Exploring the porous boundary between mainstream literary fiction and the genres of fantasy, horror, and science fiction, this collection of short stories juxtaposes the conventional and the fabulist—with dazzling results. In Rikki Ducornet’s “Lettuce,” a petitioner in a futuristic totalitarian state pays with his life when he requests permission to grow lettuce; “Birthday of the World,” by Ursula K. Le Guin, is narrated by a woman whose brother destroys their culture when he decides he wants to be God; and the disillusioned wife in Carol Schwalberg’s “The Midnight Lover” finds the perfect marriage partner in her dreams, only to be divorced by the dream lover. Containing 50 works by genre writers Kim Stanley Robinson and Michael Moorcock and noted literary authors Laird Hunt and Brian Evenson, this compilation expands the fiction subgenre that has been called “speculative” and “slipstream.”
Industry Reviews
"�A� marvelously generous collection of stories that dart back and forth over the boundary supposedly separating the genre of the fantastic from mainstream literature." --Peter Straub, bestselling author "[A] marvelously generous collection of stories that dart back and forth over the boundary supposedly separating the genre of the fantastic from mainstream literature." --Peter Straub, bestselling author "A marvelous anthology full of marvelous tales. The sum of an anthology can sometimes be greater than its parts, and these parts--these stories--are bold, haunting, and remarkable." --Kelly Link, author, "Stranger Things Happen" "This anthology begins with a fascinating discussion of fiction and its subdivisions. . . . They are tales of weirdness and wonder, largely set in odd analogues of our own world. Not quite like ordinary literature, nor yet like typical fantasy, they hold a unique and intriguing flavor." --S. Ardrian, "Fearless Reviews" "A feast of fine writing and striking applications of the fantastic to the everyday . . . "ParaSpheres" performs an inestimable service." --Nick Gevers, "Locus" magazine ""ParaSpheres" has succeeded in . . . presenting an excellent selection of unique writing and providing an alternative framework through which it may be understood." --Miranda Siemienowicz, "HorrorScope" "Full of superb stories . . . often breathtaking . . . "ParaSpheres" doesn't point toward other worlds as much as point toward ours, and how we have let our public and private spheres become, alternately, reverie and nightmare." --Alan DeNiro, Rain Taxi Online "The editors have cast an impressively wide net. . . . As a collection of stories, andan introduction to a number of new writers, "ParaSpheres" is fine, and well worth your attention." --Stephen Jeffery, "Interzone"