My enjoyment of anthologies is heavily dependent upon how much of our tastes the editor(s) and I share. In this case, I found the anthology to be uneven and DNFed many stories.

The deBodard and Tidbeck reprints were wonderful. Tidbeck's story, especially, appealed to me for what it had to say about disability being less about the individual and more about the society they're in.

"Back to Where I Know You" by Victoria Zelvin is a sad story of love in a dystopian society.

[I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.]
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A very mixed bag of stories - some are great, some... not... it's really all over the place.

* A. Merc Rustad -The Sorcerer's Unattainable Gardens:
Not so much a fantasy story as a drawn-out metaphor for 'trying to get back into someone's heart,' with the sorcerer as the object of desire ensconced within a nigh-inaccessible garden. The idea is sappy and a bit trite; the writing amateurish.

** Carla Dash -A Puzzle by the Name of L:
Depressed after her fiance's death, a young woman is surprised to one day find Death himself at her door. She allows him in, but refuses to agree to his repeated suggestions that she off herself immediately. Gradually, the two settle into what begins to feel almost like a routine...
The ending here just didn't feel very satisfactory, and overall the piece reminded me of something that might've been written as a therapy exercise.

* Steve Simpson -Jacinta's Lovers:
This piece starts off with an interesting (if, I thought, flawed) premise: In the near future, we figure out how to make memories and knowledge inheritable. Parents can now pass on their skills and knowledge to their children. This leads to the collapse of civilization, because people can no longer be bothered to learn anything new. (I wasn't convinced how or why this would be the case.) After this sci-fi/post-apocalyptic setup, the author takes a hard left turn into an attempt at surrealism, and it ends up just feeling disjointed and nonsensical.

* Mel Paisley -A Concise Protocol for Efficient Deicide:
Holy run-on sentences and tortured grammar, batman! At least it was short.
There's an apocalypse, there's some kind of experimental procedure in a hospital... I don't really know what was going on here.

*** Charlie Jane Anders -Fairy Werewolf vs. Vampire Zombie:
It's funny! This one really felt like a breath of fresh air! Or rather, stale-beer scented air with a whiff of fairy dust and gunpowder. The owner of an underground bar tells the outrageous tale of how her watering hole acquired its mascot. It involves an exiled fairy princess (who's also a kickass pub singer) and an unusual love triangle. Felt a bit like a clever take-off on Terri Windling's 'Bordertown' series - I chuckled more than once.

** Terry Durbin -The Woman Who Sang:
In a harsh surveillance state where anything that is not purely utilitarian is 'discouraged,' a daring woman brings a man who catches her eye to a secret gathering where bright colors are worn, and ancient songs are sung. I loved the setting and the feel to this story, but it was oddly lacking in any attempt to give its characters believable motivations. At the end, we have no idea why either of the characters chose to do the things they did, and without that, their actions seem peculiar and unlikely.

*** Michal Wojcik -Iron Roses:
Steampunk tale of unrequited love. A young 'scrapper' learns to craft lovely (but impractical) iron roses to try to impress his colleague.

**** Michael Milne -Traveler:
Time travel can be a difficult and dangerous job. But the hardest part can be coming home for dinner, after months or years away, to a family who perceives that you just left for work that morning. This story perfectly captures the dissonance in such a relationship. Excellent story.

*** Holly Phillips -Virgin of the Sands:
Alternate WWII-era story: the Allied forces are losing ground in North Africa. Avoiding a crushing defeat may depend on the help of a necromantic witch. But the witch in question is also a vulnerable young woman. I enjoyed the story, and thought it was well-done - but I disagreed with its reinforcement of the myth regarding the mystique of virginity.

** Kyle Richardson -Catching On:
In this X-Men-influenced piece, a couple of registered mutants use their special power to go up against a huge corporation whose newest experimental device could cause the end of the world. The action-oriented part of the story was pretty good, but I felt like the ending lost focus.

*** Leah Brown -Metempsychotic:
Pregnant with her first child, a suburban housewife is haunted by the ghost of her high school boyfriend. The story rides a nice line between sweetness and creepiness, but felt slightly predictable.

*** Michelle Ann King -Possibly Nefarious Purposes:
Dayna and Amy are roommates who have something unusual in common: they're both afflicted with extraterrestrial 'friends' who have a disturbing habit of interfering in their lives. Amy, the older woman, has arrived at a 'solution'- she is reclusive, and attempts to make her life as boring as possible to avoid alien interest. Dayna still wants to go out and have fun, and is willing to cater to the aliens' 'suggestions.' Amy thinks that's a bad idea - but her reasons for thinking that will only be gradually revealed. Darkly humorous and original.

**** Jeff VanDerMeer -A Heart for Lucretia:
Weird fiction that works. Grotesque, bizarre, but coherent. Accompanied by a Flesh Dog, a young man goes on a quest to an enigmatic City to try to trade for a human heart. He needs the heart as a transplant to save his dying sister's life. But the inhabitants of this city are hard bargainers.

