Status Updates From The Start of the End of It All

As with most short-story collections, the quality of the stories varies quite a bit, ranging from just okay to pretty wonderful. Carol Emshwiller has a hilarious and frequently sardonic sense of humour, and she's not afraid to use it. The highlights of the collection for me, so far, have been Eclipse, The Circular Library of Stones, Fledged, and There Is No Evil Angel But Love.

It’s odd....

Not bad but not great either just odd.

Happy to read on but won’t miss it when it’s finished.

The only one of these stories I think is dispensable is this one: 'The Institute'. I suppose something of Emshwiller's early, bizarre fiction - the stream-of-consciousness stuff that seems to make up most of Joy In Our Cause - has to be included here, but it strikes an odd note all the same, right after those two dreamy otherworld narratives and right before 'Woman Waiting'.

I was nervous about re-reading this; 2006 Brian just wasn't as well-read as I am (shut up, 2016 Brian; you're no prize either), and my Emshwiller mania gave way to my Jackson crush ominously fast. Luckily, the Good and Very Good Stories are still Good and Very Good respectively - and, furthermore, the ones I'd passed over before as well-written filler ('Début', 'Living...', 'If The Word...') seem a lot richer to me.

The poet aliens of 'Acceptance Speech' really are a lot like the Hoots in Emshwiller's later The Mount. Maybe they abducted the narrator just in advance of their invasion of Earth.

This month's re-read, and one of my old favourites - though I've not read it in more than a year now. (If anyone knows where I can get the US edition, with the four different stories - 'There Is No Evil Angel But Love', 'Draculalucard', 'Peri' and 'Emissary' - drop me a line.)