creatures, and ingest cocktails that will alter your existence forever. Your hosts are the Hugo Award-winning editors John Klima (Electric Velocipede) and Lynne M. Thomas (Apex Magazine), and the Hugo-nominated editor Michael Damian Thomas (Apex Magazine). (Synopsis from Goodreads)

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Glitter and Mayhem is a short story anthology with the theme of glamour, parties, nightclubs, drugs, sex and rollerskating, all with a science fiction or fantasy element. The stories are all odd, some more so than others, and there’s a wonderful mix of fun, tongue-in-cheek, scary, thoughtful and sad. An anthology with this kind of theme could have suffered from stories that are all too similar in style and feel, but here this is not the case at all; the editors have managed to collect a really interesting mix.

This collection is a huge amount of fun, but it’s also refreshingly diverse in the characters, lifestyles, relationships and sex it explores. The most obvious theme of the anthology might be glamour and parties, but I think its strongest themes are acceptance, identity, and loving yourself for who you are.

As always with anthologies, there were some stories that didn’t grab me as much as others, but overall it’s a really strong collection. There are funny stories and straightforward stories and some with very clever twists. There are fairytale themes, aliens, the supernatural, the fae, and plenty of rollerskating!

Some of my favourite stories were:

Sooner Than Gold, by Cory Skerry, in which a door could lead to anywhere, but you might not like what’s on the other side.

Subterraneans, by William Shunn and Laura Chavoen, an interesting take on body-swapping.

Such & Such Said to So & So, by Maria Dahvana Headley, which plays with language in a clever little story about drinking and addiction.

Bess, the Landlord’s Daughter, Goes for Drinks with the Green Girl, by Sofia Samatar, a very weird and well-written story.

Blood and Sequins, by Diana Rowland, an unconventional approach to the cops-take-out-the-bad-guys story.

Inside Hides the Monster, by Damien Walters Grintalis, which explores how a siren might have difficulty adapting to modern music tastes.

Bad Dream Girl, by Seanan McGuire, a really fun story about roller derby teams with some unusual members.

A Hollow Play, by Amal El-Mohtar, which asks what people might be willing to give up for what they love, and how much they really value those things.

A really enjoyable anthology with a good variety of stories and styles!


Thank you to Apex Publications for providing a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Magic: An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane - Book Review

Magic: An Anthology of the Esoteric and Arcane
edited by Jonathan Oliver

Amazon (UK) (USA)

They gather in darkness, sharing ancient and arcane knowledge as they manipulate the very matter of reality itself. Spells and conjuration; legerdemain and prestidigitation – these are the mistresses and masters of the esoteric arts. Magic comes alive in their hands. British Fantasy Award nominee, Jonathan Oliver, gathers together sixteen stories of magic, featuring some of today’s finest practitioners, including Audrey Niffenegger, Christopher Fowler, Gemma Files, Thana Niveau, Robert Shearman, Will Hill, Sarah Lotz, Storm Constantine, Dan Abnett, Sophia McDougall, Alison Littlewood, Lou Morgan, Gail Z. Martin and others. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

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Magic is my absolute favourite subject matter in fiction, and so a whole anthology of stories based on this theme definitely grabbed my attention. Most of the stories in the collection lean towards the darker side of the subject, exploring more sinister uses and sources of magic. There are stories about demons, magic used to kill and hurt others, dark energy, obsession, curses and more. The cover really does a great job of capturing the mood of the collection; it’s definitely dark fantasy, and many of the images and atmosphere of the stories will linger with you.

As with all short story collections, there are going to be some stories that are a hit and some that are a miss, and this is likely to be very subjective. Personally, I found this quite a strong anthology, with plenty of stories that kept me interested, and I think there will certainly be something here for everyone. The majority of stories were enjoyable, many very gripping or moving, a few forgettable ones (and one I would really like to forget), and some that I would happily read if they were to be turned into longer novels or series. In general the stories are quite short and well paced. I found myself reading through the whole collection very quickly.

Although I really enjoyed the collection, I did feel like it might have been nicer to have a bit more variety in the settings and type of magic used. The majority were set in modern day or more recent past, and the magic tied to the supernatural, giving the collection an urban fantasy feel. I would have liked to see a little more mysterious, unfamiliar, traditional fantasy, and fairytale magic explored as well, and it would have been interesting to see how the authors might have given that a dark twist and their own original spin.

