A Jungle of Tales

               I enjoyed ‘The Three Body Problem’, which I was planning on re-reading later this year, so I was really expecting to like this short-story collection. However, while it had it's moments, it mostly didn’t work for me either from a science fiction perspective or a character perspective. I will try to explain why below.                There are some interesting themes here. One is the recurring appearance of alien artists – which show up in ‘Ode to Joy’ and ‘Sea of Dreams’ - or at least aliens who are trying to understand human art, as in ‘Cloud of Poems’. I like the concept of art being universal, but the specific manifestations of it sometimes being hard to comprehend…especially if the alien artist involved cares more about their art than about the life of other species. The concept in ‘Mirror’ of a string-theory-based computer that can simulate the universe down to the finest details, and therefore be a form of perfect surveillance (and the exploration of what th

              This is a terrific collection of short stories inspired by Caribbean folklore, the West Indian immigrant experience, women’s experiences and fears, or all three. I only wish it was longer.             Some stories are re-interpretations of western fairytales. ‘Riding the Red’, for instance, takes ‘Little Red Riding Hood’ back to its roots: But it’s the old wives who best tell those tales, oh yes…We’ve been there, and we lived to tell them. And don’t I remember being young once, and toothsome, and drunk on the smell of my own young blood flowing through my veins…I could make wolfie slaver, I could…He caught me, of course; some say he even tricked me into it, and it may be they’re right, but that’s not the way this old wife remembers it. In ‘Under Glass’ the idea of a world where the wind is full of glass shards that can rip you to shreds is scary…and the last lines point out the similarities to Hans Christian Anderson’s ‘The Ice Queen’. And ‘Precio

              They say you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover. But in this case, the lushly beautiful cover art above – seriously, look at that! – is an entirely accurate reflection of the gorgeous flower-studded story inside. The tale focuses on the Nomeolvides family, a matriarchal clan who have been called witches due to their ability to generate flowers – an ability that can’t be suppressed, only channeled. For a hundred years they have found a safe haven as the gardeners of La Pradera, an estate owned by the wealthy Briar family. But they can no longer leave the estate; if they try, they find themselves choking on pollen. And they carry another curse as well: if they fall too deeply in love with someone, that person vanishes from the world.             The book begins when the youngest generation of Nomeolvides discover they all have a shared secret: Dalia had been smart enough not to keep any evidence. But her cousins knew, as soon as they saw the color b

              This set of short stories feels like more of a coherent whole than some Neil Gaiman collections. Almost of them have a dark, unsettling feeling to them that makes them perfect for a spooky October read.             One of my favorite stories in the collection isn’t listed separately: ‘The Wedding Present,’ in the introduction, involves a letter with a ‘Portrait of Dorian Grey’ quality. Another favorite is ‘Snow, Glass, Apples’, a story that will change forever how you look at the princess with hair black as coal, lips red as blood, and skin white as snow who stays beautiful within a glass coffin. ‘Chivalry’ is an outlier from the creepy tone, being a cute tale of an old lady who finds the Holy Grail in her local charity shop...and knows exactly what it is, but also thinks it just looks nice on the mantle. ‘We Can Get Them For You Wholesale’ starts with a similar quirky style, but when a man who can’t resist a bargain tries to engage a very accommodati

              I did not expect to love this book about a curmudgeonly old Swede so much! Specifically, I had heard good reviews, but I did not expect it to be so funny – often darkly funny. Basically, this book is what you would get if Terry Pratchett had decided to write a spin-off book about R.P. Tyler - the older gentleman in Good Omens who is the self-appointed neighborhood watch, the one always criticizing Adam and the Them and giving people convoluted driving directions – and made you sympathize with him.             Ove is not a people person, and he has very definite ideas of the proper way to do things. Every morning at 6 am he does a circuit of the neighborhood checking for burglars – there haven’t been any burglaries in years, but you never know – noting down car license plates to make sure no one is exceeding the 24 hour parking limit, and even checking that the trash is being separated properly. However, we also quickly start to get clues about why he

              My husband bought me this book for my birthday after seeing me devour the Daevabad trilogy - and I’m so glad he did because the best bits, the elements that hooked me, are not included in the blurb! It did make clear that the story is set in a 1912 alternate-Cairo, and the main character is a lady agent solving magical crimes. That’s moderately intriguing. But they couldn’t spare a sentence for Agent Fatma’s impeccable bowler hats and suits, her amazing girlfriend, or the adorable rookie partner she doesn’t want to take on who proves indispensable? What about the villain being able to burn people alive without damaging their clothing or the room? What about the dude who’s slowly turning into a crocodile? The title lets you know there will be djinn, but there is no mention of the other magical creatures. Even the steampunk elements only come up in a promotional quote, not the summary! I know with mysteries you want to avoid spoilers - but come on. Anyway