Allen, Mike: Clockwork Phoenix
Clockwork Phoenix: Tales of Beauty and Strangeness
Edited by: Mike Allen
Genre: Short Stories/Fantasy
Pages: 285 (ARC)
Disclaimer: received ARC from publisher
I'd planned on getting this anthology as soon as I heard that two of my Odyssey classmates, two of my good friends, would be published in this book. When I saw the actual table of contents, I was thrilled: Catherynne Valente, Marie Brennan, Cat Rambo, Ekaterina Sedia . . . be still my beating heart! For an anthology from a small press I'd never even heard of (which probably says more about me than them), I was beyond impressed with the degree of talent they'd combined to make this anthology. I couldn't wait to get my hands on it, and when I was offered an ARC, I was happy to accept.
However, one of my personal failings, and one I'm working on improving, is getting books and letting them SIT ON MY SHELF FOREVER. Like I said, I'm working on this, especially in regards to ARCs and other free books, because they deserve to get my attention far sooner than they do. So I apologize for getting this book in the spring and not getting around to reading it until now. Truly, it's been my loss.
Normally, in book reviews, I give you the premise. With short story anthologies, that's a bit trickier, and even reading the whole book doesn't really tell me the idea or theme that gels these tales together. They're mostly fantasy (some are more horror, some have an SF-nal touch), and they're all written well. And as I usually do for anthologies, I'll give each story it's own review, and then review the book as a whole at the bottom of the entry.
I would like to comment on the cover: I was very disappointed. The title, to me, called for something far less traditional looking than these Tudor girls that we get, maybe something a little more abstract and indicative of the title itself. Would an actual "clockwork phoenix" have been too much to ask? After all, it's a fantastic title, why not take advantage of that with art? But this is a small press, and I've noticed that often (not always), small presses tend to have issues with cover art. Alas.
Introduction
by Mike Allen
I solemnly swear that this will be the one and only time I get snarky in this entire review.
Okay, it's an introduction. In my mind, the introduction should do something to explain the overall theme and concept of the anthology, maybe talk about the process of selecting material, and explain the overall goal of the anthology, what it hopes to accomplish when all is said and done. An introduction should put the reader in a certain frame of mind before they go on to the fiction, and the introduction should resonate when the anthology is put down and shelved away.
One one hand, the intro does this: using nothing but clever allegory, it essentially tells me the reader that this anthology is meant to ignore and break the rules of fiction and to let the stories be the creatures they're meant to be, much like, perhaps, a clockwork phoenix itself. Why define something so cool and awesome? Why not let it stand on its own two feet?
On the other hand, I'm a cynical bastard who can't help but wonder if this intro was the editor's way of contributing something creative to an anthology he, aside from editing, isn't a part of. It's annoying. It's kind of obnoxious. Rather than sitting down with me as a reader and talking to me earnestly, from the heart, about this project (and explaining why the title shouldn't immediately remind me of the more famous title A Clockwork Orange--another bad choice in the cover art, making the letters all shades of orange, but then again, what other color would you associate with a phoenix?), the editor has indulged in a this little bit of story to illustrate the clockwork phoenix itself and its role in the world. Is that necessary? I mean, really? Why not let the STORIES THEMSELVES symbolize the idea of the clockwork phoenix, framed by a more objective and rational explanation for the anthology, rather than getting the actual imagery shoved down my throat?
I'm not saying editors shouldn't be creative, but it always elicits a smirk from me when I pick up an anthology and see that the editor also has his/her own story IN the anthology (sometimes more than one!), and while Allen skirts this particularly fallacy, I feel this is a tightrope he tried hard to balance on but fell off of anyway.
I'm sure some people will find the introduction fascinating and interesting and will claim that you can get more out of the intro as it is than what I wish it would be. But for my personal tastes, I beg editors every where to avoid the temptation of being CREATIVE in your own anthologies and just stick to the facts so your contributers can shine. It's them who should get the glory, not you.
Moving on.
"The City of Blind Delight"
by Catherynne M. Valente
Can't say this is my favorite Valente story, as it feels more like a snapshot than an actual story with an arc. But I really like the images, particularly of the train station itself, and the examination of what desire really means in a land of plenty. I also liked the symmetry of the story, the frame of the woman waiting at the station for the train that'll take her to the City of Blind Desire, but whose place is taken by hurried businessman Gris, who discovers something more than he ever intended.
I will say this, despite my rapid dislike for the introduction preceding this story: it flows into Valente's story, and that was, while at first jarring, a nice surprise.
