"The New Voices of Fantasy," curated by Eugene Fisher and featuring work from Brooke Bolander among others, is a refreshing compilation that celebrates emerging talents in the realm of fantasy literature. This anthology offers an eclectic mix of stories, each unique in its imagination and emotional impact. From whimsical to dark, these tales provide a snapshot of the genre's promising future. A must-read for anyone interested in the evolving landscape of fantasy fiction.

I love a short story collection, and this is a nice one. A good number of memorable stories, and none that weren't at least generally enjoyable.

The stories in this book were excellent! I had a chance to really ruminate on some of them, which were definitely deeper than some anthologies I've read in the past. Thanks for the chance to review it!

Some of the stories were very interesting and some were not. But that is how most anthologies are anyways. I did find some new authors to look into because of this book though. So that is good!

It's a bit uneven. A few really good stories and then a lot of okay stories. It never really dips too low, so quite okay for a collection with this broad theme.

This is a compilation os fantasy stories that are designed to take you on journeys you never thought possible while never leaving your favorite reading spot. This is a wonderfully well-curated collection that was full of surprises

I really enjoyed reading this book! I read this book in one sitting because I could not put the book down, I highly recommend reading this book!

*This book was given to me by NetGalley in return for an honest review*

Just like with any anthology, some stories I connected with more than others. This was a great showcase of 19 new authors. I loved that they were long enough to give you a feel for their writing style. I will definitely be reading more from some of them!

I really liked The New Voices of Fantasy, and a good few of the stories inside are stand-outs for me – not just in this anthology, but in the general sense of short fiction I’ve read. This volume is also itself a kind of time capsule, which really fascinates me. It will always be called The New Voices of Fantasy, but – because time works the way it does – these voices won’t always be new. Even now, reviewing this in 2019 when it came out in 2017, some of these authors have gone on to be nominated for awards (multiple times in some cases), write longer fiction, and foster the development of even newer new voices. I think in even a few more years’ time looking back at this collection will be interesting for those fans of speculative fiction with a completionist streak, and I don’t think they’ll be disappointed. So, for posterity, here are my thoughts on The New Voices of Fantasy:

5 “Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers” by Alyssa Wong
This Nebula winning tale is an incredible opening to the anthology. Wong has deftly crafted a story that doesn’t suffer for its short format – I was surprised more than once by the way this story unfolded. I can’t recommend it highly enough.

3 “Selkie Stories are for Losers” by Sofia Samatar
I was torn about this non-standard selkie story. While I liked the themes it explored, I found it difficult to dig into the characters and - as I’ve said many times - I am a reader who focuses on characters. So, this story wasn’t the strongest for me, but I think that’s more specifically about my taste – I can see this one being a standout for someone else.

4 “Tornado’s Siren” by Brooke Bolander
I think at this point it’s safe to say I am a Bolander fan. Every story of theirs I come across I like, and often love. This story is so odd. I liked the dream-like quality of it – the idea of a tornado not only following someone through life, but literally following someone out of a kind of love? This story reflects to me the strange side of speculative fiction, and I enjoyed this foray into that feeling.

3.5 “Left the Century to Sit Unmoved” by Sarah Pinsker
Sometimes when people go swimming in a deep pool in a small town, they disappear entirely. But people keep swimming there anyway. This story is a small-town supernatural mystery that asks questions beyond its premise. I was hoping for more of an impactful ending with this story, but otherwise really liked it.

5 “A Kiss with Teeth” by Max Gladstone
I love this story, and I’ve talked about why before: http://www.fantasyliterature.com/reviews/sfm-gladstone-chiang-bolander-johnston-swanwick-vaughn/

5 “Jackalope Wives” by Ursula Vernon
Another Nebula winning story, this one was incredibly impactful for me. I felt for the characters throughout the story and was genuinely worried about how it was going to end. This is a stand-out for me in this anthology.

5 “The Cartographer Wasps and Anarchist Bees” by E. Lily Yu
When I first read this story, I immediately put down the anthology to find it online so I could send it to friends and insist they read it. This story made me think about systems and fiction differently.

4.5 “The Practical Witch’s Guide to Acquiring Real Estate” by A. C. Wise
I was delighted by the whimsy of this story. I read a certain tongue-in-cheek-ness about it. I think I am finding that stories that state fantastical things as matter of fact are fun and engaging to me – I like that transportation to a someplace where magic is delightfully common-place. This story made me smile throughout.

