Synopsis:
A stunning collection of award-winning fantasy and science fiction short stories from the New York Times bestselling author of the Between Earth and Sky trilogy—including a new novella set in the world of Trail of Lightning.
Rebecca Roanhorse’s first publication, “Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™”, was awarded both the Nebula and Hugo award for best short story, and on its strength, Roanhorse was awarded the Astounding Award for Best New Writer. Although Roanhorse began to publish novels including Trail of Lightning and Black Sun, she has continued to write piercing stories that examine the American experience through marginalized perspectives.
“River of Bones” returns to the Sixth World series with a novella, this time from Kai’s perspective, as he and Maggie travel back to where he grew up to save his ex from the people who almost beat him to death—his ex’s family.
Based on the Tewa fable of Deer Hunter and White Corn Maiden, “A Brief Lesson in Native American Astronomy”—winner of the 2019 Ignyte award—explores the tradition of celestial-based storytelling, set in a future where virtual reality is nearly indistinguishable from the real world and celebrities can project their images into space as literal stars.
“Falling Bodies” follows a young student at a space station university caught between two disparate worlds—the one he currently inhabits and the one he has desperately tried to escape—as he searches for his place in the universe.
First published in Jordan Peele’s Out There Screaming, “Eye and Tooth” is a story of black horror about the hunters who hunt the monsters and the monstrous among us.
Through a range of contemporary to outright fantasy and science fiction, these stories will immediately capture your attention from one of our premiere writers of speculative fiction whose work is always at the vanguard of American fiction.
Review:
When I was a teenager, I loved staying up late at night and catching old episodes of a few different shows on TV — The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits. Both presented these cool one-off stories that oftentimes had a monkey paw-type of twist. One of the most famous of course, is the one where Burgess Meredith’s character only wants time to read books (I can sympathize!), but when finally given all the time in the world, his glasses fall and shatter, leaving him unable to enjoy the printed page. But looking back now, I can see that much of the twisty little anthology scifi/horror shows I enjoyed from the past are very white. Most of the characters are white, many of their problems are viewed through the lens of the Western Hemisphere, and in spite of how uncomfortable the shows made us, they never forced us away from our own cultures and biases.
As I read through Rebecca Roanhorse’s River of Bones and Other Stories, I felt as if many of her short stories could easily be put on screen and fit right in with the best tales from those black-and-white shows from before I was even born — just with a little more color. Basically…bringing The Twilight Zone to the Reservation. In her stories, Roanhorse brings her own Native American background often not just as inspiration, but as the focal point, showcasing traditions and lifestyles that many of us are unfamiliar with. And because of that, there are hidden horrors that are unexpected for the average reader as well.
This was my introduction to Roanhorse’s writing, although I have her Earth and Sky Trilogy sitting on my bookshelf just waiting for a little free time to open up. After reading River of Bones, I have to say I’m much more likely to get to Black Sun sooner than later.
I know one of the selling points of this book was the title story, River of Bones. It takes place in the fictional world of Roanhorse’s Sixth World series, but since I haven’t read those books, this story is a dip down for me, personally. It’s still quite good and it did make me curious about the books, but since I didn’t have the multibook-background with these characters, I felt like I was missing out on a bit.
As for the other stories — some were straight up “WOW”. The opening story, Welcome to Your Authentic Indian Experience™, was unsettling and chilling. I also loved The Boys From Blood River, a take on a vampire story that felt genuine and almost real. Roanhorse also tries her hand at a post-apocalyptic alien story with Falling Bodies, which works well as an analogy for cross-cultural adoption and some of the issues that come along with it.
There’s a lot to like about River of Bones and Other Stories. If you let yourself be transported to New Mexico and fall into the vibe that Roanhorse is putting out, I’m sure you’ll love these stories as much as I did, and can probably fully envision them on the TV screen, just like me. She packs a lot into the small package of a short story, leaving readers wanting more and more.
Thank you to Saga Press for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.
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