Another must read. The Winds of Marble Arch and Other Stores is, unfortunately for you, not coming out until September. I've decided to hold my review until late this summer, or maybe about publication time, even though I've read it (note to self: always check publication date first).
And what kind of stories are they? you ask.
Slipstream. That's a term I'm somewhat reluctant to use, partly because it's too easy -- slipstream is, when all is said and done, science fiction that isn't. It exists uncomfortably in the speculative fiction universe, and, out of the three major genres (I've decided to include horror along with fantasy and science fiction, since it's really becoming a mainstay of the field and one of the favorite crossover territories), it doesn't really fit neatly within any, although it may contain elements of any or all. "The Winds of Marble Arch," for example, could be fantasy. It could also be a psychological thriller. It could be science fiction -- the winds do have a rational explanation, which we never quite believe. It can't really be science fiction, though, because the problem never gets solved.
And what do you do with a vampire story that you're not really sure contains a vampire?
She's also hysterically funny. Just imagine a scientific conference that could have been organized by Robert Benchley and James Thurber, with an assist from Groucho Marx. Quantum mechanics made real. (Academia really gets it in the neck in this collection, along with our own PC/corporate Newspeak.)
Find To Say Nothing of the Dog. It's wonderful.
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