This goes into the “better late than never” category again, but I only just became aware that late last year, Strange Horizons reviewed Never Stop–Finnish Science Fiction and Fantasy. This is relevant to my interests, as the anthology contains, among other things, my English debut story. Their mention of it is eminently quotable, so I’ll do just that:
“The Guardian of Kobayashi” by Mikko Rauhala, for instance, is a treasure quest in space. It evokes a believable future history through glancing comments and develops a lovely twist ending. Quite satisfying.
This is the sort of review that renews one’s vigor. I do hope to coax Strange Horizons into publishing one of my stories at some point. (I have come close, but alas, no cigar as of yet. An edited version of that story is now in the second round of consideration at another reputable market, so… interesting times.)
The review also mentions The Self-Inflicted Relative, a drabble anthology which I co-edited with Maija Haavisto. They thought the book was a bit uneven (it does cater to a variety of tastes), but overall to be recommended:
As the subtitle states, it is a collection of thirty-three stories, each of one hundred words. Reading it was, for me, like eating a packet of mixed nuts: some of its contents weren’t really to my taste but were gone so quickly that it was easier to take a sip of water and move on. Others were glorious, tales I wanted to savour—indeed, I read “Fairy Forest” by Mixu Lauronen out loud to guests. […] There […] is a great deal of pleasure to be had from Self-Inflicted Relative, which I would recommend to any reader of fantastika.
Quite satisfying indeed.
Never Stop and The Self-Inflicted Relative are available as Kindle ebooks. Physical copies are available through the publisher’s web store. International shipping is available. (For the Finnish user, epub format ebooks are also available from Elisa Kirja.)
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