Wrong Train, Right Time (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
wrongtrainrighttime) wrote2018-09-24 10:01 pm
wrongtrainrighttime) wrote2018-09-24 10:01 pm
The Future is Blue by Catherynne M. Valente
Despite the strike out of Space Opera, I picked up The Future is Blue because I feel like -- in general -- I have much better luck with Valente's short fiction. And she's still one of my favorites.
A good half of this collection was stuff I'd already read at various magazines online, though, so I'm going to mostly focus on reviewing the stories that are new or at least new to me. ...I also read this book a good month or so before sitting down to write this review, so, my impressions are going to be rather fuzzy.
"The Future is Blue"
There's some neat imagery in here but the attempt at a fairyland feel is really at odds with the fact that it's about, you know, the hubris of humanity in ignoring climate change. And also it's just...sad. It feels hollow and miserable, and not in a good way.
"No One Dies in Nowhere"
A noir-ish mystery set in a city in purgatory where no one can die. I liked it a lot, but I'm an easy sell on this kind of imagery. The noir feel really suits a story set in a story between Heaven and Hell, where virtue and vice are always present. I liked the way the mystery slowly spiraled and revealed itself through the dual storylines and perspectives. Probably my favorite in the collection, or close to it.
"Two and Two is Seven"
This one is a bit silly but overall really fun. It has an ominous air building around it...but the conclusion is great. Liked it a lot.
"The Limitless Perspective of Mr. Peak, or, The Luminescence of Debauchery"
The narrator is a shitty person and has an excellently entertaining voice. For that reason alone it's a great read. But some of the gender stuff is...not good, in my opinion. I remember reading this when it was first published (in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, available online) but for some reason had never reread it until now.
"Planet Lion"
I know I said I would focus on stuff that's new to the collection but damn, I love this story. The voice of the lions, the fragmented reveal of what exactly is going on... It's fantastic. I still chew on lines from the lion's portions because they're so evocative and strange.
"Flame, Pearl, Mother, Autumn, Virgin, Sword, Kiss, Blood, Heart, and Grave"
Another good one. Rich language, dense with strange and lovely images. Thinking about it makes me want to reread it.
"Major Tom"
This one is more grounded in the real world than Valente's work usually feels, but I like it a lot. I feel like I tend to like the stories she writes that are composed of fragments that slowly reveal a whole, and this story definitely qualifies. Lovely, melancholic work.
"Badgirl, the Deadman, and the Wheel of Fortune"
I feel like this one pairs up with "The Future is Blue" in that it has a fantastic feel that nonetheless feels like misery porn, except it's even more that thing. Pass.
"A Fall Counts Anywhere"
An extremely literal take on Robots vs. Fairies (and I think it was even in the anthology titled just that?) but I still liked it. Fun voice stuff, some cool stuff on robots vs. fairies as tropes in the collective fictional subconscious. Anyway, still fun.
I didn't talk about "Down and Out in R'lyeh", "Snow Day", "The Lily and the Horn", "The Flame After the Candle", "The Long Goodnight of Violet Wild", and "The Beasts Who Fought for Fairyland Until the End and Further Still". Most of them I do still like -- with the notable exception of "Snow Day" -- and I reviewed "The Flame After the Candle" in my review of Mad Hatters and March Hares, edited by Ellen Datlow.
Overall, I'd say that The Future is Blue is distinctly hit or miss, which seems in line with how I feel about Valente's most recent work.
A good half of this collection was stuff I'd already read at various magazines online, though, so I'm going to mostly focus on reviewing the stories that are new or at least new to me. ...I also read this book a good month or so before sitting down to write this review, so, my impressions are going to be rather fuzzy.
"The Future is Blue"
There's some neat imagery in here but the attempt at a fairyland feel is really at odds with the fact that it's about, you know, the hubris of humanity in ignoring climate change. And also it's just...sad. It feels hollow and miserable, and not in a good way.
"No One Dies in Nowhere"
A noir-ish mystery set in a city in purgatory where no one can die. I liked it a lot, but I'm an easy sell on this kind of imagery. The noir feel really suits a story set in a story between Heaven and Hell, where virtue and vice are always present. I liked the way the mystery slowly spiraled and revealed itself through the dual storylines and perspectives. Probably my favorite in the collection, or close to it.
"Two and Two is Seven"
This one is a bit silly but overall really fun. It has an ominous air building around it...but the conclusion is great. Liked it a lot.
"The Limitless Perspective of Mr. Peak, or, The Luminescence of Debauchery"
The narrator is a shitty person and has an excellently entertaining voice. For that reason alone it's a great read. But some of the gender stuff is...not good, in my opinion. I remember reading this when it was first published (in Beneath Ceaseless Skies, available online) but for some reason had never reread it until now.
"Planet Lion"
I know I said I would focus on stuff that's new to the collection but damn, I love this story. The voice of the lions, the fragmented reveal of what exactly is going on... It's fantastic. I still chew on lines from the lion's portions because they're so evocative and strange.
"Flame, Pearl, Mother, Autumn, Virgin, Sword, Kiss, Blood, Heart, and Grave"
Another good one. Rich language, dense with strange and lovely images. Thinking about it makes me want to reread it.
"Major Tom"
This one is more grounded in the real world than Valente's work usually feels, but I like it a lot. I feel like I tend to like the stories she writes that are composed of fragments that slowly reveal a whole, and this story definitely qualifies. Lovely, melancholic work.
"Badgirl, the Deadman, and the Wheel of Fortune"
I feel like this one pairs up with "The Future is Blue" in that it has a fantastic feel that nonetheless feels like misery porn, except it's even more that thing. Pass.
"A Fall Counts Anywhere"
An extremely literal take on Robots vs. Fairies (and I think it was even in the anthology titled just that?) but I still liked it. Fun voice stuff, some cool stuff on robots vs. fairies as tropes in the collective fictional subconscious. Anyway, still fun.
I didn't talk about "Down and Out in R'lyeh", "Snow Day", "The Lily and the Horn", "The Flame After the Candle", "The Long Goodnight of Violet Wild", and "The Beasts Who Fought for Fairyland Until the End and Further Still". Most of them I do still like -- with the notable exception of "Snow Day" -- and I reviewed "The Flame After the Candle" in my review of Mad Hatters and March Hares, edited by Ellen Datlow.
Overall, I'd say that The Future is Blue is distinctly hit or miss, which seems in line with how I feel about Valente's most recent work.