My favourites in the collection were The Wrong Fairy, by Audrey Niffenegger, a wonderfully atmospheric story involving fairies, addiction and madness; Do As Thou Wilt, by Storm Constantine, a unique and clever look at modern witches and the power people have, with some very subtle magic; MailerDaemon, by Sophia McDougall, a very creepy, and at the same time surprisingly beautiful story; Buttons, by Gail Z. Martin, a great little urban fantasy; The Art of Escapology, by Alison Littlewood, another creepy story in a very different way, well told; and Shuffle, by Will Hill, which managed to tell a lot of story with so little revealed, as if the story itself is a magic trick.

I enjoyed this collection, and I think those who like stories about magic, urban fantasy, or dark fantasy involving the supernatural, will easily find something to like here.

A Taste of Blood Wine - Blog Tour & Short Story Extract

Have you heard that Titan Books are re-releasing Freda Warrington's vampire series, the wonderful Blood Books, beginning with A Taste of Blood Wine and leading up to a brand new book in the series? Today I'm really excited to be a host in the “Gorgeous Grave-throbber” Tour, with the second part of one of Freda's related short stories!

From award-winning British fantasy author Freda Warrington, A Taste of Blood Wine (Titan Books, May 2013) is the first novel of a gothic vampire melodrama.

To celebrate the return of the critically acclaimed Blood Books in collectable paperback and e-book edition, Titan Books and Freda Warrington are serialising two rare and risqué stories set within the universe of the Blood Books across a series of websites and blogs.

This is part two of And Their Blood Will Be Prescient to Fire, and you can read the rest of the tale here. Hope you enjoy it!

 

 

 

And Their Blood Will Be Prescient to Fire: Part 2

by Freda Warrington

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Robyn. Seventy years lost. Violette, who thought she couldn’t love, had loved her. Perhaps she’d come close with others since, but Robyn was the ruby set in her heart. A glorious courtesan defying Boston’s high society; a wounded soul, beautiful, warm and funny. The miracle was that Robyn had wanted her too. But Violette had turned her away. Robyn, if I let you come with me… I will destroy you.

It had seemed the right decision at the time.

Violette was hardly aware of her surroundings. She could only see Robyn’s face, smell her hair. Charlotte’s voice startled her.

‘Where are you going?’

‘To speak to her.’

Charlotte’s hand shot out and circled her upper arm. ‘Don’t.’

‘Do you think a day goes by that I haven’t longed to find her again?’ Violette hissed. ‘Let me go.’

Too much liquid swam in Charlotte’s eyes. Fear, jealousy. ‘Violette, it isn’t Robyn.’

The dancer plucked Charlotte’s hand off her arm and pushed it away. ‘Let me go. Whoever she is, at least let me look at her face again for a few minutes.’

The main lobby of the hotel was bright, sparkling with huge chandeliers. From the marshmallow comfort of a sofa, Violette watched the woman pacing, talking into a mobile phone, high heels clicking on the marble floor. At last she ended the conversation, turned and saw Violette.

‘Hi again,’ she said, about to walk straight past. Violette sat forward and made brazen eye contact, her posture demanding conversation. With those brilliant kohl-ringed eyes she could convey emotion to the back of the stalls. The effect on the woman was virtually physical. She halted, bemused as if Violette had tripped her.

‘Hi,’ said Violette. ‘Is your evening going as well as mine?’

‘Oh, my dinner date stood me up. Migraine, sure; too many brandies at lunch is more like it.’

‘Same here,’ said Violette. ‘That is, my friend was called away. Ordered this bottle, and now no one to drink it with.’ She indicated Stefan’s demon-brew, which she’d seized and brought with her. The thick green glass of the bottle glistened. There were two fresh glasses beside it. ‘I’d love it if you’d help me out.’

Despite the cool poise of her exterior, Violette was trembling inwardly like a teenager. Her approach felt inane and desperate. The desire to keep this gorgeous, distracted stranger beside her was turning her into a fool.