5 “The Tallest Doll in New York City” by Maria Dahvana Headley
Another story with a certain sense of whimsy that I found utterly intriguing. I’ve never been to New York City, but I don’t think my lack of knowledge hurt my reading of the tale. I loved how the people of New York, and even the people in the buildings going for a stroll; reacted to the situation at hand.

3.5 “The Haunting of Apollo A7LB” by Hannu Rajaniemi
I’ve already talked about stories that remind me of how strange speculative fiction can get, and this is no exception. When an antique space suit goes for a walk some late-night soul searching and historical context are explored.

1.5 “Here Be Dragons” by Chris Tarry
Unfortunately, this story didn’t work for me. It follows two medieval ‘dragon slayers’ who have made a tidy living conning villages out of money. They then find it difficult to settle down with the wives and children they hardly ever saw when they were traversing the countryside. I didn’t care for their justifications of their terrible behaviour.

5 “The One They Took Before” by Kelly Sandoval
Kayla keeps a vigilant watch for articles or personal ads that talk about faerie realms. As the story unfolds, the pieces of context fall into place to illuminate her choices. I loved this story from beginning to end – the focus on Kayla and her thoughts, the slow realization of what’s going on, and then the surprising ending amounted to one of my favourite stories in the anthology.

2.5 “Tiger Baby” by JY Yang
In this story, the main character is convinced she’s really a tiger rather than the human she appears to be. What ensues is a weird tale with a surprising (to me) ending. Unfortunately, this story didn’t congeal into a cohesive ‘something’ for me – it felt like it was missing something integral.

2 “The Duck” by Ben Loory
A duck falls in love with a rock. Take it or leave it, I wanted to leave it.

3 “Wing” by Amal El-Mohtar
This story is deeply intriguing throughout, but that’s a little of why I liked it but didn’t love it. I liked the questions I had for this story, I liked the language, and I liked the themes through to the end. However, the thoughtfulness and the intriguing premise served to make me interesting in how the story could end, and then the ending felt like a bit of a non-ending in that all the questions I had remained, but the story was over.

2 “The Philosophers” by Adam Ehrlich Sachs
This story is really three short stories that all concern philosophers and father-son relationships. I was very intrigued by the first of the three stories, but the other two didn’t keep my interest at all. The three of them are also the most loosely speculative stories in this anthology.

4 “My Time Among the Bridge Blowers” by Eugene Fischer
I was fascinated by this story from the outset. I felt that it portrayed an often glamourized relationship between colonial researchers and indigenous groups they other-ize with their work. I enjoyed how this story dealt with the subject matter and the speculative aspects of the story.

4 The Husband Stitch by Carmen Maria Machado
I have learned that there is a certain subset of people who all remember reading the deeply disturbing story of a girl who wears a green ribbon around her neck at a formative age. Well, get ready for round two, because this story takes that creepy tale to a whole new place.

4.5 The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn by Usman T. Malik
The final story in this anthology is one I’ve read and reviewed before (non-spoiler: I liked it): http://www.fantasyliterature.com/reviews/sfm-malik-emrys-swanwick/

This collection of nineteen fantasy tales is one of the most unique anthologies I have had the pleasure of reading thus far in my humble reading life. Written by exciting new storytellers of the fantasy (and science fiction) genres, these short stories range from vampires and selkies, to walking skyscrapers and a lovelorn duck.

I gobbled up these stories in a short time, and enjoyed most of them immensely. However, there arose a nagging question while reading these stories: what defines fantasy? What, by definition, even is fantasy?

I haven’t really come up with a “right” answer, but rather a paradox to explain what I felt during my read: fantasy is more or less subjective. Sometime during its evolution as a genre, as fantasy has become more and more diverse, so too has it become more subtle. A story which is unexplainable, fantastic, magical, even baffling for one reader may seem rather commonplace to the next.

Fantasy is no longer held back by the same medieval settings and formulaic magic systems inspired by (white) European culture of bygone days. Dragons, wizards, goblins, and cursed ancient forests are no longer a requirement to convey feelings of fantastic grandeur in storytelling. Though the traditional “epic/ high” fantasy lives on, we have long broken free from the stereotypical confinements of stories told in rigid, magical worlds.

In fact, there is only one story in this collection that even comes close to a classic fantasy, and it is still far from what one would expect from something titled “Here Be Dragons”. I flew from dark urban alleyways to inside a bee hive, from a jackalope-riddled desert to a jungle where a tribe with ancient powers still live.

Somehow, even though I have never read anything by Peter S. Beagle (shame!), I was expecting this anthology to play by the ancient “rules” of typical fantasy writing. These burgeoning authors are anything but typical, and I look forward to following these new voices as they continue the battle of crafting fantasy tales.



