This short story collection was one I had been looking forward to and I was so pleased when I got a free copy through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

These are all small glimpses into the lives of girls with a sprinkling of sci-fi or fantasy tossed into them. I loved how atmospheric they were and how they weren't meant to tell a full life's story. Instead, we get dropped into their lives and just as quickly get tossed back out and get to imagine how the story ends. Honestly, I really could't find fault with this collection. Ellen Klages writes stories that I find myself wishing I had come up with. She has a wild imagination and was able to pull me along with her.

Overall, I loved the way that they would draw me in and at the end leave me thinking about them long after I had moved on to another book. My favorite story was Singing on a Star. I loved the Alice in Wonderland feel of it and the creepy vibe that left me with goosebumps at the end.

I received this book as an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Finally I've found what I always hope a short story collection will be. Every story here is wonderful in its own way and it was far too hard to decide on a favorite. I did appreciate the inclusion of 'Woodsmoke', which was previously unpublished.

I stand by my opinion that the French Pearl story is my least favorite, and Klages includes in her notes that it is the only of her stories never to be reprinted, so I suppose I am not the lone opinion on that. Still does not detract from the rest of the stories, especially 'Hey Presto!' and 'The Education of a Witch' which is my favorite. Who doesn't love a little girl who'd rather be the witch than the helpless princess? 'Household Management' is also a fun ride as it takes some time to determine the surprise at the end.

An excellent collection from a talented writer.

What I enjoy most about Klages' work is the way it straddles the mundane and the fantastic. This is not speculative fiction for those who need swords for their fantasy and laser beams for their science fiction. It's the fantastic of the every day, and the futurism of the domestic. From best friends bidding farewell as one prepares to depart on a colony ship to another planet as if it's the end of high school in Amicae Aeternum to the much more interesting take on The Cold Equations that is Goodnight Moons, each story is a gem.

I've never read Ellen Klages before, not that I can remember, but the short stories collected here are so good! I'm surprised I haven't come across her before. The stories I liked best captured what it feels like to be a child. My favorite of these is the very first piece--"The Education of a Witch"--about a little girl who identifies with Maleficent more than Sleeping Beauty. I also enjoyed "Woodsmoke," about two girls at summer camp.

Overall, Klages stories are grounded in realism, with hints of the weird or strange. They're sweet and powerful and fun, and I'll be seeking out more of her work.

Oh, and she has my favorite addition to any short story collection--author notes at the end!

The Education of a Witch: A little girl watches Disney's Sleeping Beauty for the first time and falls in love with Maleficent. Who wouldn't? When her mom gives birth to a new baby sister, she comes to identify and rely on Maleficent even more. This is a great, realistic portrayal of a preschool child's perspective. That preschool teacher really needs to pick and chose her battles. 4.5/5

Amicae Aeternum: A girl tries to experience everything on her list of 'lasts,' as her family prepares to go to space. Liked this a lot. 4/5

Mrs. Zeno’s Paradox: 2 women meet for lunch, and try to split a brownie. Cute very short piece. 3/5

Singing on a Star: A little girl has her first slumber party, but the other girl has a secret: an elevator that leads into another dimension. Another cute story. She writes young children very well. 4/5

Hey, Presto: A magician's daughter wants to be a chemist, not a magician. Until she spends a summer with her father, and finds out how much science it takes to be a magician. Fun story. 4/5

Echoes of Aurora: A woman returns to her father's home after he's died, and remembers her childhood when he ran a carnival. But someone awaits her at her father's house. Good premise, but wanted to 'see' more (a little too much exposition). 3/5

Friday Night at St. Cecilia’s: A student at St. Cecilia's makes a bet with the janitor while playing backgammon, and then gets literally swept into various board games. Good premise. 3.5/5

Caligo Lane: A girl practices origami magic during WWII. I loved the premise, but it seemed the story didn't actually happen until the very end. Most of it was describing the magic. 3/5

Goodnight Moons: A woman who dreamed of going to Mars finally has her dream come true, only to discover she's pregnant once she's on the way. Again, excellent premise. This felt like an outline for a story versus a complete story, but I would LOVE to read this in a more fleshed out version! 3.5/5

