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Meh. Just a big meh. Would have been so much better without the afterwords to each story in which the authors congratulate themselves on being very interesting. ( )

I wish I could do half-stars on here, but I couldn't see my way to rounding up to give this one four. There were quite a few gems in this collection which absolutely fulfills its purpose of exploring the space between conventional genres. And it had me right up until about the last third of the book. I simply got lost out in the interstices by then. It's quite possibly more my failure than that of the collection, but still. ( )

What is interstitial fiction? This short story anthology does its best to find out. From the intro, which defines interstitial being between borders, but something that's not a hybrid, to each of the 19 stories crafted by some damn talented voices in fiction, I have to say, I learned a lot. Interstitial writing isn't just about genre, or only about genre. In some stories, interstitality had to do with place, or with character, or with a particular moment in life. This book is shelved in the SF/F section of the store, and indeed, some of the stories certainly have a magical realist flair, but if I had to classify this book as anything, it's literary fiction. It's not an anthology that's for everyone, but for anyone with a love of language and fine writing with an open and inquisitive imagination, I think you'll find this anthology worth your while. I know I sure did.

The full review, which contains a story-by-story reaction (and some reactions contain spoilers, others do not), may be found in my journal. Just click here: http://calico-reaction.livejournal.com/58068.html ( )

http://www.asif.dreamhosters.com/doku.php?id=interfictions ( )