* Dan Micklethwaite -Your Moment of Zen:
First of all, it's "sake" not "saki." It's not even pronounced "saki."
When a breakup and a job loss hit a young man like a one-two punch, he decides to sign up for a time-travel vacation in ancient Japan. (However, the way the story's set up, it seems much more like a theme park experience than time travel - the whole time travel thing is unnecessary to the plot.) Samurai-style melee fighting with electric swords and fake blood doesn't work out, so he settles into being depressed, drinking incorrectly-spelled sake, and pathetically obsessing over the geisha next door. I finished this one with a big ol' "meh."

**** Victoria Zelvin -Back to Where I Know You:
Wealthy heiress falls in love with another woman - a research scientist who's nowhere near her social class. As they forge a secret relationship, the researcher divulges the secret she's discovered: the government regularly wipes out the memories of its citizens, selectively. But she's developed a way to distill select memories into a potion, which when drunk, allows them to be recaptured.
The premise doesn't bear close examination (too many 'whys' and 'hows' unanswered) but I was willing to forgive that due to the story's romantic and poignant atmosphere.

** JD Brink -Green-Eyed Monster:
If you're willing to let yourself be experimented on by a miniaturized colleague, better make sure that colleague doesn't bear you any ill will. This one didn't do it for me.

**** Aliette de Bodard -By Bargain and by Blood:
Would make a good opening chapter for a novel. After her sister's death, a woman has raised her niece as her own. After eight years, she's unprepared to have the girl's father suddenly appear, demanding that his daughter be turned over to his custody. She's even more unprepared for the fact that the father is a 'blood empath' (it's not fully explained what this is, but it's some sort of ominous and possibly malevolent wizard or priest). The dilemma is nicely drawn, the world and characters fascinating - but I wanted more of the story!

*** Matt Leivers -The Ghul (A Nasty Story):
It is, as advertised, nasty. When his obsession with another young man is not reciprocated in the slightest degree, a spoiled and decadent lord turns to a particularly unpleasant magic to allow him to slake his lust.

*** G. Scott Huggins -Past Perfect:
After years of estrangement, a man is summoned to visit his college girlfriend - and her husband, the man who 'stole' her from him. The husband's on his premature death bed - does he simply want one last chance to rub his 'victory' in the loser's face? Or is there some other reason? Why, for all these years, has the lovely Su put up with this jerk, who treats her in a truly offensive and disrespectful manner?

*** Shannon Phillips -Favor:
Forced to fight in an alien arena for the entertainment of sentient insects, Tess is the last surviving member of her crew. In today's combat, she fully expects to finally die. But the ways and motives of other species are obscure.

***** Hugh Howey -While (u>I) I--:
This story is also available free on Wattpad: https://www.wattpad.com/52488446-short-stories-by-hugh-howey-while-u-i-i
An android is engaged in a strange ritual, intentionally degrading and slowly destroying himself. Has he gone insane? Or is there some reason behind his actions? The answer, when revealed, is heartbreaking - and thought provoking.

*** David Stevens -The Boulevardier:
What happens when two monsters finally find each other? Unfortunately, we don't really get to find out, in this inconclusive story.
A shapeshifter has carefully crafted his camouflage, creating a 'normal' life and a safe, workable routine for himself. But what he encounters in an alley one night will jolt him out of it...

** Keith Frady -Stargazer:
A smugly self-absorbed psychic spends his time eavesdropping on others' private conversations and convincing himself he could order their lives far better than they can manage for themselves. The story focuses on him 'listening in' on a coffee-shop breakup. The story itself feels self-indulgent, not just the character.

** Jody Sollazzo -So Fast We're Slow:
Steampunk romance, where the romance comes out of nowhere. The setting is interesting: the main character is a wet nurse on a FTL ship. The idea is that young mothers can drop off their babies, who won't age while underway due to the time dilation effect. The women will pick up the kids when they're older and more ready to care for them.
This effect is mirrored, a bit, in the romantic relationship that's the main focus of the story. I felt like there were quite a few ideas with potential here, but they needed to be more clearly articulated.

*** Morgen Knight -Alice:
In a post-apocalyptic urban landscape, where water is fatally contaminated, a lone man is haunted by the ghost of his wife.

***** Karin Tidbeck -Sing:
Read previously: "Tidbeck is definitely an author to watch out for - she deserves recognition. I loved her collection, 'Jagannath,' and this is another deftly told tale. A tailor, disabled and shunned by her community, meets an off-world man who looks at her without the condemnation she is used to from her own people. She is attracted to the vision he offers her of a wider world. And he, in turn, appreciates her. But there is a secret that the people of her world do not speak of. The story captures real complexity of emotion." Available for free here: http://www.tor.com/2013/04/17/sing/ ( )