Several Worlds - A Middleoak Anthology edited by Kate Macdonald

Published - Peachfield Press

Published - Out now

Price - £10.99 paperback £4.99 ebook

Several Worlds is an anthology of nineteen SFF stories from the Middleoak writing group, based in the UK.
David Allan
Kate Macdonald
Susan Oke
Sandra Unerman
AD Watts
These worlds are broad and hold multitudes: furry skins, a sea-going clan, an android executioner, ancient gods resisting change, a princess who cannot laugh, an interloper on an excavation, a cursed temple, the emptiness at the heart of a city, a dragon laying eggs, a train found in the desert, angels seeking revenge, a book that cannot be finished … and that’s not all. This collection brings together treasures published in the past and new work, and will take you on a journey from the nearly real to speculation and the fantastical.

Choose your world.

Anthologies can be so many things - based around a single author, a theme, a world or can be really designed to showcase multiple voices, the many variations a theme can create. They are the sweet shop penny mixes of books often filled with tasty treats but beware the liquorice (it’s evil!). In Several Worlds edited by Kate Macdonald the Middleoak writing group have provided a good mix of stories to entertain.

The first group of tales is entitled the Nearly Real - our world but something strange takes place.

In this I was impressed by ‘Good Times In Ocean City’ by AD Watts which feels initially like a game of capitalist businessmen playing with each other’s empires but I enjoyed as time passes that things seem stranger than that normally suggests. As well as characters feeling that the game is getting too old it has a beautiful surreal ending that really makes you ponder what has been going on.

I do enjoy being surprised and ‘The Mothers of Pequeno Lago’ by Kate MacDonald delivers this with a punch. A small village in modern day times is besieged by that regular but dangerous issue of mating dragons. Macdonald sets the world up so we know that all of this is considered strange but normal, adds tension in the form of two women pregnant and stuck in a town no one can reach and the resolution is tough, a little controversial and I sense will linger as to what options were had?

We move into folk horror with A Purifying Fire by AD Watts set in 1930s Siberia and a young communist official is about to find out that old tales and old religions should occasionally be heeded. Nicely set up, explains the period and politics subtly and the ending feels apt.

In ‘Meeting Magic’ by Kate Macdonald takes us to the modern day where we meet an archaeologist about to encounter a magical creature. I’ve read this before in the very good The Shetland Witch by MacDonald and it’s a treat.

I really enjoyed ‘Compulsive Reading’ by Sandra Unerman a young woman starts to read a fantasy book written by an ex-boyfriend. It seems to never end and takes over her life. She goes to confront the author and finds things are stranger than we thought. A tale of getting trapped in work or relationships that turn toxic and knowing when to move on.

Then we turn to tales of the Fantastical and in this group I was struck by

A tale of Greek gods battling one another in ‘The Fates In Achaea’ by Kate MacDonald in the tense battle and smart use of its own myth making which also fans of the Shetland Witch may recognise.

In ‘Spinning Gold’ by Kate MacDonald we also get a variation on a classic tale which I won’t spoil but here two sisters married into a royal family. I liked the variation on this tale as it kept us guessing how this ends.

Then a very interesting story awaits in ‘Curse’ by David Allan - we have a group of magical weilders pushed into a mystery that also features gods, wars and lands. It’s an interesting story on its own but I really liked how it feels part of a bigger story too but output feeling you need to read that too…yet.

I also really enjoyed ‘The Drinker of Tears’ a young princess grows up unable to laugh and in the search for a cure meets a monster that wants her tears. A story exploring the mix of the two emotional states and in how she escapes this threat neatly brings the story back to the start.

I absolutely loved ‘Songs of Salt’ by Susan Oke where we get a tale of people with telekinetic powers fleeing a hostile land going on a sea journey to escape. It’s a nautical fanatsy adventure but so much more in cultures, religion, growing up and a key theme of finding that place where you fit in. A gorgeous bit of storytelling told in diary entries by one of the escapees and the worldbuilding is subtle and enthralling.

‘With ‘Speculation I enjoyed the SF tales and in particular enjoyed ‘Second hand Skin’ by Susan Oke where it intimately creates a world that what you wear one day in 2025 suddenly becomes your skin. Our narrator was wearing a cheap wookie onesie! It has humour and then pathos as we see a world going very strange. Suits are in power as always but their ties now are like snakes, troubling ideas over gender and childbirth come up and it’s an intriguing set of ideas all coming from a single ‘what if?’. Really good!

A very interesting short anthology with a good mix of stories and authors. Something for everyone and well worth a look!