Gone to the Library: A little girl goes into the forbidden woods behind her house, and discovers a secret garden and a mansion, where she makes a friend who has an unexpected connection to her family, and challenges her math skills. Great story. 4/5

Household Management: A Sherlock Holmes story. 3/5

Sponda the Suet Girl and the Secret of the French Pearl: 2 women trick a thief on the hunt for a pearl that will make him rich. 4/5

Woodsmoke: Peete loves going to summer camp, where she can actually be herself and no longer try to be the perfect girl her mom wants her to be. At this year's camp, she and a new girl Maggie become best friends. I really loved the characters in this one; it reminded me of my own best friend in 4th grade. <spoiler> I thought the ending was interesting and unexpected, though part of me wanted it to simply be about two girls just beginning to discover that they're lesbians. Though I am interested in how Maggie is going to cope with her sudden gender change. Wow. </spoiler> 4.5/5

The Scary Ham: After a father dies, his three adult daughters have to decide what to do with the ham that's been in the basement for decades. 2.5/5

Afterword: Why I Write Short Fiction: I love reading about a writer's process! 5/5

Thanks to Netgalley and Tachyon Publications for providing me a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Appeared on Goodreads and Amazon 5/26/2017]

[Brief thoughts posted on Book Riot on May 1st]

[Posted on personal blog 06/10/2017]

Wicked Wonders had many quirky reads, some that didn't end as I had hoped (wishing they had more story to them), others that made me think of life and everything around us, a few with life lesson moments. It had a variety of short stories that didn't disappoint and many that left me scratching my head.

The first story that was in this collection was a little creepy. I know many will say not really, it's just a story about a little girl who connects more with Maleficent instead of Sleeping Beauty and a little misunderstood, but I was left thinking... What is she going to do to her mom and others if she's not imagining the power that's coming out of her? She's this cute little thing who sees things in a flipped manner, but in her eyes things and people really are against her or what she chooses to have by her side. And I am left wanting more of it, to find out what becomes of her, and if anything is at is seems with her newfound ability.

Of course, after that first short story I had to keep reading and even when there were a few that I didn't really care for as much, how they were written just kept me attached and wanting more of those characters and different settings that filled these pages. Including that of a scary ham that a father had hanging in his basement for almost twenty years catching mold and scaring off possible suitors and many others. I was waiting for a creepy conclusion to it or something out of the ordinary, but all I got was a little bit of a misleading story, or maybe that's exactly the point.

Then there are those like the story of Jo and Aurora (or Rory as she likes to be called), that give the reader tons of feels. A story about a woman who returns back to her father's house (the penny arcade he owned) after he's gone and the end of the carnival is inevitable along with the tree she held many fond memories with. Here enters Rory who brings a smile to Jo's face, even when everything about this person is curious and bizarre. And it's way too short lived for the both of them, but a beautiful closing for a beautiful start.

Wicked Wonders had tons more stories like it and some not so gloomy, a few thoughtful ones, or like the story of Natto who went in search of a pearl that only brought him embarrassing moments and fears of dying (which yes many would say he deserved) just to turn around and really be about a whole different thing between the characters Sponda and Anna who are doing everything to hide a discovery that changes things in a big way. 

This novel was unique and full of fun short stories that held my attention all the way through. I was very surprised by it and didn't know how much I would come to enjoy the collection presented within its pages. I found this book while searching on NetGalley and was very happy that I was given the chance to review it because it was completely worth the read. 

***I received this copy from Tachyon Publications via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.***

One of the reasons I enjoy short story collections is that I find they make for wonderful introductions to new authors. Wicked Wonders was my first experience with Ellen Klages's writing, but the range of the stories in this collection—their similarities, differences, quirks, and fascinations—paint a compelling portrait of her as an author. I now feel that as a reader I know and trust Klages, and I can't wait to read more of her work.

Many but not all of these stories are speculative in some way, and I found several to be open to interpretation in that regard. All have female protagonists (with the exception of one story with both male and female perspectives), several of them children, and several of them queer. Many have vintage settings, but even those set in the future feel tinged with nostalgia. Where there is magic, it is frequently the magic of childhood, of the ways we can fuzzily remember once believing the impossible could manifest in our daily lives. Most of the stories hinge not on action or suspense, but on setting and atmosphere. They evoke a mood, and itch to be read aloud.

