We've all heard the theories about 2012. Some say a change is coming; others say that we are all doomed. But what happens next?
'What happens next?' What better premise for an anthology of speculative fiction. Pill Hill Press' 2013 anthology starts strong and doesn't drop the slack. I don't tend to read anthologis cover to cover, but rather pick and choose the stories that look interesting as I skim through. The stories of 2013 are many and varied in tone, content and style, but to be honest, by the time I finished with it I was preparing a mental shopping list for survivng the coming apocalypse. There's everything from zombies to Satan to a world where time has stopped and golden doors lead the way to salvation. For anyone worried about the end of the world, I really wouldn't recommend this book. It's dark, and may send you heading for the nearest suicide cult. That said, there are beautiful moments of hope and humanity within the direst circumstances.
There are a few stories in particular that deserve the blogging equivalent of a standing ovation. Stranger Times by David Starkey was, for me, the story that made the anthology. It details protagonist 'Stranger's' journey to a settlement of survivors in a world where the sun has gone out. The characterisation is fantastic, the plot twists believable and the very human treatment of the end of the world (cannabis farmers have all the tools for survival) holds just the right level of cynical humour. Unlike several of the stories in this anthology, Stranger Times gives the impression of a complete piece with a solid structure that leaves you wanting more, but only because the writing's so damn good.
Furthering my comment on complete pieces, I found myself disappointed by Marissa Farrar's After The Revelation. I thought it bore some remarkable similarites- in a positive way-to Stephen King's The Stand. The treatment of the religious concept of the Rapture was convincingly managed without any preachy connotations for the most part. The character development was solid and enjoyable, and some of the descriptions were fantastic. However, overall I felt the story was undermined by its ending. The scope and style of the narrative along with the abortive, summary nature of the finale suggested to me the beginning of a novel that would benefit from expansion into an overarching plot. The same can be said for Gregory Miller's Great Days, which, while formally innovative and an interestingly original treatment of the zombie archetype, might have benefited from a larger fish tank, as it were.
Two other stories which stood out with their original perspectives on the apocalypse were Timothy Miller's The Last, which trod an intriguing line between heroic fantasy and science fiction, and A.J.French's Golden Doors to a Golden Age which starts a little like a bad joke- four academics walk into the apocalypse- but brings some truly excellent characterisation to the table. Likewise, Jacob Edwards should congraulate himself for causing me to pick up a dictionary no fewer than ten times in the duration of his story Troglodition. As an undergraduate of English Literature, I found the central villain of Troglodition perfectly convincing, and am now somewhat worried that one of my lecturers may engineer the end of the world because of my texting slang.
2013 is a well-written and very entertaining anthology, with strong overarching connotations of religious judgement and human flaw. Though several stories may have small teething problems, the anthology overall is of a higher standard than many sci-fi anthologies I've read recently. I highly recommend it.
2013: The Aftermath is available from Amazon.co.uk for £12.99
Saturday, 26 March 2011
Thursday, 24 March 2011
Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology v.3
It’s interesting to note that two of the top three winning entries of 2010’s Bristol Short Story Prize were graduates of MA Creative Writing programmes. Being a third-year Creative Writing BA student myself, and a hopeful entrant for this year’s Bristol Short Story Prize, I thought it topical to write a review of last year’s BSSP anthology. The Prize is now into its fourth year, and attracted almost 1,500 entries last year. The top twenty entries are published in this anthology.
Bertel Martin, the Chair of the judging panel, in the introduction to the anthology states ‘we were looking for tales that were well-told, and stories that drew us into their world and felt complete; stories that did not leave you wanting more or made you feel you had not had enough.’ I’d argue that there is one central problem with this statement: that, personally, I found at least the winning entry to be ‘wanting’.
Valerie O’Riordan’s winning entry Mum’s the Word is an excellent example of concise, intelligent writing. At just 350 words, it trumps many other stories purely by nature of packing much more into a shorter space. The word limit for the Prize is 3,000 words, and many author’s- myself included- often feel the need to approach that word limit as closely as possible. Mum’s The Word shows an incredibly astute use of language, not a word out of place, creating stunningly simple and disturbingly vivid images such as ‘My mother was split open’. O’Riordan manages to address such controversial themes as incest, death, abuse and ignorance in 350 carefully chosen words, and from a believable first person perspective no less, which is no mean feat.
