Shades Within Us (Laksa Anthology Series: Speculative Fiction)

by Seanan McGuire

[annieb123]

Originally published on my blog: Nonstop Reader.

Shades Within Us is an anthology of stories around the themes of migrations and borders. Loosely following the other 2 anthologies in the 'social causes' series, this one includes 21 pieces of speculative fiction from both well known and new-to-me authors. As far as I can see from the publisher info, all the stories are original to this book.

I've always had a particular fondness for collections/anthologies because short fiction is spare and technically challenging, so you get a better feel for an author's expertise with the form. Short fiction is less of a time commitment as well, so if one story is not working for you, there's another piece readily available in a few pages. Short fiction anthologies are also a rich source for finding new authors so you can search out their other works.

Released 8th Sept. 2018 by Laksa Media, it's available in hardcover, paperback, and ebook formats.

There are a number of standout stories in this anthology which really resonated with me. There's an ever increasing urgency to people's awareness of the fragility of our world and there are also a number of stories which include global warming and environmental damage as central themes. Interwoven throughout is the idea that what binds us together are our shared experiences and the things we have in common rather than our differences.

One of the things that struck me about the other reviews I've read was that although they certainly mentioned the commonalities and themes of borders and immigration and humanity but I couldn't really find anyone else mentioning that this is also a collection of REALLY good stories by really gifted authors writing at the top of their game. There are gems here which will stick with the reader long after they're finished.

Although this is a topical book (border crossings, immigration, 'the other', etc), it's not just a headline-of-the-day collection. These stories stand on their own merit.

Four stars (the stories are all in the 3-5 star range).

Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes