Courageous and deeply subversive.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reading copy.

An imaginative, innovative collection of short stories that should have something to appeal to most fantasy readers.

Unique and enjoyable collection of short stories, almost all of which have some kind of fantasy or science fiction element - though very much grounded in the real world. My favorite story actually was one of the few that was totally realistic, Woodsmoke, about summer camp, though several stories of all kinds will stick with me for a while I think.

Got this from Netgalley many years ago but never got to read it because it was archived before I could download it - glad I found it at the library and was able to finally check it off!

An excellent collection of short stories. I haven't read much of Ellen Klages's work, but this collection certainly made me want to read more. The included pieces range across a variety of genres (fantasy, science fiction and more), and feature an interesting and diverse cast of characters.

Well written, with some great description, and characters who are often trying to find their place/way in the world. It's difficult to pick favourites from the book, so I'll just say: give it a try. A great introduction to the author's work. Recommended.

There was much to enjoy here, but I found I couldn't connect with it. I'd read more from this author in the future though.

This was such an awesome collection of short stories! I’ve never read anything by Ellen Klages but I definitely will after reading this. If you’ve ever read any of my reviews for a Jacob M. Appel anthology, you’ll know how much I love his work. This anthology had that same type of feeling and tone. There are some stories with elements of sci-fi, fantasy, and magical realism but even with those aspects the stories really just feel like real people experiencing very real emotions in what feel like very real scenarios. I can’t really say which of these stories were my favorite because I really did love all of them. I would definitely recommend this to anyone that enjoys character driven short stories.

ARC received via Netgalley. All opinions are expressly my own.

Wicked Wonders is an absolutely lovely collection, with some stories that I continue to recommend well after having read them here. The author’s notes on each story were insightful and interesting, and often funny as well. It’s a great collection of tales – here were my favourites:

“Amicae Aeternum”
A young girl spends a last day in her hometown with her best friend. I loved the things she chose to focus on, and the slow kind of reveal of why, precisely, it is her final day there.

“Mrs. Zeno’s Paradox”
This story delighted me. It really is cheeky and almost whimsical – which feels like such an odd thing to say about a story that centres on theoretical physics. I’ve recommended this story quite a bit as it is so fresh and playful while still being interesting and engaging.

“Singing on a Star”
This one is weird in every sense of the word. It has a strangeness that stuck with me, and an ambiguity that forced me to think about the ending well after I had finished reading. It’s a kind of take on portal fantasy that plays on the more sinister side of the theme.

“Friday Night and St. Cecilia’s”
I am really into the playing a game for your soul type plot or motif - it’s the kind of tension that works for me, and this story executed it well.

“Caligo Lane”
This story is my favourite of the collection. It’s unapologetically queer, and the magic within is so fresh and exciting. I am so glad Klages went on to include these characters in her novella Passing Strange – a piece of fiction that has a place in my all-time favourites.

“Woodsmoke”
The main character is so heartachingly familiar, this child striving for a specific kind of special. Summer camp can be such magic on its own that it didn’t feel odd at all that this story was surrounded by others with speculative aspects while this one had no such element.

Wicked Wonders is a fantastic collection to have. Beyond the enjoyment I got out of it as a reader, the author’s notes on each story were delightful and fascinating insights that have helped me better recognize and appreciate aspects of writing as well. I am glad to have it on my shelf to put in the hands of others who need these stories.

A story that stirs the imagination in a reader. A collection of wondrous short stories, definitely not for children, but each touching the reader in the best way.

I'm sorry to say that I know nothing about Ellen Klages. I'm sorry about this because this was a really tremendous collection of short fiction.

I'm not quite sure how to define these stories - there's a wonderful, eclectic mix of fiction here, from style to genres, dramas and comedies. The stories flow easily and the characters are smart, clever, funny, sad, and very, very real. As Karen Joy Fowler writes in her Introduction:
<blockquote>Ellen’s young protagonists are both tough and sensitive. Like so many of us, they don’t quite fit in. So they’re always looking for the chance, unavailable in their homes and schools and communities, to be their true selves. This desire to live authentically, to speak with one’s true voice, is where Ellen’s work cuts the deepest.</blockquote>
There really isn't a bad story in this collection and I haven't been this excited about a collection of stories since I read Margaret Atwood's <em>Bluebeard's Eggs</em> back in 1986. A few stories stood above the rest....

