Before I start down I look one more time in the stream. I can see nothing swimming in it, no fish, no beetle.
As I walk, I wish there were still birds to sing to me.

Eleven stories about the end of the world as we know it. Although the overall theme of the book is ecological disaster, apocalypse comes in many forms, from invading aliens, water shortages, and garbage-covered oceans, to swarms of huge insects and far future earth that is about to be swallowed by the sun. "What Goes Around" is a more light-hearted story and brings a bit of light relief to the book.

The only story I disliked was "Summer's Humans", which was inspired by Nadine Gordimer's story "July's People". The characters were unpleasant and the aliens' constant hair-shedding made me shudder in disgust (although that was probably the point).

My favourite story was The History of Photography, which was subtle and lyrical and poignant. The author said that when this story appeared in a photography magazine, the readers sent in lots of irate letters complaining about inaccuracies, as the magazine hadn't made it clear that it was fiction. "Those Graves of Memory" and "Wasps at the Speed of Sound" make up my top three. ( )

A collection of 11 apocalypsi (apocalypses?) - I think the thing that impressed me the most was how very different all the apocalypsi were, apart from a common environmental theme. Well written stories, and I enjoyed reading all excepting one (What Goes Around, which I just didn't get). My favourite is probably The History of Photography, but Blue Train, The Abbey Engine, and Those Graves of Memory also made pretty good impressions. Day's Hunt didn't overly appeal - it was pretty gruesome in fact - but still well-written. I have the feeling if I met most of the protaganists in the street I'd possibly cross it to avoid them, but somehow despite that Derryl Murphy made me care about almost all of them, leaving only the viewpoint character in the final story (Laura, from Summer's Humans) and everyone in the aforementioned What Goes Around that I was happy to leave.

Bottom line: Skip the foreword, go straight into the stories. A lot of interesting apocalypsi await you. ( )

Wasps at the Speed of Sound
En bok av: Derryl Murphy
Utgitt av: Five Rivers Publishing (Neustadt, Ontario, Canada, 2013-11-23)
ISBN: 978-1-927400-44-9
(english review at the end)

I denne samlingen trekkes leseren kun sjeldent inn i hovedpersonenes dilemma.
I et håp om å finne saftig kritikk av dagens øko-samfunn og teknologiske nyvinninger grep jeg muligheten til å anmelde denne samlingen.
Jeg fant kun en med en kjerne av sannhet som mainstream litteratur ikke våger å legge fram.
Den minneverdige fortellingen "Island of the Moon" er en trist fortelling å fordøye.
Ut av denne samlingen på elve noveller av Derryl Murphy fant jeg kun tre som jeg likte:
Island of the Moon 5 av 5 stjerner * * * * *
The History of Photography 4 av 5 stjerner * * * *
Summer's Humans 3 av 5 stjerner * * *
Alle historiene har en kort introduksjon.

Jeg fikk muligheten til å anmelde "Wasps at the Speed of Sound" fra Five Rivers Publishing via LibraryThings "Early Reviewers" program i bytte mot en ærlig anmeldelse.
Jeg grep kjørlig muligheten og håpte å skrive en anmeldelse som satte mer pris på samlingen raskere. Etter å ha dradd meg gjennom denne middelmådige samlingen er jeg redd den ikke er noen av delene

