Read this if you like: Speculative fiction, rich, imaginative writing, genre-bending short stories

An emotive collection, touching on culture, technology, folklore, and longing.

I've read plenty of Eugen Bacon in the past and have loved it - Chasing Whispers is no exception. Stunning work.

I really liked a few of these short stories, and I found myself skim-reading others. I find it hard to rate short story collections generally, but I think I liked this one more than I disliked it. About midway I realised I was not the intended audience, and that's okay.

NetGalley ARC Educator 550974

As the realm of Afro-horror grows, this collection of short stories has garnered a top place. The stories take you on.a mental journey, some of the content will leave you on edge, some will have you laughing out loud and others mulling your mind over the ramifications of the story.

I tend to find the word evocative ridiculously overused when it comes to describing writing styles but in this particular case, I think it really is the most fitting word. Bacon has a unique and highly stylized literary voice and while it can be challenging to read it's also satisfying and if you let it her writing will leave you with strong feelings that will far outlast the time you will spend with her stories.
It's not full-on horror or full-on sci-fi though elements of both are present in the stories as well as strong fantasy elements, the term afro-irrealist really is the best way to describe the genre of this collection (when a book tells you what it is sometimes it really is best to believe it and this book really knows what it is). I'm telling you this because I want to reinforce that notion that you really have to let go of the expectations you might have about this book based on the genres it is listed under in order to let it be what it is and to let it impress you with it.
I almost didn't read this book because of the introduction but, ultimately, I decided I wasn't about to judge a book by an intro that wasn't even written by the author herself and I'm glad I resisted my knee jerk reaction to an intro that came across as very judgy. I'm adding this here in case someone who is about to make that mistake comes across my review, the stories aren't judgy and they really are new and unique the intro isn't just being boastful.

I really loved the idea of this short story collection. Unfortunately, I wasn't a fan of the execution of most stories, which were written in a, well, bizarre style. Not just stream-of-consciousness, not just abject magical realism, not just hard truths writ bluntly ... but a style of writing that I can only describe as disjointed and purposefully obtuse. Almost like it was ad lib (maybe mad lib), with "typical" words merely swapped out in favour of random ones loosely related to the speculative fiction theme. And a lot of onomatopoeia, "mystic" language, one-term sentences, etc. I think some readers will appreciate and find joy in this kind of writing, but not me. I did appreciate the novel alternative universe (?) take on covid, and the radical ecofeminism, especially the female organism as a "revolutionary source of renewable energy that's naturally replenishable and sustainable to the planet." In the end, I find myself wishing that this had been ghostwritten by someone else.

This book of short stories was a little hard to get through. While I do like the genre, a lot of the stories were a bit confusing and hard to get through. The slightly longer ones were easier to understand and more interesting, they were still just mostly okay.

I didn’t like this book at all. It didn’t keep me interested at all. I just couldn’t get into it. It wasn’t for me

When I first looked at the listing for this book, I had never heard the phrase "Afro-irrealist" before. I ended up reading this great article by Adam Turl for The Common Reader that helped put the genre in perspective for me. Afro-irrealism was described as: "The racist location of the Black as 'primitive' and the White as 'civilized' presents layers of problems for artists and writers who aim to reject European and White 'civilization' and aim to celebrate art and literature wrongly called 'primitive.' Many AfroSurrealists—like other irrealists—reject the binary opposition of 'magic' and 'science'." I went into the collection with this in mind and I think it greatly improved my experience.

I'm not sure exactly how to talk about this book other than that the phrase "a deep and terrible sadness" is a good representation. The characters and the stories deal with grief, loss, what constitutes humanity, pain, racism, and the patriarchy. In spite of this, there is still hope. It's not always there--and sometimes it's not always possible--but some futures have the prospect.

I'm going to go back and read more of Eugene Bacon's earlier work. I can absolutely see why she was included in the Honor list for the 2022 Otherwise Fellows.

**Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Great collection of strong stories, with a nice mixture of cultures, colliding worlds and even folklore.
With a speculative feel, these stories take you places and make you dig deeper for some hidden meanings.
All have fully developed strong characters coming to life with Bacon's wise choice of words.
Be prepared to face several different emotions in this collection.
Highly recommended.

The collection has great promise - but not my vibe per se. The stories are strange, thought-provoking and bizarre. The balance between horror and fantastical fiction is thin - and this certainly evokes it. Some readers will appreciate this collection and others will not connect to it.
Unfortunately at this stage I'm the latter.

Short review: I am fully in love with this author.

Long review: By the third story, I ended up searching for Eugene Bacon and looking into her and her other writing. I hadn’t come across the term “Afrofuturism” before, which sadly showcases how lacking I still am in the diversity of books I consume, though I welcome the chance to dive into it.
Bacon’s words and descriptions are pure poetry, hit me straight in the heart throughout most of this collection and the amount of highlights I made are bordering on ridiculous.

When the Wind Blows:
Absolute poetry. All the feelings, exposed from beginning to end, were breathtaking.

A Visit to Lamont:
That freaking ending had me in stitches. Such a great story!

A Deep and Terrible Sadness:
“You are homeless from yourself” This story, in particular, broke my heart. I wasn’t expecting it to hit as hard as it did.

I would highly recommend this collection of stories to anyone interested in speculative fiction, you will not be disappointed.