Publisher – Westland Books

Published – Out now

Price – £14.99 paperback £3.52 Kindle eBook

ODD STORIES ABOUT THE NATURAL WORLD.

A cloud-herder gathers his flock as he prepares to retire. Meanwhile, the imminent retirement of its most talented singer is sending panic waves through the Weather Department. And a corvid inspector faced with a very tough case must also deal with a ruined reputation and morose associates.

Gigi Ganguly's speculative short stories are shot through with a deep love for the natural world, grave concern about the crises that envelop it today and a rare kindness even as she places the blame for it all on one species. At once fantastical and familiar, playful and disturbing, these stories root around in the world we think we know, dredging up truths that often evade our eyes.

I think my love of the fantastical is that t tests the imagination to look at life differently. Not just the tantalising nature of asking ‘what if?’ but playing with ideas bouncing off one another creating a unique situation and yet often revealing something about being human that an everyday 24/7 life doesn’t’ give us room for perspective. In Gigi Ganguly’s excellent short fiction collection Biopeculiar – Stories of An Uncertain World there is a  feast of tales to dazzle, make us gasp or wonder and yet all have their own logic making them feel real however strange a trip we go on.

In the collection I particularly enjoyed reading

Head In The Clouds - the opening tale really sets the books stall out with the surreal idea of the craft of cloud-herding. An old man who looks after a flock of clouds to bring rain to people. What touches on the idea of lost skills thanks to greedy corporations also had a truly surprising and emotionally impacting ending. What you soon learn about this collection - it’s very difficult to work out where the stories will end up!

Call For Kelp - as well as a beautiful title this tale tells of a scientist’s desperate attempt to save a rogue otter from a new weapon test. It’s another wild left turn but this is about more the idea of taking a lesson from the natural world and letting go of the stresses of life. That we move from drama to surrealism to calmness in a few pages is a delight to read.

Toothache - a grumpy old man is given a chicken biryani and gets toothache off a bone in it. This tale again mixes humour at our main character’s plight with some mystery of a shrine that allows people to wipe away their biggest mistake. We soon see our lead character has lost his relationship and daughter. The question is what will our guy do? The answer is a surprise!

A Year (Not Quite) Alone In An Alien Wilderness - the collection does have SF tales too and this story tells us of a brave adventurer sent out alone to seek new worlds. She crashes into one and has a year to spend. Here the power of humanity to save or destroy a world gets into question but it’s delivered subtly and is a charming tale.

Cocoon - four flawed friends go out into the jungle to the site of a fading silk farm. This tale is about people admitting life isn’t what they want it to be and actually starting to sink something about it - a rare find in many tales. Throws in some strange impacts from wildlife and again this story I don’t see going where it did but it weirdly feels very uplifting.

Losing - a powerful tale of a unique singer who alone has the power to make it rain. Ganguly in a few pages makes us see the impact of such a skill in the world and also the growing desperation the world has that her voice is starting to fade. You get invested in it and our lead character’s choices. Eloquent!

Polarspeak - an arctic tribe are guided by the language of the Northern Lights. This tale is a lot more than that but the reveal is genius. Go read it!

Corvid Inspector - the longest tale in the collection is of a murder in a community of birds. A brilliant weird mix of noir, animal fantasy and also character studies. Our Corvid Inspector is the standard rogue officer with a troubled life but this tale is more than pastiche - a great mystery; fascinating insights into the world around it and so much more going on as we visit key moments for the large cast. A hugely impressive tale!

Crown Shyness - a subtly disturbing horror story of a space traveller kindly rescued on a lovely planet. How such a planet stays lovely will stay with you for a while!

Moss - another subtly disturbing tale of a young couple and their cat discovering their lounge purchase of a wall of moss may instead be more sentient than you expect. It plays it well for laughs but then you feel just increasingly uneasy at what you hear is going on.

The Forest of Plenty - another fine horror story of a generational star ship and its beautiful garden than brings balance. Short but also very smart.

A Storm of Stings - a tale of treachery, murder, intrigue and yet it’s all set in a beehive. I loved the way you get so invested into this tale and it’s easily fits into any fantasy tale we may know of royal intrigue.

Barking Up the Wrong Tree - a tale of a genius who had a cunning yet incredibly daft security idea. We hear things from his teacher’s perceptive - very funny!

Hats and Other Coverings - two dolphins see humans wearing hats. They decide to copy and then then things get weird and surreal as various other creatures ask to play too. Delightful weird fun

There is so much more from weapons that turn people to insects, dragons in zoos and we go from the past to the future. This is a brilliant collection and I strongly recommend it o anyone who loves smart, inventive and beautifully strange fantasy that makes you look at the world we have differently.