cover image ParaSpheres: Extending Beyond the Spheres of Literary and Genre Fiction

ParaSpheres: Extending Beyond the Spheres of Literary and Genre Fiction

, . . Omnidawn, $19.95 (637pp) ISBN 978-1-890650-18-6

The genre writers tend to be the better storytellers in Morgan and Keegan's ambitious anthology of "Fabulist and New Wave Fabulist" stories. Where Ira Sher works up to an interesting image and stops in "Lionflower Hedge," Kim Stanley Robinson moves from premise to character to genuine moral complexity in "The Lucky Strike," imagining an alternative history in which the bombardier over Hiroshima deliberately missed. Ursula K. Le Guin's "The Birthday of the World" starts as a primitive world fantasy, filled with gods and warriors, until it suddenly turns interplanetary. Michael Moorcock's "The Third Jungle Book" is both a continuation of Kipling's myth of the wild and effective political satire. Rudy Rucker, Jeff VanderMeer, Stepan Chapman and Jeffrey Ford also contribute high-quality work. The editors ponder calling some of these selections "Non-realistic artistic fiction." More seasoned readers will recognize "quality fantasy and science fiction." (Aug.)