Paper Cities: An Anthology of Urban Fantasy
Yes, I know I said I'd have this up on Saturday. Got a wicked headache instead. Sue me.
Paper Cities: An Anthology of Urban Fantasy, edited by Ekaterina Sedia, is a collection of short stories that are not in the genre of Urban Fantasy as most of us know it. You know, the type where there are vampires, werewolves, magic, fey, etc. Nope, here Urban Fantasy means that the stories take place in an urban (or suburban) setting, the city is in a way a character in its own right, and the story is fantastical in nature. Think Urban Fantasy meets speculative fiction.
Certain stories here are true gems but honestly, after reading the first two entries I was starting to wonder if the Foreword by Jess Nevins was going to be the best part of the book. The first story, Andretto Walks the King's Way by Forrest Aguirre, is a plague story that is strongly reminiscent of Poe. It isn't a bad story per se, just done to death (no pun intended). I was hoping for more. Then I read Hal Duncan's The Tower of Morning's Bones. This is a bad story. This is one of those that made me go WTF? I read the whole thing, although I have no idea why, and at the end I still didn't know what the hell was going on or what Duncan was trying to say. I got the occasional glimpse of an actual story a couple time but then it was buried again under all the language. This is definitely one of those stories where I feel the author was trying too hard with the "art" and lost the story. This is just my opinion, of course. YMMV.
Then I hit Courting the Lady Scythe by Richard Parks. This one I liked, kind of a fantasy take on the be-careful-what-you-wish-for theme. I'd been about to throw the book at the wall but this story stayed my hand. Maybe this wasn't all crap after all. Parks was followed by Cat Rambo's sweet coming of age story The Bumblety's Marble. And then one of my favorite entries in this anthology, Promises; A Tale of the City Imperishable by Jay Lake. This story ROCKS! It has an atmosphere to it that brings the harsh environment of the city to life. It is also a rather sad story, one that left an emotional impression on me - possibly why I liked it so much.
Of the next eight stories the only one that really impressed me was Sammarynda Deep by Cat Sparks. A story of love lost and the price of honor, this one also stayed with me long after I finished reading. Of the other seven here none were truly bad (although I didn't care for Tearjerker by Steve Berman) and all were well written. It is just that none of them really made an impression on me, one way or the other.
The next story to truly make and impression is Ben Peek's The Funeral, Ruined, a look at technological change and what it costs us to give up our traditions. It also evokes a deep sadness similar to Lake's entry. Down to the Silver Spirits by Kaaron Warren is a horror story based around infertility and what some will go through to have a child. I'm not married nor do I have or want children so I wasn't much affected by this one. It is a good story but I felt it had been done before.
Of the last six stories there was one I loved, one I really didn't get or like, and the rest were decent. Anna Tambour's The Age of Fish, Post-flowers is a post apocalyptic story set in the big city. There were parts of it that I just didn't get. I think this story would have been better suited to a novella than a short story. I just felt like I was missing a lot of information that might have made the story more understandable and therefore more interesting. And then there is Catherynne M. Valente's Palimpsest. I've read some of Valente's work before and found her to be a wonderful storyteller with a rich, lush style of writing. Palimpsest is written in this same evocative style, painting a picture of a city you can only get to by having sex with someone who has been there. A city full of mysteries, strange creatures and wonderful experiences. At eight and a half pages Palimpsest is way too short, giving just a glimpse of this amazing world that Valente has created. (Good thing she thought so too and wrote a full-length novel based in this world, also called Palimpsest.)
So to summarize, this collection was just OK. The stories I liked I really liked - to the point that I'm looking for other work by the authors (Jay Lake, Cat Sparks, Cat Rambo and Catheryne M. Valente). There were several I didn't like but only one that made me say WTF. The rest were just decent, well-written stories that just didn't do it for me in the end. Again, this is my opinion based on my tastes. You might feel differently.
Paper Cities: An Anthology of Urban Fantasy, edited by Ekaterina Sedia, is a collection of short stories that are not in the genre of Urban Fantasy as most of us know it. You know, the type where there are vampires, werewolves, magic, fey, etc. Nope, here Urban Fantasy means that the stories take place in an urban (or suburban) setting, the city is in a way a character in its own right, and the story is fantastical in nature. Think Urban Fantasy meets speculative fiction.
Certain stories here are true gems but honestly, after reading the first two entries I was starting to wonder if the Foreword by Jess Nevins was going to be the best part of the book. The first story, Andretto Walks the King's Way by Forrest Aguirre, is a plague story that is strongly reminiscent of Poe. It isn't a bad story per se, just done to death (no pun intended). I was hoping for more. Then I read Hal Duncan's The Tower of Morning's Bones. This is a bad story. This is one of those that made me go WTF? I read the whole thing, although I have no idea why, and at the end I still didn't know what the hell was going on or what Duncan was trying to say. I got the occasional glimpse of an actual story a couple time but then it was buried again under all the language. This is definitely one of those stories where I feel the author was trying too hard with the "art" and lost the story. This is just my opinion, of course. YMMV.
Then I hit Courting the Lady Scythe by Richard Parks. This one I liked, kind of a fantasy take on the be-careful-what-you-wish-for theme. I'd been about to throw the book at the wall but this story stayed my hand. Maybe this wasn't all crap after all. Parks was followed by Cat Rambo's sweet coming of age story The Bumblety's Marble. And then one of my favorite entries in this anthology, Promises; A Tale of the City Imperishable by Jay Lake. This story ROCKS! It has an atmosphere to it that brings the harsh environment of the city to life. It is also a rather sad story, one that left an emotional impression on me - possibly why I liked it so much.
Of the next eight stories the only one that really impressed me was Sammarynda Deep by Cat Sparks. A story of love lost and the price of honor, this one also stayed with me long after I finished reading. Of the other seven here none were truly bad (although I didn't care for Tearjerker by Steve Berman) and all were well written. It is just that none of them really made an impression on me, one way or the other.
The next story to truly make and impression is Ben Peek's The Funeral, Ruined, a look at technological change and what it costs us to give up our traditions. It also evokes a deep sadness similar to Lake's entry. Down to the Silver Spirits by Kaaron Warren is a horror story based around infertility and what some will go through to have a child. I'm not married nor do I have or want children so I wasn't much affected by this one. It is a good story but I felt it had been done before.
Of the last six stories there was one I loved, one I really didn't get or like, and the rest were decent. Anna Tambour's The Age of Fish, Post-flowers is a post apocalyptic story set in the big city. There were parts of it that I just didn't get. I think this story would have been better suited to a novella than a short story. I just felt like I was missing a lot of information that might have made the story more understandable and therefore more interesting. And then there is Catherynne M. Valente's Palimpsest. I've read some of Valente's work before and found her to be a wonderful storyteller with a rich, lush style of writing. Palimpsest is written in this same evocative style, painting a picture of a city you can only get to by having sex with someone who has been there. A city full of mysteries, strange creatures and wonderful experiences. At eight and a half pages Palimpsest is way too short, giving just a glimpse of this amazing world that Valente has created. (Good thing she thought so too and wrote a full-length novel based in this world, also called Palimpsest.)
So to summarize, this collection was just OK. The stories I liked I really liked - to the point that I'm looking for other work by the authors (Jay Lake, Cat Sparks, Cat Rambo and Catheryne M. Valente). There were several I didn't like but only one that made me say WTF. The rest were just decent, well-written stories that just didn't do it for me in the end. Again, this is my opinion based on my tastes. You might feel differently.