realthog

There's a new review up of Mike Allen's anthology Clockwork Phoenix (Norilana Books, hurry out and buy right now!), done by Michael M. Jones as the SF Site's lead review. The important bits go something like this:

John Grant's "All The Little Gods We Are" is a powerful, tragic, magic tale in which a man named John makes a fateful phone call one day, and reaches himself. The bizarre call stirs up memories of John's past, bringing back a time when he and his best friend Justine were inseparable. But what happened to tear them apart? How close was their relationship, and how did it end... or did it? Whatever you think the truth is, it's weirder. One of the most emotionally powerful stories in the collection, it really needs multiple readings to understand its depths. . . .

This is not an easy anthology to read, and it was even harder to review, simply because it stretches out of the usual comfort zone, offering up entire new worlds and concepts to play with. However, that's a good thing. Without collections like this to make us actually work at understanding, comprehending, and enjoying, we'd never know where our limits are. . . . I expect to see a few of these stories gracing assorted "Best of..." lists come next year. If you want something new, different, and challenging, this is an anthology worth checking out.

What I'm personally singing and dancing about, aside from the obvious, is that here in Jones we have a reviewer perceptive enough to realize that "All the Little Gods We Are" isn't an alternate universe story. "Whatever you think the truth is, it's weirder" -- precisely.