The subtitle, 'New Lovecraftian Fiction', is an exact description of the concept. Virtually all the contributions are original to this collection. By and large they bring Lovecraft's Cthulhu Mythos into the twenty-first century. A majority are by women, which in itself casts a fresh light on Lovecraft's originals in which there are few if any women. Lovecraft's personal attitude to women was to say the least unusual (see Houellebecq on Lovecraft, reviewed here earlier this month). On that subject, and on Lovecraft's racism, the final item in the collection is a bracing non-fiction piece by Veronica Schanoes called 'Variations on Lovecraftian Themes.'
There were no stories I didn't enjoy reading. I thought the standard overall was high. Naturally, some appealed more to me than others, a personal preference reflecting my own perception of Lovecraft rather than anything in the work itself. I liked 'A Clutch' by Laird Barron, 'It's All the Same Road in the End' by Brian Hodge, 'I Believe That We Will Win' by Nadia Bulkin and (probably my favourite) 'In the Ruins of Mohenjo-Daro' by Usman T Malik.
Regular visitors to this blog will notice that I get through a fair few anthologies, particularly in speculative fiction. Through that I am beginning to notice anthologists to look out for and who to avoid. Paula Guran is definitely one of the former.
No comments:
Post a Comment