Title: Novascapes
Volume 2
Author: Various,
compiled Cassandra Page
Publisher:
Invisible Elephant Press
Publish
date: 2016
ISBN: 9780992554835
‘Novascapes’ is a showcase of speculative fiction
short stories and poetry from the Hunter region in NSW Australia. I’m not sure
why the wealth of talent in this corner of the world continues to amaze me. I should
be used to it by now. Eighteen stories and poems, all startlingly individual,
mostly from almost unknown authors. There is a fair variance in levels of
expertise, but the overall standard is high. My favourite by far is ‘The Quiet
Realm Of The Dark Queen’ by Jenny Blackford, with its visceral myth-telling,
haunting lilt, which overshadows the whole collection for me. ‘Blake’s Angel’
by Janeen Webb touches a yearning and compassion with surreal earthiness that’s
powerful and mystical. ‘Murirrugach’ by Megan Buxton has all the solid, creeping
thrill of a good horror story, powered by the cold precision of calculated
diction.
At this point I’ll ditch the adjectives and
leave the rest to the reader. Caveat to this review: as I’m featured in it, I’m
not giving it a moose-hoof rating, ‘cause that wouldn’t be fair. (My own story’s
OK, but blink and you’ll miss it.) At the moment it’s only available in digital
form from Smashwords, but we’re promised a hard copy edition sometime soon. I’m
honoured to be part of this exciting team and community.
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