Average rating of all stories: 3.47 // 5 (rounded up to 4!)


Below are my notes and favorite quotes for each story. (Some minor spoilers beware!)


“Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers” by Alyssa Wong - Kickass, faced paced urban fantasy. Love that the MC is a bisexual Asian woman with powers. "I can't stop staring at the ugly thoughts, dropping from her lips like swollen beetles. They skitter over the tablecloth toward me, whispering absurdities at odds with Seo-yun's gentle voice, hissing what they'd like to do to me." 3.5/5

“Selkie Stories are for Losers” by Sofia Samatar- Selkies have such unique lure, and the story was well-written (if a bit choppy), but just felt like too little magic, not enough to sink my teeth into. Not bad by any means just kinda forgettable. 3/5

“Tornado’s Siren” by Brooke Bolander - Short and simple (compared to the others) but quirky and loveable. Such a unique concept, charming. Really want to read more from her! “Bad things happen to good people all the time. Even at nine she’s a little wary about putting all her faith into such a thought she would never say in front of her grown-ups.” “You can’t fall in love with destruction. What would that say about a person?” 4.5/5

“Left the Century to Sit Unmoved” by Sarah Pinsker - Town tradition of jumping off cliff, a common thing (I did this as a teen, like a drunken rite of passage), but this story warps it into a fantasy (urban fantasy again). Okay but certainly not a fave. “I don’t imagine the people who are taken die or are reborn. I think they’re transformed, but I don’t know into what. Rainbow trout, black snake, water molecules. Is that different than dying? To become part of this beautiful pond, to receive the waterfall, to be surrounded always by rock and pine and birch and sky?” 3.75/5

“A Kiss with Teeth” by Max Gladstone - A family drama, but the father is a vampire. Quirky, but for me lacked depth. Reminded me a bit of “Santa Clarita Diet” but less funny. 3/5

“Jackalope Wives” by Ursula Vernon - Love the uniqueness in the mythology (never read a jackalope story before). Again this is “urban” and not “high” fantasy (are any of them so?) but it wasn’t bad. “A little magic is worse than none, for it draws the wrong sort of attention.” 3.5/5

“The Cartographer Wasps and Anarchist Bees” by E. Lily Yu - Extremely original concept (despite the sudden fascination with “saving the bees”), love a perspective I’ve never read before, still felt as though missing something, by the end. Bees’ thoughts are quite poetic. “By the sheerest of accidents, one of the bees trained as a cartographer’s assistant was an anarchist.[...] Anarchism being a heritable trait in bees, a number of the daughters of the new queen found themselves questioning the purpose of the monarchy.” “None had seen a winter before, but the memory of the species is subtle and long, and in their hearts, despite the summer sun, the felt an imminent darkness.” 3/5

“The Practical Witch’s Guide to Acquiring Real Estate” by A. C. Wise - Comical but mostly missed the mark for me. Didn’t feel like a “story”but a few magazine clippings sewn together. “Open your skin so the house may see these truths written on your bones.” “The house may let you live inside it, but it will live inside you as well: an infinite series of nesting dolls, witch inside house inside witch, growing smaller and smaller until where one beings and the other ends is virtually indistinguishable, even on a sub-atomic level.” 3/5

“The Tallest Doll in New York City” by Maria Dahvana Headley - Left me confused, hardly seemed like fantasy...but the building are...walking around (view spoiler)Not my cuppa. 2/5

“The Haunting of Apollo A7LB” by Hannu Rajaniemi - About a haunted moon-suit and the widow of the astronaut who made it. Actually did make me chuckle a few times. Just didn’t connect with this sci-fi-ish one. 2.5/5

“Here Be Dragons” by Chris Tarry - I believe this is the only one with a typical Europeans medieval setting, but ironically it’s written in a more modern way, and the premise is unexpected and well executed. Tackles some issues of modern fatherhood and masculinity as a parent: “‘You’re better at fathering than you think,’ Gerta said. ‘Well, don’t spread it around,’ I said. ‘The kind of men I used to run with would see me beaten for it.’” 4.25/5

“The One They Took Before” by Kelly Sandoval - Existential crisis beginning with a Craig’s List advertisement. Quirky. Like the prose broken up with newspaper articles, etc. Kinda went over my head, though? I think I still don’t really know what it is about. Jumped from scene to scene too quickly. 2/5

“Tiger Baby” by JY Yang - LOVE this one, can VERY much relate to the MC, who feels out of place her whole life, just feels wrong (wants nothing but raw meat (for me, raw fish) in her body (symbolism for dysphoria? Hm!), eventually transforms.”They invite her to their movie nights, try to get her interested in whatever’s on the television, as if that would settle the wild bones rattling inside her.” 5/5

“The Duck” by Ben Loory - Strange one, literally about a duck. Dialogue without tags, ugh, huge pet peeve. Extremely simple plot (they are ducks, after all), not sure there’s a point to the story other than “aww, it’s cute”? I guess supposed to be like “don’t judge a book by its cover” or some similar effect. “The duck sighed and sat down on the ground. If he hands, he would have buried his head in them.” 2.5/5

“Wing” by Amal El-Mohtar - Short, whimsical, full of random facts or a “story within a story”. Maybe about being so very different from everyone else, and the elevated delight in finding someone who is just as weird as you. 4/5

“The Philosophers” by Adam Ehrlich Sachs - Three shorter stories about fatherhood & father/son relationships. So not my cuppa tea really...BUT the final story was a TOTAL mindfuck, some Black Mirror, time travel paradox shit to make your brain overheat a bit. Would be interested to read more from him for sure. 4.5

“My Time Among the Bridge Blowers” by Eugene Fischer - Sounds like Rupyard Kipling, colonization/racism, very little fantasy elements (the sigils on his body, forcibly gives it to a girl he is creepily fascinated by) very well written, like literature. 3/5

“The Husband Stitch” by Carmen Maria Machado - Full of painful truths about how husbands treat wives, again only a thread of fantasy in this one (pun intended). So well written, words cut into you, but feels out of place here. 4/5

“The Pauper Prince and the Eucalyptus Jinn” by Usman T. Malik - Immediately I am so in love with Malik’s prose...I want to devour everything he has written and will write. I don’t say that about many authors. (I was not even done yet and I knew I couldn’t possibly give this story any less than 4.75 or 5 full stars. It’s a beautiful, chai-flavored mindfuck.) Audibly GASPED out loud nearing the ending, despite my sleeping partner next to me and the late hour. I applaud any piece of writing that can pull such a reaction from me. Just an absolute perfect story, and a wonderful finish to this anthology.5/5

I've always love anthologies, they're the perfect way to find new favorites. This book was an excellent way to discover new and upcoming authors, with a nice variety of short stories.

Many, but not all, of these stories are fresh and original. I could see myself using one or two of them as part of a creative writing class.

"What would you do if a tornado wanted you to be its Valentine? Or if a haunted spacesuit banged on your door? When is the ideal time to turn into a tiger? Would you post a supernatural portal on Craigslist?

In these nineteen stories, the enfants terribles of fantasy have arrived. The New Voices of Fantasy captures some of the fastest-rising talents of the last five years, including Sofia Samatar, Maria Dahvana Headley, Max Gladstone, Alyssa Wong, Usman T. Malik, Brooke Bolander, E. Lily Yu, Ben Loory, Ursula Vernon, and more. Their tales were hand-picked by the legendary Peter S. Beagle (The Last Unicorn) and genre expert Jacob Weisman (The Treasury of the Fantastic).

So go ahead and join the Communist revolution of the honeybees. The new kids got your back."

Just everything about this screams yes to me. Also come on, a supernatural portal on Craigslist? How much does that sound like an episode of Angel?

This book was a big disappointment, I am sorry to say. It’s true that I am not a big fan of collection of short stories, but sometimes I read them because you can discover some new author, or some new series, or you can read about the POV of some peculiar character in the series that you follow and love. So, even if I have not great expectations, I hope to find something good and interesting. And, sure as hell, I do not expect to find boredom in every single story!
I know that I would not like all the stories, that not all of them would be interesting to me, but usually, I don’t actively dislike them, or at least, not dislike them so much as with this book.

I can’t say that all the stories were bad, because I loved The Practical Witch’s Guide to Acquiring Real Estate by A. C. Wise. For me, this one was a 5 stars rating. It was funny, quirky, original and now I have to check out this author! But this was the only one I really liked.
There were a couple of stories, three of them to be precise, of which I liked the idea: Tornado’s Siren by Brooke Bolander, The Tallest Doll in New York City by Maria Dahvana Headley and The Duck by Ben Loory. But that’s it. I liked the idea behind them, but not the stories.

It’s true that I have found a new interesting author. But there were 19 stories in this collection and one out of 19 it isn’t good. All in all, it was quite a dull read. and I had a hard time to push my way through it.

