As a showcase of diverse authors from around the world, this short story anthology succeeds in spades. In fact, its diversity is the single unifying thread. But the coherence of the stories was a mixed bag. Some really communicated across cultural divides; others were more esoteric, making me feel I'd lost something in the translation.
With no perceptible theme to critique, I've chosen to offer my thoughts on a per story basis. Links to story sources are provided for those interested.
"Courtship in the Country of Machine–Gods" (The Future Fire) left me cold with its confusing first person viewpoint, dizzying flashbacks jumping forward and backward in time, and the finale's lack of emotional connection from the opening. I'd recommend future anthologies begin with a shorter, easier story to hook readers, as this one dampened my enthusiasm for the book as a whole.
"A Hundred Ghosts Parade Tonight" (Science Fiction World and Clarkesworld) was an intriguing glimpse into a different mythological setting, an inversion of the Pinocchio premise as a young boy grappled with the rules of reality amongst an actual ghost town. The ending veered in a tangential direction, in a way I didn't fully understand, but the strong narrative voice kept me engaged.
"Act of Faith" (Cosmos) was a beautiful story about the intersection of faith, family, and technology, with an android servant becoming so much more for an aging man, helping to bridge the gap between the old and the new.
"The Foreigner" (Afro SF), like all great science fiction, had new tech but old problems. The plight of a boy seeking asylum from war in a place where he's doomed not to belong felt especially apropos of current events, and the futuristic elements were cleverly deployed.
I'd rank "The City of Silence" (Science Fiction World and Clarkesworld) highest: it was a complete narrative technically and emotionally, with a clear voice and a well-crafted illumination of the current world through a projection of one potential future. The protagonist offered the reader a haunting look at a world poisoned by thought control. While it educated me about what life under the Great Firewall might inspire, it offered cautionary warnings for the Western mediascape as well. It concluded in true distopian style, with just a trace of hope, reminiscent of the Pandora myth.
"Planetfall" (Crossed Genres) had a great premise, but the scope of this tale strained against its structural limits. Any one of the stories would have been fine on their own: together they pushed against each other, distracting me with a need to create connections that proved tenuous or even nonexistent.
"Jungle Fever" was a welcome departure from the normal monster tale, perhaps proving better than any of the other stories what a different viewpoint can bring to the genre as a whole. Rather than show a traditional (read Western) horror at the grotesque, or the reactionary love of it, the protagonist subtly but surely showed that when the world around one is mad, monstrosity may be a welcome escape.
"To Follow the Waves" (Steam Powered II) ventured into the most fertile imaginary world invention: hand-crafted dream stones. The fear of losing one's innate self is timeless, cross-cultural, and rich with possibility: I wish the author had explored more than just the obvious erotic implications. A character who began rich with promise tragically shrunk to someone whose sole purpose is tied up in another (the fact that this other is a woman doesn't make it any less depowering).
"Ahuizotl" (Historical Lovecraft) went back in time and mined the Spanish colonization era for a macabre little tale that felt like it was missing something. The story itself was fairly straightforward, but I couldn't quite grasp the emotional or character landscape, or appreciate the stakes involved.
"The Rare Earth" (Afro SF) had all the ingredients of a successful post-apocalyptic narrative, complete with a messiah in the wildness. The story picked up once this character really came into prominence, but suffered from a lack of focus amongst competing story ideas.
"Spider's Nest" (The Infinite Matrix) was by far the weakest story of the anthology. The plot and characters proved incoherent to me, and I found myself skimming to be done with such a determinedly nihilistic world.
"Waiting with Mortals" (The World SF Blog) was hauntingly beautiful in its description of how ghosts might long for real life. Both the mundane and the sublime needs of living were explored, anchored by the narrator's opposing personal connections. The story neatly turned the concept of "crossing over" on its head, subverting the opening act with a great conclusion.
"Three Little Children" (Fantasy and Crossing the Boundaries) hearkens back to the dark world of Grimm, delving the depths of what I assume to be a well-known French nursery song for all its unvarnished realities. The style was beguiling and the story entrancing, bringing me to the edge of tragedy before gracefully allowing the heroes to step back into the light, albeit forever changed.
"Brita's Holiday Village" (Jagannath) was surreal, a writer writing about writing (written by a writer), more interested in the journey than the small plot. It reads like a Nordic travelogue, entertaining with flashes of subtle comedy, but I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop. I left the story feeling like I'd chewed on a stick of gum: not completely unsatisfying, but not very substantial either.
"Regressions" (Breaking the Bow) took what could have been a very simplistic premise and pushed deeper, provoking questions about how we determine value and worth: is it against our opponents? Ourselves? Or something even more? The narrator underwent a remarkably vivid journey in a short amount of words, creating a life for herself that defied everyone's expectations (including her own).
"Dancing on the Red Planet" (Rocket Science) proved a brilliant grand finale to this anthology, not only summarizing mankind's expectations for landing on Mars but also the entire book's varying threads. I loved the surly mission commander's reactions to his crewmmates' desire to dance their way off the Mars lander (and I defy anyone not to laugh when one of them imitates Europop vocally). In a metanarrative, I enjoyed reading this book in electronic format so that when confronted with a piece of music so integral to the story I could immediately find it online and listen. I encourage even readers of traditional paper to do the same: you'll get a sense of the fantastic and the familiar, which I believe is the entire point of the anthology.
One final note: I've described some of my objections above, but it should be understood that this anthology is not appropriate for young readers in terms of content or language. I enjoyed many of the stories, and found some lovely new authors to follow, but I would not recommend or endorse this anthology in total.
This review is also posted on Goodreads and Amazon. I received an eBook copy from the publisher in exchange for an uncensored review. The cover art was designed by Sophia Tuska. The book is currently available from Apex Publications as a Paperback ($11.96) and eBook ($4.99).
