Under the Moon by E M Faulds

I would like to thank the author and Ghost Moth Press for an advance copy of this collection in exchange for a fair and honest review

Publisher – Ghost Moth Press

Published – 12/4

Price - £4.99 ebook available via usual places but also via https://www.ghostmothpress.com/product/under-the-moon-collected-speculative-fiction-by-e-m-faulds-ebook/

Revenge. Resistance. Rebellion. Women who are ungovernable, girls who won’t stand by the status quo. Female protagonists who endure the unimaginable and come out stronger.

From deep space to the home hearth, from the far future to the mythical past. Dark magic, body horror, technology, these are women who go beyond. Complicated or straightforward, dark or light, they persist on their own terms.

Not always an easy read, but with a deep core of hope inside each tale, you will find this book has something to move you, be you woman, man, or another gender entirely.

In science fiction and fantasy, we can fall into the trap of thinking a female character to be centre stage needs to simply replicate the style of the heroes before. There is nothing wrong with a great kick-ass character but it can be delivered one note. The harder road is often to demonstrate the range of roles and issues that women face day to day. In E M Faulds very impressive short fiction collection Under The Moon we get a smart, surprising, and thoughtful set of feminist tales that make this a collection worthy of your attention.

Among the stories I enjoyed were

Blessed Street – Jessi works in an Alms House looking after those who became addicted to a certain type of magic. The world has little time for magic now and Jessi practising her ability to heal could bring down the authorities on her head. This story weaves three strands together very skilfully. Faulds paints this Gaslamp strange city with its unique history and political undercurrents; a young woman on the cusp of growing up and even dating with a very subtle message on how society looks down upon the addicted and judges them not worthy of help. Really refreshing to see such a social dimension in such a story.

Like Boughs of Gold – This near future story weaves legends and myths with a touch of magic. We meet Salma an Australian archaeologist who is sacrificing her time, family, and reputation to try and find the tomb of Cleopatra in Egypt. It has got a unique set-up that is not easy to predict. We get a smart look at an Egypt in the face of climate change having to adapt to drought and the impact on local archaeology; we get Salma’s backstory to show us how she strives in what is still judges as a man’s field to make her case but we also get a look a how Cleopatra a skilful and brilliant ruler of an empire is turned by history into just a sultry temptress and that legends survives everything. Salma’s obsession may not be a match for a wily Queen. A favourite in the way this tale all comes together in the end and even hints at long lost magic.

Goewin & Hydwn – Faulds moves into Welsh mythology from the Mabinogion and tells us the tale of Geowin sleected to be the chaste foot-maiden of the Math a powerful immortal who finds our world draining his immortality so needs to be held by Geowin. But Geowin tells us her tale of family intrigue, betrayal, and the impact of a terrible rape. Here the focus is how women in such myths are always treated as prizes and no on considers the impact on the victims. It is strange, mythic and full of weird imagery as people get transformed into other beings but the story creates its own reality giving the reader quite a lot to chew upon.

The Amelioration of Existence In Spite of Truth and Reconciliation – Another of my favourites is a science fiction tale with touch of the surreal and the poignant. We meet an electronic franchise store out in the middle of no where but learn its AI used to be a battleship. The tale of how it came here and how it feels about its situation is slowly teased out but its very much a story of moving on from war and possibly even finding a happy new life away from the battlefield. A story with a touch of hope that really works with all these concepts thrown at us.

One Murder Called – I think this is the best and most haunting tale in the collection. In this story’s world for every murder someone will be compelled by their ghost to find the killer. No special powers, no sudden clues but just a compulsion. Our narrator is called to the murder of a young woman in a remote field, and this sets off a train of thoughts about this could easily happen to any woman who is in the wrong place at any time. This story explores the multitude of micro-aggressions, blatant aggressions, and sexism that society throws up at women every day and leads to a world that is often not safe for women. Our narrator is tormented by the case and yet even justice can feel hollow. How Faulds makes all these elements flow to tell us the story of the victim, the called and the world we all live in is powerfully and sensitively delivered.

Isadora’s Kitchen – This tale of a cook who finds themselves threatened by a younger cook whose background strongly suggests magic is used is a delight to read. It explores jealously, intolerance and doesn’t go at all where I suspected. A delightful piece of heart-warming misdirection. I’ll leave you Dear Reader to enjoy how this is done but it left a smile on my face.

Contemplation – Two courtesans stand in a palace summoning the courage to act. In this tale it’s the focus on women who are not expected to change history and make sacrifices that gets explored and I really liked how in miniature form this epic tale is explained and its denouement set up powerfully and memorably.

Fruiting Bodies - A touch of unsettling body horror as a woman who finds each day getting harder to leave the house discovers that her flesh is growing mushrooms. The way depression and the feeling of inertia strikes our narrator makes this a powerfully disturbing story that leaves the fate open-ended and therefore even more frightening.

The Power of Negativity – Another favourite story explores how our world runs on outrage and hate. Here a simple bus ride is powered by the populations’ outrage at a thousand little things. An unsettling urge for kindness though may still run out. A surreal but intelligent look at how social media itself can be powered.

The First Ever Tapestry on Station 17 - an earth with an uncertain future thanks to environmental collapse has a plan for a new space station to save things and to aid the astronauts a woman weaves a tapestry. Less a tale of magic and more the importance of learning to be tied to the Earth in order to live life better. Very smartly weaving the story of the object and craft with the story of the weaver and it’s a really beautiful piece of storytelling as all becomes clear in the final paragraphs.

A very impressive short story collection with a huge range of versatility, scope and yet always finding a way of delivering its themes that make the reader think about what they’ve just been reading. I loved the emotional range and surprises these tales told and strongly recommend this to be picked up. An author to watch out for.