Kij Johnson gives us 18 stories, of which two are novellas, four of them are seven or fewer pages, and they all are good. Some were frightening or uncomfortable for me to read, others happier, but they all made me want to read more.

Her characters seem real, whether they are current-day people in ordinary places, or inhabitants of unknown planets. A student of astrophysics, a bridge builder, biologist, an empresses, some talking dogs, are all described in sparse but complete detail in ways that make me believe they really are what she says they are and act exactly the way I'd expect.

The title story follows a woman drawn to follow the course of a miles-long river of bees, one that closes roads as it flows over the landscape. And this magical occurrence is in Montana, where locals and even the highway patrol expect it to happen every once in a while and know how to deal with it.

In "Names for Water," a person's day, life story, and legacy is described in very few words, as she responds to a phone call that is, maybe, only background noise.

Most of these stories have been published in various places, and it's a real gift to come upon them all together in one book.
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This is a great collection of stories. High imaginative; many stories take place in "the real world, plus..." which is a setting and style I always enjoy. The author has a consistent voice/style across most of the included stories without ever getting repetitive, rote, etc.

I really, really enjoyed these. ( )

I liked a handful of these stories, although maybe not enough that I'll refer back to them for years; and I really didn't like quite a few. I can't quite articulate why, sometimes I just wasn't interested in the point being made, or I felt exhausted picking up so much world building for one short story that didn't wow me. And a few times I felt like the story was eating up the references, like there wasn't a point to taking over that tradition, the story didn't need it and was just using it. I don't love the taking of folklore, and I also didn't love those stories, they didn't feel true or important. One or two longer stories felt fleshed-out and worthwhile. ( )

The diversity of the stories, unique characters and blend of real world with sci-fi makes for some fun reading. I liked the fact that several of the stories were just a few pages, while the novellas were borderline page turners. The title story was unique in all ways and I can see why Kij has received so many awards. Highly recommended for those who enjoy short stories as much as I do. ( )

A very interesting collection. Multicultural stories, sprinkled with feminism. Most of them have elements of magical realism and sci fi/fantasy. Almost all of them feature animals (bees, monkeys, monster-fish, cats, dogs, wolves, foxes, ponies, creepy aliens). Some of them are wonderful and will stick with you long after you've read them. Some are forgettable if a bit annoying. One is incredibly hideous and would ruin the whole collection if it were any longer [spoiler alert: I'm talking about the Nebula award winning "Spar"]

26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss
Lovely beginning. One of those stories that make you wish you read it as part of a book club, because you kinda feel the need to talk about it with others afterwards. Fun and interesting. The first of many stories in this collection to feature animals. Surrealistic mysticism, magical realism, this sets the tone for the stories that follow. A woman at a crossroads of life, and 26 magical monkeys.

Fox Magic
Loved it! Reminded me of old Japanese folktales -on which I'm sure it was based. Animals again, this time foxes (obviously). It talks about a young fox that falls in love with a man. I think stories like that are sweet, but untrue. We're far more captivated by nature and it's wild creatures than they are by us. But it's a metaphor, and a lovely fairytale, and it was wonderful.

Names for Water
Also found it charming and beautiful. Reminded me a bit of the film "The Arrival" (although I didn't enjoy it as much as I did this story).
By the end I was moved to almost tears by how wonderful the narration was.

The Bitey Cat
One of my favorites of the bunch. It moved me profoundly. It's about a little girl whose parents are in the middle of a divorce. She has a cat that bites people. But the little girl is the only one that knows that she does that because she is not a cat, she is a monster. Reminded me a lot of "The mother of the dog", a Greek book set after WWII, about a mother and daughter. The daughter, filled with grief, starts acting like a dog. The girl with the cat is luckier I think.

The Horse Raiders
Sci-fi and horses and violent men. Loss, family, survival. I was immersed in the story and world but was disappointed by the ending. By now the tone of Johnson's work is apparent. Most die, violence is abundant, nature nurtures.

Dia Chjerman's Tale
A wonderful, chilling sci-fi story, reminiscent of James Tiptree's classic "The Screwfly Solution". A violent space empire that swallows whole planets. Violent misogyny terrorizing women. Women keeping their sense of being through stories, passed down from generation to generation. A silent female family tree of stories filled with pain and perseverance. Very similar to what some of our mothers have gone through. Read it twice and wept every time.

