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briandice's review
5.0
Ten beautifully written stories set in an alternate world where the personification of weather turns storms into Storms with a malevolent penchant for hunting down and wiping out frail humans.
Yes, the books have a sci-fi twist, but the reader never feels like the world inhabited is really that different from the one we live in. The imagery evokes our atavistic and often mystical attachment to violent weather. Call's writing is precise, at times almost reading like a meteorological textbook. His characters are us, living lives in a world where nature can be harnessed as a super weapon in a war of nations, used as a means of conveyance, or simply worshiped for its essential splendor.
This collection is a must for any fan of short fiction.
Yes, the books have a sci-fi twist, but the reader never feels like the world inhabited is really that different from the one we live in. The imagery evokes our atavistic and often mystical attachment to violent weather. Call's writing is precise, at times almost reading like a meteorological textbook. His characters are us, living lives in a world where nature can be harnessed as a super weapon in a war of nations, used as a means of conveyance, or simply worshiped for its essential splendor.
This collection is a must for any fan of short fiction.
kiramke's review
5.0
This collection of stories has captured my thoughts in a way that will haunt me for a long time. I've already tried to describe it to a handful of people to tie into some half-expressed moment in conversation. His world is startling and imaginative but delicately human. Of course, I am among those who are always aware of weather.
It took me a bit to get into the rhythm of his story-telling, but it was worth continuing. Very glad I own a copy I can return to whenever I want.
It took me a bit to get into the rhythm of his story-telling, but it was worth continuing. Very glad I own a copy I can return to whenever I want.
tiredandspice's review
5.0
I didn't really have any expectations from this, I just wanted a cheap and short collection of stories to download on my phone because I was bored at work and failed to bring a book with me
But damn, I really enjoyed this. I'll definitely look for more things by this author
Update: Nearly three years later, I just started rereading this and damn... 50 pages in and I just want to curl up and cry (in a good way)
But damn, I really enjoyed this. I'll definitely look for more things by this author
Update: Nearly three years later, I just started rereading this and damn... 50 pages in and I just want to curl up and cry (in a good way)
mattstebbins's review
5.0
Few finer collections have I read, and if the later stories fall short of expectation, it's only because Call's set the bar so high. "My Scattering" may be one of the horrific stories I've recently read, and yet it's hauntingly beautiful - some part of me wanted to see it in my dreams. If "Anvil" feels unfinished, perhaps it's only because the story immediately preceding, "The Architect's Apprentice," twists more surely than most stories would dare hope. To wit: you should probably read it.
[4.5 stars because even as the last few stories fall flat, I think they do so at least in part because our expectations as readers have lifted: the first six stories are astounding, breathtaking, flights of equal part whimsy and tragedy and altogether true, in as much as any fiction can be true. Did I mention you should probably read this?]
[4.5 stars because even as the last few stories fall flat, I think they do so at least in part because our expectations as readers have lifted: the first six stories are astounding, breathtaking, flights of equal part whimsy and tragedy and altogether true, in as much as any fiction can be true. Did I mention you should probably read this?]
kerrianne's review
4.0
The sunshine and rainbows and sweet spring winds first:
This is one of the most imaginative set of shorts I've thus far stumbled upon. Call has supreme storytelling skill, his worlds at once fantastic and vividly imaginable, his stories simultaneously interesting, hopeful, and in many places: quite terrifying.
Which is to say the first six come highly recommended:
"How We Came to Live in the Sky"
"I Pilot My Bed Deep into the Night"
"Consider the Buzzard"
"Windswept"
"My Scattering"
"The Architect's Apprentice"
The next four stories?
"Anvil"
"The Walker Circulation"
"Age Hung Us Out to Dry"
"Our Latitude, Our Longitude"
Nowhere near the caliber and quality of the first six. Nowhere near as interesting or as developed. They felt hasty, unfinished, and while their central themes certainly fit the collection, the collection's strength as a whole remains severely diminished by them. Call would have done better letting them fall into a forlorn piece of sky, or harnessing them to the back of a strong west wind.
[Four stars because (there will be weather, always, yes, and) the first six stories are good enough for me to forget the last four.]
This is one of the most imaginative set of shorts I've thus far stumbled upon. Call has supreme storytelling skill, his worlds at once fantastic and vividly imaginable, his stories simultaneously interesting, hopeful, and in many places: quite terrifying.
Which is to say the first six come highly recommended:
"How We Came to Live in the Sky"
"I Pilot My Bed Deep into the Night"
"Consider the Buzzard"
"Windswept"
"My Scattering"
"The Architect's Apprentice"
The next four stories?
"Anvil"
"The Walker Circulation"
"Age Hung Us Out to Dry"
"Our Latitude, Our Longitude"
Nowhere near the caliber and quality of the first six. Nowhere near as interesting or as developed. They felt hasty, unfinished, and while their central themes certainly fit the collection, the collection's strength as a whole remains severely diminished by them. Call would have done better letting them fall into a forlorn piece of sky, or harnessing them to the back of a strong west wind.
[Four stars because (there will be weather, always, yes, and) the first six stories are good enough for me to forget the last four.]
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