Finally, I got round to read Fish, the third collection of short stories I received after backing a Kickstarter some three years ago. Given the theme of the collection, I’m not surprised I put it of for so long.
You see, from early on, I’ve had a kind of weird relation with fish. My father rents out row and fishing boats, which means that I spent quite some time amongst fishing folk as a kid. And those folk can be weird. Grown men, sitting in a boat, staring at a float and telling tall stories. I don’t get it. Plus: fish stinks. I don’t like the smell of fresh (live, even) fish. Also, it’s not that I’m strictly opposed to eating fish. It’s just weird with me. Sushi is alright with me, even.
Being not overly fond of fish, I wondered what a book with fish-related stories would do for me. As it turns out, it heavily depends on the story. Some were excellent, like the one about the magical fish that promised to fulfill wishes but wasn’t very good at it (Maria and the Fish by Andreea Zup), or The Talking Fish of Shangri-La by Bear Weiter, where profanity is the reason the locals don’t want you to find a certain lake, and certainly that one about magical spirit familiars, where someone fucked up enough to reincarnate as a goldfish (Quick Karma by April L’Orange). Quite a few got something going for them, actually.
- Book read
- Fish (Edited by Carrie Cuinn & K.V. Taylor)
- First line
- Broccoli was a normal boy, apart from having sprouts for eyes. –from Thwarting the Fiends by Polenth Blake