10/23/2017
The stories in this Alice in Wonderland–themed weird fantasy anthology, the latest from renowned editor Datlow, blur together into a sea of Victoriana, edginess for the sake of edginess, and dream logic. Most of them have characters (or archetypes or jobs or horrible monsters) called Alice, which is unsurprising but makes distinguishing them hard. The few bright spots include Ysabeau S. Wilce’s “The Queen of Hats,” which revels in the Carrollian nature of theatrical lingo (“ ‘In the theater right is left and left is right,’ the dodo said indignantly”), and Richard Bowes’s “Some Kind of Wonderland,” which evokes a nonexistent N.Y.C.-set 1960s Alice movie in a gorgeously cinematic fashion. But the rest leave readers feeling like they’ve been down this rabbit hole before. (Dec.)
Anthologies are an excellent addition to any literary diet. They’ll introduce you to a variety of authors, allow you to sample new flavors of speculative fiction, and add unexpected perspectives to your reading. Quite simply, they provide one of the best ways to explore new works by authors you are already familiar with, and to […]
A door is a funny thing. Some doors are open, and some doors are closed. There are secret doors, and startling doors, and doors you never knew you stepped through in the first place. On occasion, you choose the door you open; other times, the door chooses you. All of these kinds of doors make […]