‘Oh, sure, why not.’ The woman flopped down, stretching stockinged calves. She took out a palmtop computer and began tapping at it, at the same time trying to keep the folder from sliding off her knee. Violette, hypnotised, watched Robyn’s warm face with its mischievous dark eyes, Robyn’s unruly thick hair falling forward and being pushed back. ‘It’s such a damn nuisance… hope the guy’s okay for a working breakfast… Oh, and my sister’s picking me up at nine… Damn, I need to email Mark; that’s my husband…’

Violette had a vision of breaking into a strange house and sucking the life from a faceless man. No more husband. She poured syrupy straw-gold plasma into the woman’s glass.

‘What do you do?’ she asked softly.

‘What? Oh, pharmaceutical company. Really dull.’ The woman flipped the palmtop shut and into her purse. ‘Sorry, I’m not normally this rude. You so don’t look part of the convention, and you’ll turn out to be head of some huge corporation and I’ll have blown a billion-dollar deal.’

‘Relax. I’m not.’

‘I’m Ruth Sarandon.’ She reached out and shook hands, her fingers warm in Violette’s cold ones.

‘I read the name tag.’

‘You’re not wearing one,’ said Ruth. She took the glass. There was no sign of Robyn’s calm, sensual personality beneath the brittle energy.

‘I’m Violette.’ She didn’t think to offer a false name.

‘Well, cheers, Violette.’ The dancer watched as Ruth-Robyn took a mouthful of blood plasma. She swallowed hard, eyes watering. ‘Wow, that’s different. Kind of bitter, like an aperitif. Not bad.’ She turned the bottle, holding it by the neck. ‘No label. That’s scary.’

‘It peeled off. Condensation.’ Usually Violette dealt in the truth. Tonight it felt all too easy to spill one lie after another. The spiked blood made her unguarded and she was floating in a dream where all that mattered was what she wanted.

‘So, what brings you to Boston?’ Ruth asked. She took large mouthfuls of her drink, shuddering a little with each one. Violette looked at the chestnut hair lying against her throat.

‘Oh… working trip,’ she began, but Ruth sat forward, speaking over her.

‘You know, you look incredibly familiar. Did you say your name was Violette? Are you a ballet dancer?’

Violette bit her lip, cursing inwardly. She felt the magic bleeding away. The chatter of people in the lobby became deafening. She shrugged, gave a self-effacing smile. ‘I’m off-duty.’

‘You’re the Violette Lenoir, right?’ Ruth put down her drink and clapped her hands. ‘Oh, my God, my little sister worships you. She will die if she knows I met you.’

Violette’s eyes widened. She had an image of a small girl, like a child in an Edward Gorey cartoon, literally expiring in the face of her big sister’s news. Meanwhile Ruth’s chatter went on: ‘I say little; Sarah’s twenty-three. Oh, her room’s a shrine, she has every one of your ballets on DVD, she truly spends every cent of her wages on you…’ and Violette sat transfixed by dismay. This was the last thing she wanted. She wanted Robyn, the wordless bliss of finding each other again. Not the inane flutter of a stranger. She wanted Robyn so badly the feeling pushed tears into her eyes.

She drank down the herb-fragrant blood. It gelled inside her like disappointment. She let the words wash over her until she couldn’t hear them any more. The world was buzzing madly around her, speeded up in time while she sat utterly still. No longer seeing the babbling woman there, only seeing Robyn.

She became aware that Ruth had stopped and was staring uneasily at her. ‘So – I guess an autograph’s out of the question? For Sarah, not me.’

‘Forgive me.’ Violette’s attempt at graciousness sounded wooden. ‘It’s wonderful that your sister… To know my work’s not in vain.’

‘I’m sorry,’ said Ruth. ‘You must get this all the time. Another gushing idiot, and here you are trying to relax. I’ll stop.’

Her voice had an edge suggesting disapproval of stars who weren’t meltingly grateful to their fans. Violette didn’t care. She leaned into the sofa, her body turned towards Ruth’s, one hand supporting her head and the other resting lightly on her hip.

‘Actually, I’m trying to pick you up,’ Violette said coolly, not blinking. ‘Can we please go to your room before everyone in this bloody hotel recognises me?’

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Read the rest of the short story, And Their Blood Will Be Prescient to Fire, here. And don't forget to hop over to The Curiosity of a Social Misfit for part 3!

