Odes to the Multiverse

by Tonya R. Moore

Punk scifi, space opera, horror & urban fantasy vignettes and short stories featuring cosmic tales of distant worlds and strange futures where earthbound horrors unfold. This omnibus invites you to marvel at the macabre and maleficent; and embrace the weird and wonderful.

Genres: Science Fiction, Horror, Fantasy

169 pages, Paperback

First published April 23, 2020

About the author

Tonya R. Moore writes speculative fiction. Born and raised in Jamaica, she hopes to bring a fresh, new, West Indian perspective to the science fiction, fantasy, and horror universes. She is a Poetry Acquiring Editor at FIYAH Literary Magazine. She was also a Voodoonauts 2022 Fellow and a Finalist for the 2022 Analog Science Fiction & Fact Award for Emerging Black Voices.

Reviews

[Eric Johnson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read

Its a good book that has a lot of variety of stories. Some are horror and some that stand out. I definitely recommend this book

[Char | · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to Netgally and BooksGoSocial for this e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

Odes to the Multiverse is a completely unique set of thirty short stories.
I loved this and devoured the collection in a few hours.

My favourites (the stories I gave five stars to) are
Mermaid
Vertigo
Gatherer
Green Day
Mermaid From Outer Space
Going Dark
Ephemera
Space Age Mermaid

#OdestotheMultiverse #NetGalley

[Rebecca · Rating 4 out of 5]

ODES to the Multiverse is a fantastically original set of short stories which had me captivated. Some of the stories in this book are very short and it can be difficult to bring across enough to really put a reader where you want them in a short space of time. Not only does Ms Moore do this but her use of imagery is utterly fantastic.

Now, you all know what I’m like for imagery, I’m constantly banging on about that fly on the wall feeling. If you want a book where that happens, it’s this one.

As a kid, did you ever do that thing where you’d pretend you were changing the channels in your imagination by blinking? No? Just me then. Well that’s what this book feels like. Each time you finish a story the channel changes and a new character presents themselves.

Some of these stories link up, but not all of them and it never feels out of place, each story and each character or set of characters starts their life before your eyes.

It’s difficult to pick favourites from this book but I’ll tell you which are my favourites at the time of writing, yours may vary and I’d love to know what they are! Mine were as follows;

Skin Dancer

Not unlike the idea of a “body snatcher”, Skin Dancer explores the idea of being able to inhabit another body.

Reckoning.

This is one of the shorter stories of the book but almost one of the most hair raising. Moore’s use of imagery really serves this one as she describes what’s coming for you and I utterly loved it.

Slumfairy

It’s not just that I grew up by the name of one of the main Character in this story, this put me in mind of the sci fi stuff I loved as a kid. Extremely well written, this is one of the longer stories and for good reason. It had me gripped from start to finish and I loved the characters in it.

Starchaser

One of those linked stories I mentioned, this is tied to one of the other stories. Again fantastic with the imagery and really showing off a way to link up with fewer characters to play with.

There are so many other stories I loved but I’d be sitting here all day listing them. I would definitely recommend trying this book out because it showcases Moore’s abilities as a collection of so many different stories, timelines and characters. I’m really pleased I bought this one because I’ve so enjoyed it.

If you want to know the effect this one had on me, I actually purchased a collection she appears in on the strength of her being in it. I’ll be getting to that at some point, hopefully this month, but it depends if I can get to it in time. If not it will be on the blog at some stage this year.

Check this one out, I promise it’s worth the read.

[Millennial Book Review · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was provided with an ARC of this work from Reedsy Discovery

This collection has one of the most varied selection of stories I've read in a while. There are stories for urban fantasy fans, stories for horror fans, science fiction tales to entertain and much more.

One of Odes to the Multiverse's biggest strengths, and what impressed me the most, was the author's ability to create such unique and distinct stories. Even stories with similar central ideas feel unique from each other. While some stories in this collection do connect, each is more than capable of telling an interesting and captivating tale on its own. The stories themselves aren't the only things that are unique. Moore creates such a vivid world for each story, in very few pages each time, that stick with you as you move from one tale to another. The amount of detail and tone she was able to imbue in each story, in so little time, is truly impressive.

As mentioned earlier, these short stories span a number of genres. I was pleasantly surprised by how well-crafted each story was, as not many authors can "pull off" writing in different genres. I won't go into every story that I enjoyed, because then I'd end up listing most of the stories in this book, but my favorite was "Devious Machines" mostly because the conclusion both surprised me and left me wanting more.

While I enjoyed the collection overall, there were a few stories that I couldn't really enjoy, simply because they were too short, usually being a page or two. As soon as I was starting to get into the story, it would be over. This length was perfect for some of the tales, but others would've benefited from being a little longer. Some stories were perfect at one or two pages, but others felt a bit incomplete at that length.

I'd recommend this book to science fiction and urban fantasy readers, who enjoy horror elements as well.

[Ryan Watt · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tonya Moore's collection of short stories run the gamut from fantasy to sci-fi to horror to things somewhere in between all of these. Each story is a glimpse through a window into another world, where each new protagonist is haunted by something: monster, god, alien, the future. But the true unease comes in each story leaving you wondering what comes next, each leaving you wanting to know more, until the final story gives makes you realize sometimes not knowing what awaits you is for the best. With most of the stories being fairly short, this book feels a little like a meme of Jessica Fletcher eating popcorn: you think you can just read one quick story but the suspense is so much you cant help but reach for another.

[Shinyfluff · Rating 5 out of 5]

excellent collection. a really cool and imaginative collection of SFF, spec fic and (eldritch) horror vignettes. they really give so much room for my imagination to wander in. absolutely love this book and writer