Mothership

August 26, 2013
In this wildly varied collection designed to showcase multiculturism, diversity, and characters of color in genre fiction, editors Campbell (Koontown Killing Kaper) and Hall (Chimera Island) bring together 40 authors to create an experience that’s both eye-opening and unpredictable. With stories ranging from almost painfully short to novella-length, representing a drastically wide assortment of themes, tones, and voices, there’s a little something for everyone, but also a significant number of creative misfires. Standouts include N.K. Jemisin’s “Too Many Yesterdays, Not Enough Tomorrows,” a tale of finding connection in an apocalyptic setting; S.P. Somtow’s Japan-set murder mystery, “The Pavilion of Frozen Women”; Carlos Hernandez’s “The Aphotic Ghost,” a story of an older man seeking his son’s body on Mount Everest; Daniel José Older’s Men in Black–like tale of ghostly government agents, “Protected Entity”; and Tenea D. Johnson’s “The Taken,” a piece about a radical group determined to inflict understanding of slavery through reenactment. Racial and cultural themes are prevalent, but just as many stories steer clear of obvious messages, offering a provocative, entertaining, and vital anthology that accomplishes its mission.