Thanks Freda Warrington and Titan Books. I'm so looking forward to reading the book! :-)

The first book in Freda Warrington’s Blood Books series, A Taste of Blood Wine, is out now from Titan Books, £7.99. 

Athena Andreadis Interview

On Sunday I reviewed The Other Half of the Sky, an anthology of science fiction stories focussing on female characters. I loved the collection, and today I’ve asked the editor, Athena Andreadis, to stop by and tell us some more about herself, her projects, and the anthology.


Hi Athena! Thank you for visiting to talk about The Other Half of the Sky. It’s a wonderful collection! What made you decide to put together the anthology?

I was fed up with the fact that in the 21st century we still have to argue about whether women can be protagonists, heroes and agents of destiny beyond the narrow roles prescribed by primitive interpretations of their biology. The drizzle of reprint anthologies left me feeling malnourished, although I recognize their value for new readers. It was also disheartening to observe the ghetto-within-the ghetto segregation of women writers into fantasy. Finally, I was fed up with the fact that we consider women’s issues solved and feminism “passé” when facts speak loudly otherwise.

How did you go about finding stories for the collection?

I solicited writers whose work I liked intrinsically (as worldbuilders and wordsmiths) and also in terms of their views of women as full humans. Everyone I asked who was not already overwhelmed with commitments accepted the invitation.

Were there any tropes or stereotypes in particular that you wanted to avoid?

My guidelines were broad but gave a good sense of what I wanted and didn’t want:

-- Space opera(ish) and/or mythic, but it has to be SF -- not fantasy;
-- female protagonist(s), who do not/are not made to feel guilty about career versus family;
-- content and style geared to adult readers, not YA "finding one's self/place";
-- no "big ideas" Leaden Age SF or near-future earthbound cyber/steampunk.

I wanted to see worlds where equality is as natural and taken for granted as breathing, and women are free to do anything and everything they want without having to spend time and energy justifying choices that go beyond supporting roles. I also wanted SF that had layers and echoes and was not the standard conquest-mode space opera populated by alpha male demigods. I wanted to see full adults doing the nuanced, shaded things adults do: vocations and relationships, but also the myriad small struggles and pleasures that constitute a full life. And I wanted to see it done as literature, not hackery trying to hide behind the fig leaf of “story of ideas”.

What exactly does the editor of an anthology do? What are the steps from initial idea to finished collection?

An anthology editor is like a startup owner or the head of a lab: a cross between a main node of a complex network and a cat wrangler. She crafts the collection guidelines, solicits the participants if the anthology is by invitation, reads the submissions closely and discusses how to burnish them with their creators at all scales. Someone in my particular configuration also chooses the co-editor, cover artist and publisher (more commonly, publishers choose editors for a project and they also have a decisive voice about the cover artist). In my case, it was a serendipitous lagniappe that while “looking for the best” I ended up with women in the co-editor, cover artist and co-publisher slots.

Once the submissions and cover art have been finalized and approved, the editor, with the co-editor’s help, orders the stories so that they form an arc; she also shapes, issues and tracks the contracts. After that, she gets intimately involved in the production process (a whole universe in itself) and the publicity mill: endorsement solicitations, requests for reviews, promotion at relevant conventions, the book site, social media.

In The Other Half of the Sky I particularly liked how not all the female characters were necessarily heroes or good people, or powerful in a traditional sense, but always felt like real people. Were you very conscious of trying to include a range of different kinds of characters?

I trusted the authors I invited to give me wide ranges in all dimensions without prompting. They certainly didn’t disappoint me. As they say, the way to get things done is to choose your partners with care, then let them do what they’re best at. An editor, like a lab head, needs to know not only what to say but also when and how to say it.

I love how the title The Other Half of the Sky can refer to both women and other underrepresented groups in science fiction. The characters and societies of these stories are very diverse. Was this a deliberate aim when putting the anthology together?

It was my desire and hope that we’d end up with all kinds of diversity without me forcing the issue. Yet again, my collaborators amply fulfilled my expectations. What pleased me the most was the fact that most of the stories depict non-Anglo worlds.

A lot of the stories have a strong focus on identity as part of a family, a unit, a tribe, a society, or a ship’s crew. This seemed to me to be one of the biggest differences between the stories here and the traditional narrative of the male ‘chosen one’, who tends to be rather an isolated figure. Do you see this as an important part of the collection, and why do you think this, in particular, is a recurring idea?

