Canavan’s Comments (group member since May 15, 2018)

Canavan’s comments from the Spells, Space & Screams: Collections & Anthologies in Fantasy, Science Fiction, & Horror group.

“Tiger Baby”, JY Yang

There are a lot of references in this tale to William Blake’s famous poem, “The Tyger”, appropriate on a number of levels. First, we have the poem’s theme about duality, and second (of course), the poem is about, well, tigers. I’m not sure what point Yang might be making with Felicity’s final transformation (or if indeed she is making some larger point).

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“The One They Took Before”, Kelly Sandoval

A nicely-told riff on the old “spirited away by fairies” legend, this one with particular emphasis on the devastating psychological consequences of abduction. This story portrayed the sídhe (or whatever label you prefer) as imposssibly beautiful yet profoundly amoral, bringing to mind similar descriptions by writers from Yeats to Jim Butcher.

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Lena said:

That’s good to know. I’m going to try and read it this month!

Give a shout if you decide to set up a review thread. I’d be interested to see what you think and might even join in. I’ve been thinking about re-reading those stories for quite some time. I hope you won’t find the contents too dated. The book was published in the early 50s, but the publication dates for the individual stories that make it up stretch back to the mid-40s.

Kim asked:

Has anyone else been getting lots of bot/fake friend requests lately? I have, 8 in the last week. I haven’t been on here as much as before, so this is just weird.

Yes. I’ve been seeing about 2-4 a week for the last few weeks. I saw some mention of this in the Feedback group.

Lena wrote:

Here Be Dragons by Chris Tarry ★☆☆☆☆
Oh god what a horrible story of dog killing, child abusing con men. I almost DNF’d but then it looked like the MC was going to make a turn around, realize the importance of family. Nope.

Since reading it yesterday, I can’t quite get this story out of my head and I’ve been pondering exactly what it is about it that I like/admire. I think for our narrator to have stayed with his family would have been a betrayal of what the author was trying to say. By instead having him succumb to what he refers to as the “darkness in his heart”, Tarry forces us to confront the idea that, for whatever reason, some men are unable to break free in a lasting fashion from their early emotional proclivities. We are led to believe that the narrator may have developed a greater emotional maturity as he spends more time with Constance and Gerta and in some ways this is indeed true. But Tarry sort of pulls the rug out from underneath the reader and shows us that it’s not enough.

There is a key moment in the story where Gerta tells her husband, “You have everything and it’s not enough”. I found the story’s ending somewhat tragic, because we sense that the husband, as deeply flawed as he is, understands the essential truth of Gerta’s assertion as he departs. It’s as though he realizes on some level that whether he finds Géorg or an actual dragon, things are not going to end well for him. But he simply can’t resist falling into this twisted and sadly pathetic mid-life crisis.

Lena wrote (in part):

I enjoyed most of the poetry and the non fiction articles described a book I’d never heard of and now must read: City by Clifford D. Simak

I’ve always felt an affinity for Clifford Simak’s work, perhaps because I grew up in the same part of the country he hailed from. His writing is a bit like Ray Bradbury’s in the sense that there was a pastoral feeling to their science fiction. Simak’s writing lacks some of Bradbury’s poetry, but also lacks some Bradbury’s Luddite tendencies.

City was a “fix-up” book that I recall reading about a zillion years ago. It made a huge impression upon me at the time, but I now recall only the broad outlines.

“Here Be Dragons”, Chris Tarry

Yikes. I admired more than enjoyed this rather unflinching and depressing examination of gender politics.

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“The Tallest Doll in New York City”, Maria Dahvana Headley

This one misses the mark for me. I could almost get on board with the idea of two buildings enacting a courtship ritual on Valentine’s Day, but the way in which Headley presents this as a Runyonesque yarn makes the whole package a bit too twee for my tastes.

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Lena wrote (in part):

The Tomato Thief by Ursula Vernon ★★★★☆

Well done sequel to Jackalope Wives! Ol’ crotchety Grandma Harken is back defending her territory and helping the magically maligned.

A nice sequel. Not really as good as “Jackalope Wives”, but of course that story sets the bar really high. I liked the characterizations and world-building details (especially the stuff about the trains) in “Tomato”. Where the story ironically falls a trifle short (from my perspective) are the bits that are supposed to be exciting, notably the climactic confrontation that concludes the tale.

