In her introduction to Starlings, novelist Jo Walton admits that she’s not really a short story writer. That’s probably the reason why this collection is such a hit-and-miss affair. In Walton’s own words, Starlings incorporates “two short stories that I wrote after I knew what I was doing, two I wrote before I knew what I was doing, some exercises, some extended jokes, some first chapters of books I didn’t write, some poems with the line breaks taken out, a play, and some poems with the line breaks left in.” She also rounds off each story with a brief afterword that sometimes feels like she’s grinding an axe (apparently she was never paid for the original publication of ‘Three Twilight Tales’ – one of the best entries in the book – and the magazine Odyssey folded before she could be reimbursed for ‘At the Bottom of the Garden’) and sometimes feels like she’s patting herself on the back and reminding us how clever and talented she is (“A real short story! You knew I could do it if I really tried!”) Either way, her frequent POV’s rarely do her any favours, which is a shame because several of the stories are very good indeed: the Snow White re-envisioning ‘On the Wall’ and the ‘Sleeper’, about a Cold War sleeper agent recreated in AI are definitely among the highlights, as is ‘Unreliable Witness’, centred around an elderly dementia sufferer who meets a friendly alien (or does she?). These are all tightly written, character-full vignettes that are packed with texture and imagination but don’t outstay their welcome. Fans of twisty SF will also enjoy ‘The Panda Coin’, about an odd coin that changes hands from lovers to thieves as it makes its way around a space station.
Jo Walton is an accomplished wordsmith brimming with too many good ideas and if you’re already a fan of the author’s work you’ll probably find Starlings an entertaining curiosity. However, newcomers to Walton – and admirers of the short story form – might find themselves frustrated by this eclectic hodge-podge of good and not-so-good material. When it works it works, but there’s a lot of stodge to wade through and the gems are few and far between.
STARLINGS / AUTHOR: JO WALTON / PUBLISHER: TACHYON PUBLICATIONS / RELEASE DATE: MARCH 1ST 2018
