Review copy provided by the author, who is an online pal and has the same agent as me.
This collection has all the stuff I like about Iona’s stories, and you should read it.
Oh, did you want more? Hmm, okay: the thing I love most about Iona’s stories is that heart and head are both fully engaged and connected to each other. This collection has fantasy and science fiction, comedy and pathos, it has different kinds and moods of each sub-genre all in nine stories. There is range here. The consistent thread is how human the concerns are and how well they are rooted in their speculative elements. Nobody is having a romance in a spaceship where the spaceship is incidental–it’s absolutely crucial to the romantic obstacle. Nobody’s relationship with their family is using portal fantasy as a backdrop, portal fantasy is illuminating the relationship with family and time. This is what short speculative fiction does best, and whether you’ve already read some of these or whether it’s all new to you, you have treats in store here. Highly recommended.