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tomatocultivator's review
adventurous
challenging
sad
fast-paced
4.75
Alienating and beautiful, this small collection of poems inspired by invasive species imagines a barely-seen near future where environmental changes affect more than just the landscape. Shades of VanderMeer's Annihilation trilogy and the Fungi from Yuggoth worm into your heart and plant something new.
dsnake1's review
5.0
Netgalley and the publisher, Interstellar Flight Press provided a copy of this collection.
Field Guide to Invasive Species of Minnesota is a near-future poetry collection, set roughly 20 years from now in a world where our climate has gotten worse and the invasive species currently living in Minnesota have also gotten worse. Said invasive species have been mutated via pollution and climate change, adding eye stalks to carp amongst other things. The poems do a good job of showing the general sense of dread, as ice becomes rare to see, turtles grow fur, and the planet is irrevocably changed in a short time.
There are also illustrations, one for each poem, and they match really well. They're done in a traditional field guide style, and combined with the style of some of the poetry, it really gives off the field guide vibes inspired by the title and cover.
The collection is also really well put together. The beginning two thirds of the poems are solid poems, and one of my favorites, Garlic Mustard, falls in that chunk, but each poem builds on the last. When we get to the last third, the poems get really special. These are the strongest in the collection, and the back seven are poems I'll revisit, even if I'm not reading the full collection.
At this point, I've read the collection twice, and it definitely came through more cohesively the second time, but I'm not sure if that's because I know more about the setting or if it's my current state of mind.
If you're looking for an interesting, SFF poetry collection, this is a good bet. It's short, it's sweet, and near-future climate change SFF is a great setting for a poetry collection.
Field Guide to Invasive Species of Minnesota is a near-future poetry collection, set roughly 20 years from now in a world where our climate has gotten worse and the invasive species currently living in Minnesota have also gotten worse. Said invasive species have been mutated via pollution and climate change, adding eye stalks to carp amongst other things. The poems do a good job of showing the general sense of dread, as ice becomes rare to see, turtles grow fur, and the planet is irrevocably changed in a short time.
There are also illustrations, one for each poem, and they match really well. They're done in a traditional field guide style, and combined with the style of some of the poetry, it really gives off the field guide vibes inspired by the title and cover.
The collection is also really well put together. The beginning two thirds of the poems are solid poems, and one of my favorites, Garlic Mustard, falls in that chunk, but each poem builds on the last. When we get to the last third, the poems get really special. These are the strongest in the collection, and the back seven are poems I'll revisit, even if I'm not reading the full collection.
At this point, I've read the collection twice, and it definitely came through more cohesively the second time, but I'm not sure if that's because I know more about the setting or if it's my current state of mind.
If you're looking for an interesting, SFF poetry collection, this is a good bet. It's short, it's sweet, and near-future climate change SFF is a great setting for a poetry collection.
kyatic's review
3.0
(Review of an ARC received via Netgalley)
I'm not sure how to feel about this one! In many ways I loved it, and in many other ways it left me a little cold. Gorman's use of language is beautiful and every poem is obviously very carefully crafted, not a single word wasted, which is a nice contrast to a lot of the more raw and unedited poetry that we tend to see these days (which is its own separate art form and in no way inferior!) I really loved some of the poems in here, particularly the first one, Brittle Naiad, but then others just didn't really resonate with me at all, perhaps because I didn't have a reference point for them, living halfway across the world and being entirely unfamiliar with the organisms she was writing about. I actually read the Author's Note first and I feel like this helped to give necessary context to the writing, but I wish that hadn't been necessary; without that context, a lot of the poems really didn't mean a lot to me.
I did really like the sci-fi / dystopian element that Gorman wove into the natural world, and thought this was particularly effective when she didn't make it explicit that the poems were set in the future. I liked the duality of the poems that could either be set in our time and our world, or on another planet entirely; for me, those best encapsulated the inherent oddity of nature, and really brought home the alien characteristics of many of the things we consider normal.
This is a strong collection of poems by a writer I'll definitely be looking into in the future, and I really do think that its main drawback is also its biggest strength; it's just so niche that there are going to be some people who absolutely adore it, but for those of us who are coming to it without the weight of pre-existing knowledge, it's not the most accessible.