One or two brilliant stories doesn’t make up for the half dozen not so great ones in this anthology. Overall this is a disappointing set of stories. However, the ones that are worth reading, if you were to say take this out at the library are by: Alyssa Wong, Brooke Bolander, E. Lily Yu, Kelly Sandoval. These four authors I will definitely watch for the future.

The rest of the stories either, weren't all that stunning. Some seemed just outrageous or impractical, some were poorly written. In the context of most anthologies I except to have a strong start, an okay middle set of stories and a strong ending. That was not the case here which is too bad.

Given that all of these authors are quite new to their genre, style, etc. I wouldn't exclude any of the authors I wasn't a fan of from being read in the future as these are what they say they are; new to the field authors. We have to accept and hope that all of them will improve over time.

Please note: I received an eARC of this book from the publisher via NetGalley. This is an honest and unbiased review.

This is a beautiful anthology. I look forward to seeing what these new writers will create in the future. Well done!

A brilliant collection of fantasy short stories. I liked some better than others, but most left an echo or imprint behind in my mind, and all were unique and distinct.

Some favourites were “Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers” by Alyssa Wong, “A Kiss with Teeth” by Max Gladstone, and “The Practical Witch’s Guide to Acquiring Real Estate” by A. C. Wise.

In this anthology of nineteen short stories by new and upcoming writers, I found reading it to be a delightful experience. Most of the stories have been published somewhere else with the exception of one. However don't let that stop you from getting this book. There is no common theme except fantasy. The stories are well written. I enjoyed most of the stories. Those stories that I didn't enjoy, I was still glad to have had the chance to read them. I look forward to seeing where the authors go in the future with their writings. Enjoy!

Esta reseña es una transcripción del podcast en el que salió originalmente http://www.ivoox.com/11-antologia-the-new-voices-of-fantasy-vv-aa-audios-mp3_rf_23128347_1.html.

A esta antología le tenía muchas ganas desde que salió en julio de este año pero hasta ahora, por otras lecturas que se metieron por el medio, no he tenido la posibilidad de incarle el diente. El libro me lo ha cedido la editorial, vete tu a saber por qué, a través de «Netgalley», por lo que les doy las gracias muy fuerte, ellos sabrán lo que hacen. Os adelanto que no me ha decepcionado en absoluto, si bien la nota final no es la que podía ser cuando llevaba un 40 o 50% del libro, Hasta ese momento pensaba calcarle cinco estrellas bien grandes, Luego baja un poco y hay 4 o 5 relatos que no me han gustado mucho, aunque al final vuelve a recuperar y los dos últimos son muy buenos.

El libro está editado por «Tachyon publications» y antologado por Peter S. Beagle y Jacob Weisman y consta de 19 relatos en 336 páginas. Como bien dice el título, el nexo de unión entre estos relatos es que son relatos de fantasía, fantasía oscura o incluso terror, escritos por autores y autoras jóvenes que según el criterio de Beagle y Weisman van a ser las grandes voces del genero de aquí a unos años. Creo que todos los relatos son reimpresiones, no hay ninguno escrito expresamente para este libro y algunos se pueden encontrar en revistas online, por lo que recomiendo que el lector aficionado a leer relatos en este tipo de medios le eche un buen ojo a los contenidos antes de hacerse con el libro no vaya a ser que ya haya leído la mayoría. Si éste no es vuestro caso yo me lanzaría a comprarlo de cabeza, está repleto de relatos geniales escritos por nombres que están dando mucho que hablar últimamente, en algunos casos con un buen repertorio de premios a sus espaldas. Por citar algunos nombres, aunque luego profundizare en mis relatos favoritos, tenemos a Alyssa Wong, Sofia Samatar, Brooke Bolander, Max Gladstone, Ursula Vernon, Hannu Rajaniemi, Kelly Sandoval, Amal El-Mohtar, Carmen María Machado o Usman T. Malik.

A pesar de que los relatos son muy diversos, ya que ésta era la intención de los editores al buscar un muestrario del panorama fantástico actual y futuro, hay unos cuantos temas que se repiten a lo largo del libro, como pueden ser la pérdida, el anhelo del pasado o de una gloria que ya no es tal, o la soledad. Como digo, esto no es común a todos los relatos, peros si me parece destacable ya que son temas comunes a bastantes de ellos como los de Wong, Samatar, Bolander, Sarah Pinsker, Gladstone, Rajaniemi, Chris Tarry, Sandoval, Machado y alguno más. Algo que me ha llamado la atención es que casi ningún relato está ambientado claramente en un mundo secundario. Con esto no quiero decir que sean de fantasía urbana, entendiendo fantasía urbana como lo que puede hacer Neil Gaiman en «Neverwhere», por ejemplo, sino que son historias con algún elemento fantástico incrustadas en nuestro mundo, y en muchos casos incrustadas en la cotidianidad del día a día y que tocan temas más costumbristas e intimistas podríamos decir. Se me hace difícil explicarlo pero espero que cuando hable más en profundidad de los relatos quede más claro.