2 av 5 stjerner * *

Samlingen inneholder
Fantasy and Science fiction noveller:
Lost Jenny 3 ½ av 5 stjerner * * * ½
Island of the Moon 5 av 5 stjerner * * * * *
Those Graves of Memory 2½ av 5 stjerner * * ½
Father Time 1 av 5 stjerner *
Day's Hunt 1 av 5 stjerner *
Wasps at the Speed of Sound 1 av 5 stjerner *
What Goes Around 1 ½ av 5 stjerner * ½
Blue Train 2 av 5 stjerner * *
The Abbey Engine 1 ½ av 5 stjerner * ½
The History of Photography 4 av 5 stjerner * * * *
Summer's Humans 3 av 5 stjerner * * *
.......................................................................
Lost Jenny
En novelle av: Derryl Murphy
Side 10 (39sider)
To personer møtes under kritiske omstendigheter. Stemningen er lett optimistisk i en desperat og uvirkelig situasjon.
3 ½ av 5 stjerner * * * ½
....................................................................
Island of the Moon
En novelle av: Derryl Murphy
Side 49 (57sider)
Døden til Archie som er nær forestående gir en gyllen mulighet til å dokumentere undergangen til en art av store dyr. Når han dør, da er den Gyldne Bambuslemuren utdødd.
Ulohtsa, turisten fra stjernene, benytter sjangsen til å se døden inntreffe på vår jord.
Han understreker han hvor sårbare vi er, som art, for miljøkollaps. Vi er sårbare på øyer såvell som i vårt lokalmiljø.

5 av 5 stjerner * * * * *
..............................................

Those Graves of Memory
En novelle av: Derryl Murphy
Side 106 (20sider)
En historie om tilhørlighet. Kjære venner, minner og lengser som tapes og gjenvinnes gjennom et evig langt livsløp.

3 av 5 stjerner * * *
..............................................

Father Time
En novelle av: Derryl Murphy
Side 126 (14sider)
Om en mann som møter faren som ligger for døden, og som hopper fram og tilbake i tid mens han blir yngre.
Jeg kunne ikke forstå meg på denne historien.

1 av 5 stjerner *
..............................................

Day's Hunt
En novelle av: Derryl Murphy
Side 140 (14sider)
En verden fylt med søppel.
Et jaktlag legger utpå for å jakte fantasidyr kalt hvaler som lever i et hav av søppel. Underveis spiser de ubehandlet søppel....

1 av 5 stjerner *
..............................................
Wasps at the Speed of Sound
En novelle av: Derryl Murphy
Side 154 (46sider)
Kul tittel, men premissene for historien er helt usammenhengende og uforstålige.
Jeg mistet interessen da jeg ikke så noen sammenheng i premissene og hendelsene. Til slutt kom jeg gjennom novellen.

1 av 5 stjerner *
..............................................
What Goes Around
En novelle av: Derryl Murphy
Side 200 (31sider)
En overlagt rotete fortelling.
Arnold lever et miserabelt liv. Noen hyller ham som messias og bringer ham in i en annen tid, eller virkelighet. Det er ikke lett a vite om det er det ene eller andre.

1 ½ av 5 stjerner * ½
..............................................
Blue Train
En novelle av: Derryl Murphy
Side 231(32sider)
Andy er ute i bushen og søker etter skjerp med vann.
Han og hans juniorpartner har funnet vann, men et mektig firma kommer og gjør krav på funnet. Etter litt lav-teknologi sabotasje er senen satt for et lite opprør.

2 av 5 stjerner * *
..............................................

The Abbey Engine
En novelle av: Derryl Murphy
Side 263(35sider)
Uten samhandling smuldrer samfunnet bort. Denne historien er godt et tegn på at den forståelsen mangler.
Trekkende på amerikansk frykt for terrorisme bruker denne historien en klassisk bitter amerikansk egoist i en rolle der han kan gjøre stor skade på samfunnet.
Jeg er redd denne historien stinker av amerikanske egoisme og frykt.

1 ½ av 5 stjerner * ½
..............................................
The History of Photography
En novelle av: Derryl Murphy
Side 298(29sider)
Et hyggelig stykke som reflekterer over bedre tider. Gammel teknologi utnytter ofte egenskaper utilgjengelige i dagens kommerse digitale verden.
I denne fortellingen får vi en oppsummering av fordelene til gammeldagse kameraer. Mens dagens digitale kameraer er veldig gode,så undertrykker de også den artistiske utfoldelsen og utviklingen til den jevne bruker.
Vi følger en gammel bruker oppsummere hans følelser for, og mulighetene med, gamle kameraer

4 av 5 stjerner * * * *
..............................................
Summer's Humans
En novelle av: Derryl Murphy
Side 327(51sider)
Gammeldagse holdninger under stjernene. Og det Første stykke med samarbeid i samlingen.
Vi følger en familie som tvinges til å flykte ved utbruddet av en revolusjon. Morens ubehjelplighet til å omstille seg og hennes forferdelse over familiemedlemmenes tilpasninger til det nye livet stilles til skue.

