A review by lordofthemoon
Sunspot Jungle: The Ever Expanding Universe of Fantasy and Science Fiction by Bill Campbell
4.0
This is a pretty huge collection, and the range of stories is impressive as well. There's no real theme to the collection, but it's a set of well-told tales. The opening is as strong as you would expect from someone with the reputation of [a: N. K. Jemisin|2917917|N.K. Jemisin|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1438215930p2/2917917.jpg], being a dystopia where the alien Masters control the earth, and the very bodies of its people. The tone of the stories varies up and down, but seems to get darker towards the end of the collection. That particular beat isn't to my taste, but there's enough else here to enjoy, and no story really outstays its welcome (the only story that I mostly skipped was Clifton Gachagua's No Kissing the Dolls Unless Jimi Hendrix is Playing as I just found it impenetrable).
Some highlights for me include Sarah Pinsker's A Song Transmuted about the power of music; Real Boys by Clara Kumagai, telling the story of one of the boys turned into donkeys in Pinocchio (that scene in the Disney film terrified me as a kid); Madeleine by Amal El-Mohtar, about a woman who may or may not be going mad; How to Piss Off a Failed Super Soldier by John Chu, about a super-powered person who needs help to learn how to live. I perhaps shouldn't have read Hal Duncan's A Pinch of Salt -- tale of sex and blasphemy -- while I was eating, but then knowing what I do about Duncan, that was my own fault.
So a strong collection, with a lot of variety, and contributions from all over the world. It's nice to see an editor willing to pull contributions from beyond the usual anglophone sphere.
Some highlights for me include Sarah Pinsker's A Song Transmuted about the power of music; Real Boys by Clara Kumagai, telling the story of one of the boys turned into donkeys in Pinocchio (that scene in the Disney film terrified me as a kid); Madeleine by Amal El-Mohtar, about a woman who may or may not be going mad; How to Piss Off a Failed Super Soldier by John Chu, about a super-powered person who needs help to learn how to live. I perhaps shouldn't have read Hal Duncan's A Pinch of Salt -- tale of sex and blasphemy -- while I was eating, but then knowing what I do about Duncan, that was my own fault.
So a strong collection, with a lot of variety, and contributions from all over the world. It's nice to see an editor willing to pull contributions from beyond the usual anglophone sphere.