However, it is precisely those themes which make me question the judges’ decision. While Mum’s The Word is doubtless an excellent example of the ‘flash fiction’ format, I can’t help but feel the presence of Ian McEwan looming over my shoulder as I read it. I currently study English with Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, and, honestly, incest, abuse and ignorance have been done to death for me. Work-shopping with other students you find these apparently ‘controversial’ themes thrown in your face time and again by writers who think they are doing something original or offensive with them. But honestly, once you’re read McEwan’s First Love, Last Rites (1975), you’ve pretty much covered that blasted heath.
Not that I’m attempting to compare undergraduate writing to this piece. Fundamentally, Mum’s the Word is a stunning story, covering ‘well-told’ and ‘drew us into their world and felt complete’. Without a doubt it deserves its place in the top twenty entries to the Prize. However, I would argue that many of the other stories in the anthology are equally, if not more, deserving of that top spot; purely because I found O’Riordan’s story dull. It may be a product of my UEA education that I find nothing interesting in a plot of incest and abuse, but I feel that for a story to be original and entertaining it doesn’t just need the standard features of being well-written and self-contained, it also needs to address such a well-travelled theme, concept or plot from a new direction.
The stories that most interested me actually fell outside of the top three. While Ian Madden’s Only the Sure of Foot and Rachel Howard’s Gardening, were both well written, with good characterisation and fine authorial twists, I found such stories as Mike Bonsall’s Man Friday and the Sockball Championships far more unique.
Bonsall’s Man Friday is an intriguing science fiction take on Jeremy Bentham’s panoptic prison. The unnamed protagonist wakes in a transparent cubic ‘cell’ much in the same structure as a Panopticon- with prisoners isolated and completely visible in their cells and the hint of some sinister central surveillance. Bonsall’s story follows the protagonist, completely isolated in this strange purgatory, with no prospect of escape. What makes this story truly original is that Bonsall doesn’t focus on any of the standard questions that might drive such a plot: why the protagonist is there, or if he can escape, or who has done this to him. There is no exciting ‘Matrix-esque’ breakout. Instead he sets about describing the psychology of such an alien situation. The protagonist recounts his remembered history of mental breakdowns, as he failed to unite the perceived stress of his current situation with a vaguely recalled past of freedom. Then he explains how he began to think differently of his situation: ‘navigating certain mental barriers, the most important being the belief he was not imprisoned, but a castaway.’ The Robinson Crusoe connotations and the strangely logical processes the protagonist uses to get through his life are an ulterior treatment of the genre and concepts; which makes this story, in my eyes, far superior plot-wise to O’Riordan’s piece. The narratorial voice is consistent and descriptions very vivid- a necessity when what you’re describing is so fantastic. If the story is not as concise as O’Riordan’s piece, I don’t feel this detracts from the overall effect.
Other stories that need mentioning are: Darci Bysouth’s Marrakech for its fantastic imagery and effective use of dialogue and ‘story-telling’ as an almost metafictional concept; Jonathan Pinnock’s rZr and Napolean for its ironic ‘Banksy meets Robin Hood’ take on art and assassination; and Ben Walker’s Bitter Gourd Fruit for its weird marriage of morbid comedy and claustrophobia.
Overall, I’d agree with other reviews of this anthology. It’s full of some truly beautiful examples of the short story form and for anyone thinking of entering the BSSP, read it. My only real gripe is with O’Riordan’s winning entry, and that purely thematic. For me, stories are all about the plot, and if it doesn’t interest me, then I don’t want to read it.
Bertel Martin, the Chair of the judging panel, in the introduction to the anthology states ‘we were looking for tales that were well-told, and stories that drew us into their world and felt complete; stories that did not leave you wanting more or made you feel you had not had enough.’ I’d argue that there is one central problem with this statement: that, personally, I found at least the winning entry to be ‘wanting’.