Real human beings (like real genes, not the “selfish” imaginary entities of social Darwinists) never exist, function or act in isolation. Only US teenagers of all ages think that the angsty isolated “godling mode” is a viable mode for either reality or fiction. It was part of my wish to see complex networks and relationships but, again, I didn’t force the issue. Unless I was projecting powerful thought waves… (ponders).

When you were putting the collection together, did you have a ratio of fun-to-serious, sad-to-happy, etc, stories that you wanted, or were you lucky in receiving a good balance?

I didn’t specify any of that. I took them as they came – but of course I had handicapped the game by my initial choice of contributors.

What do you see as some of the biggest problems concerning women writers and female characters in science fiction?

Shoehorning into Procrustean slots by people who confuse parochial views with universal truths. Characteristic example: “Women are never soldiers, hence blablabla.” This can only come from people who think of war as conquest, never as defense of one’s home. Resistance movements swam with women across all times and places.

Do you think things are changing?

They seem to be stagnant, despite the veritable flood of talented non-whiteanglomale writers in the domain. See: 2013 Clarke Awards roster and the larger plight of women SF writers in the UK. Or the Vida statistics about representation.

For readers who enjoyed the collection, can you recommend some great female authors of science fiction, or sci-fi books with memorable, believable and well written women?

Here are a few selected memorable SF works that combine both attributes (women authors, women heroes):

C. J. Cherryh, Downbelow Station (Signy Mallory)
C. S. Friedman, In Conquest Born (Anzha lyu Mitethe)
Octavia Butler, Wild Seed (Anyanwu)
Joan Vinge, Eyes of Amber (T’uuppieh)
Melissa Scott, Trouble and Her Friends (India Carless)
M. J. Locke, Up Against it (Jane Navio)
Aliette de Bodard, On a Red Station, Drifting (Linh, Quyen)
Kristin Landon, The Hidden Worlds trilogy (Linnea Kiaho)

Bharati Mukherjee, The Holder of the World (Hannah Easton)

How did you become involved in science fiction? And what do you do when you don’t edit?

I read science fiction since I was a child – the first book I remember reading was Verne’s unexpurgated Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea. But then again, I vacuumed up everything, regardless of genre (which is much more fluid and porous outside the Anglophone sphere). When I’m not writing, editing or hugging my yetis, tigers and bears, I conjure in the lab: I do basic research on the molecular causes of dementia, though my work has been decimated by the funding shortfalls of the last decade.

Are you working on anything else at the moment? Another edited collection, or your own fiction perhaps?

I’m always working at my fiction; I have a large universe from which two stories have been published so far (Dry Rivers and Planetfall, in Crossed Genres; Planetfall has since appeared in World SF and will be in Apex World SF 3). It starts in the Minoan era – an alternate timeline in which the civilization survives the Thera explosion – and reaches far into the future, with the descendants on a distant earthlike planet. The combination of layers, mythic echoes, women protagonists (often first-person and not needing to “find themselves”) and non-Anglo backdrops has made publication nigh-impossible. But once I have enough beads to make a necklace, I will make sure they find a home.

If The Other Half of the Sky does well, its successor will focus on women scientists and engineers in universes of true equality. Triple goddesses!

Do you have a favourite author or book?

Fraught question to ask a bookworm! I have as many favorites as the sky has stars.

Good answer! I always find that question impossible too.

Okay, a fun question to wrap up with. If you could live in any of the worlds or societies of the stories in this collection, which would it be? (Mine would be the universe of ‘Sailing the Antarsa’, or maybe Boscobel because the tree-world sounded fascinating and fun)

Indeed, I could see myself living happily in either of these universes. But I’d be even happier as a Raksuran court queen! I’d feel right at home, since one of the cultures in my universes is matrilineal and practices polyandry. But it’s not a mirror image of polygyny: the co-husbands feel and act like brothers (it helps that they’re telepaths).

Ooh that sounds interesting! I’ll definitely be looking out for your fiction in future.

Thank you for stopping by Athena!

Athena Andreadis

The Other Half of the Sky will be out later this month from Candlemark & Gleam. Read a free sample on their website!