"Old Foss is the Name of His Cat"
by David Sandner
There's a cat. I'm so there. :)
This is a nice little story, though apparently I'm not educated enough to know about Mr. Edward Lear (oh, sorry, I said I'd keep my snarkiness contained to the intro, didn't I?) and what it means to have Lear inspire this story. Whatever. What I liked about this tale was the give and take of past and present, the role the Old Man and Old Foss play in each other's lives, and the perspective of a cat, what it means to have companionship and what it means to be selfish. I loved the scene where Old Foss must manipulate reality to get out of the house (and so explains what it really means when our cats suddenly go spastic for no reason at all), and I really loved the ending. It's an end, but it's not an end, and that sense that what happened in this story will happen again, maybe again and again and again, it a wonderfully haunting image.
"All the Little Gods We Are"
by John Grant
Now this was a lovely little piece. Not only did it appeal to my fascination with parallel worlds and realities, but it also appealed to my sense of soulmates and what it means to have a soulmate and what it means to have lost one. I should've known there was something up while we got the tale of Jusjohn and how while they were permanent fixtures in each other's lives, they never slept together, never made love. I never saw the rather Fight Club-esque twist coming, which made me love it all the more. Lovely little piece, full of sadness and hope. Sadness for the narrator in the here and now, and hope perhaps in the idea that for all the choices we've made and regret, perhaps, somehow in another reality, we made the right one all along.
"The Dew Drop Coffee Lounge"
by Cat Rambo
Interesting little piece. I admit I'm torn on the ambiguity of the ending, as I understand that logically, our narrator is taking Sasha's place as an avatar, but there was a part of me hoping that perhaps, just perhaps, the narrator felt connected to the woman who approached him, and after seeing what was obviously her blind date walk in the door and know that man was NOT for her, decided to take that man's place instead. Not to humiliate the girl, but to possibly start something and finish something that Mike was never able to do with Sasha. Whatever the case, it's a neat little piece with a very odd little character in Sasha. I liked that she got her happy ending after all (was this someone she'd truly been conversing with, or did she take a woman's place. OOOH, maybe she took the place of the woman who met approached the narrator at the end!). There's so many ways to interpret this story, and that's what makes it so fun.
"Bell, Book, and Candle"
by Leah Bobet
Okay, okay, okay: I like the cleverness of the ceremony and how the characters of Bell, Book, and Candle are symbols personified, but I'll go ahead and say the rest of it pretty much went in one eye and out the other. The attraction Bell felt for Candle was palpable, as was her desire to keep the ceremony from happening ever again. But we get the backstory through hints and clues that either aren't well dispersed or rely on more than casual knowledge to unravel. I don't understand the ceremony and what it meant to the person being held captive, other than it was bad, and that wasn't enough. I also tripped over the ending; Candle came in with two lovers, and after meeting with Book and Bell, there's talk of the three lovers going upstairs and then Bell, Book, and Candle leaving together. Pesky detail to get hung up over: but did Candle go upstairs with the two he walked in with, or Bell and Book?
Anyway, the point was this story confused me and didn't seem to have much of a point, at least, not one I could gleam for my lack of understanding. I had far more questions than answers at the end of this piece, and really, that's a shame.
"The Tarrying Messenger"
by Michael J. DeLuca ( Odyssey Writer)
Ah, here's one of the two stories I wanted this anthology for. Mike's a good friend of mine, and his writing is always beautiful to me, even when I don't "get" his stories. Fortunately, this is not one of those stories I didn't get, and better still, it's one I got to critique once upon a time ago, so it was cool to see the various changes made in this piece, even down to the little details. My response to this story is more of a comparison to what I read before, which isn't fair, so I'll try to cut that out, other than to say I was impressed with the changes, right down to the little details, and the ending.
Really, what can I say? A girl riding bike across the country in a search for truth comes across a prophet and an angel cast in gold getting idolized in the desert. I like how, in her own way, she finds a truth and is able to proclaim that truth at the very end, despite the cost. Though I worry for Molly at the end of the story: a fallen angel, a dead boy, and her standing there blowing a trumpet. If there were a sequel to this tale, just where would we find Molly? I'm afraid it's be in jail, or in a mental institute, rather than letting her complete her journey. However, I doubt there will ever be a sequel, which means I can imagine good things for her rather than the obvious my logical brain wants to impose on the end. Whatever her future, I want to applaud Mike for a story well done.