My personal favorites of the bunch were "The Education of a Witch," "Hey, Presto!," "Caligo Lane," and "The Scary Ham," but there were none that I actively disliked.


The Education of a Witch- In which a young girl sees Disney's Sleeping Beauty and, to the dismay of her parents, thinks Maleficent is just the best. When her baby sister Rosie is born, she feels that Maleficent is the only one who truly understands. This story put a wicked little smile on my face.

Amicae Aeternum- The first of the two sci-fi stories in the collection, it's a purely personal childhood story within the context of a generation ship's departure.

Mrs. Zeno's Paradox- Delightful and perplexingly odd. Two ladies meet at a café and prolong the social outing by dividing a brownie into increasingly minuscule halves as the laws of the universe go haywire around them.

Singing on a Star- A portal fantasy. Strange in a good way, but I've a suspicion I may have missed something of the point.

Hey, Presto!- One that spoke to me on a personal level. A scientifically-minded teenager must spend a summer with her estranged father, a famous stage magician, and learns that her world and her father's aren't as different as she had believed.

Echoes of Aurora- A bittersweet, magical love story about a woman returning to the home of her childhood to clear out her father's belongings, and someone she finds there waiting for her.

Friday Night at St. Cecilia's- A girl at a boarding school tumbles into a series of board games that she must work her way through in order to defeat the Queen of the Faeries. It reminded me of the way Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass use cards and chess, though I don't know if the reference is intentional.

Caligo Lane- A woman works cartographical magic in San Francisco during WWII. Stunningly good, and can also be found for free reading online.

Goodnight Moons- The second sci-fi story. Like the first, it's personal and melancholy, following an astronaut to Mars and the consequences of her unexpected pregnancy.

Gone to the Library- A girl makes a secret friend, learns some things about mathematics, and comes to believe she can use them to cast magic and protect her friend.

Household Management- I hesitate to say much since it's so short, and the joy is figuring it out. Let's just say a landlady has some secrets.

Sponda the Suet Girl and the Secret of the French Pearl- Something of a high fantasy premise. Two women play and increasingly elaborate series of pranks on a would-be thief.

Woodsmoke- A girl makes a special friend during a long summer away at camp. It has a lot to do with coming of age, gender identity, and the freedom to not conform to expectations.

The Scary Ham- Apparently this one is pure memoir, which just goes to show that sometimes life can indeed be stranger than fiction. It's hilarious and bizarre, the perfect way to wrap up the book.


One regret I have is that I didn't realize that there were author's notes for all of the stories at the end, and I wish I had read the note for each story as I went, instead of all at once. They're a fascinating glimpse into Klages's process and eclectic sources of inspiration.

I generally do not read short story collections. I would much rather go for the slow burn of a novel but I insist on trying out new authors and their short story collections. Wicked Wonders started out very promising. I loved the first story of the little girl who chooses Maleficent over Sleeping Beauty! Unfortunately, the rest were less intriguing. While I loved how all the stories focused on female characters who buck the stereotypes for women and girls, the other aspects of the stories were less interesting. I do think that this collection offers a lot for those who like short stories, I unfortunately am not one.

I’ll admit right at the top that I’m a tough get in terms of an audience for short stories. Generally I prefer the immersive quality and depth of characterization of a novel, and it’s rare that a short story collection provides me anywhere near the same level of enjoyment and engagement. Knowing that going in, however, I’m thrilled when three-quarters of a collection works, happy when half does, and can live with an overall weak collection with some gems in it. Unfortunately, Wicked Wonders, a collection of just over a dozen stories didn’t really hit any of those bars. While none of the stories were bad, none of them sparkled for me either, leaving me mostly just underwhelmed.

In general terms, most of the stories felt quite flat to me in terms of style and tone, few evoked an emotional response, and several I felt were either telling me too much or were a little derivative. I’ll note a few more detailed thoughts on selected stories in order of preference, but overall it’s a book I wouldn’t recommend.

“Singing on a Star”: 3.5 This was my favorite piece in terms of tone and atmosphere. It follows a five-year-old girl whose first sleepover experience at a friend’s house ends up with a portal-story visit to a city and a meeting with an odd gatekeeper figure. It’s a nicely creepy and disturbing tale, and the POV and elliptical descriptions and dialogue are mostly effective.

