From The Wasteland edited by Clare Rhoden
I would like to thank Tamsin from PS Publishing for a copy of this anthology in exchange for a fair and honest review
Publisher - PS Publishing
Published - Out Now
Price - £14.99 paperback
From The Waste Land - stories inspired by T.S. Eliot's “The Waste Land” Plaintive ghosts, deep space, medieval castles, rising seas, parched deserts, abandoned villages…Inspired by its powerful themes—still highly resonant in an era looking for hope—nineteen original tales mark the centenary of Eliot’s poem. From the Waste Land brings together decorated writers and new voices in fantasy; ghost tales, horror, dystopia and science fiction. With a blend of the grotesque and the sublime, the poignant and the horrifying, the sad and the stoic, you’ll find stories that conjure wastelands from the 1500s to many centuries hence. You’ll also find the hope for humanity and the belief in our joint future that these writers seek for us all.
TS Eliot’s The Waste Land is nearly a century old and speaks of atime when the world was recovering from WW1. It mixes the modern and the fantastical in strange paces and the concept of a waste land haunts us still in ideas such as battlefields or an aocalypse be it caused by nuclear war or climate change. Claire Rhoden has assembled in their new anthology From The Wasteland an unusual mix of tales to celebrate this poem and also explore what in 2022 a Wasteland means to us now.
Among the many stories I enjoyed were
Death By Water by Grace Chan - I realy enjoyed this strange erie SF tale of someone recovering the bodies of a failed space mission on an unusual planet. The imagery here is desolate and yet there are always signs that life can begin again. A really interesting mix of grief and hope.
A Winter Respite by Clare Rhoden - here we have a woman and a found family of war orphans finding in war torn France a brief moment of respite although there are many ghosts of the old occupants to navaigate. Its bittersweet and keeps the reader on their toes.
She Who Walks Behind You by Leanbh Pearson - A powerful more surreal trip as a woman searches for a lover in a very nightmarish and haunted battlefield. Full of imagery and strangeness you want to see how this search ends
The Watcher of Greenwich by Laura E Goodin - a surreal tudor tale with Queen Elizabeth I and Robert of Leicester investigating a strange magical sight on the Thames. Throw in glimpse of Doctor John Dee, haunted buildings and has an interesting core idea looking at one of the UK’s strangest and most chaotic periods and coming up with a magical explanation for it all.
Exhausted Wells by Tee Linden - one of my favourites in the collection imagines humanity trying to escape a polluted and climate change destroyed Earth and on Enceladus a small group of scientists are trying to find signs of life and water. Linden’s tale in many ways feels hopeless where the monotony of days all being the same is wreaking havoc on the team but despite all this some human links can be reforged even in the icy dark.
Rat’s Alley by Jeff Clulow - a powerful ghostly tale I really enjoyed of a WW1 survivor trying to find a new life carrying the past with him. A tale of lost love, passion and deep down bargaining with the dark which will carry a high price. A powerful strange compelling tale.
A Dusty Handful by Aveline Perez de Vera - I really liked how this story manages an exuberant steampunk adventure of a circus family working above London with a grimmer plot of people being exploited by those in power in a pollution riddled London.
A Fiddle of Whisper Music by Eugen Bacon - an absolutely beautiful yet chilling tale of a yougn girl who becomes a murderer. Bacon’s language is beautiful yet what is being described is horrific and overall creates a powerful reading experience that I cannot forget.
A Shadow in This Red Rock - a short sharp and jagged tale of a woman in a kitchen. It talsk of the past repeating itself, discusses domestic violence and its final scene is not shown but a reminder some monsters must be faced.
The Violet Hour by Vicky Lee - I really liked this strange tale of a magical being who trades favours in exchange for years of someone’s life and all done over a game of chess. Here we have one returning player who comes three times. It cleverly manages to be bleak and also a reminder love and kindness tend to win out
From The Wasteland is a really memorable anthology taking us into the past and future from small villages to the dark frontiers of space and for me the key message is that life doesn’t stop. In the face of war, disease or collapse humanity tries to hold on one day at a time. From tales of terror, hope and redemption there is something for everyone. Well worth a look!