"The Occultation"
by Laird Barron
One major annoyance: lack of quotation marks. I don't care WHAT the grand literary tradition is in regards to ignoring these lovely features of syntax, but I despise the lack, as I always find myself lost when there's action following dialogue and I'm unable to tell where one begins and the other ends.
That said, I liked this story for it's simplicity, for this portrayal of a married couple that so doesn't fit the norm. It's sad and funny at the same time, and I love how one horror spawns another in their storytelling, how they make myth a reality. Creepy and particularly effective, especially at the end, when there really was an axe-murderer hiding under the bed all along. Or rather, after they spoke it into being. :)
"There is a Monster Under Helen's Bed"
by Ekaterina Sedia
I've got Sedia's debut novel on my shelf, but I've yet to read it. I know, shame on me, because I've heard wonderful things about it. But I was glad to sample Sedia's work with this story, a charming and bittersweet story about the horrors of adopted children (from countries other than our own) and the real and imagined monsters that haunt them. I loved the portrayal of Janis, who recognizes she may have made a mistake and is trying hard to be the best parent she can regardless. The ending is a little puzzling to me, and I think because of that the story invites a re-read, which is okay with me. I want to leave this story with hope for Helen, though there's a part of me that suspects this can't and won't be the case.
"Palisade"
by Cat Sparks
I can't say I cared for this story much. There's just too much bad and absolutely no good to be found. Maybe in our narrator, but it's not enough. I know there's evil in the world, and that men and women alike are capable of committing many an atrocious act, but this story just keeps pushing it, popping my suspension of disbelief and distancing me from the work. Nothing surprised me in this story, and maybe that says more about me and my reading/viewing experiences than anything, but I expect the worst. And when you compile the worst to be just one damn thing after another with no unifying symbol or theme to explain the violence or give it weight, it becomes meaningless. But that's just me.
"The Woman"
by Tanith Lee
Shame on me, as I've never read Tanith Lee before, and for that I'm sorry and really do plan to remedy that beyond this story, because the story's told well enough to make me want to explore more of Lee's work.
I do have this one criticism though: I wish Lee had revealed the big secret instead of keeping it for the final act of the story. Once we learn that the reason The Woman is so venerated and worshipped, everything falls together, and it gives weight to the action from before. I don't think the story would've lost anything at all by revealing this fact early; in fact, I think it would've given the story a new weight, in a good way. Granted, maybe I should've figured it out before the reveal, as the clues are there, but still. :)
That said, as a whole, I like what the story does. It's an allegory as much as a story, where we see how mankind can make women (in this case THE WOMAN) and object to revere and place on a pedestal. Point being, she's an OBJECT and nothing more, a last hope before the last chance for children finally dies out and men are left with nothing but themselves. It's a good story, one that surprised me because I kept expecting one direction and Lee would take another, and I like how at the end, the reason THE WOMAN is never "touched" is because the one thing she desires is the one thing she'll never have: female companionship, the simple pleasures of friendship and bonding, and that speaks more to the nature of heroines in genre fiction than anything else, making this, in my mind, a kind of pro-feminist story, proving that there's an inherent need in women to have more than beautiful suitors and perfect, worshipful lovers. It's a good piece, and worth re-reading.
"A Mask of Flesh"
by Marie Brennan
It's kind of funny, because at first, I was a little overwhelmed with the culture and castes and all the names that went along with it. But the words used reminded me very much of Tobias Buckell's names in Crystal Rain, and when Neniza climbs the temple steps and is stopped by the guards, it all comes into place: this is Mesoamerica! Aztecs, or something very much like it! Immediately, I was hooked, because I loved seeing something different used as a cultural backdrop in fantasy. The story itself was solid as well: at first, I assumed that Neniza simply wanted to get pregnant in order to rebuild her people, but no: she wanted to kill the man who killed her race. I loved the details of this story, and was very pleased with it when it was over. Another one worth re-reading.