Athena Andreadis was born in Hellás and lured to the US at age 18 by a full scholarship to Harvard, then MIT. She does basic research in molecular neurobiology, focusing on mechanisms of mental retardation and dementia. She’s an avid reader in four languages across genres and the author of To Seek Out New Life: The Biology of Star Trek. She also writes speculative fiction and non-fiction on a wide swath of topics and cherishes all the time she gets to spend with her partner, Peter Cassidy. Her work can be found in Harvard Review, Belles Lettres, Strange Horizons, Crossed Genres, Stone Telling, Cabinet des Fées, Bull Spec, Science in My Fiction, SF Signal, The Apex Blog, World SF, SFF Portal, H+ Magazine, io9, The Huffington Post, and her own site, Starship Reckless. (Bio from The Other Half of the Sky: Contributors)

The Other Half of the Sky - Book Review

The Other Half of the Sky
Edited by Athena Andreadis and Kay Holt

Women may hold up more than half the sky on earth, but it has been different in heaven: science fiction still is very much a preserve of male protagonists, mostly performing by-the-numbers quests. In The Other Half of the Sky, editor Athena Andreadis offers readers heroes who happen to be women, doing whatever they would do in universes where they’re fully human: starship captains, planet rulers, explorers, scientists, artists, engineers, craftspeople, pirates, rogues… As one of the women in Tiptree’s “Houston, Houston, Do You Read?” says: “We sing a lot. Adventure songs, work songs, mothering songs, mood songs, trouble songs, joke songs, love songs – everything.” Everything. (Synopsis from Goodreads)

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This anthology actually comes at a very appropriate time, with a lot of discussion happening at the moment about women in science fiction and fantasy, the problems facing female authors, and representation of women on the nomination lists for major genre awards. On a more personal level, I recently tried to put together a list of favourite characters in science fiction books and found that not only did I struggle to think of enough, but there were no female characters even close to making the list. A bit disturbed by that, I switched to a list of fantasy characters instead, and quickly compiled an all-female top ten without even really trying. I was therefore very excited to read this anthology!

This collection’s specific purpose is to draw together stories about women, real women as opposed to the caricatures and stereotypes that often pop up in science fiction. The characters in this anthology are not necessarily good women or even ‘strong’ women, but real people who are intellectually and emotionally equal to men, and whose stories are just as powerful and important. The editor, Athena Andreadis, explains in her introduction that what we won’t find in this collection are “wicked stepmothers, statements like “This is a man’s job,” or “Aren’t you shortchanging your children?” You won’t find wasp-waisted turbo-breasted courtesans or women with obedience spliced into their DNA... You won’t find alpha males – who, incidentally don’t exist biologically in humans”.

The Other Half of the Sky is an anthology that gathers great female characters of all varieties, from all kinds of writers (and male authors as well as women). The table of contents reveals a fantastic line up of authors, and the stories really don’t disappoint. This is the strongest collection of short stories that I’ve read yet, and not just as feminist tales or science fiction focussing on women, but as stories full-stop. The range of ideas and different tones and styles is astonishing, some of it familiar but told engagingly, much that is new and original, some with the exciting feel of an adventure story, some powerful and moving, some enchanting, and some that I found very challenging. There really is something here for everyone.

Occasionally I found that the characters themselves were overshadowed by the ideas and worlds of the stories, which was a bit of a shame considering the aim of the collection. There were also one or two stories that felt like they ended a bit abruptly, or that could perhaps have done with a novella or longer book to explore their ideas more fully. These were just small points, however, and the incredible strength of the collection, and of the writing of all the stories really does shine. The stories also work very well together; the editor and co-editor have done an excellent job of finding stories that complement and challenge each other. I would recommend that readers go through in order, rather than dipping in and out.

One of the biggest strengths of the collection is that it doesn’t just show us ‘the other half of the sky’ as far as women are concerned, but in other ways too. Many of the stories gathered here offer glimpses of a future in which the dominant culture is not Western, in which sexuality and gender identity are varied and accepted, and in which the language and tropes of alien contact stories do not have to reflect the colonialism of the past. Every single story, even those that play with familiar territory and ideas, offers something a little new. Many of the stories manage to be a lot of fun while also leaving the reader with plenty to think about.

