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The New Weird edited by Ann and Jeff VanderMeer
01/05/2008 . Source: Tomas L. Martin 
Pub: Tachyon. 414 page enlarged paperback. Price: $14.95 (US). ISBN: 978-1-892391-55-1. Buy The New Weird in the USA - or Buy The New Weird in the UK  check out website: www.tachyonpublications.com
I fell in love with the idea of the 'New Weird' movement when I read China Mieville's books 'Perdido Street Station' and 'The Scar'. Within them was a wonderful mish-mash of interesting prose, industry, magic and science all rolled into a book far different from the normal fantasy.
Jeff and Ann VanderMeer have collected together examples of the influences on this movement as well as some of the key examples of 'New Weird' as well as a series of articles and columns asking whether it is a real sub-genre anyway.
There's some very interesting stories in here with a Steph Swainston excerpt from her fantastic third book 'The Modern Age' being a real highlight. I actually thought the section chosen where Jant escapes the GabbleRatchet was one of the weaker parts of the book but presented here on its own it really works.
There are typically excellent contributions from M. John Harrison and China Mieville. Harrison's devilishly weird fantasy was a key influence for many of these writers and it's appropriate the collection starts off with one of his stories, 'The Luck In The Head'.
Clive Barker's 'In The Cities, The Hills' is gruesomely mesmerising and Michael Moorcock's 'Crossing Into Cambodia' mixes fantasy and Science Fiction with the ease of a master. Simon D. Ing's 'The Braining of Mother Lamprey' is truly odd but captivating.
The examples of current writers are less strong than that of the influences but it's still very enjoyable. A couple of the stories, such as Thomas Ligotti and Leena Krohn's, delve too much into the literary side for my taste, with the downside of impenetrable prose with less focus on plot.
K.J. Bishop, Jeffrey Ford and Alastair Rennie all have dynamic, involving and exquisitely different stories, all with excellent world-building. A special mention goes towards Brian Evenson's 'Watson's Boy', which tells an odd tale of a boy searching an endless set of corridors, hanging the hundreds of keys he finds from his body, whilst his father taunts him. Brilliant in its complete oddness. The volume finishes in a round robin collaborative story by a number of authors that highlights the quirkiness and creativity of the sub-genre.
'The New Weird' is more about blending all the different styles of genre and literary writing to create something new, many of the articles at the end conclude. More than anything, these stories shine because of their attempts to subvert the normal paradigms of fantasy. The literary tricks are neat but I think it is the re-invention of the fantasy setting with the introduction of industry and modern thinking that will be the key thing the genre gains from the movement.
Many of the writers conclude the 'New Weird' isn't a set thing, and that its mutability and willingness to experiment is what makes it so interesting. I agree, as we see fantasy books like 'Thunderer' by Felix Gilman and the 'Books Of The Cataclysm' by Sean Williams use some of the elements of the movement with more traditional plot structure, we are truly seeing something that'll bring new life to a genre long stultified by an unwillingness to move from the tried and tested quest fantasy.
Tomas L. Martin
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