3 av 5 stjerner * * *
..............................................

--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Wasps at the Speed of Sound
A novel by: Derryl Murphy
Published by: Five Rivers Publishing (Neustadt, Ontario, Canada, 2013-11-23)
ISBN: 978-1-927400-44-9
In this collection the reader are seldom pulled into the protagonists dilemma.
In the hope of finding salient critique of todays eco-society and technological advances I grasped the opportunity to review this collection.
I found but one story that carried a core of worry that mainstream literature would not dare to bring forth.
The memorable piece "Island of the Moon" is a sad tale to ruminate upon.
Out of this collection of eleven short stories by Derryl Murphy I found only three that I liked:
Island of the Moon 5 out of 5 stars * * * * *
The History of Photography 4 out of 5 stars * * * *
Summer's Humans 3 out of 5 stars * * *
All the stories are beeing introduced in short terms.

I was granted the possibility to review "Wasps at the Speed of Sound" from Five Rivers Publishing through LibraryThings "Early Reviewers" program in exchange for a honest review. An opportunity I grasped hoping to write a more fully appreciating and prompt review. After muddeling through this mediocre collection, I am sorry to say it is neither.

2 out of 5 stars * *

The Collection Includes
Fantasy and soft Science Fiction short stories:
Lost Jenny 3 ½ out of 5 stars * * * ½
Island of the Moon 5 out of 5 stars * * * * *
Those Graves of Memory 2½ out of 5 stars * * ½
Father Time 1 out of 5 stars *
Day's Hunt 1 out of 5 stars *
Wasps at the Speed of Sound 1 out of 5 stars *
What Goes Around 1 ½ out of 5 stars * ½
Blue Train 2 out of 5 stars * *
The Abbey Engine 1 ½ out of 5 stars * ½
The History of Photography 4 out of 5 stars * * * *
Summer's Humans 3 out of 5 stars * * *
.......................................................................
Lost Jenny
A short story by: Derryl Murphy
Page 10 (39pages)
Two persons meet during critical circumstances. The mood is lightly optimistic in a desperate and unrealistic situation.
3 ½ out of 5 stars * * * ½
....................................................................
Island of the Moon
A short story by: Derryl Murphy
Page 49 (57pages)
The approaching death of Archie offers the opportunity to document the demise of a species of great animals. When he dies, the final extinction of the species of the Golden Bamboo Lemur will be fulfilled.
Ulohtsa, the turist from the stars, exploits the opportunity to witness death occur upon our earth.
He underlines how vulnerabel we, as a species, are if the enviroment collapses. We are vulnerabel on islands as well as in our local enviroment.

5 out of 5 stars * * * * *
..............................................

Those Graves of Memory
A short story by: Derryl Murphy
Page 106 (20pages)
A story of belonging. Dear frinds, memories and longings lost and regained through an eternally long tread of life.

3 out of 5 stars * * *
.......................................................................

Father Time
A short story by: Derryl Murphy
Page 126 (14pages)
A story of a man meeting his father who is on his deathbed, and jumping back and forth through time while he grows younger.
I never grasped the point of this story.

1 out of 5 stars *
.......................................................................

Day's Hunt
A short story by: Derryl Murphy
Page 140 (14pages)
The concept of a world filled with trash.
A hunting team sets out on a sea of trash to hunt great fantasy animals called whales. En route day eat untreated garbage....