In "Hey, Presto!" a young girl visits her father - a magician - in London and the two bond over the science behind the tricks.

Like many nerds, I consider myself a gamer - board and card games, not video games - and "Friday Night at St. Cecilia's" had an interesting game theme that really hooked me.

"Goodnight Moons" is the most science fiction-y story in the collection and yet, like most great fiction, it's about people. In this case, a woman has fought her whole life to be an astronaut on a Mars mission. Once in flight, a serious complication arises and the woman, Zoe has a serious, life-changing decision to make.

Possibly the best story in the collection, "Woodsmoke," is intense and beautiful in some way. The sense of nostalgia is strong for those of us who are old enough to remember summer camp with some fondness. The story is really powerful.

"The Scary Ham" is a very funny story which is more of a memory than a piece of fiction. Here Klages brings us into the room with her remarkable writing, whether we want to be there or not.

It is because of books like this that I keep reading works by authors I am not already familiar with ... the delight in 'discovering' a powerful literary voice. This collection is highly recommended.

Looking for a good book? <em>Wicked Wonders</em> by Ellen Klages is a collection of short stories that are powerful, touching, and very much worth reading.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

I generally do not like short story collections. I always feel like I’m missing a piece of the puzzle or not understanding deeper meanings, so, with a few exceptions, I generally end up not loving them. However, I really loved this collection of short stories. They have a fun, vintage feel to them and most of them have some sort of science fiction or fantasy aspect that I adored. Some are happy, some bittersweet, and some are a little dark. Together, they make one wonderful collection.

Some stories, like the Maleficent story mentioned in the synopsis, are quirky and have unexpected happenings. Other stories are quick slices of life from surreal circumstances, like the last day on Earth of a girl who is being forced to move off-planet. Some of the stories were more realistic, but all have this wonderful nostalgic, vintage-y feel to them. Despite the overall feel being the same, each story has its own character, set apart by the writing style. The writing in some stories is also very descriptive–but not in a way that bored or annoyed me (and I’m not a huge of fan of lots of description outside of certain types of writing, like classics).
I also love that a lot of the stories, though they involve magic, make magic a part of our world through ideas and concepts. For instance, there is one story where a woman uses maps as magic. and another where math is magical. While these concepts are realistic, I think we can all agree that adding a small bit of magic to them is attractive, and doesn’t feel unrealistic or weird.

Overall, I really really loved this collection of stories. As someone who doesn’t love short stories, it’s always nice to be reminded that I can like short stories, and that makes me more likely to keep trying out collections that fit my particular brand of story. In this collection, Klages is at times heartbreaking, dark, funny, and whimsical. The stories were hard to put down and really enjoyable to read. If you’re looking for some good stories, this is a great place to look.

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

I'm on a bit of a short story roll at the moment! I thoroughly enjoyed these stories, as a major fan of the slightly magical, these were right up my alley. Imaginative, whimsical and character driven, these sweet little stories overwhelmed me with nostalgia, and I loved them for it!

From moving to Mars, to an unseelie Queen, to a small child who loves Maleficent over the princess. Wicked Wonders is a collection of wonderfully written short stories from Ellen Klages.

Because there are multiple short stories, it felt like it took much longer to read than a normal length novel. I found it particularly difficult to jump in and out of each story. This was because they're all so different. Some were magical. Other's were more sci-fi leaning. And then there were some that were contemporary.

Although vastly different, the writing style was consistently good throughout. Each story caught my attention and pulled me in. I was intrigued every time a new story started. Often confusion at first would turn to faster page turning.

I especially loved St Cecelias. We end up playing within board games such as Cluedo, snakes and ladders and Monopoly as part of Queen Mab's games. I loved the settings that were described. The Queen was manipulative but fair with her deals. Plus I definitely would have read a whole series based on that one premise.

Singing on a Star was also one that has really stuck in my mind. I would love to have delved deeper into that storyline. Especially as the ending was ambiguous. So many of the stories were truly wonderful plots. I would love to read more from Klages as she has wonderful ideas and entrancing writing.

