“Pico review” written for the SF fanzine OtherRealms (SF review zine by Chuq Von Rospach, Jan. 1991): This is the best anthology I've read in a long time, not a failure in the bunch, with lots of first time writers as well as familier names. Filking is one of my favorite parts of fandom. I don't compose but I sing along whenever possible and I have a collection of both purchased and recorded-myself-at-filksings tapes. There are filks on everything from Asimov to Zelazny, from Beauty and the Beast to Star Wars, but this must be the first time a book has been written because of a filk. Leslie Fish's "Carmen Miranda's Ghost is Haunting Space Station Three" is available on several recordings. It is funny and different and inspired this whole collection of short stories, some of which closely follow the details of the song, others using it only to set the scene. This includes everything from stories that exist only to set up a pun punch line to hard SF murder mystery. A number of the authors are filkers themselves. Only one story makes the ghost a horror figure (I won't spoil it by telling you which one). Usually she is the catalyst making the story happen but sometimes she just dances by in the background. The stories were very well selected, no two are the least bit similar though they all had the same song for a starting point. ( )

Space opera? Science fiction? Fantasies or delusions brought on by too much figgy pudding? Whatever the whim that prompted each of the authors' creations (the inspiration for the anthology's theme is described in an afterword -- and it's really worth reading, if you're not usually an afterword reader) it's immediately apparent that some people's imaginations work overtime, even on holidays.

Settle down for an afternoon of hysterically funny, thought-provoking, creepy, and just plain clever stories with only one thing in common: Carmen Miranda. Trust me, you'll be glad you did. ( )