People of the Book: A Decade of Jewish Science Fiction and Fantasy
Rating: ★★★★☆
Blurb: Jewish literary tradition has always been rich in the supernatural and the fantastic. In this book, gathered from the best short fiction of the last ten years, twenty authors prove that their heritage is alive and well — in the spaces between stars that an alphabet can bridge, folklore come to life and histories become stories, and all the places where old worlds and new collide and change.
The average of all the ratings I gave all these stories is 3.75 stars, so I’m very happy with this collection! I’ve had bad experiences with anthologies of multiple authors before, but this one was really good.
Being a Jew who loves fantasy, it’s awesome to have a book full of fantasy that centers Jewish characters (well… mostly? There was one story where I couldn’t find any connection to Judaism and I don’t know what was up with that. Neil Gaiman explain yourself).
My favorite stories:
- Geddarien by Rose Lemberg, a devastating and beautiful story about a Jewish musician in a ghetto during the Holocaust who plays music for a dancing city.
- The Dybbuk in Love by Sonya Taafe, a gorgeously-written tale about exactly what the title says.
- Uncle Chaim and Aunt Rifke and the Angel by Peter S. Beage, in which a grumpy Jewish painter is unimpressed by the literal actual angel who appears in his studio.
- Semaphore by Alex Irvine, about a boy struggling to come to terms with his brother’s death by absorbing words and etymology.
And those are just the ones I rated five stars. I absolutely recommend this book.
Looking for more Jewish scifi/fantasy?
Avi Cantor Has Six Months to Live by Sacha Lamb
If you buy this book from Bookshop.org your purchase supports indie bookstores, and if you use my affiliate link I also get a 10% commission
Looking for a cheaper copy? Try my favorite site for used books, Better World Books
Trying to read Jewish sci fi for free? Try these stories posted online!
- Avi Cantor Has Six Months to Live by Sacha Lamb // urban fantasy
- How to Bury a Gentile by @aerialsquid // historical fiction
- Whom My Soul Loves by Rivqa Rafael // urban fantasy
I appreciate being on the list but want to emphasize my piece is more historical fantasy/spooky, with the “historical” being a deeply dubious part of the label. It’s not really set in any specific time or place other than “earlier than last century and probably Europe”.
It’s funny when something crops up on your Tumblr feed with “Neil Gaiman explain yourself…” in it.
When I was asked for a story for the anthology, I suggested a story (at that time uncollected) called “Jerusalem”. The editors specifically asked for “The Problem of Susan” instead. I’m not sure that I remember why – I think they said that the critique of Narnia felt like it was a part of my Jewish heritage.
I’m never really sure how Jewish anything I write is. From my perspective, stories like Mister Punch or Violent Cases or “Queen of Knives” or even The Ocean at the End of the Lane are very Jewish, but that’s mostly because they are filled with analogues of me or my family – I’m not sure that there’s anything specific I can point to.
And I haven’t yet been willing to delve into the parts of my family history that end in most of my family being murdered during World War 2, or not for fiction, anyway. Not yet.
(via owl-librarian)