It would also be a mistake to overlook Athena Andreadis’ introductory essay, which lays out some of the problems with the genre but at the same time shows a deep love for science fiction. Her ideas are well argued and her comments on the selected stories and authors are both interesting and a great starting place to find other work by these writers. One of the reasons I love anthologies is that they help me to discover new writers that I might otherwise have missed, and this collection certainly fulfils that. I was already familiar with a few of these authors, but I will certainly be searching out more fiction from all of them.

My favourites in the collection (though they were all excellent, and it’s very hard to pick out just a few) were:

Sailing the Antarsa, by Vandana Singh. An extraordinary and enchanting story – science fiction with a folkloric or mythical feel. My favourite in the collection.

The Waiting Stars, by Aliette de Bodard. I’ve loved Aliette’s writing for a while now, and this is another beautifully written and moving story from her.

The Shape of Thought, by Ken Liu. A first contact story that examines language, sexuality and colonisation. An emotional and well-told story.

Mimesis, by Martha Wells. I loved the creatures in this story and the descriptions of their world. Great characters and an exciting story.

Exit, Interrupted, by C. W. Johnson. This is such a great concept, well paced and exciting, and it ends perfectly.

Dagger and Mask, by Cat Rambo. This story had a really interesting approach, told from the point of view of the assassin sent to kill a ship’s captain, and yet really the story is about the captain. Another great ending.


Thank you to Candlemark & Gleam and NetGalley for providing a review copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Fragile Things - Book Review

Neil Gaiman’s second collection of short fiction, a dazzling book of short stories from one of modern fiction's greatest and most imaginative writers. These stories will dazzle your senses, haunt your imagination and move you to the very depths of your soul. This extraordinary book reveals one of the world's most gifted storytellers at the height of his powers. (From Amazon UK. Click here for Fragile Things on Goodreads.)

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If you’re looking for somewhere to start with short stories, or if you already love short stories and are searching for something new to read, this is a fantastic choice. It’s fair to say that Neil Gaiman is an incredibly popular author, but I’ve actually found his longer books a bit hit-and-miss for me. Some are wonderful (The Graveyard Book is a must read), while others I wasn’t so keen on. Neil Gaiman’s shorts, however, I love. I should clarify... I love his short stories, though I’m sure he has very nice summer wear. I’m betting they’re knee-length and black, featuring a pattern of whimsical dancing skeletons in top-hats. Which, oddly, is not that far off being a description of his short stories as well.

There are all kinds of stories and poems in Fragile Things, ranging in atmosphere and subject matter. Identity, love and loss, storytelling, and, as you might expect, fragility, are all themes running through the collection. There are stories and poems about magic, ghosts, monsters, aliens, vampires, curses, zombies, and fairies, to name only a few, and many of these take turns and approaches that you might not expect. Most of the stories and poems in the book can also be read on several levels; they are very rarely just about what is literally happening on the page. They are all very clever, and some demand more than one reading. For fans of American Gods, there is also a longer story featuring Shadow, the main character of that novel.

Most of the content leans towards dark fantasy or horror, though there is nothing that I found really gruesome or too frightening. Instead, many of the stories are creepy or enchanting, sometimes both, in a way that lingers long after the telling has finished. All of them have that signature Gaiman subtlety in dealing with magic; the supernatural and the fantastical are shown to exist alongside our modern world, sometimes in the most mundane places, and in several of the stories the supernatural is also used as a metaphor for aspects of the human condition. This is particularly the case with the zombie story ‘Bitter Grounds’, which was one of my favourites in the collection. If the book carries one message throughout all the stories and poems, it is of the power and importance of telling stories, how stories can affect people, and how creating them and passing them down is a large part of what makes us human.

Stories and poems that really stood out for me included ‘October in the Chair’, ‘Closing Time’, ‘Bitter Grounds’, ‘Locks’, ‘The Problem of Susan’, ‘How to Talk to Girls at Parties’ and ‘Sunbird’. ‘A Study in Emerald’ is also a great concept for a story, but I wish that it had been longer and developed further. This also goes for a few other stories, and there were one or two that I found a bit dull. But really, most of the pieces in this collection are very good, and all worth reading, and because they are so open to interpretation in different ways, I think every reader’s favourites are likely to be different.

Fragile Things is an extremely strong collection that can be enjoyed by both new readers and long-standing fans of Neil Gaiman’s work.