[.ca] Imaginings: An Anthology of Long Short Fiction (ISBN 0743466659)

deserved award nominee:
The Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America have nominated "Of a Sweet Slow Dance in the Wake of Temporary Dogs" by Adam-Troy Castro for a Nebula Award for Best Novelette (the winners will be announced in April 2004). It deserves to win -- in fact, all the novelettes in this book are worthy of award consideration.

Missing Link:
Too many anthologies these days focus on short stories, with fewer and fewer outlets for longer pieces. Not anymore. Imaginings is a fine new anthology of longer short fiction. Standout stories include "Walking Contradiction" by Nancy Jane Moore. In a world where, several generations previously, scientists created a new gender with both male and female sex organs and reproductive systems (called ambigendered and able to become pregnant and impregnate others), an ambigendered detective is hired to find a young man allegedly taken in by a cult that removes the genitalia of its members. And the detective's estranged offspring is coming to visit. The story explores racism, gender, mother-father-hood, focusing on what it means to be human. Dan Pearlman's "Great White Hope" concerns and ill-fated trip to Mexico for a young married couple and a mirror. Is aging boxer Frank Moran a con artist? Or shaman? Sometimes it's hard to tell.

Imagine this...:
Very entertaining. Especially the Robinson Caruso-esqe "The Thalatta Thesis" by Charles L. Harness. I could've read an entire novels worth of this tale. "Inescapable Justice" by Aaron Rosenberg is an interesting and unique look at the super-hero genre. Craig Shaw Gardeners "A Planet Called Elvis" is a nice place to visit but I wouldn't want to live there, thank you very much. "Next Year in Jerusalem" by Harry Turtledove and "Of a Sweet Slow Dance in the Wake of Temporary Dogs" by Adam Troy Castro are thought provoking tales of war and peace. All in all, an excellent anthology thats well worth your time and money.