I'm not sure how to feel about this one! In many ways I loved it, and in many other ways it left me a little cold. Gorman's use of language is beautiful and every poem is obviously very carefully crafted, not a single word wasted, which is a nice contrast to a lot of the more raw and unedited poetry that we tend to see these days (which is its own separate art form and in no way inferior!) I really loved some of the poems in here, particularly the first one, Brittle Naiad, but then others just didn't really resonate with me at all, perhaps because I didn't have a reference point for them, living halfway across the world and being entirely unfamiliar with the organisms she was writing about. I actually read the Author's Note first and I feel like this helped to give necessary context to the writing, but I wish that hadn't been necessary; without that context, a lot of the poems really didn't mean a lot to me.
I did really like the sci-fi / dystopian element that Gorman wove into the natural world, and thought this was particularly effective when she didn't make it explicit that the poems were set in the future. I liked the duality of the poems that could either be set in our time and our world, or on another planet entirely; for me, those best encapsulated the inherent oddity of nature, and really brought home the alien characteristics of many of the things we consider normal.
This is a strong collection of poems by a writer I'll definitely be looking into in the future, and I really do think that its main drawback is also its biggest strength; it's just so niche that there are going to be some people who absolutely adore it, but for those of us who are coming to it without the weight of pre-existing knowledge, it's not the most accessible.
venneh's review
4.0
Interesting premise - poetry extrapolating out from a field guide into a speculative sci-fi setting. It eases you into the sci-fi aspect, but ends a bit too soon and it doesn’t get to fully spread its wings in my opinion. Chapbook though, so obviously there’s only so much it can really dive in. Existing invasive species, but extrapolated out to dystopia and chaos. Solid premise, would love to see more. (Also, maybe move the afterword to be a prologue, and do a bit of editing there?)
bonnievanner's review
5.0
Poetry about how invasive species' role in a near dystopian future? Yes please!
I got this as an E-ARC via NetGalley.
Field Guide to The Invasive Species of Minnesota is a fantastic collection of poetry, intersecting ecology, dystopian science fiction an fantasy, and beautiful prose. Each poem is titled with a specific species (Ex. Grecian Foxglove), which is paired with an illustration of the subject matter, field guide style. Each poem is roughly a page, some spilling over into the two page category. I was drawn to this title being categorized under sci-fi and fantasy, when I read the description I had to pick it up, and I was not disappointed. It was refreshing to read some modern poetry that is concise and takes heavy influence from more classic poetic structures and schemes.
I don't want to get too heavily into spoilers, as the poems do build on themselves to tell a greater story. However broadly this collection imagines a near dystopian future where invasive species and humanity have brought about ecological disaster. Themes of pollution, exploitation, and the fragility of ecosystems are carefully explored through this collection.
I personally loved Gorman's poetic style, there are line rhymes, and some more rigidly structured pieces, and then others that are more inventive in terms of form. The tone she captured of the haunting reclamation of nature was poignant and beautiful. The slow progression of detail - about the state of the world - building with each poem makes this collection perfect for extended analysis in any English or Ecology classroom.
It was clear that a lot of research went into this text. The entire time I was waiting for the zebra muscle to show up(as I knew it must). As someone with an education in ecology and biology this really struck a balance between art and scientific accuracy.
After reading this as the digital version I do find myself wanting a physical copy. I think that the poems paired with their illustrations on the page would make for a beautiful text, and the better way to get the full effect of the imagery at play.
My personal favorites in this collection were Curly Leaf Pondweed, Garlic Mustard, and Grecian Foxglove. Getting a more traditional feel in these pieces with hints at rhymes, as well as some of the best imagery in the collection.
I would highly recommend Field Guide to The Invasive Species of Minnesota to someone interested in how science fiction and fantasy can intersect with poetry, as well as people wanting to get into poetry but are wary of the writing being too obscure. Gorman's style is beautiful without obscuring meaning. There s a lot to love and analyze here, and that's what I look for in poetry.
Final note: Don't skip the author's note at the end. It gives great insight into the poetry and was a delightful part of the read.
I got this as an E-ARC via NetGalley.
