Category Archives: Short Stories

After the Quake ~Haruki Murakami

After the Quake ~Haruki Murakami

–2002
–147 pages, Vintage Books
–4/5 stars

[Note: The Jan-Ai Scholarship Drive will conclude with a forthcoming interview with artist Anne-Julie Aubry. Technical difficulties have caused this drive to extend beyond the originally planned week. In the meantime I need to start catching up with a long list of overdue book and movie reviews. Don’t adjust your sets.]

Murakami… the name is and has been hot on the lips of internet book bloggers for some time now. In addition my friend Cameron has often sang his praises at our weekly comic shop gatherings. And yet I was reluctant. Partially because of the fear of reading his work and not being as impressed by it as many others have been. It is never pleasant to go tell someone that one of their favorite authors/books just didn’t do it for you. Never.

Yet honesty in book talk is highly valued and I would never feel good about myself if I didn’t tell it to you straight. Credibility and integrity must be prized. And so I stayed away from Haruki Murakami. Until last Thursday, that is…

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Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse ~ed. John Joseph Adams

Wastelands: Stories of the Apocalypse ~edited by John Joseph Adams

–published 2008
–327 pages, Night Shade Books
–4.5/5 stars

As 2008 began I found myself not only craving science fiction but craving it in the short story format. I have always been a fan of the short story but a review of my reading lists for the past couple of years finds short stories sorely underrepresented. My determination to remedy that had me on the lookout for new collections and the fabulous Daniel Kvasznicza cover image on Wastelands was quick to catch my eye. I enjoy post-apocalyptic stories but did not recall reading many in the short story format and that intrigued me as well.

Editor John Joseph Adams’ collection of 22 stories, representing a wide-variety of post-apocalyptic scenarios from some of the field’s most prolific authors, is a must-have volume for fans of the this subgenre of science fiction. What makes Wastelands great, however, is that it contains the type and caliber of stories that should appeal to those who are simply fans of the format and are unsure of their feelings about post-apocalyptic literature.

Although I gave the anthology itself a rating based on the 5 star system I adopted this year with my reviews, I am going to give each individual story a grade as I feel that it gives me a slightly wider range within which to rate my impressions. And now, on to the stories:

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Eclipse One ~edited by Jonathan Strahan

Eclipse One ~edited by Jonathan Strahan

–Published: 2007
–263 pages
–5/5 stars

There is something special about being present at the beginning of a project, especially when one is a reader and that project is a literary one. I am currently reading several ‘classic’ science fiction authors, some who began their work in my lifetime, and one of the things I think about as I read their work is that I don’t have that special connection of having jumped on the bandwagon right at the beginning. Although it doesn’t change my reading experience and may sound a bit pretentious, I cannot help imagine what it must have been like to read the first Asimov, the first Bradbury, the first Clark or Heinlein, etc. at the time their stories were published. It is a unique experience to be a part of the collective conscious of a group of readers who all discovered something together.

Jonathan Strahan, editor of several notable science fiction and fantasy anthologies has given me that opportunity, the chance to witness the beginning of something special. His goal was to create/edit his own anthology with stories that did not revolve around a central theme–an anthology that harkened back to classic science fiction anthologies, particularly Terry Carr’s Universe, which began in 1971 and continued through 17 volumes. It was out of that desire that Eclipse was born. A fantastic Michael Whelan cover promises speculative fiction worth reading, and much to my great pleasure, Eclipse One makes good on that promise.

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Short Stories and the Winning Worm

In a wonderful moment of unexpected serendipity, the weather here in the Kansas City area became positively autumnal on the opening Sunday of the NFL season. It was beautiful. Despite their being games played on Monday night, my Fantasy Football team, the Conqueror Worms, handed Jimmy’s Grind House their first loss of the season, relying on the stellar performance of tight end Antonio Gates to propel them to victory. Look out, the Worms are on the move!

While planted firmly in front of the television screen all weekend, reveling in football glory, I had plenty of time to get some reading done. So, on to Short Story Sunday:

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Fragile Things by Neil Gaiman

Neil Gaiman’s latest collection of short stories, Fragile Things, arrived on bookshelves Tuesday, September 26th and I wasted no time in rushing out to purchase my copy. Despite any good intentions I might have had, all books were laid aside while I sat at the feet of the master. Short story collections are something of an enigma. I have read a fair number of short story collections this year, and while some were fantastic from start to finish others contained stories ranging from the very good to the very average. Fragile Things occupies this latter category.

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