I really enjoyed all the stories in Regeneration (not counting my own
which I haven't re-read) and it is one of the most consistently
high-quality anthologies I've read in a long time. There's a diverse
range of speculative stories in the collection and there are some
original, thought-provoking ideas in there as well as new twists on more
classic concepts and creatures from the SF, fantasy and horror genres.
The theme of regeneration lends itself to stories that contemplate the
nature of life, death, birth and rebirth, the ravages of aging and the
consequences of not.
There's a nice balance between the past,
present, and future with stories such as Tim Jones' Rescuing the Airmen,
an alternate WWII story about transformative coming-of-age, forbidden
love and the war effort, and Dan Rabart's unsettling tale of horror set
in rural New Zealand, Mother's Milk. Near-future tales such as Grant
Stone's Coat, where regeneration is a drug ("Reg") and old age an
oddity, not only examine possible social consequences of such medical
advancement but the realities of dealing with loss and illness for the
individual. I.K. Paterson-Harkness' In a world full of birds is a
modern day story where the narrator Ben, speaking in his own defence,
reveals that he suffers from monthly regeneration where he sheds his
body. This story won first place in the Au Contraire competition and
it's brilliant. The characterisation and voice is pitch-perfect and the
story unfolds with spiralling tension and creepiness as Ben investigates
the truth behind his condition.
Characters you believe and come
to really care about are woven seamlessly together with a varied and
interesting range of SF elements. Relationships often lie at the core of
futuristic stories such as Elizabeth Gatens' brilliant Monocarpic
Colony Blues about a prisoner and her robotic PRINCE, and Grace Bridge's
clever Max's Black Box where people really can get a fresh start in
life.
There's a strong New Zealand flavour to the characters and
settings in many of the stories, which I loved. I really enjoyed how Lee
Murray's Cave Fever skilfully wove the culture, myth and voice of
Aotearoa into the lives of those in a colony deep below the Earthface.
I
thoroughly recommend Regeneration: a diverse range of speculative
stories with some striking ideas, strong characters, and a lot of
thematic depth as well as heart.
Regeneration is available for $9.95 ( ebook) and $24.95 (paperback and ebook) from Random Static or from Amazon.
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