Playing Around on the Borders

Alex Dally MacFarlane talks about Interfictions and Text:UR, The New Book of Masks in the same review.

It made sense to me to review these two together, considering what they have in common: they both play around with the borders between genre fiction and mainstream fiction. Interfictions does it explicitly -- the purpose of the anthology is to examine the borders, to cross them and to blur them -- whereas Text:UR just does it anyway. That said, they are very different anthologies, a reflection of the difference in taste between the editors.

Of Interfictions, she "tended to enjoy most the stories that leaned closer to the fantastical."

"A Dirge for Prester John" by Catherynne M Valente, a fictional origin for the Letter of Prester John, was probably my favourite; "A Map of the Everywhere" by Matthew Cheney I liked for its strangeness and its touching love story, "What We Know About The Lost Families of ---House" by Christopher Barzak" I liked in particular for its collective and slightly creepy narrator, "A Drop of Raspberry" by Csilla Kleinheincz" attracted me because what's not to like about a love story between a lake and a person, "Black Feather" played excellently with fairytale bits and pieces and the idea of past lives.

She concludes: "The anthologies are both good... I will happily read Interfictions 2 and Text:UR 2 if they come into being."