Field Guide to The Invasive Species of Minnesota is a fantastic collection of poetry, intersecting ecology, dystopian science fiction an fantasy, and beautiful prose. Each poem is titled with a specific species (Ex. Grecian Foxglove), which is paired with an illustration of the subject matter, field guide style. Each poem is roughly a page, some spilling over into the two page category. I was drawn to this title being categorized under sci-fi and fantasy, when I read the description I had to pick it up, and I was not disappointed. It was refreshing to read some modern poetry that is concise and takes heavy influence from more classic poetic structures and schemes.
I don't want to get too heavily into spoilers, as the poems do build on themselves to tell a greater story. However broadly this collection imagines a near dystopian future where invasive species and humanity have brought about ecological disaster. Themes of pollution, exploitation, and the fragility of ecosystems are carefully explored through this collection.
I personally loved Gorman's poetic style, there are line rhymes, and some more rigidly structured pieces, and then others that are more inventive in terms of form. The tone she captured of the haunting reclamation of nature was poignant and beautiful. The slow progression of detail - about the state of the world - building with each poem makes this collection perfect for extended analysis in any English or Ecology classroom.
It was clear that a lot of research went into this text. The entire time I was waiting for the zebra muscle to show up(as I knew it must). As someone with an education in ecology and biology this really struck a balance between art and scientific accuracy.
After reading this as the digital version I do find myself wanting a physical copy. I think that the poems paired with their illustrations on the page would make for a beautiful text, and the better way to get the full effect of the imagery at play.
My personal favorites in this collection were Curly Leaf Pondweed, Garlic Mustard, and Grecian Foxglove. Getting a more traditional feel in these pieces with hints at rhymes, as well as some of the best imagery in the collection.
I would highly recommend Field Guide to The Invasive Species of Minnesota to someone interested in how science fiction and fantasy can intersect with poetry, as well as people wanting to get into poetry but are wary of the writing being too obscure. Gorman's style is beautiful without obscuring meaning. There s a lot to love and analyze here, and that's what I look for in poetry.
Final note: Don't skip the author's note at the end. It gives great insight into the poetry and was a delightful part of the read.
marielmpabroa's review
informative
medium-paced
2.0
The poems in this collection are wonderfully crafted, as well as its illustrations. However, I think that this whole collection is just not meant for me.
inquisitrix's review
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.0
4/5
A lovely and unsettling collection of poems that engage with the horror of unbalanced ecosystems. The juxtaposition of climate grief with the disturbing allure of apocalypse runs through its pages, the temptation of giving up revealed in poems such as the memorable No. 6—Emerald Ash Borer. Ventures from the realm of science into the realm of science fiction allow exploration of possible futures—futures that few readers are likely to find desirable beyond the enduring appeal of imagining how one might try to survive. Gorman effectively uses simple language and poetic structures to evoke and tangle with some very thorny concepts indeed.
This book is appealing in form as well as content. The cursive poem titles and attractive illustrations—resembling the style of hand-drawn plates in vintage field guides—are an excellent match for its title, cover, and themes. Some of the illustrations—most taken from public domain sources—are better than others, but none are poorly done. Book design is, I think, often particularly important with volumes of poetry. This volume was clearly put together by a team who knew what they were doing.
Overall, I would recommend this book. It would make a good gift for lovers of nature poetry, particularly those who struggle with climate grief and might find catharsis in poems that explore the darkness of living in a world of changing—and collapsing—ecosystems.
I read a free advance review copy of this book via Netgalley, but I may well purchase a print copy.
beulah_devaney's review
4.0
An ecological disaster has thrown the world into chaos. As invasive flora and fauna encroach upon the locals, Amelia Gorman’s narrator documents the collapse of civilization. The imagery is lush, the ideas clever and executed well, poems such as Curly-leaf Pondweed and Queen Anne’s Lace are deliciously creepy. Field Guide to Invasive Species of Minnesota: Poems is a natural fit with the novels of Margaret Atwood and Emily St. John Mandel, although the reader will be left wishing each poem was a novel in it’s own right.
cooksbooks's review
dark
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
Cli - fi to sci-fi and back again. This collection looks at the damage we have done to our environment and the consequences of it in the near future. I especially loved the lamprey eel poem, imagining them slithering around up there in the firmament.
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