1 out of 5 stars *
..............................................
Wasps at the Speed of Sound
A short story by: Derryl Murphy
Page 154 (46pages)
Nifty titel, but the premises of the story was incoherent and unfathomable.
I lost interest as i could not see any voherencebetween the premises and the events occuring. I managed to muddle through in the end.

1 out of 5 stars *
.......................................................................
What Goes Around
A short story by: Derryl Murphy
Page 200 (31pages)
A deliberatly jumbled story.
Arnold lives a sordid life. Some hail him as messaia and bring him into another time, or reality. It's hard to know which it is.

1 ½ out of 5 stars * ½
.......................................................................
Blue Train
A short story by: Derryl Murphy
Page 231 (32pages)
Andy are out in the bush prospecting for water.
He and his junior partner have found some, but a powerful company moves in and claims his find. After some low tech sabotage the scene is set for a small uprising

2 out of 5 stars * *
.......................................................................

The Abbey Engine
A short story by: Derryl Murphy
Page 263 (35pages)
With no cooperation society crumbles. This story is a fine example of the lack of this understanding.
Drawing on american fears of terrorism this peace puts a bitter egotistic man in position to wreak great havoc on society.
I'm afraid this short story reeks of american egotism and fears.

1 ½ out of 5 stars * ½
..............................................
The History of Photography
A short story by: Derryl Murphy
Page 298 (29pages)
A nice piece reflecting upon better days. Old technology often exploits properties not awailable in todays digital and mass produced world.
In this story we get a summary of the advantages of the old style cameras. While modern digital cameras are really good, they also suppress the artistic expression and developement of the average user.
We follow and old user as he sums up his feelings for, and the opportunities with, the old cameras

4 out of 5 stars * * * *
..............................................
Summer's Humans
A short story by: Derryl Murphy
Page 327 (51pages)
An anacronism of mindsets among the stars. And the first peace of cooperation in this collection.
We follow a family forced to flee an outbreak of rebellion. The mothers disability to adjust and her horror of her families adaptions to their new life are displayed for all to see.

3 out of 5 stars * * *
....................................................................... ( )

Wasps a the the Speed of Sound by Derryl Murphy

This is the newest edition of Wasps at the Speed of Sound, with 11 short science fiction stories (the original had 10). All of the stories have an environmental warning but this enhances the stories rather than detracts from them.

My favourite story was the Blue Train in which most of humanity that still exists after an extreme water shortage travels the world on a gigantic train in search of water and their subsequent freedom from this train by one man who dared to question the company's monopoly on the earths water.

Murphy constructs the world of each story so well, with little extraneous language as possible so the reader can create a vivid image of their own. Truly a pleasure to read for any science fiction fan and possibly for any environmentalist too.

I received this book from Library Thing Early Reviewers ( )

AN intrguiging collection of short stories all from the same author, and all loosely gathered around the same theme and topic - the environment, our interactions with it, and the future. They are generally distopian, and vary from the very depressing through to the might be slight bit of grey in the dark of the tunnel ahead. There's a forward by Peter Watss, which doens't really add very much, as he mostly talks about his own work, but at lerast he manages not to spoil any of the stories unlike most 'mainstream' author forewards I've read. The author commentary at the start of each story is only slightly less banal, but does occasionally add some insight into how the stories came to be.

As usual with a short story collection some are a bit more hit and miss than others. The title story appears about halfway through, and is about the equal of any of the others in the book. In an distopian future insects have evolved into larger meaner versions of those we hate already. Wasps now travel at supersonic speeds capable of denting sheet steel. But fortunetly the mathmaticians of the insect world - spiders - have developed interdimensional gateways in their now giant webs, allowing transfer to other less dispoiled earths. And not all insects are genetically disposed against humanity, if you can survive long enough to reach a web. Weird. But poignant. And well written. Like all the stories. They tend to fade away at the end without leaving a truly dramtic pause to finish them - something that is hard to achieve consistency on.

Enjoyable. I'm not quite sure that I'm up for reading this author in full novel length, but its' certainly a name to look out for. ( )