Valerie O’Riordan’s winning entry Mum’s the Word is an excellent example of concise, intelligent writing. At just 350 words, it trumps many other stories purely by nature of packing much more into a shorter space. The word limit for the Prize is 3,000 words, and many author’s- myself included- often feel the need to approach that word limit as closely as possible. Mum’s The Word shows an incredibly astute use of language, not a word out of place, creating stunningly simple and disturbingly vivid images such as ‘My mother was split open’. O’Riordan manages to address such controversial themes as incest, death, abuse and ignorance in 350 carefully chosen words, and from a believable first person perspective no less, which is no mean feat.
However, it is precisely those themes which make me question the judges’ decision. While Mum’s The Word is doubtless an excellent example of the ‘flash fiction’ format, I can’t help but feel the presence of Ian McEwan looming over my shoulder as I read it. I currently study English with Creative Writing at the University of East Anglia, and, honestly, incest, abuse and ignorance have been done to death for me. Work-shopping with other students you find these apparently ‘controversial’ themes thrown in your face time and again by writers who think they are doing something original or offensive with them. But honestly, once you’re read McEwan’s First Love, Last Rites (1975), you’ve pretty much covered that blasted heath.
Not that I’m attempting to compare undergraduate writing to this piece. Fundamentally, Mum’s the Word is a stunning story, covering ‘well-told’ and ‘drew us into their world and felt complete’. Without a doubt it deserves its place in the top twenty entries to the Prize. However, I would argue that many of the other stories in the anthology are equally, if not more, deserving of that top spot; purely because I found O’Riordan’s story dull. It may be a product of my UEA education that I find nothing interesting in a plot of incest and abuse, but I feel that for a story to be original and entertaining it doesn’t just need the standard features of being well-written and self-contained, it also needs to address such a well-travelled theme, concept or plot from a new direction.
The stories that most interested me actually fell outside of the top three. While Ian Madden’s Only the Sure of Foot and Rachel Howard’s Gardening, were both well written, with good characterisation and fine authorial twists, I found such stories as Mike Bonsall’s Man Friday and the Sockball Championships far more unique.
Bonsall’s Man Friday is an intriguing science fiction take on Jeremy Bentham’s panoptic prison. The unnamed protagonist wakes in a transparent cubic ‘cell’ much in the same structure as a Panopticon- with prisoners isolated and completely visible in their cells and the hint of some sinister central surveillance. Bonsall’s story follows the protagonist, completely isolated in this strange purgatory, with no prospect of escape. What makes this story truly original is that Bonsall doesn’t focus on any of the standard questions that might drive such a plot: why the protagonist is there, or if he can escape, or who has done this to him. There is no exciting ‘Matrix-esque’ breakout. Instead he sets about describing the psychology of such an alien situation. The protagonist recounts his remembered history of mental breakdowns, as he failed to unite the perceived stress of his current situation with a vaguely recalled past of freedom. Then he explains how he began to think differently of his situation: ‘navigating certain mental barriers, the most important being the belief he was not imprisoned, but a castaway.’ The Robinson Crusoe connotations and the strangely logical processes the protagonist uses to get through his life are an ulterior treatment of the genre and concepts; which makes this story, in my eyes, far superior plot-wise to O’Riordan’s piece. The narratorial voice is consistent and descriptions very vivid- a necessity when what you’re describing is so fantastic. If the story is not as concise as O’Riordan’s piece, I don’t feel this detracts from the overall effect.
Other stories that need mentioning are: Darci Bysouth’s Marrakech for its fantastic imagery and effective use of dialogue and ‘story-telling’ as an almost metafictional concept; Jonathan Pinnock’s rZr and Napolean for its ironic ‘Banksy meets Robin Hood’ take on art and assassination; and Ben Walker’s Bitter Gourd Fruit for its weird marriage of morbid comedy and claustrophobia.
Overall, I’d agree with other reviews of this anthology. It’s full of some truly beautiful examples of the short story form and for anyone thinking of entering the BSSP, read it. My only real gripe is with O’Riordan’s winning entry, and that purely thematic. For me, stories are all about the plot, and if it doesn’t interest me, then I don’t want to read it.
- The Bristol Short Story Prize Anthology v.3 is available in ebook and paperbook format on Amazon.co.uk
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