I’d certainly welcome more stories featuring the Grandma Harken character.

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“The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees”, E. Lily Yu

A thought-provoking allegory about colonialism, cultural assimilation, revolution, etc., etc. I would have liked this story a bit more had it not confounded my expectations; I had expected the author to adopt a moral viewpoint, but (unless I missed it) there really is none. History unfolds, empires rise, fall, break apart, sometimes following predictable patterns and other times not.

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“The Haunting of A7LB”, Hannu Rajaniemi

The background to this story is largely factual. For example, Jane Butchin, referenced several times by Hazel, worked along with other women for International Latex Corporation (later renamed Playtex) on the development of the Apollo spacesuit. (See Nicholas de Monchaux’s Spacesuit: Fashioning Apollo .)

As for Rajaniemi’s story — I’m afraid I had a rather “meh” reaction. In our narrator we have a passionate, pioneering figure that surprisingly never springs off the page. I found her monologues about Pete and space travel to be relatively cursory and unconvincing.

Final nitpicky comment: The editor, in the blurb accompanying the story, describes it as “reminiscent of the ghost stories of M. R. James”. Really?? This story is nothing like James’ stories.

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“The Practical Witch’s Guide to Acquiring Real Estate”, A. C. Wise

I would give this story a somewhat tepid thumbs up, although I readily admit that my lack of enthusiasm probably says more about me than the skill of the author. There is some good stuff in here (I liked, for example, some of the observations made about taming houses), but I wish those ideas could have been woven into a more interesting story. In reading these kinds of plotless, mock pieces I’m somewhat reminded of mediocre jokes that go on for a few beats too long.

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“Jackalope Wives”, Ursula Vernon

Best story of the anthology to this point. A whimsical contemplation of responsibilities, sacrifices, and the choices we make as we go through life. The reveal as regards Grandma Harken is very deftly handled.

(Fiona, in a previous message in this thread, mentions that the author wrote a sequel, “The Tomato Thief”. I certainly plan to read that as well.)

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“A Kiss with Teeth”, Max Gladstone

Not bad. I feel that I ought to like this story more than I actually do. I suspect this may be because I can’t help but compare it to one of my favorite shorts, Joe R. Lansdale’s “Godzilla’s Twelve-Step Program”, which mines similar territory.

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“Left the Century to Sit Unmoved”, Sarah Pinsker

This story reminds me (just a bit) of Ray Bradbury’s “The Jar”. In Pinsker’s story the pool is a metaphor for...well, for what exactly? I guess a bunch of things. For youth testing limits. For both fear of and embracing the unknown. For religion. Etc., etc. Nice story with a touch of the surreal.

What does the title mean? It feels a bit like a quote from some other source, but I don’t recognize it.

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“Tornado’s Siren”, Brooke Bolander.

Hmm, so it’s true after all. Women really do prefer the “bad” boys. Poor ol’ safe, boring Rick. :-)

I like the story’s title; clever.

One quickly sees where this one is going and I found myself resisting a bit, sort of daring the author to succeed. And, somewhat to my surprise, I think she does. I really liked the last two lines.

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“Selkie Stories Are for Losers”, Sofia Samatar.

In one way this story reminded me of “Hungry Daughters” — both tales are on a surface level about one thing, but are on a deeper level about something else. In “Selkie Stories” our unnamed narrator focuses on her mother’s departure by referencing the selkie myth. But in emotional terms the story is really about love, attachment, and the psychological scarring affecting those who are left behind. I found myself wondering while reading this one whether Samatar means for the reader to actually believe that the narrator’s mother was a selkie or even whether, in fact, the narrator believes this. But that’s almost beside the point; what really matters is the effect the mother’s departure had on our narrator and how that colors her relationship with Mona.

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Quick thoughts on the opener, “Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers” by Alyssa Wong.

While the editor’s introduction to this story describes it as “a warning about compulsion and the corrupting power of negative emotions”, I personally couldn’t help but categorize it as another variation on the emotional or psychic vampire subgenre (e.g., Fritz Leiber’s classic 1949 “The Girl with the Hungry Eyes”). Wong also makes fairly explicit the parallels between the cravings experienced by Jen and the psycho-behavioral dynamics of addiction, right down to the destructive effect addiction can have on the those around the addicted individual (in this case, Aiko). A solid, if not great, story.

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