It seems that putting The Rock Eaters by Brenda Peynado on my best of 2021 list and noting how it’s redeemed my faith in short story collections was a bad idea, as I’ve apparently jinxed myself with regard to said collections, being that I’m now 0 for 3 on them since then. The third “0-fer” is Dreaming in Quantum and Other Stories by Lynda Clark, which has its moments but left me disappointed overall.

Generally, the collection is a mix of fantastical genres, though how much so will depend on one’s subjective definitions of the seemingly infinite sub-genres thrown under that particular umbrella category, such as fantasy, magical realism, fairy tale/folklore, science fiction, etc. The stories are mostly well written on a stylistic level, but many fell short of feeling whole or fully developed, to me, failing to create any particular emotional impact or feeling somewhat formless or directionless at the close, as you can see from these notes coming at the close of several of the tales: “interesting story but peters out,” “feels unfinished,” “like idea but feels unfinished,” “doesn’t stick the landing,” “again, good set-up but not developed enough,” “same issue, feels unfinished,” “same problem, not enough there there.”

You can see my frustration at the pattern. And to clarify, when I say the story feels unfinished or doesn’t nail the ending, I’m not looking for a neat resolution necessarily, just something to warrant my time spent with these characters in this situation. That said, it’s quite possible that the author and I are just desiring different things out of a story. Outside of a few of them, I’d classify most of these to be “premise stories”— the core of the tale is the idea at its center, that (or the repercussions of that twist idea) is the story, and so to ask for more impact from character or plot is looking for something unintended. If you like those sorts of stories, you’ll respond much more positively. I did enjoy a few of these, but those few aren’t enough to tip this review into a recommendation. A few specifics:

“Sidhe Wood”: The collection actually started out strongly, with one of my favorite stories in the book. A play off your basic changeling tale, Clark nails the narrative voice here beautifully, creating a sharply witty and even chilling tale with a great close (best ending in the collection). And plot-wise that ending is set up perfectly without it being predicable, though once at the end you can absolutely see how you ended up there. My favorite story.

“Ghillie’s Mum” The second story and my second favorite (as noted, the book starts strongly). The mum in question is a shapeshifter: “When he was a baby, Ghillie’s mother was mostly an orangutan … At bat time she was other animals. A baby elephant to squirt him with water . . . Ghillie assumed everyone’s mother was many things and so didn’t worry about it at all for the first few years of his life, but when he started school, he realized his mom wasn’t like other mums.” It’s both a funny story and a poignantly moving one.

“Dreaming in Quantum” This was an intriguing tale of alternate universes and someone/something seemingly aiming at killing all the versions of a character. It began strongly, but then, as noted above, petered out in disappointing fashion

“Total Transparency” A story where a man’s wife begins to turn transparent and then eventually disappear. Again, I liked how it started, I liked the concept at the center and all the possible metaphors, but the story itself left me somewhat cold, a more academic or removed exploration of the idea as opposed to one that felt tethered to real people, real lives.

Beyond these four, the rest of the collection didn’t do much for me, with my responses ranging from “solid” to worse than that. Given the collection holds over a dozen stories, that’s not a particularly good ratio, thus the not recommended. Though if you can read those first two stories, either online or via checking the book out of the library, I can happily suggest doing so.
2.5

**A huge thank you to NetGalley and Fairlight Books for an eARC of this book in exchange for honest feedback!**

I have never read anything by Lynda Clark but was intrigued by the synopsis of this collection. The first two stories had me immediately thinking that this book wasn't my cup of tea. VERY short short stories that leaned more towards folklore/fae vibes than anything else.

Things turned around quickly as the stories took a more sci-fi turn. I found myself really enjoying the majority of the stories, and am pretty impressed with what felt like a lot of genre crossing in a short amount of time. It was a little bit jarring to go from story to story as they were all VERY different, but by picking this up and reading a tale or two at a time I didn't feel that it took anything away from my reading experience.

All in all, I was really impressed with a lot of the stories in this collection and will definitely check out more of Lynda Clark to see what else she has to say! This collection definitely gave some insight into her range and I can imagine that she has some other really interesting ideas. I recommend this book if you like quick reads, short story collections, stories that lean towards the ~weird~ and science fiction. Definitely interested to see what other people had to say about this one!

Ah. Perfect. Quantum Dreams are made of this and who are we to disagree. This was an absolutely excellent collection of genre hopping short fiction. From science fiction to literary scares and more to just plain oddness…this relatively slender collection provides a terrific span of speculative fiction done in the finest literary style.
Mostly I suppose it can all go under an umbrella of magic realism. And magic realism is tough to do, because it seems like an oxymoron of a genre, each of the components seemingly too contradictory for each other to amount to a cohesive total and yet, in a kismet style of attracting opposites, when it works it is magic indeed, a real, realistic kind. And the author seems to excel at level and balanced depiction of strikingly bizarre scenarios.
Clark plays with familiar genre concepts, but be it zombies, vampires, ghosts, shapeshifters, clones or something completely other, each take is completely original, singular and fresh. It’s all so imaginative, so clever, so fun…you won’t want to put the book down and since it clocks in at just under 200 pages you won’t have to. Just dive right in. The water is…welcomingly strange or strangely welcoming. And sure there may be fins, but with this book you’ll never know who they might belong to.
I loved this collection with a passion I normally reserve for fresh fruit and baked goods. Such an awesome, enormously enjoyable read. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.

