Literary Scene: Three Short Story Collections

By Ryan G. Van Cleave | June 2021

I’m Waiting for You: And Other Stories
(Harper Voyager, April 2021)
by Kim Bo-Young

Kim Bo-Young’s speculative short story collection surprisingly only contains four stories, but the stories work in pairs to explore similar issues. Taken together, the story pairs each work like novellas.

Translated by Sophie Bowman, the first pair is “I’m Waiting for You” and “On My Way to You,” and these happen in a world where the human relationship to time and space has dramatically changed. The first-person narrator—a groom-to-be—is leaving for a multi-year trip, while his beloved is off on her own journey to Alpha Centauri. The goal is for them to coordinate their journey so they can return to Earth at the same time and finally be married. Things go awry, of course, and through these stories, Kim explores the depths of love, hope, and belonging.

The other two stories are translated by Sung Ryu, though they have a different feel from the previous pair because of the subject matter as much as the skill of the translator. “The Prophet of Corruption” presents a sort of spiritual inquiry that’s informed by Buddhism and Korean mythology. In this curious piece, individual people (shown through various characters) exist in a state of brokenness. Real meaning comes from joining with others, which merges both knowledge and experiences. But what, then, is identity?

Its companion piece, “That One Life,” asks readers to see humanity through the eyes of divine beings. Some readers find this story to be simpler than the other three, but for Kim Bo-Young, “simple” is a very relative term. There’s a rich mind at work here, but she’s not creating difficulty for difficulty’s sake. This book rewards careful, thoughtful reading.

The book also includes fifty pages of back matter material, ranging from a (very helpful!) author’s note to a glossary that sheds light on “The Prophet of Corruption.” Perhaps the most interesting part of the back matter is correspondence between the two translators, which reveals their goals, approach, and inspiration. You might well choose to read all the back matter first before reading the stories—these are intense reads that might otherwise challenge you more than most science fiction has done in recent years.

I’m Waiting for You will easily demonstrate why Korea’s award-winning author Kim Bo-Young has a rich career ahead of her. If you’re a fan of Isaac Asimov or N.K. Jemisin, you’ll likely be right at home here, too.

Ryan’s Rating: 4.5 out of 5

Love in Color: Mythical Tales from Around the World, Retold
(William Morrow, April 2021)
by Bolu Babalola

Bolu Babalola is a British-Nigerian writer “of books, scripts and retorts,” though Love in Color is her debut story collection. It’s interesting to see how Babalola pulled material from such a wide range of sources—West Africa to Egypt to Greece and beyond.

My favorite of the thirteen stories might be “Siya,” about a warrior woman who defends her home from The Snake Man. A little research assures me that this is based on a lesser-known ancient African tale called “Soninke.” Another noteworthy read is “Psyche,” which transports the “Psyche and Eros” story into the world of high-end fashion. 

One common theme running through these stories is how many women feel unseen and undervalued. For many of them, Babalola brings them to a well-deserved, happier ending. Throughout these stories, the writing is consistently skillful. In the hands of a lesser writer, a collection of folktale-inspired love stories could be pure cheese. Babalola largely avoids that. 

Without a doubt, some readers will be disappointed at how nearly every story presents cishet characters. But women are well represented here—they are front and center, and deservedly so. Ultimately, Love in Color is a solid debut collection that celebrates the richness of love in many forms.

Ryan’s Rating: 4 out of 5

The Ghost Variations:
One Hundred Stories
(Pantheon, March 2021)
by Kevin Brockmeier

If you’ve read any of Kevin Brockmeier’s stories or collections before, you know that he likes to examine the space between the fantastic and the real. In The Ghost Variations, he’s moving through that same territory again via the mysterious world and existence (or not) of ghosts.

Brockmeier helps us out by dividing up the one hundred short—and I mean SHORT!—stories via chapters with such thematic titles as “Ghosts and Memory,” “Ghosts and Nature,” or “Ghosts and Other Senses.”

Because of their brevity, the majority of these pieces are less interested in plot than in creating a lyrical, charged atmosphere. Yes, some of these stories move into the realm of the spooky/scary, but just as many pose philosophical questions or endeavor to create an expansive mood. Regardless of the story, one is rarely enough to truly satisfy. Just like potato chips.

Brockmeier is a talented writer who seeks to put a literary sophistication into stories of the paranormal. If that sounds like a compelling blend, you’ll likely appreciate this book for its cleverness, writing quality, and ability to entertain. As with most collections or anthologies, though, some simply won’t work for everyone. Still, this is a better-than-average book with an interesting ghostly throughline.

Ryan’s Rating: 4 out of 5
kevinbrockmeier.com