My Wife Reincarnated as a Solitaire
This has got to be one of the funniest short stories I have EVER READ.
Lovecraftian aviary romantic comedy. Do yourselves a favor and read it. It's narrated from the point of view of a rigid, old fashioned, misogynist, so at first I was turned off by the vocabulary and the complexity of each sentence. But after I understood why it was so, this too became a part of the humor of the story -as was intended by the author.
This time, the animal of the story is an extinct bird.

Schrodinger’s Cathouse
Meh. The only thing I found interesting was the whole gender-experimentation/gender-as-a-construct play. A man opens a box and finds himself at a bar. Where everything is fluid and ever-changing. A point is made. He turns back to reality. The end.

Chenting, in the Land of the Dead
Could also work as a short anecdote. Didn't get much from it, but can't say it was bad. Two lovers think the afterlife is going to be the same for them, not realizing each of us shapes their own.

The Empress Jingu Fishes
Another one that reads like a Japanese legend. It's enchanting. The Empress is living past, present and future simultaneously.Terrifying thought but the presentation, the flow or the writing, are so very tender, that you lose yourself in this one life that feels like many. Bittersweet aftertaste.

At the Mouth of the River of Bees
Cool title, I understand why they named the whole collection after this story. I liked the surrealism/magical realism of it, but the end had zero payoff for me. It made me feel like the entire story was pointless. Even as a person who loves pets I cannot feel connected to this one. I enjoyed the image of a huge river of bees, so thick people cannot cross it, even with vehicles. I love the casual matter-of-factly way everyone in the story seemed to find it normal.

Story Kit
A "metafictional exploration of story structure". And it truly is.

Wolf Trapping
One of the stories that make you go "why? didn't you have anything better to include in this collection?". A woman wants to be a wolf. A man wants to prevent her from doing so. It lacked as a metaphor for people's need to reconnect with nature, for men's/society's need to control women, for the resolve one has to follow their dreams, as an analogy for mental illness. No.

Ponies
I read it as a short for free on tor. Here's a copy-pasta of the small review I wrote:
"life is hard
people are cruel
your sacrifices are in vain
we are all complicit
the status quo remains
oh, and also: ponies"

The Cat Who Walked a Thousand Miles
Beautiful story about a cat that walks a long distance, set in a time when cats had just been transfered to Japan, and not many people knew, or could recognize what kind of animal they were seeing. It's sweet and interesting. It does not suffer much from the problems anthropomorphised animals in kids' stories do. Everything feels natural and you don't find yourself questioning the way the cat thinks or acts. It's very moving too, I teared up in the end.

Spar
HOLY FUCK WHY. Have never been more disgusted by a story ever, and I've read a few bizzaro novels. Alien rape, disgusting fluids, hopelessness. Pointless story, or if it had a point I was unable to understand it. Novel and terrifying imagining of alien life. Worst torture I could ever imagine. Cannot unread. I think she just invented the worst torture humanity could ever conceive.
Interesting in theorizing how alien life could be. Maybe that's why it won the Nebula award. At least I hope that's why.

The Man Who Bridged the Mist
The longest story in the collection. Very well written, interesting characters, lovely atmosphere. I loved it all.The magical realism, the metaphors, the actual plot. It doesn't have as cool a name as "river of bees" but, content-wise, it should have been the story this book was named after. Loved every bit of it. The mysterious, huge fish-like creatures looming over the people's heads and lives. The differences between the villages and the people from the capital. The wonderful Rasali. Extremely well-written story. The people and their attitudes towards the things that change their lives seem so real, presented beautifully. This one reminded me of Ursula K. Le Guin and Octavia Butler. Read it.

The Evolution of Trickster Stories Among the Dogs of North Park After the Change
It's very fitting that this is the last story in the collection because it seems to nicely wrap-up and summarize many of the themes prevalent in the stories that preceded it. It is a sci-fi/fantasy tale, with animals, cruelty, storytelling, presented in a way that closely resembles magical realism.
Maybe Linna is the same one from The River Of Bees.

If you read it, come talk to me about stories and their importance in our lives, families, history. We can theorize about the future from a sociological angle, and think which oppressions will still be there in a thousand year's time. Let us talk about animals and pets, the difference between the two and our relationships with them. Lets discuss what family is, and what love, and whether fate is a thing. ( )