Spicy Slipstream Stories, edited by Nick Mamatas and Jay Lake

Spicy Slipstream Stories
Nick Mamatas and Jay Lake (editors)
Lethe Press: 2008

Okay, since I read the first story back in February and the last story in early July, I'm a little unsure as to what exactly to say about this anthology. It's been a while, ya know?

From the back cover:

Slipstream stories are that weird combination of eloquent fancy and conventional literary form. Intended to make the reader feel out of sorts within the confines of their imagination, such fiction became the darling of small press venues. And so, maybe, found its way into the hands of a few readers.

But add a dash of the risque and the result is Spicy Slipstream Stories. Here the adventure and bosoms of the old pulps are blended with the stylistic innovations and reader affect of that non-genre genre, slipstream. Embrace the way a sweat, the bruises, and upper thighs of these stories collected by editors Jay Lake and Nick Mamatas.

My first recommendation is to check out my individual story reviews (linked at the bottom). I wrote about the first half or so of the stories.

Lori Selke's "The Call Girl Detective", Lynne Jamneck's "Outside the Box", and Lisa Mantchev's "Sequined with a Vengeance"are three of the standout stories from the anthology.

Basically, I think Spicy Slipstream Stories is worth taking a look at. There are more stories here that are good than that disappoint. The stories here are (mostly) smartly written with heavy pulp elements. That's the point of the anthology, of course. It's good stuff.



Individual Story Reviews
"The Call Girl Detective", by Lori Selke
"Heroes Welcome", by John Bowker
"Sequined With a Vengeance", by Lisa Mantchev
"The Blue Shift", by Joe Murphy
"The Fantastical Acquisition of the Sword of General Antonio Lopez De Santa Anna", by Angeline Hawkes
"Outside the Box", by Lynne Jamneck
"Little Black Dress", by Carrie Vaughn
"Proof of Zero", by David Schwartz
"Revolt of the Ultraists!", by Richard Becker
"My Polymorphic Lover", by Mike Philbin
"Wild Tchoupitoulas", by Chris Nakashima-Brown
"Hydraulic", by Ekaterina Sedia
"Here I Come", A. H. Jennings

Top Nine Author Discoveries of 2008

There is something to be said about talking about books. After all, that’s what we read. But, just as much fun as discovering a great new book is discovering a great new author. Or, even discovering a great older author. It’s all new if you have never read an author before.

So, in honor of authors, those wonderful people who write the wonderful books, here is a list of some of the authors I encountered for the first time in 2008.


1. Emma Bull: It all starts with Shadow Unit. (in 2008, almost everything stars with Shadow Unit). Bull's story "Breathe" opened the first season of Shadow Unit and I was sold. It was much later in the year before I was to read War for the Oaks or Territory, but when I did there was no longer any question that Emma Bull wasn't a writer to watch, she was a writer I MUST read.

2. Joe Abercrombie: I've read the first two entries in his First Law trilogy and both The Blade Itself and Before They Are Hanged deliver brutal epic fantasy goodness. I have no doubt that the third volume will do (has done) the same. I'd confess to a man crush on Abercrombie's fiction, but that would just be weird.

3. Scott Westerfeld: John Scalzi's Why YA post inspired me to pick up one of Westerfield's novels and I ended up with a copy of Uglies in my hands. I quickly ran through Pretties, Specials, and Extras (apparently I never did write that review) and when I finished, I hoped Westerfeld might have one more book left in this series, though I can't imagine what it would be. You can pretend that Westerfeld's work is just YA (if you ignore his fully adult novels) and thus not worth reading, but you'd be wrong and you'd miss out.

4. Ellen Klages: It's all about Portable Childhoods. The short fiction of Ellen Klages is outstanding, so much so that in early 2009 I fully expect to read The Green Glass Sea (which was a short story in Portable Childhoods). Klages is a writer I'm keeping my eye on.

5. Nancy Kress: If you read short fiction and stumble across any of the major magazines and anthologies, or watch the award lists, you'll probably come across a story from Nancy Kress. This year I read my first collection of Kress's short fiction (Nano Comes to Clifford Falls) and my first novel (Dogs). I want to read more.

6. L. Timmel Duchamp: Alanya to Alanya was an eye opening experience. It is a very political novel, a feminist novel, and yet I think it has (or should have) a wider appeal than one might expect if you only look at the labels. The novel helped push me to think about gender and power in ways I had not previously. The second book in the Marq'ssan Cycle, Renegade, is a pyschological battle of will, and in the next two months I intend to read the third volume.

7. Nick Mamatas: Oh, this is primarily based on Under My Roof, but that's enough. I also read Move Under Ground this year and while good (and quite possibly more impressive as it reads like Kerouac), Under My Roof is a true standout. I've got a copy of the anthology he edited with Jay Lake (Spicy Slipstream Stories) on my shelf to read. The man can write, but he also has a solid editorial eye (he was editor of Clarkesworld Magazine)

8. Liz Williams: Between Snake Agent and The Demon and the City I know I want more Detective Inspector Chen (there are two more published and an additional two in the works), but I also want to read some of the other stuff Liz Williams wrote. Detective Inspector Chen is future urban fantasy detective fiction where Heaven and Hell are real, bureaucratic, and interact in human affairs. Good stuff. Real good.

9. Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu: I'll be honest, Nnedi Okorafor-Mbachu is the one novelist on this list from whom I've only read one book (Ellen Klages would have been the other, but it was a collection of stories and I count those differently). In this case that one book is The Shadow Speaker. I don't believe I've encountered much fiction set in Africa (it's out there, I know), and this tale of technology and magic is a beautiful story told well.


I posted a similar list last year, so if you were curious who I discovered for the first time in 2007, well, here you go.

Fire-Bringer

I'd like to take a little time to point out that Nick Mamatas has a story up at Fantasy Magazine called "Fire-Bringer". It's a short one, but laced with the humor and imagination found in his outstanding novel Under My Roof. The story has elements of humor, but isn't a straight funny story. Whatever it is, it's a good read and worth checking out.

So check it out, will ya?

(for that matter, he also has a story up at Chizine: "The Dude Who Collected Lovecraft", written with Tim Pratt. Haven't read it yet, but will)

Nick Mamatas Sale - Move Underground

Over on his Livejournal, Nick Mamatas has announced a sale of his novel Move Underground. $5 covers the book, shipping, and even a signature somewhere in the book. I'm sure copies are limited, but what a deal!

The complete text of Move Underground is available online at the book's website (linked above), but there is just something about holding the book in your hand, but check out a chapter or two and if it's good, why not order a book for $5?

I've only read his short story "Who Put the Bomp?", but I have heard nothing but good things about Mamatas' novel length fiction. For $5, it's worth a try. I ordered one.