Review: Irresistible and observant realms of science fiction revealed in 19 stories – SF Chronicle Datebook

Even Greater Mistakes by Charlie Jane Anders. Photo: Tor / Getty Images / EyeEm

In the introduction to her latest book, San Francisco native Charlie Jane Anders explains that when she started her writing career, she swore shed never write a novel: My first allegiance, my deepest loyalty, was to short fiction the only species of confabulation that grants you total freedom to mess around, she writes.

After (thankfully) going back on her word and publishing a number of Nebula- and Hugo-winning novels and novelettes, including All the Birds in the Sky (2016) and The City in the Middle of the Night (2019), Anders first full-length collection of speculative short stories is finally here.Longtime fans and even newbies to the genre: Get ready for one zany ride.

The 19 stories in Even Greater Mistakes all previously published elsewhere, including a few that take place in realms explored in her novels are a panoply of virtuosic world-building, inventive approaches to unpacking relationship quandaries (the duo in Power Couple opt for cryonics) and full-on hilarious scene crafting. Also, be on the lookout for some artfully disguised (but decidedly pointed) political commentary thrown in for good measure.

My Breath Is a Rudder and Because Change Was the Ocean and We Lived by Her Mercy are both queer first-person stories set in alternate versions of a future San Francisco. Because Her Mercy tackles climate change, envisioning what might happen if the ocean-flooded city turned into an archipelago and a commune-like group of freaks, artists and other members of the Wrong-Headed crew returned, debating whether and how to rebuild.

A Temporary Embarrassment in Spacetime and Fairy Werewolf vs. Vampire Zombie both dabble in the delightfully silly, with the latter involving multiple bar brawls, a good old-fashioned karaoke throw-down between the two title characters, and a giant jar of pickled brains.

The most hard-hitting, perhaps because its the most personal, is the unsettling and devastating Dont Press Charges and I Wont Sue, in which a trans woman takes on an organization whose mission is returning healthy, well-adjusted individuals to society without any trace of dysphoria, dysmorphia, dystonia, or any other dys-words by thwarting its attempts to forcefully alter her identity. (Anders wrote it in the weeks leading up to the inauguration of our 45th president. Need I say more?)

Whatever mood youre going for, theres a story in Even Greater Mistakes to match it. What also makes the collection so infectious and, frankly, cool are the edifying intros that accompany each story. Much in the same vein as her recently released writing how-to/memoir mash-up Never Say You Cant Survive, these snippets provide valuable insight into Anders creative process and inspiration for each story, but they also highlight her screwball sense of humor and mad-scientist-style outlook on life.

In an interview for a prior book, Anders mused: Good science fiction allows us to see ourselves in a lot of different contexts, and it kind of allows us to kind of think beyond our narrow ideas of who we are as a species, as a people and become more accepting of different ways of being a human being.

Not every story in Even Greater Mistakes is a knockout. But as far as what each one accomplishes in its own way? I couldnt have put it better than she did.

Even Greater MistakesBy Charlie Jane Anders(Tor; 352 pages; $27.99)

Author event

Charlie Jane Anders, other authors at Writers With Drinks: In person. 7-9:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 13. Vaccination and masks required. $5-$20. Make-Out Room, 3225 22nd St., S.F. Eventbrite

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Review: Irresistible and observant realms of science fiction revealed in 19 stories - SF Chronicle Datebook