“Caligo Lane” 3.5 This was a tough rating, because I loved the core premise of this story, which involved a kind of map-making-slash-origami-portal magic concept, but the story felt either too long (for its payoff) or too short (for its ambition).

“Mrs. Zeno’s Paradox” 3.0 A cute little story with a fun premise. Comes in at just about the right length for a slight tale.

“Woodsmoke” 3.0 This straight fiction story about a summer camp relationship had its moments, and a somewhat strong close, but felt way too long and too flat too often.

“Hey Presto”: 3.0 This story, about a young girl reconnecting with her mostly-absent magician father was fun but again felt a bit flat and was too neatly wrapped up.

The rest of the stories would rate mostly a 2.5. As I note above, it wasn’t that they were particularly bad or poorly written, just that they didn’t anything for me in terms of language, style, character, ideas, or premise. Some felt like they had more potential than others, but in each I ended feeling like I needed more in at least one of those areas, either a more startlingly original concept, or more vibrant and stimulating language use or more of an emotional kick.

What Worked
Ray Bradbury is one of my favorite writers. I especially love his tales of childhood: adventures on bicycles to dark carnivals in the midst of summer thunderstorms. Great stuff, but it occurred to me sometime in my 30s that all of Bradbury’s protagonists were boys. Makes sense since that’s his experience of the world, but I kind of wished that there were some of those kinds of stories with girl protagonists. Because, why not?

Enter Ellen Klages and Wicked Wonders:

"She intends to be a good girl, but shrubs and sheds and unlocked cupboards beckon."

Yep, Klages hooked me right there with that line.

The stories range across the spectrum of speculative fiction. “Singing on a Star” and “Friday Night at St. Cecilia’s” are strongly fantastical and “Goodnight Moons” a straight-up sci-fi tale. On the other end, “The Education of a Witch” is only fantasy tinged and “Amicae Aeternum” is more of a bitter-sweet best-friends(who are girls!)-on-bikes story than space opera. There are even a couple of stories with no fantastic elements what-so-ever, including my favorite “Hey, Presto!” Had I known there was going to be a well-done historical fiction story with magicians I would have never hesitated to request this book!

What Didn’t Work
I am really picky about science fiction. For me, the most science fictiony story of Wicked Wonders, “Goodnight Moons,” was also the least successful. Happily, for me, science fiction is in the minority on this anthology.

Overall
I’m fairly sure that I haven’t read any Ellen Klages in the past. Coincidentally, I had also almost requested her latest novel Passing Strange from NetGalley too, but had decided against it as well on the grounds that my TBR pile was too high. After reading Wicked Wonders…well, that TBR stack is just going to have to get stratospheric. Ms. Klages, you have a new fan.

I love short story collection! There is something about the art of writing a short story that still fascinates me. A short story author has to try and cram as much emotion, character development, world building and plot into a few pages as others authors do into a novel of hundreds of pages. I have read a lot of brilliant short stories, but I always love discovering new short story authors. So I was very excited to see Wicked Wonders pop up, with its enticing blurb promising some amazing stories. Thanks to Tachyon Publications and Netgalley for providing me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

One of my favourite literary genres is Magical Realism. When done well, Magical Realism describes ordinary life through those magical moments in which wonders happen. Although, according to Goodreads, Wicked Wonders doesn't qualify as Magic Realism, it has all the hallmarks of it. Each of Klages' stories is a snapshot of an ordinary-seeming life in which one day is only followed by another day and nothing else. And yet each of these lives is infused with something strange, magical, absurd and extraordinary that makes every story fascinating. There are twists and turns which are either unexpected or so well played they seem natural. In a way the stories in Wicked Wonders also feel like an elegy to America the way it was, with its quiet towns, forgotten corners and dreams of elsewhere. It gives the stories a nostalgic feel, yet without becoming too mourning. The reason the stories don't become a downer is because each has a subversive twist, something that makes you reconsider not just the story but also how you see the world. Why wouldn't you look at Maleficent as the hero of Sleeping Beauty? Why not set all your future hopes upon the Red Planet?

