Falling in Love with Hominids (édition 2015)

This is a wonderful collection of short stories, and Nalo Hopkinson, as the writer, and Bahni Turpin, as the narrator, kept me listening to stories that were just straight up horror that I would ordinarily just skip right over. Along with the horror, there's dark fantasy, lighter, happier fantasy, and even a couple of stories that can fairly be called science fiction. There's a reworking of the story of Caliban, and a new Bordertown story. It's an impressive range.

What sets this collection apart, aside from the fact that Hopkinson is just a really excellent writer, is that she writes from her own Afro-Caribbean heritage, giving us stories that are new to me, and bringing an entirely different perspective to stories grounded in more familiar material.

Highly recommended.

I bought this audiobook. ( )

Het leuke van HumbleBundles (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humble_Bundle) blijft dat er altijd verrassingen tussenzitten die ik nooit gelezen zou hebben als het niet op deze manier was aangeboden. In de LGBTQ Bundle uit 2015 zat dit boek Falling in Love with Hominids vol korte fantasy verhalen van de hand van de Jamaicaanse Nalo Hopkinson.

Het is oorspronkelijk Engelstalig maar de sfeer is duidelijk anders dan de Angelsaksische fantasy die ik gewend ben te lezen. De fantasie is losser en makkelijker verweven met een godenwereld waar ik niet bekend mee ben. Er komen ook opvallend veel dieren voor in deze verhalen.

Elk verhaal wordt voorafgegaan door een korte introductie van de auteur zodat het verhaal een context krijgt. Neil Gaiman doet dat ook wel in zijn verhalenbundels en ik vind dat altijd wat toevoegen aan het leesgenot. Net wat meer houvast.

Opvallend voor een witte Westerling die ik ben, is dat er regelmatig van zwarte hoofdpersonages wordt gesproken. Als dit niet was gebeurd, had ik inderdaad witte Westerlingen voor me gezien.

In het begin was ik heel erg verrast door het anderszijn van deze verhalen. Maar na verloop van tijd konden de verhalen me toch niet meer zo heel erg boeien. Het nieuwe was eraf en wat er overbleef prikkelde mij onvoldoende. Wel jammer. ( )

WELL this book was awesome. Hopkinson is on my list of favourites after this one. There's so much queer stuff in these stories, in whatever sense of that word you want to use! All the stories are so different. There's a lot that is sci fi and magical realism and fantasy, and whatever weird stuff there is in between. There's girls turning into dragons, flying elephants, rat/plant hybrid creatures, gods in human form, serial killers, mythical creatures, and people of colour and queers and black culture all over the frikking place. It's a beautiful and refreshing collection and I also love the title and the cover. Hooray! ( )

The Easthound - feral kids surviving in a desolate city, afraid to reach adolescence in a world where that means turning into a terrifying werewolf-like creature. Good.
Soul Case - short tale of a village of escaped slaves using magic to defeat soldiers who have come to capture them. OK.
Message in a Bottle - stunningly good. Children from the future sent back to our world.
The Smile on the Face - overcoming teenage anxiety by finding the monster inside you. Not as good as Suzy McKee Charnas' "Boobs".
left foot, right - guilt and atonement. ok-ish
old habits - ghosts in the Mall - didn't go anywhere. poor.
emily breakfast - twee. poor
herbal - surreal and delightful.
young candy daughter - dull.
raggy dog, shaggy dog - rats and orchids. Another surreal one.
Shift - fantasy tale of Caliban and Ariel. very good.
Delicious Monster - fathers and gods. Doesn't quite work.
Snow Day - brilliant story. Strange space ships arrive and invite everbody - animal and human - to take a trip.
Flying Lessons - has the virtue of being short.
Whose Upward Flight I Love - Seemed like just an idea for a story rather than the whole thing.
Blushing - reworking of the Bluebeard theme. Horrifying but good.
Ours Is the Prettiest - set in the shared world of Bordertown. Interesting but went on a bit too long.

All in all a very good collection.
Men Sell Not Such in Any Town - didn't understand it ( )

It's a catchy collection, a delightful blend of Jamaican Canadianism. ( )