Nova Scotia Vol 2 edited by Neil Williamson and Andrew J Wilson

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

Publisher - Luna Press

Published - Out Now

Price - £16.99 paperback £4.99 Kindle ebook

NOVA SCOTIA Vol 2 celebrates the depth and breadth of Scotland's dazzling science fiction and fantasy landscape from its haunted islands to its transformed cities and everything in between.

Again blogging from Glasgow Worldcon and appropriately again another collection of Scottish Speculative Fiction awaits in the excellent Nova Scotia Volume 2: New Speculative Fiction From Scotland. This is a feast of great stories highlighting the talent of the country.

In this collection I enjoyed

Weak Gods of Mars by Ken Macleod - starting with a folk singer resurrected from a pest bog this is an excellent start with interesting ideas on bringing the dead to life mixed in with a bigger epic tale of AI, strange ghost memories, a ruined Earth and the power of music to make a stand.

When You Are the Hammer, Strike by Eliza Chan - a fascinating story of a tv host famed for her barbed interviews and how one guest brings her to to start accepting her other family talent - witchcraft. Beautiful character work and a great exploration of family pressures - the power of deciding who you are on your own turns is well explored.

Mhairi Aird by Lorraine Wilson - a haunting bittersweet tale where a mysterious woman returns to the town who tried to drown her. Wilson mixes theme of those persecuted for being witches with a trans character being given the chance to live the life they’ve wanted. A lot of story is packed skilfully into this tale and it works very very well to remind us the past is never as simple as we may have been taught when we were young.

Shoals by Morag Edward - a gorgeous lyrical tale of the dead of the sea rising from their watery graves. This it’s horror as it mixes themes of environmental destruction, loss of fishing communities and yet gives the reader a moment of hope and rebirth. Delicious to read.

New Town by David Goodman - almost a CSI police procedural when suddenly mysterious speculative elements arrive in a form of a shadowy special police force taking over cases. Our narrator is not impressed and then they find their world is a lot stranger than they knew. There is a clever mix of SF elements with a statement on the way the rich exploit the poor for their own benefit and perhaps revenge awaits….

Me, and Not Me by Jon Courtenay Grimwood - a very impressive murder mystery of the worlds oldest and richest man mixed with a fascinating alternate U.K. where Bonnie Prince Charlie won. It’s a tale of dynasties and murder and an ingenious crime for the reader to try and solve.

The Bruce and the Spider by Andrew J Wilson - 120 words and the payoff at the end will make you laugh out loud….Genius

Lise and Otto by Pippa Goldschmidt - a beautiful tale of two scientists in early twentieth century Germany. One a Jewish woman and the man who often gets the credit for all her work. It’s a tale of friendships, the sexism of science, the power of working together and the dark rise of Nazism. The characters are complex not always likeable and the ending is stunning.

The Colour of Their Eyes by Dilys Rose - a wonderfully dark tale of two women who volunteer to clean up a remote island. Their ideals are soon shattered by being alone and yet the torment they are about to get makes everything come together in unexpected ways. I loved the surprising directions this tale went and the character work that makes you dislike and then pull for the two to get through what is happening.

Brodie Ecossaise by Erie Young - a a very skilful tale of women, love and the importance of embroidery in the past with some lovely character work.

Grimaldo The Weeping by Ali Maloney - a scary little tale of a strange folk horror tale - never trust a clown!

Blood Lines by Russell Jones - a haunting tale of resurrection as a woman awakes in a new future after being crying-frozen for decades. We get things from her view and the culture smash is overpowering and knowing you alone may be the last unaignented human is devastatingly delivered with a huge sense of loneliness.

Junior by Lindz McLeod - a truly dark black mirror tale with a man increasingly attached to a young forever baby to help get over family grief. Watching our main character lose themselves in a strange never ending babyminding is strange and the way it wrecks their life is powerful horror.

Peter’s Thoughts by Grant Morrison - a strange walk through a writer whose body is being wracked by illness and yet the ideas keep on coming. Surreal and yet a reminder sometimes we can’t stop doing what we love.

Midnight Flit by Neil Williamson - a very short tale of magic and Glasgow and being kind.

Sugar Teeth by CL Hellisen - a brilliant tale of a woman ill and staring with parents fascinated with her neighbour, the story morphs with body horror, a strange recharging of the world and haunting imagery that echoes that Pandemic feeling but also is about accepting and embracing uncertain changes. A gorgeous read.

Dodos by Rhiannon A Grist - this is a fantastic tale people looking after extinct animals like Dodos should be heartwarming but then Grist makes us see the bigger agenda at work and it’s one of the darkest ideas I’ve ever read. Then just when all hope feels lost it returns. Brilliant storytelling

Under The Hagstone by Doug Johnstone - such an interesting setting of a future Edinburgh covered by a mysterious large alien object shaped like a hagstone. Two people living in the now evacuated Edinburgh so some scavenging and it opens up into a potential first contact tale and I so wanted to know what happens next. Lovely worldbuilding

The Donkey by TL Huchu - a wonderfully subtle bit of fantasy as our main character is an immigrant trying to enjoy his new life but forever aware of the needs of his community back home for him to find them. The mixing of the two communities is really well done and then a devastating ending to remind us our character cannot escape his fate.

Helpline zero by Ever Dundas - a real one page government letter is skilfully edited to become something very sinister.

Night Snow by Jane McKie - another tale of resurrection after death but a wonderfully poetic one exploring our character realising centuries have passed. Poetic, gorgeous and wonderfully sad. I loved this one.

The Retreat by Chris Kelso - a tale of an artist alone on a spaceship and yet also explores grief, the need to create and channel that emotion and how it perhaps provided the only respite possible. Wonderful imagery and a cracking tale.

fruits of Empire by James Kelman - a skilful short academic paper hides a horror story and commentary on colonialism

Glencoe by Carole Johnstone - another favourite is a magical dark fantasy tale combining the geography, myth, history of Glen or with an our loner character meeting two strangers. The story reveals itself slowly and skilfully with delicious horror and yet also escape and release. Loved this a lot.

Love, Scotland by EM Faulds - a wonderful tale mixing the ideals of what a new Scotland could be with the darker Conservative attitudes of anti-immigration and exploitation. We see alternate paths for refugees and for the reader to decide what should be the real outcome. Inventive, powerful and a great read. My favourite in the collection. Very thought provoking

To the Forest by Jeda Pearl a fascinating piece of SF imagines a future with sentient plantlife, love and a repressive world that needs a lot of changes. Poetical and heartwarming too.

This is a very skilful and hugely enjoyable collection with a vast array of talents to enjoy. I strongly recommend it!