by Maureen McHugh (2005)
I’m on a bit of a Maureen McHugh kick, finding her one of the most compelling and innovative writers today. With Mothers and Other Monsters I continued to be awed.
The collection includes genre defying stories that are often truly brilliant: the off world saga The Cost to be Wise left me stunned and Interview: On Any Given Day which takes place in a future where the aging are reversing the process and partying with actual young people – which leads to unexpected complications.
She is a fresh, amazing voice in science fiction but, defying categorization, most of the other stories barely dabble in the genre, like Eight-Legged Story and Presence which take on the very real dramas of being a step parent and watching a loved one struggling with alzheimer’s.
The latter is particularly depressing, though no less brilliantly written. (I just needed a breather and a dose of something happy after finishing it.)
I look forward to reading her novel Nekropolis soon (and refrained from reading the short story that lead to it in this collection).
But what do you think?