Otro cosa que llama la atención positivamente de esta antología y que es imposible pasar por alto es la variedad cultural y de género de los autores y las autoras que la conforman y que no viene sino a ratificar lo que estamos viendo estos últimos años en los principales premios del género. Si bien es cierto que son relatos escritos originalmente en inglés, frontera casi ineludible, encontramos muchas mujeres y voces de culturas distintas como el finés Hannu Rajaniemi, el paquistaní Usman T Malik, Carmen María Machado, que aunque nació en Estados Unidos es de ascendencia cubana o Sofia Samatar que es de ascendencia Somalí, por poner algunos ejemplos.

Aparte de esto, tengo poco que decir de la antología en su conjunto, porque no hay un nexo de unión entre los relatos además de lo que acabo de comentar, así que a continuación voy a hablaros un poco de mis relatos favoritos.

Hungry daughters of starving mothers - Alyssa Wong
Este es un relato que no he leído en este libro. Curiosamente, estoy leyendo también la antología Dark Fantasies, seleccionada por Mariano Villareal y editada por Sportula y este relato es el que abre ambas. Justo antes de conseguir este libro lo leí en esta otra antología traducido, y muy bien traducido por Arrate Hidalgo. La premisa de este relato consiste en que nuestra prota no es una persona normal. Para alimentarse necesita beberse, literalmente, los elementos más oscuros de otras personas, a las que deja secas. Para ello la acción arranca en una cita que la protagonista ha concertado con un desconocido a través de internet y que parece que no va a llegar a nada fructífero para ella puesto que no detecta mucho de lo que alimentarse en el chico que tiene delante, más allá de que es un cuñado de categoría. Pero eso va a cambiar en un determinado momento. Lo interesante del relato es toda la psicología de esta mujer que no sabe por qué es como es y que, debido al hambre que pasa, tiene miedo de quedar con su mejor amiga por si no pudiese contenerse y se va distanciando de ella. Además de ver los traumas familiares que tiene y de que la atmósfera general del relato está muy bien conseguida. La verdad es que Wong lo mola todo y cumple mucho con la premisa de la antología. Es una chica jovencísima que con solo un puñado de relatos a conquistado a lectores y crítica haciéndose con unos cuantos premios y nominaciones. Ojalá podamos leer dentro de poco una colección de relatos suya y ojalá la traigan traducida. Yo de ella he leído “La reina pescadora”, que tenéis traducido en la web de «Fantífica»; “A Fist of Permutations in Lightning and Wildflowers” y éste. La verdad es que me alegro de haberlo leído en español porque el único relato suyo que leí en inglés me costo vida y media, no tiene un inglés fácil (al menos en ese relato).

A continuación quiero hablaros de dos relatos que tocan temas similares. Me estaba costando reseñarlos por separados porque tampoco quiero contar demasiado así que he optado por juntarlos. Se trata de «Selkie stories are for losers» de Sofia Samatar y «Left the century to sit unmoved» de Sarah Pinsker. Ambos son relatos narrados en primera persona que tratan sobre la perdida y como afrontarla.

En el primer caso, nuestra narradora nos habla un poco de su vida después de que su madre se fuera de casa abandonándolos a ella y a su padre al encontrar la prota un viejo abrigo en el ático y enseñárselo a su madre. Si hay una relación causa efecto entre estos dos sucesos, ya es tarea del lector decidirlo. La protagonista nos cuenta como conoce a Mona, una compañera de trabajo con una familia también problemática, y se enamora de ella, mientras nos entrelaza pequeñas historias sobre selkies dando a entender que no ha superado la marcha de su madre. Yo no conocía el folclore detrás de estos selkies y para quien este en mi situación, son unos seres que viven en el mar y tienen aspecto de foca que salen de vez en cuando a la superficie transformados en personas bellísimas, quitándose su piel y dejándola a un lado. El cuento típico, que también explica Samatar en el relato, es el del pescador que consigue la piel de una selkie y con esto, se casa con ella y tienen hijos, hasta que un día uno de sus hijos rebuscando en el ático encuentra un viejo abrigo, le pregunta a su madre por él, y la pierde al mar para siempre.

