tradepaperback. Published Whortleberry Press June 2013. Reviewed by Steve Johnson.
This was just a plain good anthology. I’m not much of a poetry fan so they don’t get a mention, but if you like Bradburyesque tales, then this is the go-to anthology. Marion Powell’s The Last Hotdog, is a great entry into Martian Chronicles, and the author is right, any time a company or a Government tries to clear people from their homes, some won’t goeven if they have to be sneaky about it. The City Electric (Shannon Fay) is the depiction of a city abandoned, it’s powerful, a lot in a few words. David Turnbull’s These Red Deserts Are Ours is an excellent reversal of a classic theme. A nice take on both Bradbury and H.G. Wells. Another Night Meeting (Jean Goldstrom) is clever, and thought-provoking. As indeed was Transition (Fred Waiss) which dealt with the subject of bullying. Apologies (Jack Hillman) also dealt with children – very neatly, and it amused me too. Something Wicked This Way Came (Arthur Sanchez) is strong writing and with a theme that fits Bradbury very well.
Lyn McConchie’s, The Third Floor, is clever and has a nice revenge twist. Excalibur it Ain’t (Gary Markette) is an interesting take on a PI’s case, and the final three stories that I liked, The Last Veteran Dies (T. Fox Dunham) Five Stories About Alan (Hugh Spencer) and Welcome by Kate Riedel, I found very good reads as well as somewhat disturbing. Almost Home I found vaguely confusing, it appeared to have no real ending, leaving me without resolution and Dream Job didn’t catch my attention. It semed to have no genre connection except very superficially and I disliked the characters and theme. The other stories unmentioned I found middle-of-the-road, good, but for various – often personal – reasons, I didn’t find them as good as those I really enjoyed. Again, however, this is a very solid anthology. Whortleberry Press’s anthologies are steadily improving in quality, and on that, a note on the cover art which is not only well done, but also very appropriate. Something that doesn’t always apply to anthology covers unfortunately. Long may the series continue.
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Glad you liked the anthology. Just a quick response regarding my contribution, “Almost Home,” of which you mentioned above that “it appeared to have no real ending, leaving me without resolution.” I think its important to note, as Ahmed and Jean stated in the anthology, that its a chapter excerpt from my short novel “Journey Into Dandelion Wine Country,” and as its a chapter located mid-way through the novel, its not structured to have an ending/resolution. The Whortleberry editors chose to include it in the collection as a sample chapter that evokes the same Middle-American, small-town fantasy atmosphere of Bradbury’s book “Dandelion Wine.” If you’re interested, I would be more than happy to e-mail you a full copy of the novel for you to be able to fully read toward its conclusion. Also, if you’d like you could post a review of the full book. Sincerely, Alan Ira Gordon
[…] ‘Dandelions on Mars’ came out this summer and can be bought through Lulu here. I haven’t seen a copy of it myself, but you can read a review of the anthology here […]