"Seven Scenes From Harrai's Sacred Mountain"
by Jennifer Crow
This was another that didn't work for me. There's descriptive and poetic detail that I like, but overall, I was rather underwhelmed. While reading this story, I felt I was missing something, which was perhaps made rather obvious by the Roman Numerals marking each of the seven scenes. Oh well. There's a love in this tale I can't relate to, but for those who can, let me know why, okay? I'm curious what I'm missing. :)
"Oblivion: A Journey"
by Vandana Singh
Now this was a solid piece, one I enjoyed more and more the more I read it. It's another tale that's SF-nal, but I love all the little details that go into the world-building and the narrator's quest for revenge. While I do get confused sometimes with the details, there's so much to enjoy that it's hard to sit down and just talk about the tale. I will say that this story makes me excited to read Singh's other work, and I'm sure I'll get the chance to do it soon. :)
"Choosers of the Slain"
by John C. Wright
This was another miss for me. It started with the rather distant, camera-esque use of POV at the beginning, and the time-travel element at the end felt a little more than wish-fulfillment, which is what it is, though Penthane refuses to take the woman up on her offer. It's a fascinating future she paints, and I appreciated Penthane's refusal (he'd obviously refused her before, as she keeps going back to the same moment to find the right words to convince him), but in the end, the story didn't work. It's not enough for a man to make his own destiny when I don't care about the man making it to begin with. That's just me.
"Akhila, Divided"
by C.S. MacCath
An interesting piece, and not an easy one to visualize and fully grasp. Then again, I may have reached my too-tired state while reading this, so who knows? I understood the main source of the conflict and why normal humans were at odds with people like Akhila, and yet on the other hand, I had trouble REALLY grasping the motivations and politics behind both sides' actions. There's some fascinating backstory, but to me, it feels glossed over, so by time we reach the climax of Sigurd choosing to rape Akhila, it doesn't have the power it should. Maybe it's because I've seen such a scene before in a far more powerful context (Battlestar Galactica, episode 2.10, "Pegasus") or maybe it's because I'm so tired of seeing rape that seeing a man resort to this, as a means of revenge for what must be the death of everyone he loved, is stupid. Sure, it gives Akhila the motivation to revert back to her normal programming, but what does that accomplish? She splits from herself and destroys herself so the "bad" half can't destroy this city and its people. And Vegar's witnessing of it makes him a better person who helps anyone no matter what their walk of life is. Or something. Whatever the case, something felt missing from this story, and I wish I knew what it was.
"The Moon-Keeper's Friend"
by Joanna Galbraith
Another miss for me. Oh, there's moments of beauty in this story, but on a whole, it just didn't strike a chord with me. I got the impression at the end that it wasn't Mohammed Muneer who was inadvertently the moon's protector, but Reggie himself, but even if I read the story right and that's the twist, that still does nothing for me. I did like the scene of Reggie rising out of the flames (rather nice symbol given the anthology's title), not realizing it's the moon dragging his ass out of danger, but other than that, the story's pretty forgettable for this reader.
"The Tailor of Time"
by Deborah Biancotti
An interesting piece, yet familiar in a way I can't pinpoint. I liked the details of the piece, how when the Tailor hurt himself on the machine, war broke out for hours in the world. Stuff like that's great, but what conflicts me about this tale is the ending with the Engineer, who it seems decides to somehow take up the Tailor's journey, but I'm not sure. A perplexing ending, but a nice story. Perhaps I was simply too tired while reading.
"Root and Vein"
by Erin Hoffman ( Odyssey Writer)
What a delightful story. I don't say this just because I'm biased and because Erin was my roomie at the Odyssey Fantasy Writer's workshop. It's truly a beautiful and delightful story, well deserving of the final slot in the anthology. I admit when I saw the placement of her story, I was impressed, but I doubted it'd be THAT good to warrant such an important slot, but I'll say it now: I'll never doubt Erin's literary talents again. The story stands beautifully alone, the symbols clear yet subtle, the prose beautiful and lyrical. I think knowing Erin personally adds another layer of enjoyment for me, because it allows me to read between the lines, but even for those of you who can't, it's a gorgeous tale about love, loss, and finding your own way in the world. Beautiful story, and highly recommended.
My Rating
Worth the Cash: of the 18 stories, I really enjoyed 12, and even the ones I wasn't crazy about weren't horrible or anything, but more or less not to my personal taste. I'm surprisingly impressed with the quality of stories and writing in this anthology, and it's an easy book to recommend, especially when you consider my biggest complaints are the cover and the intro, which in the total package, is completely superficial (go me!). My absolute favorites of the book are Grant's, Brennan's, Singh's, and Hoffman's. This book is definitely worth the cash to those readers who enjoy spec-fic shorts, and to those readers who may be tired of the stories offered by the Big Three, especially in regards to fantasy. And this might be random, but I was very impressed with the story order and how the stories sometimes fit together and led into each other. That was very nice. :)
Next up:
One for Sorrow by Christopher Barzak