Nevertheless

Tesseracts Anthology #21

by Rhonda Parrish (Editor), Greg Bechtel (Editor), Kate Heartfield

Nevertheless (Tesseracts Twenty-one) is a collection of optimistic speculative fiction stories, each optimistic in a slightly different way. These stories explore the optimism that drives us to seek out new worlds, that inspires us to sacrifice for others or fuels us to just keep going when everything seems lost and in so doing turn the idea upside down and inside out.

One of the reasons best reasons doing an anthology of optimistic future this year was because no matter which side of the political or social spectrum you land on, it's been a tough year. Nevertheless we try to remain optimistic. Nevertheless, we don't give up. Nevertheless, yes, we persist. The stories in this anthology of optimistic SF are some of the darkest optimistic stories you'll ever read but, nevertheless, they are optimistic. And powerful.

Featuring stories and poems by: James Bambury, Meghan Bell, Gavin Bradley, Ryan Henson Creighton, Darrel Duckworth, Dorianne Emmerton, Pat Flewwelling, Stephen Geigen-Miller, Jason M. Harley, Kate Heartfield, R. W. Hodgson, Jerri Jerreat, Jason Lane, Buzz Lanthier-Rogers, Alison McBain, Michael Milne, Fiona Moore, Ursula Pflug, Michael Reid, S. L. Saboviec, Lisa Timpf, Leslie Van Zwol, Natalia Yanchak.

Genres: Science Fiction

270 pages, Kindle Edition

First published September 3, 2018

About the author

Rhonda Parrish has the attention span of a magpie. Not only can she not focus on a single project at a time, but she also fails at sticking to one genre or even one type of writing (she does manage to stay true to one hockey team, though – Let’s go Oilers!). Perhaps best known for her work as an anthology editor – the Ottawa Review of Books called her “Canada’s best-known and most prolific speculative fiction anthologist” – Rhonda also works as a short story writer, novelist, game writer and a poet. She has been honoured to be included in a handful of ‘Best of’ anthologies, earn a coveted starred review from Publisher’s Weekly and be shortlisted for several awards including the Rhysling Award, the Aurora Award, the Dwarf Stars Award and Alberta Book Publishing Awards.

Most of her work falls under the speculative fiction umbrella but she has also penned paranormal non-fiction and non-speculative work.

In an effort to impose some order in her chaos, these days most of her short fiction and poetry is published directly through her Patreon https://www.patreon.com/c/RhondaParrish .

More information about her, updates and calls for submission are posted on her website http://www.rhondaparrish.com/home/.

Reviews

[Diana · Rating 4 out of 5]

NEVERTHELESS (TESSERACTS TWENTY-ONE) selected and edited by Rhonda Parrish and Greg Bechtel is an anthology of Canadian Optimistic Fiction.
I read an e-Book Edition, published by EDGE-Lite, an imprint of Hades Publications, Inc. Calgary, Alberta.
I received my copy of NEVERTHELESS from the publisher as part of LIBRARYTHING’s Early Review Program. Thank you.
The book includes a Tesseracts series list of titles; a Table of Contents; an Introduction by Rhonda Parrish; 23 stories; and an Afterword by Greg Bechtel.

The Introduction by Rhonda Parrish tells the ‘theme’ of the anthology - “Optimism which doesn’t necessarily exclude dark or scary settings, but does require some sort of optimistic twist or element.”
Greg Bechtel writes in the Afterword (“Afterword: What rough beast”) of the challenges of fitting into the theme of ‘optimism’; not sentimentalism or idealism, but optimism which ultimately translates into HOPE.
My remarks:
Several (if not most) of the stories are about ‘hope’ for the human race or the return of the human race.
Several (if not most) of the stories are set in a futuristic time period and include many robots/AI/Fantasy and Science Fiction elements.
Stories are very clever and thoughtful AND optimistic AND hopeful.

