Kelly Link

Another collection, much in the vein of Magic for Beginners (which is included here for some reason). I really enjoy Link's characters and auctorial voice, but the similarities across stories makes her collections a bit challenging for me. The final story, Pretty Monsters, is original to this collection. The fantastic element is held off for quite a while. I enjoyed The Surfer the most, I think because it was very different from the others -- more SFnal and less fantasy -- even though fantasy is her strength.

Recommended.… (more)

White Cat, Black Dog: Stories, Kelly Link, author; Shaun Tan, illustrator
I found this book to be very creative and very imaginative as it married reality with magical realism and fantasy. I did not enjoy the language or some of the sexual content, but the seven stories were engaging, nevertheless.
My two favorite stories were the first, “The White Cat’s Divorce”, that gave the book part of its title and the sixth, “The Lady and the Fox”, about a young girl and what seems like an impossible love story.
In the first, a man does not want to grow old, but he can’t stop aging, although he tries everything humanly possible. In the end, will his consuming desire actually bring about his demise?
In the sixth story, Miranda falls in love with Fenny, a strange man she meets every year on Christmas, if it snows. She is determined to keep him in her life, by hook or by crook. Will she defy destiny?
Another story I enjoyed was “Prince Hat”. Gary and Prince Hat are a happy couple, but he has made a deal with Agnes and she does not want to let him go. Is eternal life worth it?
If you enjoy a bit of fantasy, with a touch of horror and science fiction, that approaches fairy tales in a new and different way, this book is for you.… (more)

*Publication Day - March 28, 2023*

My Rating: 3.4⭐

Varying in themes and tone, combining elements of fantasy and magical realism and speculative fiction, White Cat, Black Dog: Stories by Kelly Link is a collection of seven short stories that are essentially retellings of popular fairy tales and folklore in contemporary (and futuristic) settings.

My favorite story was Skinder’s Veil (4.5/5) which revolves around a young man who spends a few weeks filling in for his friend for a housesitting gig that comes with a set of interesting rules and even more interesting visitors. Atmospheric and engaging! Two other stories I enjoyed were The White Cat’s Divorce (4/5) in which three sons are sent on weird quests on the instructions of their affluent father who pits them against one another, claiming to declare the son who satisfies the terms and conditions of his quest most satisfactorily as his heir. Creative and entertaining! The Lady and the Fox (4/5) revolves around a young girl and her encounters with a ghostly presence during Christmas visits to a family friend’s home. A sweet story that retains a fairy tale quality! Prince Hat Underground (3/5) has Gary searching for his lost husband who disappears suddenly one day with a woman who was his ex-fiancée. This story was unnecessarily long and though I enjoyed how the story pans out eventually, I found my interest waning in the first half of the story. The White Road (4.5/5) follows a group of traveling performers in a post-apocalyptic future. This story was engaging and atmospheric. In The Girl Who Did Not Know Fear (2/5) a professor returning home from a lecture finds herself stranded at the airport on account of inclement weather. Though this story features sensitive issues such as mental health, the story was not engaging. The Game of Smash and Recovery (2/5) is a futuristic retelling of Hansel and Gretel featuring Oscar who cares for his younger sister Anat while his parents are away. As the narrative progresses Anat realizes her reality is not quite what she was made to believe. Unsettling, and imaginative but wasn’t quite my cup of tea.

It was nice that the author mentions the tale/ lore that inspired each story so that the reader might reference the same. A few of these original stories were not unknown to me, and while few stories rely heavily on the source material for inspiration others are barely recognizable as retellings. I truly loved the concept behind this collection and appreciate the creativity and imagination that went into crafting these retellings but overall, it was a mixed bag for me. I must mention Shaun Tan’s illustrations which perfectly captured the essence of each story.

Many thanks to author Kelly Link, Random House Publishing Group and NetGalley for the digital review copy of this collection of stories. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This book is due to be released on March 28, 2023.… (more)

I usually am pretty opposed to short stories. They tail off just as things get interesting. But Kelly Link is different. Kelly Link doesn't really write stories -- short or otherwise -- her work is something completely different. She operates outside of the usual logic of narrative. Although, to be fair, perhaps my favorite of her works is the most conventional: The Specialists Hat, which I've read in other collections, is just so undeniably spooky. The atmosphere of dread is palpable, and Link sets it up perfectly, you read it thinking that everything might just turn out fine (even though I've read it before) and she gets you just at the last moment.

Her other works in this collection are more atmospheric riddles than stories, per se, but she does them well, with rich atmospheres and a sense of a consistent mythology just beyond the reader's grasp. There's just something really nice about reading someone who's doing something no one else is.… (more)