Corpus Pretereo

Escape to Other Worlds

Corpus Pretereo is an anthology of sixteen short stories on the subject of escape. The stories span different genres-magical realism, fantasy, horror, and scifi. Many of them have excellent world building, allowing the reader's imagination to escape to fantastic-or horrifying-settings.

Rather than trying to comment on all sixteen stories, this review will focus on my three favorites-they alone are worth the cover price.

Crash: Set in a human colony on another planet, Crash tells the story of some not-quite-human-anymore children trying to create a home for themselves and win a place in a hostile world. The narrative voice in this story is strong and the world building is incredible. The author creates a group of fascinating and fully-rounded characters in just a few pages. Even though the story is complete in itself (and has the sort of satisfying conclusion one can't always find in short stories), I found myself wanting to read more about these people and their world.

The Devil and Neil Armstrong: This story is very clever, and I can't say too much about it without giving it away. It involves time travel (of a sort), and uses a fascinating conceit to show how the past interacts with the present.

Fiji Stew: This is the story of a young woman shipwrecked in the 19th century on an island full of "savages." It is told in a vivid voice, but the reader soon learns not to completely trust the narrator. The narrative style reminded me of "The Yellow Wallpaper," and there are certain parallels in the stories themselves that I can't comment on without spoiling the ending. However, Fiji Stew is *not* a re-telling on "The Yellow Wallpaper." Quite the opposite-it is, in many ways, its antithesis (while still being equally dark and creepy).

The other stories are a mixed bag-some I liked a lot, some were a nice read, some I really didn't care for (but that may be a matter of personal taste).

The books does suffer from a few editing issues-there are occasional typos, inconsistencies with punctuation, and missing spaces. I'd wish there'd been more line-editing, but overall these mistakes are few enough not to ruin the reading experience.

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