En el segundo caso, Sarah pinsker nos cuenta la historia de un pueblo con una charca un tanto particular: hace desaparecer para siempre a la gente que salta en ella desde una roca concreta, cuando le apetece. Esto se convierte en una especie de «ruleta rusa» en la que todo el mundo participa. Nadie sabe por qué siguen saltando, con el peligro que conlleva, y este tema es el explorado en el relato a través de los ojos de una adolescente que perdió a su hermano allí hace unos años. Ella explica por qué sigue saltando a pesar de todo y de como, aunque el pueblo ha creado una especie de reglas para saltar de forma más segura (no saltes solo, no saltes si alguien depende de ti, solo una persona a la vez, si saltas de cabeza tienes más probabilidades de que la charca te reclame) esto sólo son supersticiones que no sirven para nada. Autojustificaciones que la gente se impone para no pensar que lo que están haciendo es un suicidio prácticamente.
Como digo, ambos relatos tratan sobre la pérdida y sus consecuencias, y la necesidad que tenemos de racionalizarla, de buscarle una explicación lógica con la que poder seguir adelante con nuestras vidas. Ambos están muy bien escritos y son de mis favoritos sin duda del libro. Tratan también, aunque de formas un poco distintas, la necesidad que tenemos todos de hacer algo significativo con nuestras vidas y sobre la huida hacia delante para evitar pensar en que no cumplimos las expectativas que nos autoimponemos.

A kiss with teeth - Max Gladstone
Este relato me ha gustado mucho, sobre todo el inicio, no tanto la resolución. Continúa lo que podría ser la típica historia de vampiros. Desde la perspectiva de Vlad, nuestro vampiro protagonista, conocemos que después de años de escapar de la mujer que le intentaba dar caza, acaba casándose con ella, tienen un hijo e intentan vivir como una familia normal. Vlad nos cuenta como tiene que adaptarse a la vida en la ciudad aparentando, incluso de cara a su hijo, pues no quieren que sepa quien es su padre en realidad para que no se sienta diferente, que no es quien sabemos que es. Es un relato muy tierno. Por ejemplo, Vlad nos cuenta como tiene que dejar de recoger instantáneamente los objetos que tira la gente sin querer antes de que toquen el suelo o como tiene que tirar la pelota de baseball a velocidades muy limitadas para él cuando juega con su hijo, o como mete sus dientes en café todas las noches para que no tengan el blanco impoluto y sobrenatural que lucían antes. La voz del protagonista es lo que más me ha gustado con diferencia, junto con el tratamiento que hace Gladstone de la hiperactividad que sufre el niño, que sin saber que tiene los poderes del padre (al menos algunos, por lo que sabemos) es incapaz de concentrarse en el colegio por lo lento que se mueve el mundo a su alrededor. Me ha dejado con muchas ganas de leer más cosas del autor.

Here be dragons - Chris Tarry
Uno de los pocos relatos que se desarrolla en un mundo fantástico propiamente dicho. Los dos hombres protagonistas de este relato se dedicaban a ir pueblo por pueblo engañando a los lugareños con diversos artilugios para hacerles creer que un dragón los acechaba y para que acabasen contratándolos a ellos mismos para matarlo. El relato arranca cuando son descubiertos y se quedan sin negocio. Así, vuelven de nuevo a casa, esta vez para quedarse, y se ven obligados a llevar a cabo un cambio de paradigma. Está narrado en primera persona por uno de estos hombres, que nos explica como se queda en casa a cuidar de sus hijos mientras su mujer va al pueblo a trabajar (ahora haciendo más horas por la perdida de los ingresos de su marido) y como se va acostumbrando a la vida como amo de casa. Al principio su hija le es casi desconocida y ella no lo reconoce como a su padre por culpa de todo el tiempo que pasaba fuera de casa, pero poco a poco se van cogiendo cariño y la evolución del narrador es maravillosa. Pasado un tiempo, el y Géorg, su antiguo compañero que no lleva nada bien el cambio, incluso quedan con otros padres y sus hijos y realizan interpretaciones teatrales con todo el material de las antiguas aventuras de la pareja. El resto de padres y nuestro narrador aprovechan esas reuniones para intercambiarse consejos sobre como criar a sus hijos, o recetas de cocina especiales para dejar impresionadas a sus mujeres cuando vuelvan del trabajo exhaustas. A diferencia de nuestro protagonista, Géorg no es capaz de adaptarse a esta nueva vida y acaba por marcharse del pueblo. La vida sigue hasta que parece que un dragón real está rondando los alrededores... Es un relato precioso con un claro trasfondo feminista que habla de nuevos modelos de hombre y de mujer que no tienen por qué seguir las convenciones de generaciones anteriores, aunque sea difícil lidiar con estos cambios y, en el caso de nuestro protagonista, ignorar la llamada a la aventura típica de toda historia de fantasía. Todo esto en un mundo de corte pseudomedieval, lo que hace más interesante el tratamiento de estos temas. Creo que es el segundo relato que más me ha gustado de la antología.

