The Ant King: and Other Stories

A collection of short stories, some of which sit firmly in the realm of science fiction or fantasy, and some of which are simply uncategorizably strange. Rosenbaum reminds me of Italo Calvino in many respects: the use of dreamlike or fairy-tale logic, the playfulness, the fascination with meta-narratives. One of the pieces in this collection even seems to be a deliberate homage to Calvino's Invisible Cities. But Rosenbaum isn't just some sort of Calvino imitator; he also shares Calvino's inventiveness. There's an incredible feeling of originality about these stories. Even when Rosenbaum is using familiar SF elements or riffing off of well-known works of fiction, he gives the sense of looking at whatever it is through absolutely fresh show more eyes and inviting the reader to do the same. Some of these stories did more for me than others, but I came away from the book with the overall impression of having just experienced something marvelous, in every sense of the word. show less

loved loved loved this collection - well written, insightful, deeply silly in a wonderful way. has made me reconsider my reading habits and want to actually get into sf

I took this book out of the library when it came out - a few months ago. Since it was new, I only had a week or two to get to it and I didn't get through other books fast enough to do so- I only got through the first story (The Ant King) before I had to return it. I enjoyed the story and definitely planned to get the book back out. I was looking forward to reading the other stories.

Well, the stories were a mix - some good, some I felt were really boring. The thing is, there are some writers where you're reading about some things that make you question the writer's sanity (I'd say Burroughs and the Good Doctor would be reasonable examples) and then there are some writers who (to me) try too hard to seem crazy - and Rosenbaum fits into show more that category. Not to say that crazy is a good thing, but when you're trying to interact as writer to audience as much as Rosenbaum does and you're writing about topics of questionable sanity...I feel like it needs to be more believable that your sanity is questionable. I want to feel a little uncomfortable as I'm reading that type of story rather than feeling like I'm sitting in a smoky college dorm room discussing the meaning of everything, with everyone involved believing they've said something deeply profound. show less

Call it 4.5 stars. This story collection contains a lot of fun, a few duds, and one magnificent bastard of a yarn "A Siege of Cranes" that is itself worth the modest purchase price.

All high notes. Nothing fails.
Includes a set of "Other Cities" that strongly echo Italo Calvino's "Invisible cities" and then extend it.

This is the book that I have been bringing up to people more than anything else I've read this year. It's a perfect set of gems.

Quelques très jolies nouvelles (Falling, Siege of Cranes) et d'autres...

As if we needed one more reason to think the folks at Small Beer Press were fantastic, this book’s categorization is “short stories/plausible fabulism”.
http://12frogs.com/reading/reviews/2009/05/the-ant-king-and-other-stories/