Fantastic Metropolis

‘03 was a ball peen hammer to the forehead for me, a long, slow, sleep walk up the down escalator. I did manage to read some, but not as much as usual. My pleasures in the reading, listening and movie watching area were usually selective and minimal. There were some whole books I read and enjoyed immensely, though. Some of these were new ones and some were old. Before I move on to my blowhard best of list for 03, I want to mention a few story-length pieces that I thought were particularly good.

I’ve always admired the cleanliness of Maureen McHugh’s less is more style, but in her two Sci Fiction stories this year, “Frankenstein’s Daughter” and “Ancestor Money,” she really cuts loose and torques it up a few notches. These were two of the most impressive stories I read this year. Richard Butner’s “Ash City Stomp,” from the Trampoline anthology, was quite good as were Chris Barzak’s “Dead Boy Found,” and Shelly Jackson’s “Angel” from the same book. If you get a chance, check out Butner’s story, “The House of the Future,” which will be published on Sci Fiction early in ‘04—that’s a beauty. I also enjoyed “Sleeping With Bears” by Theodora Goss, which appeared on Strange Horizons. The Conjunctions 39: The New Wave Fabulists anthology had some great stuff—“The Girlhood of Shakespeare’s Heroines” by John Crowley, “Entertaining Angels Unawares” by M. John Harrison, “The Familiar” by China Miéville. My favorites from this volume, though, were “Lull” by Kelly Link and Andy Duncan’s “Big Rock Candy Mountain.” J.K. Potter’s anthology, Embrace the Mutation, should have gotten a lot more notice than it did. There are classic pieces in there by Lucius Shepard, Michael Bishop, Kim Newman, Graham Joyce, and a devastating tale by Liz Hand, “Pavane For the Prince of the Air.” In addition to these fine stories, I found a lot of good reading in three chap books from Small Beer Press—Foreigners and Other Familiar Faces by Mark Rich, Bittersweet Creek by Chris Rowe and Other Cities by Ben Rosenbaum. As for the old stuff in the story category, I happened upon a story this year that completely fascinated me and that I read and reread many times. “The Pedersen Kid” by William Gass is a masterpiece.

My best laugh of the year last year was Leslie What’s “Sex and Grease At the King of Chicken,” but this year it’s not a story. When you get a chance, go to the ever brilliant Steve Aylett’s message board on the TTA site and check out the Jeff Lint thread. Lint was a comic book artist from some years ago who did a book called The Caterer. I won’t ruin it for you by trying to describe it. Aylett has essays on The Caterer in The Third Alternative #29 and at The Alien Online. There is also the promise of a website.

OK. In no particular order and bearing no particular significance outside of my own addled mind (I suppose this goes without saying), here’s a baker’s dozen.

Fitcher’s Brides, Gregory Frost

Frost is firing with all 8 cylinders in this retelling of the Blue Beard story. The writing is just phenomenal. The story retains some of its fairy tale nature but it takes no prisoners. I heard him read a piece of this at the KGB in New York before I got the book, and the prose sobered me up out of a solid drunk.

The Dark, edited by Ellen Datlow

I know it’s not quite kosher to recommend an anthology I have a story in, but you can rip mine out if you like (story that is). There is some incredible work in this book. Lucius Shepard’s “Limbo” and Kelly Link’s “The Hortlak” are worth the price of admission. There are plenty of other gems in here too by Glen Hirshberg, Gahan Wilson, Ramsey Campbell, Joyce Carol Oates, Kathe Koja, etc. As a few of the reviews have said about it, there is little doubt that this volume is sure to become a classic of the ghost story genre. Great cover on this one too.

Light, M. John Harrison

Space Adventure the way I always wished it would be—depth of character, complexity of plot, a sense of humor, and wonderful writing.

The Poison Master and Nine Layers of Sky, Liz Williams

I’d never read anything by Liz Williams before this year. She’s a terrific stylist and story teller, but I most admire the structures of her stories. They flow with the natural grace of life and then suddenly lock into focus at just the right moments with a kind of quantum clock work precision.