Such a delightful collection of short stories! I enjoyed them all immensely and it seems very likely that people will enjoy at least a couple of them. Definitely a good collection for easing people into the fantasy/sci-fi genre a little bit.

An outstanding collection of short stories by acclaimed author Ellen Klages.
The title Wicked Wonders fits just perfect for the unique array of often heartfelt and truly magical tales.

Ellen Klages' storytelling is one of kind and not to be missed.
There isn't one story which I didn't enjoy to read.
Highly recommended.

In  Ellen Klages’ dazzling new collection of short stories, "Wicked Wonders," she crafts one perfect sentence after another.

Published by Tachyon, a small press in San Francisco, this extraordinary collection is introduced by PEN/Faulkner Award winner Karen Joy Fowler.   Klages has a reputation for eclecticism:  she won the Nebula Award in 2005 for her novelette “Basement Magic” and the Scott O’Dell Award for Historical Fiction in 2007 for her Y.A. novel, "The Green Glass Sea."

Klages’ perceptive stories cross genre.  Are they miniature fantasies?  Magic realism?  Retold fairy tales?  A little bit of all three, plus some smart homages to Ray Bradbury.

Klages is an evocative chronicler of childhood.  In “Amicae Aeternum,” Corry gets up early one lovely morning to take a  walk through her hometown. She has a list of things she wants to see:  she appreciates every detail, from flowers to fire hydrants.

Klages writes,

"A dandelion’s spiky leaves pushed through a crack in the cement. Corry squatted, touching it with a finger, tracing the jagged outline, memorizing its contours. A weed. No one planted it or planned it. She smiled and stood up, her hand against a wooden fence, feeling the grain beneath her palm, the crackling web of old paint, and continued on. The alley stretched ahead for several blocks, the pavement a narrowing pale V."

It is gradually revealed that Corry’s future life, unlike a dandelion, will be planned.  But for now, Corry goes bicycling with her best friend, Anna.

"No traffic, no cars.  It felt like their last day on earth."

And then we learn that it IS Corry’s last day on Earth.   She and her parents are  leaving on a “generation” spaceship headed for a distant planet.  She will spend the rest of her life on the ship, and her great-great-great–she doesn’t know how many “greats”–grandchildren will live there.  She will never see the planet.
The melancholy narrative is reminiscent of Ray Bradbury’s depictions of t of Midwestern small towns in "Dandelion Wine" and "The Martian Chronicles," where astronauts on Mars never stop missing their hometowns.  Is the journey  worth it? As in Bradbury’s stories, small town characters are split between Earth and space.  But the girls make a pact that may sustain Corry.

Klages’ other stories of childhood are equally fascinating. In “The Education of a Witch,” Lizzie, a small girl, sympathizes with Maleficent in the movie "Sleeping Beauty."  She finds Maleficent beautiful, unlike the warty witches in storybooks, and thinks the king and queen were wrong not to invite her to the christening.  Later, at a toy store, she persuades her mother to buy her a Maleficent puppet. And after her mother has a baby, Lizzy  spends more time with Maleficent, who tells her stories. When Lizzy tells her nursery school teacher she wants to be a witch, we wonder if she already has the power.

Klages is also fond of portal fantasies. In “Friday Night at St. Cecilia’s,” the heroine Rachel plays a game of backgammon with the school’s cleaning lady and is transported through a portal to living board games, where she must win Clue, Snakes & Ladder, and Monopoly for the lives of her best friend and herself.

Klages’ stories also explore identity.  In “Woodsmoke,” the heroine Peet, whose real name is Patty, is excited about spending  the summer at camp while her parents go to Europe. She loves camp, where girls get to do everything boys do.   Another strong girl, Margaret, whose parents live in Asia, is also there for the summer.  The two girls become close friends, because  other campers leave after one- and -two-week session.  But there’s an identity twist at the end.story.

In my favorite story, “Echoes of Aurora,” a single retired woman, Jo,  returns after her father’s death to the resort town where she grew up. Her father owned a penny arcade, which decades ago was successful, and she repaired the machines.  She plans now to fix some up and sell them to a circus museum.

Again, it is Klages’ prose that makes the story so special.

"Cedar River was a summer town.

