Map of Dreams: M. Rickert
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Map of Dreams is an anthology of science fiction short stories, most of which have previously appeared in The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction but also a few previously unpublished works, most notably the title story. The author relates her tales with a skilled hand and a fine vocabulary.
Synopsis:
Most of the works in this anthology are related, at least in a loose manner. The author has chosen to represent the stories that aren't a direct part of the main storyline as dreams experienced by the main character. Nearly every story is a modern retelling of an ancient myth from varying cultures.
My Take:
The anthology consists of 22 stories and poems:
- Map of Dreams: An interesting tale of love, loss and time travel that sets the stage for the books' remaining tales. More of a novella than a short story.
- Introduction: Annie Merchant: A short introduction by the main character, setting the theme.
- Dreams: Dreaming of the Sun: An adaptation of a legend from Australian Dreamtime myths
- Leda: An adaptation of the seduction of Leda by Zeus
- Cold Fires: An intricate threefold tale of pirates, strawberries, iconic paintings and love lost and made stronger, all wrapped in an icy package. Hailed by some at the time of its' initial publication as “the second coming of SF short stories”.
- Angel Face: Sometimes we can search so hard for miracles that we blind ourselves to the divine.
- Night Blossoms: A man experiences his teenage daughters dreams.
- Nightmares: Feeding the Beast: Um… clueless on this one. A poem about motherhood and stress?
- Bread and Bombs: Do Unto Others… interesting twist.
- Art is Not a Violent Subject: A grisly tale of a man determined to carve out the perfect girlfriend. Pygmalion and Galatea seem to be the basis for this one.
- Anyway: Would you sacrifice your own son to end war forever?
- A Very Little Madness Goes a Long Way: Angels and crows and somewhat confusing. I almost think this one has something to do with bird flu, but… I admit I didn't get this one.
- Walking: What I Saw, When I Looked: Very like Feeding the Beast… recognizing the monster in ourselves?
- The Girl Who Ate Butterflies: Sometimes what we see is just our own misconceptions at work – the truth is not what we make of it.
- Many Voices: A misunderstood woman continues her work in prison.
- More Beautiful Than You: A bully is haunted by a childhood victim.
- Peace on Suburbia: A modern day take on the Christmas Story.
- Rising: Flights: A reworking of the Australian Dreamtime myth of the Brolga.
- Moorina of the Seals: Selkies clash with seal hunters with disastrous results.
- The Harrowing: A sinister drifter recounts a tale of his youth to a young man.
- The Super Hero Saves the World: Sometimes being a superhero isn't all about the big things.
- The Chambered FruitA heart wrenching and disturbing rework of the Greek myth of Persephone.
The book deserves an R rating for sexual violence and explicit sexual description, gore and disturbing themes. If you are easily disturbed by violence, sexual situations or the death of children in your literature, I do not recommend this book to you.
This compilation of stories does not qualify as “light reading” in my opinion. It doesn't lend itself well to a quick read at lunch, or something to pick up now and again. If you want to get the most out of this book, read it all the way through, and give yourself some time to search for the underlying meanings behind the tales.
I'll be going against the general opinion of the SF community here, but I did not find Map of Dreams to be as enjoyable as I had hoped. The dark and weighty subject matter and the stylistic method in which the stories are presented did not suit my tastes well.
If you are a fan of M. Rickert, you will likely find this book to be just to your tastes – otherwise you may find it to be a bit heavier than you like. I know I did.
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Hardcover: 310 pages
Publisher: Golden Gryphon Press (October 1, 2006)
Language: English
ISBN: 1930846444
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