The One They Took Before - Kelly Sandoval
Este es un relato cortito de fantasía oscura que podría ser perfectamente sobre un personaje salido de la obra de Seanan McGuire y sus novelas cortas que empiezan con «Every Heart a doorway». Es un poco el mismo estilo aunque con un toque algo más oscuro. Kayla ha vuelto de un mundo mágico que la aterra a la vez que la atrae. El relato va contando como desaparecen una serie de personas y como Kayla se entera de esas desapariciones siguiendo las noticias o leyendo anuncios bastante extraños en Internet y gestiona su miedo a volver con sus captores. Es un relato difícil de reseñar porque la trama poco más tiene que esto. Lo que importa es la atmósfera opresiva que consigue tejer Sandoval y todo el mundo que sugiere al otro lado del portal. Consigue transformar al lector en uno de esos pobres condenados que buscan las criaturas del otro mundo, nos maravilla lo que se nos cuenta de allí, pero es una mezcla de fascinación y pánico. El relato puede ser interpretado como la superación de una experiencia traumática, o el paso y la salida de un proceso de depresión. La voz de la protagonista (o bueno, no voz porque está narrado en tercera persona, pero se nos cuenta desde su perspectiva) es fabulosa.

The Husband Stitch - Carmen Maria Machado
Mi favorito de la colección. Tengo unas ganas terribles de leer «Her body and other parties: stories» que es una colección de relatos que ha sacado este año Machado y que ya tengo en casa, porque como sean la mitad de buenos que este relato, puede ser algo espectacular. Adelanto que se me hace muy difícil reseñar este relato y que es mucho mejor que cualquier cosa que yo pueda decir de él. Este cuento nos narra en primera persona la vida de una chica desde que conoce al que sabe que va a ser su futuro marido hasta un punto que no voy a revelar, pasando por su noviazgo, su boda, su vida de casada y de madre. En el mundo que crea Machado todas las mujeres tienen en alguna parte de su cuerpo un lazo. Es algo que llevan medio en secreto y sobre lo que hay mucho misticismo encima, como si de una especie de elemento de brujería se tratase (y de hecho la voz de la protagonista tiene un poco de bruja, tirando hacia el realismo mágico). No sólo es algo místico, para el lector y los hombres del relato, sino también un elemento muy íntimo para las mujeres, algo que no exponen a la ligera ante cualquier persona y sobre lo que hay mucho tabú. A lo largo del relato vemos como el marido tiene una vida que es el ideal de vida masculina que la sociedad impone y que el vive con total gozo: la mujer ama de casa que es casi un objeto sexual (y a este punto volveré luego), un trabajo bien remunerado, un hijo del que sentirse orgulloso… A pesar de todo esto, hay algo que le molesta, el lazo, y no saber nada sobre él. Así, aunque su mujer le tiene prohibido tocarlo, lo intenta por activa y por pasiva aprovechando momentos en que su mujer duerme o está desprevenida. Lo que lleva a pequeña discusión, y un periodo de aparente calma en que el hombre parece vencer a su «curiosidad». La resolución del relato es simplemente brillante y me ha dejado muy roto. En cuanto a lo que comentaba antes de la mujer como objeto sexual, creo que Machado acierta completamente al pintar una relación que en este caso es prácticamente entre dos ninfómanos. Esto contribuye a aumentar la caricatura de hombre siempre salido que tiene la vida perfecta porque su mujer siempre quiere tener sexo en cualquier momento y en cualquier lugar. Es un recurso arriesgado pero creo que la autora lo maneja con maestría. Lo que he comentado hasta ahora creo que sirve para que os hagáis una idea de los temas que toca el relato. Solo quiero añadir que la prosa es absolutamente excepcional y que la voz de la protagonista es brillante, jugando con ese toque sobrenatural que, aunque es muy sutil, yo creo que existe. Podría hablar más de este relato, ya que tiene otros elementos muy interesantes, pero creo que es mejor dejarlo aquí.