"You’ve seen it, or one just like it. Off a state highway, on the edge of a lake—a thousand souls, more or less, until Memorial Day. Then the tourists come, for swimming and fudge and miniature golf. They laugh, their sunburns redden and peel, and when the first cool autumn breezes ripple the water, they leave. The carnival is over."

I have seen it!
One day, while Jo listens to the
nickelodeon in the arcade, a beautiful young woman, Aurora, shows up dancing.  The two become lovers, and Jo stays longer than she had planned.  In the fall, we learn Aurora’s real identity.  It is so fitting–why didn’t we realize it all along?  But you won’t guess it.

I loved these stories.   I am so glad to have discovered this writer.

This is the type of collection that you give to your scifi/fantasy/not-quite-reality novel snob friends and family to turn them into short story lovers. So many good stories in one book.

Wicked Wonders is a collection of very unassuming stories. Their voice and narrative contain no embellishments, particularly because most of them are about children or told through a child’s perspective. The ploy of initially presenting the world as a normal place is all part of Ellen Klages’ technique of bleeding reality into the downright bizarre and unsettling. Because of the child’s perspective (related through a third person) and utilizing them as unreliable narrators, you are left wondering how much is real and how much is not.
Although subtle and understated this collection is loaded with meaning and conceptual complexity (‘Caligo Lane’ has a mesmerizing and novel take on the use of origami). The result is something emotionally very powerful (‘Amicae Aeternum’ describes a child’s last day on earth with her friend before she leaves forever on a spaceship into the unknown). There is gentleness and compassion (In ‘Echos of Aurora’ Jo Norwood returns to her old home to find a mysterious woman there), but at other times the stories ripple with an undercurrent of tension and a devious unpleasantness (‘Singing on a Star’ sees two girls enter a mysterious world through a closet). In ‘The Education of a Witch’, a child’s perception of the world through the logic of a film she has seen takes an interesting turn and results in an unsettling outcome.
These are effectively modern fairy tales that say a great deal about who we are and makes the reader really think about the effect their actions might have on the people around them.
Although primarily written for an adult audience, these stories are likely to appeal to a young adult reader looking for something with a bit depth and sophistication to get their teeth into.
Wicked Wonders was courtesy of Tachyon Publications via NetGalley.

There are fifteen short stories in Ellen Klages’ newest short story collection Wicked Wonders.

Out of those fifteen, thirteen were basically everything I ever wanted in a short story. Two were… not. One of those two was a story that just didn’t catch me while the other was a story that had me invested right until it chose to reveal a characters’ genitals for what feels like shock value and then proceed to misgender them for the (short) remainder of the story. It was quite a disappointing experience.


Which sucks, because I otherwise love Ellen Klages’ writing. I’m working my way through her Tor.com novella Passing Strange, taking my time because hello I adore narratives set in or revolving around the 1920s. I think she’s a brilliant, talented writer who knows how to use words to set up mental pictures so pretty that they belong in a museum. But I mean… that second to last story sure is a doozy…

Argh!

Well, let’s get started!

THE EDUCATION OF A WITCH

This is my favorite story in the collection. Straight up. The second I finished reading this story in the middle of the night, I had to fight the urge to wake my eleven-year-old niece up and demand that she read it with me. I did that the next day and it was amazing. “The Education of a Witch” is a cute but dark story set in the POV of a little girl named Lizzy who, in 1959 after watching Sleeping Beauty at the drive-through with her parents, falls in love with Maleficent and comes to see the witch as her lone confidant in the world.

I loved this story because I was Lizzy. Or at least, I could have been Lizzy if my parents paid just a little less attention to me when I was growing up. It was so easy to empathize with Lizzy and honestly, I rooted for her the entire time because I’ve had to deal with the new baby in the house taking all of the attention and it SUCKED. (I have a niece a little younger than me and I was 5 when she came to live with us.)

What was kind of awesome about “The Education of a Witch” is that Klages never actually tells us whether there’s real magic in Lizzy’s life near the end of the story or if, like most small children, she’s just wielding a powerful sense of imagination. I kind of love not knowing whether or not Lizzie’s Carrie-like tendencies are shored up by actual powers.

If you read nothing else from this anthology, read this story.