Stories include:
“Inside the spiral” by Dorianne Emmerton
“Pin and Spanner” by Pat Flewwelling
“Red” by Alison McBain (a very ‘rhythmic’ story of Atem bannished from his tribe and following the Tauros to the mountains)
“Tera and Flux” by Leslie Van Zwol (very interesting)
“A breath for my daughter” by Jason M. Harley (extremely sad)
“Steve McQueen and the Hope Particle” by Gavin Bradley (I like this story. A powerful interweaving into the story of Steve McQueen movie dialogue.)
“On reading to the end” by Buzz Lanthier-Rogers (verse with a great rhythmic quality)
“Missed connections, Mactaquac” by James Bambury
“Pirates don’t make amends” by S.L. Saboviec
“A walk in the woods” by R.W. Hodgson
“Hill” by Ryan Henson Creighton
“Anhedonia” by Meghan Bell
“A room of his own” by Ursula Pflug
“It’s in the eyes” by Jerri Jerreat (a harmless librarian? Hah! No such thing! I know. I am one.)
“Across the seas of sand” by Jason Lane (very disturbing to me)
“Lt. Anderwicz goes applepicking” by Natalia Yanchak (Wow. Jolted me!)
“With two left feet” by Lisa Timpf (verse)
“A threadbare carpet” by Kate Heartfield (a ‘magic carpet’ taxi service; telepathic pigeons; gang wars; magic stones; what an imagination!)
“Green leaves don’t fall” by Stephen Geigen-Miller
“Proteus in the city” by Fiona Moore (very interesting and thoughtful)
“The garden” by darrel Duckworth
“One-Way Ticket” by Michael Milne
“The Rosedale House” by Michael Reid

I can heartily recommend this book and this series These anthologies are very interesting, imaginative, clever and thoughtful.

[J. · Rating 2 out of 5]

I guess I was expecting something much different when requesting an anthology of optimistic speculative fiction. I wasn't expecting extremely mature adult content for one. Also I don't think hopeful and dark go hand in hand. I can see how it could be done, using dark elements to contrast and highlight the hopeful message of the story but this anthology falls short. From the beginning I was disappointed. The first story was disturbing to me with lots of violence, sex and swearing (elements that were repeated in quite a few other stories). I really don't see how it was an optimistic story except that the author is hopeful to one day have sex any way and how and whatever they want with no consequences. The second story just didn't seem very polished and was predictable. There were a couple stories that I enjoyed: "A Walk in the Woods", "Hill" (though more violent than I usually like to read), "Across the Seas of Sand", "With Two Left Feet", "The Garden" came the closest to accomplishing the theme.

(I received this book through librarything in exchange for my honest opinion.)

[Sara · Rating 4 out of 5]

As with any anthology, there were some stories I skimmed, some I simply liked, and some that were so good I immediately reread them. A solid collection with a timely theme.

Inside the Spiral - 2.5 stars
Pin and Spanner - 3 stars
Red - 4 stars
Tera and Flux - 2 stars
A Breath for My Daughter- 5 stars
Steve McQueen and the Hope Particle - 4 stars
On Reading to the End - 3 stars
Missed Connections, Mactaquac - 4 stars
Pirates Don’t Make Amends - 3 stars
A Walk in the Woods - 3 stars
Hill - 4 stars
Anhedonia - 4 stars
A Room of His Own - 4 stars
It’s in the Eyes - 2.5
Across the Seas of Sand - 4 stars
Lt. Anderwicz Goes Applepicking - 4 stars
With Two Left Feet - 3 stars
A Threadbare Carpet - 5 stars
Green Leaves Don't Fall - 5 stars
Proteus in the City - 4 stars
The Garden - 4 stars
One-Way Ticket - 5 stars
The Rosedale House - 5 stars

[Mark Moxley-Knapp · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've read several Tesseracts collections now, and every one has been great. They pick a theme, and collect short stories revolving around that. But each story is wildly different, and well-written. Sure, some are better than others, but they are consistently good and often amazing. Looking forward to the next one.