Extremely cool and superbly written collection of short stories that range from horror, mythology, speculative fiction, folklore and fantasy. Lynda Clark is an extremely versatile writer, able to create poignant moments as in ‘Ghillie’s Mum’, ‘Mrs Sunderland’s Arms’ and ‘Total Transparency’, perverse and darkly humorous tales such as ‘Shorty’ and ‘Grandma’s Feast Day’, and more philosophical stories like ‘Dreaming in Quantum’ and ‘Blanks’. With intriguing and provocative premises, unexpected twists, destabilising points of view, dark humour, sensibility, and a touch of weirdness, Dreaming in Quantum keeps you hooked and makes you lean in for more.

I really enjoyed this collection of short stories! The author's voice is distinct and visceral. A lot of the stories are very open ended and built for discussion. There's absolutely something here for everyone, regardless of your typical genres.

These stories are quirky, filled with dark humor and unique world building, all while including important messaging and themes that give you a ton of food for thought. Some of the standouts to me were 'The Whisky Situation', 'Total Transparency', and 'This Time, Forever'.

Rating Breakdown:
Sidhe Wood - 5 stars
Ghillie's Mum - 4 stars
Dreaming in Quantum - 3 stars
Frozen - 5 stars
Shorty - 2 stars
Dead Men Don't Count - 3 stars
Grandma's Feast Day - 3 stars
Blanks - 5 stars
Mrs Sutherland's Arms - 3 stars
A Winter Crossing - 2 stars
Something or Nothing - 3 stars
Clockwork Men and Clockwork Dogs and Frogs - 4 stars
The Whisky Situation - 5 stars
Total Transparency - 5 stars
This Time, Forever - 5 stars
Phoenix - 5 stars

Overall: 4 stars

First, thanks Lynda Clark, Fairlight Books and Netgalley for the ARC of this anthology.

Sidhe Wood: This story was without an ending. It's about <spoiler>a mother who thinks her baby looks different after looking away while they are at a park. The implication of course, is that he's a changeling.</spoiler> That's it. There's not much of a story there. Not a promising start, but let's carry on.

Ghillie's Mum: This was an interesting one, about shapeshifters and prejudice in what seems to be modern times. Not great, but good.

Dreaming in Quantum: I really liked this alternate realities story, except that it doesn't have much of an ending. Maybe it could be expanded into a novel or at least a novella and we can find out what happened to <spoiler>the monster and other Wheatleys</spoiler>.

Frozen: A cute little story about children who lost a mitten, which incorporates the Greek myth of the labyrinth and the Minotaur.

Shorty: A creepy story about a protective dog and a condescending family. I enjoy some dark humour.

Dead Men Don't Count: This story doesn't really count either (except for how many stars this book is losing). It's a short, kind of pointless look into some kind of post apocalyptic world where the undead seem common.

Grandma's Feast Day: With lines like, <i>"It'd be just like her fool sister to trip on a tree root and break her neck and let herself spoil out there in the woods until she was no good to anyone"</i>, this one is also a creepy story. A world of common cannibalism isn't just gross, it's depressing. It's interesting how this story is written from the point of view of the reader. Oddly, the ending is cute.

Blanks: Also written from the point of view of the reader, this is a story about connection, and why you shouldn't clone people.

Mrs Sutherland's Arms: An ok story. Another one with kids, but this time, one realizes her father will be <spoiler>getting fitted for mechanical limbs to use a war machine</spoiler>.

A Winter Crossing: A shipmate seems to have turned into a monster, and <spoiler>another shipmate ends up in the water, seeing other monsters near a cave she is swimming to</spoiler>. Another one that isn't much of a story.

Something or Nothing: Wild dogs and an exorcism of a parasite. Not really my thing, but it's ok for a very short story.

Clockwork Men and Clockwork Dogs And Frogs: A weird morbid tale about photographic taxidermy has living people being photographed with the bodies of dead loved ones.

The Whisky Situation: An ok story of an illegal cloned whisky factory. Nano-walls are a cool touch.

Total Transparency: A wife and dog slowly go invisible, as the husband deals with the difficulty in finding them. What a strange, yet interesting story.

This Time, Forever: Almost out of place in this book, this romance is only made fantasy with the mention of immortality. It's not really my thing.

Pheonix: The book began with a story that had no real ending, and it ends in the same way. Romantic loss and magic is interesting, but because this ends abruptly, with no resolution of anything, the three stars I may have given this book will have to be two.