AMICAE AETERNUM

This is a bittersweet story about a teenager about to leave everything she knows in order to travel with her family on a generation ship that won’t reach its final destination until centuries after she’s dead. If you’re not up to date on what a generation ship is, it’s basically an ark a la Noah that transports hopefuls across space to a world that their descendants will hopefully colonize. Many times, in science fiction, the ship never makes it to its final destination. Or even out of the galaxy they started in.

They bum me out.

However, that works for “Amicae Aeternum” because it’s not a happy story. It’s a hard hitting story. It’s a “this is the last time these kids will see each other in person” kind of story but it’s so dang sweet. Corry and her friend Anna are so close and they absolutely do what I would’ve done in their shoes. From Corry’s lists about her future to Anna’s very sweet present, this is a story that kind of hurts by the end, but it’s a good hurt.

MRS. ZENO’S PARADOX

This story is so dang science-y.

It took me a couple of reads to get what was going on, but once I got it, I got it. “Mrs. Zeno’s Paradox” is another story centered on friendship but it’s also a story that’s lowkey about breaking the world with math. I mean, that’s what I got from Midge and Annabel’s back and forth over dividing the brownie into smaller and smaller pieces.

I thought it was weirdly… cute.

SINGING ON A STAR

“Singing on a Star” is creepy.

Straight up. It’s more horror than anything even though it doesn’t look that way at first glance. At first, this story looks like it’s going to be a simple “sleepover gone horribly wrong” story which I was like unsure about, but then it somehow got more messed up than I was expecting?

I’m talking alternate earths, creepy strangers, and a cycle of strange and stressful that just won’t quit.

This story is unsettling because it deals with a little girl who finds out that her friend has a secret involving another earth and a strange old man. It’s not an easy story to read and if you’re not 100% sure that you can handle something that ends with one currently missing child… skip it.

HEY, PRESTO!

“Hey, Presto!” was another favorite story in this anthology.

Main character Polly Wardlow is a brain, a girl that tells herself that she’s not like her father who heads up what she sees as a silly magic show. After a letter from her father arrives that changes her summer plans drastically, she winds up getting to spend a summer with the very man that she doesn’t exactly like.

Like many of the stories in Wicked Wonders, “Hey, Presto!” is set in . While I’m not super sure when it takes place, I’m assuming that it’s sometime between world wars and that’s lowkey one of my favorite time periods for fiction. Even fiction that ostensibly has nothing to do with the wars.

I think my favorite thing about this story and what made it a favorite at all, is the way that Polly’s relationship with her father evolves once he asks her for help with his show and she starts to explore the way that their two worlds aren’t so different after all.

The ending is basically the actual best (I’m talking about Polly saving her dad’s life by using the stagecraft that she’d picked up while living with him).

10/10 so cute, would highly recommend.

ECHOES OF AURORA

I’ve been calling this “the queer tree story” since I finished reading it.

I love the language in this story. When Rory and Jo meet (again?), the language Klages uses to describe Rory’s eyes and the way that they impact Jo is like… out of this world. Peep this gorgeous description folks:
Rory stepped into another bit of sunlight. Her eyes were green too, flecked with bits of gold. They tickled a fragment of memory with no context to anchor it, and Jo felt herself nod.

This is another bittersweet story but it’s also so beautiful.

FRIDAY NIGHT AT ST. CECILIA’S

“Friday Night at St. Cecilia’s” is such a fun story.

After St. Cecilia student Rachel winds up being trapped in a series of games against the mysterious Mrs. Llewelyn, she has to use her bran in order to save herself and her friend (girlfriend?) Anna. I loved the Jumanji-esque experience of following along as Rachel matches wits with a literal faerie queen.

And the ending was super satisfying.

Gosh!

CALIGO LANE

“Caligo Lane” is a story about magic, cartography, and the search for a missing sister.

While I felt that “Caligo Lane” was a bit too slow for me, this is a story where Klages’ talents as a wordsmith really shine. It’s beautiful prose coupled with incredible descriptive language and I loved the experience of reading it.

Goodnight Moons

So many of the stories in Wicked Wonders leave me with a profound sense of melancholy and seriously, “Goodnight Moons” is no exception. This is a story about an astronaut who finds out that she’s pregnant on her way to Mars and how she and her crew deal with her pregnancy and later childbirth.