The Two Sams, Glen Hirshberg

There are no bummers in this collection. Hirshberg is a horror writer in the Old School style of Henry James or Rudyard Kipling. The pacing in the stories (the rate and technique used in doling out the plot) is masterful. Mix this with a wonderful facility with language and contemporary settings and it makes for a first-rate reading experience. Hirshberg just gets better and better.

Floater, Lucius Shepard

Shepard had a phenomenal year this year. I could have picked any number of works by him for this list. Floater is an intriguing mystery/horror story about Voodoo that is also an investigation of cultural blindness. The intriguing thing about Shepard’s writing for me is the complexity of sentence structure and economy of plot. The tale seems in no hurry to tell itself and yet nothing is wasted, so that when you come to the end of one of his short novels, you have the sense that he has accomplished all that most writers would in a book three times as long.

Japanese Ghosts and Demons, edited by Stephen Addis

I enjoyed this book primarily for its illustrations. Knock-out beautiful Japanese art work of monsters, ghouls, spirits and ghosts. The color reproduction in this book is awesome. There are attendant essay on the legends of these sublunary beings that are also quite good. This is a real feast for the eyes. It’s in paperback too, so pretty reasonable as far as the cost goes.

The Book of Disquiet, Fernando Pessoa

Whacked to the max. A book that does not exist, written by an author who is many and none. It’s hard to explain this book. You’re just going to have to read it. Behold the heteronyms.

The Etched City, K. J. Bishop

Bishop has been compared to other writers, the bane of the first time novelist, but, in truth, she has a style and voice all her own. This novel mixes strong plot, wild characters whose reality is rendered utterly convincing, and incredible surrealist imagery that does not detract from the story but deepens it. The Etched City is a perfect hybrid of fantasy tradition and idiosyncratic vision, so the adventure in Copper Country and Ashamoil should appeal to readers of traditional, contemporary, and cutting edge fantasy. It’s a really singular creation, and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.

The Lightning Cage and China, Alan Wall

I owe Michael Moorcock a tip of the hat for turning me on to Wall. All you have to do is begin one of Wall’s novels and like a river the prose effortlessly takes you away in its current. There are great themes of history, philosophy, morality, at work in these books, but they are rendered with the lightest touch, resonating with instead of subsuming the importance of the journeys and struggles of the characters. Wall is probably the best “new” (new at least to me) writer I’ve read in recent years.

Edgar Cayce: An American Prophet, Sidney D. Kirkpatrick

The definitive biography of one of the most remarkable individuals who ever lived. This story is totally fucking amazing. Predictions, cures for the terminally ill conjured in a sleeping trance, famous individuals of the time. It’s got it all. I don’t usually go in for this stuff, but this was a fascinating read. Kirkpatrick has done an exhaustive job on this book.

The San Veneficio Canon, Michael Cisco

If you missed The Divinity Student when he was first around, here’s your chance to catch him, along with the sequel, The Golem. Cisco does remarkable things with language in his writing. With a simple deletion or switch of an expected word, he creates subtly hallucinatory effects. Like in a dream, the most mundane situations can suddenly take on a sinister or mysterious aspect. Nothing comes out the way it seems destined to. At the same time, there is nothing obviously difficult in reading these works, and there is much to enjoy. The Golem is as intriguing as its predecessor. Also out this year, but I have not yet read it, is The Tyrant, which looks, at first glance, to be a completely different direction for this original writer.

Veniss Underground, Jeff VanderMeer

A whirling, twirling nightmare descent with unforgettable characters, creatures, and comedy. Don’t forget the god damn Meerkats. This story is like some weird cloned mutation itself, but it definitely lives! And look for VanderMeer’s collection, Secret Life, in ‘04. You won’t be disappointed.

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Jeffrey Ford is the author of The Physiognomy, Memoranda, The Beyond and, recently, The Portrait of Mrs. Charbuque.