Wonders of the Invisible World ★★★★☆

 

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Title: Wonders of the Invisible World
Series: ----------
Author: Patricia McKillip
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: Fantasy
Pages: 276
Words: 98.5K

Synopsis:

• "Introduction" by Charles de Lint

• "Wonders of the Invisible World" (from Full Spectrum 5, Aug. 1995) - a researcher goes back in time to record Cotton Mather's religious visions, finding his ravings not what they expected.

• "Out of the Woods" (from Flights: Extreme Visions of Fantasy, Jun. 2004) - a reflection on how magic is often missed by those searching for it.

• "The Kelpie" (from The Fair Folk, Jan. 2005) - a story of courtship and obsession illustrating the overlap between life and art.

• "Hunter's Moon" (from The Green Man: Tales from the Mythic Forest, May 2002) - a seductive, chilling encounter with the dangers of Faerie.

• "Oak Hill" (from The Essential Bordertown, Aug. 1998) - an ugly young woman on the way to Bordertown is trapped in a terrifying cityscape known as Oak Hill, and explores it in search of magic.

• "The Fortune-Teller" (from The Coyote Road: Trickster Tales, Jun. 2007) - a young woman thieves a pack of strange cards from an unconscious roadside fortune-teller.

• "Jack O'Lantern" (from Firebirds Rising: An Anthology of Original Science Fiction and Fantasy, Apr. 2006) - a young girl struggling with the impending marriage of her sister seeks out magic during a picnic, fearing it will her last chance before she grows up.

• "Knight of the Well" (from A Book of Wizards, May 2008) - a society built around the veneration of water finds that element inexplicably rejecting them.

• "Naming Day" (from Wizards: Magical Tales from the Masters of Modern Fantasy, May 2007) - a teenage witch who cannot decide on her magical name is compelled to chase after an imp during the titular Naming Day Ceremony.

• "Byndley" (from Firebirds: An Anthology of Original Fantasy and Science Fiction, Sep. 2003) - a man who once escaped the world of faerie seeks to return that which he stole.

• "The Twelve Dancing Princesses" (from A Wolf at the Door and Other Retold Fairy Tales, Jul. 2000) - a macabre retelling of a traditional fairy tale.

• "Undine" (from The Faery Reel: Tales from the Twilight Realm, Jun. 2004) - a water spirit falls victim to her own prey.

• "Xmas Cruise" (from Christmas Forever, Nov. 1993) - a surreal tale that follows two couples aboard an environmentalism cruise.

• "A Gift to Be Simple" (from Not of Woman Born, Mar. 1999) - a fictional pseudo-Christian religious faction realize that their numbers are dwindling and decide to take drastic action.

• "The Old Woman and the Storm" (from Imaginary Lands, Dec. 1985) - an allegory.

• "The Doorkeeper of Khaat" (from Full Spectrum 2, Apr. 1989) - a science fiction tale regarding two alien species with very different cultures, and the poet who attempts to cross that divide in search of meaning and art.

• "What Inspires Me: Guest of Honor Speech at WisCon 28, 2004"

My Thoughts:

I was sure that when I read Harrowing the Dragon last year that that was my last McKillip read until I started the cycle again. I'm not even sure how I stumbled across this book of her short stories but stumble I did and so I have one final McKillip to read and review.

McKillip is an odd duck when it comes to short stories. Some of them are so fantastic that you wonder why she doesn't stick with the format. Then you read some others and are like “Oh, that is why”. Some of these just ended, like she'd taken a butcher's knife to the story. It was very disconcerting. Others, you could see the same genius flitting about the story that she exhibits when writing her novels.

I did enjoy the final chapter where she talks about her life and writing. Now, as many of you know, I am firmly of the camp of “Authors are not People” so I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading her recollections. I do need to track this down in hardcover and get a copy for my collection.

★★★★☆

• All of My "Patricia McKillip" Reviews