It’s not necessarily a sad story. I mean, I didn’t cry once while reading. But despite how sweet it is, I couldn’t get over the ending and what it meant for the main character and her daughter and it just feels… upsetting (but in a good way, I promise).

This was another science-y story, by the way. If you enjoyed The Martian, this will appeal to your tastes.

GONE TO THE LIBRARY

“Gone to the Library” is totally mathematical!

Izzy is my kind of main character and I adore her to pieces. Her devotion to her new friend Bibber, a young boy subject to the threat of institutionalization because of developmental disabilities, is awesome and intense. It literally leads to her trying to change the world with magic numbers.

Unlike the first story in the collection, the presence of magic is more explicit. There’s no “well, was this magic or imagination” because well… it’s both.

This is a sweet story!

HOUSEHOLD MANAGEMENT

SHERLOCK HOLMES!

Except no, this is a story about the wonderful and kind of scary Mrs. Hudson, a hero in her own right and a character that doesn’t usually get a chance to shine. But shine she does in this story.

The one thing I can’t quite get is whether or not Mrs. Hudson is doing something to her neighbor Vivian…

And despite the fact that I wouldn’t trust any of her food not to kill me, Mrs. Hudson in this story is a fantastic character and I honestly found myself wanting to read more about her in this kind of setting.

SPONDA THE SUET GIRL

This was the first of the two stories that I straight up didn’t like.

Unlike the next story in the collection that bugged me for different reasons, “Sponda the Suet Girl” simply wasn’t interesting to me.

WOODSMOKE

And here we have the story that made me really frustrated with this collection.

At first, “Woodsmoke” looks like it’s going to be a cute queer historical romance with gender non-conforming girls hanging out and falling in love. Like I felt that shit in my soul. Set in 1963, “Woodsmoke” revolves around Peete Maas and her time at Camp Wokanda that summer. It’s an experience that introduces her to Margaret “Maggie” Wendover.

Maggie’s portrayal as a character isn’t a problem until the last part of the story where, after Maggie goes to the camp nurse for stomach pains, it’s revealed that she has a penis and the pain she was feeling was basically super late-stage puberty. With the genital reveal, Maggie is no longer referred to with she/her pronouns and appears to be misgendered for the last page or two of the story.

Problems with this narrative include how it’s never about Maggie.

The last part of this story is entirely about Peete’s reaction to Maggie’s body and her identity.

Not Maggie’s.

At the very least, a story about Maggie discovering this aspect of her body while also discovering her intimate feelings for Peete would’ve been a bit less… icky. I mean I’m not an expert, but I honestly don’t know that this story would be anything but upsetting to intersex readers and trans readers for whom a genital reveal like this would be beyond harmful to them.

I get that this is historical fiction and that this is ~period typical~, but I think that this story, the only one in the collection that hadn’t been previously published, should have maybe stayed unpublished or should’ve been reworked to be or have more of Maggie’s story. Because it loses so much by and because of that reveal.

THE SCARY HAM

There’s not that much to say about “The Scary Ham” that isn’t on the label.

This is a light(ish) story about a ham that the main characters’ father kept hanging up in the basement for twenty years until his death causes his daughter to pull it down and try to get rid of it.

I mean… it’s funny as heck, but it’s also about a ham.

A very scary ham.
________________________________________

All in all, Wicked Wonders was almost everything I wanted.

I’m glad that “Woodsmoke” was the second to last story in the anthology because honestly, my enjoyment of the book would’ve vanished had it appeared at the start. I still do think that Ellen Klages is an amazing writer and I love that she has so many clearly queer stories in this book, but at the same time…

This short story collection was one I had been looking forward to and I was so pleased when I got a free copy through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

These are all small glimpses into the lives of girls with a sprinkling of sci-fi or fantasy tossed into them. I loved how atmospheric they were and how they weren't meant to tell a full life's story. Instead, we get dropped into their lives and just as quickly get tossed back out and get to imagine how the story ends. Honestly, I really could't find fault with this collection. Ellen Klages writes stories that I find myself wishing I had come up with. She has a wild imagination and was able to pull me along with her.

Overall, I loved the way that they would draw me in and at the end leave me thinking about them long after I had moved on to another book. My favorite story was Singing on a Star. I loved the Alice in Wonderland feel of it and the creepy vibe that left me with goosebumps at the end.