Perhaps it's a quote from Wicked Wonders itself that best describes the effects of this collection:
'Joy in a minor key.'
All the stories in Klages' brilliant collection have an understated charm. They start of so calmly and quietly, perfectly normal and straightforward except for those few notes that are both discordant and yet elevate the story. And then something wonderful happens on the pages of each story, and I think t is best described as joy. Even when a story moves you to tears, there is still an element of jubilation to it for the beautiful writing and the heartfelt emotions in each tale. The women and girls in Wicked Wonders are as the title prescribes: wonderful and wicked. They are normal, and yet not. They live in our world and yet they are a little removed from it. They are young and old, innocent and wise, trusting and heartbroken, excited and sad, and everything in between. Although it is not a collection "for women" perse, there is something brilliant about all these stories exploring such different parts of female life, even if it is the absurd or the magical.

I had never read a book or story by Ellen Klages before but I will definitely be looking into buying her other work now. Klages' writing feels understated yet really isn't. There are no over the top flourishes meant to overwhelm the reader, yet there are quiet gut punches here and there which work even more effectively. Her characters, most of them young girls, feel age appropriate without becoming boring or caricatures. There are some home truths hidden throughout the stories, about friendship, about love, kindness, loss and more which always feel honest. I don't know what it's like for other people, but I usually need the first three stories or so before I can get into the feel of a short story collection. With Wicked Wonders however I settled into the feel of the collection very quickly, from the first story called 'The Education of a Witch' really. The second story 'Amicae Aeternum', about a friendship surviving intergalactic travel, settled it for me. Each story only added to the sense of wonder that Klages created both with her writing and the themes in her story.

I really enjoyed reading Wicked Wonders. Every single story is filled with some wonder and some wickedness, but mainly with a lot of humanity and beautiful writing. I'd recommend this to everyone who likes short stories and is loving for a little bit of magic in their life!

Review posted in my blog under the title "The One with Maleficent and the baby from Mars"

Wicked Wonders by Ellen Klages is a very highly recommended collection of fourteen short stories. I enjoyed almost all of the stories in this collection immensely, with just a couple I was slightly less enthusiastic about. Those are pretty impressive odds. The stories consist of a mix of science fiction, fantasy, humor, coming-of-age, magic, and real life. All the stories except for one, Woodsmoke, have been previously published.

Contents:
Introduction by Karen Joy Fowler: "There is something powerfully strange and strangely powerful, but it is off to the side or coming up behind you. You’ll sense it in the small, particular details at which Ellen excels..." "The only thing you can depend on is magic. However sober and quotidian the world, Ellen always brings the magic."
The Education of a Witch: Young Lizzy loves Maleficent the witch from Sleeping Beauty while dealing with changes in her life.
Amicae Aeternum: Before she and her parents board The Goddard, a generation ship, Corrine Garcia-Kelly is saying good-bye to everything she will miss on Earth.
Mrs. Zeno’s Paradox: Annabel meets Midge for a treat, which they split, repeatedly.
Singing on a Star: Becka has her first sleep over at her friend Jamie's house where a song opens an elevator to a different world where she meets a man named Hollis.
Hey, Presto!: Polly is working with her father, the magician Vardo!, for the summer.
Echoes of Aurora: Jo Norwood returns to her hometown to settle her father's estate after being gone 35 years and meets Aurora.
Friday Night at St. Cecilia’s: Rachel Sweeney was supposed to be playing backgammon with her friend Addie, but instead gets caught up in the grip of a fairy queen and is trapped inside several board games.
Caligo Lane: Located in San Francisco, Caligo Lane might be an illusion. Difficult to reach, or find again, it is here that Franny, a cartographer, lives and combines mapmaking and origami.
Goodnight Moons: Zoe is part of the first team of six astronauts to go to Mars. She discovers she is pregnant after they have already started their voyage.
Gone to the Library: Izzy, an eight year-old girl who loves math, meets her neighbor, Bibber, who needs her help.
Household Management: We get a glimpse into the life of Sherlock Holmes landlady.
Sponda the Suet Girl and the Secret of the French Pearl: A thief buys a map that he believes will lead him to a wizard who owns a pearl of great value.
Woodsmoke: "Every childhood summer is special. School is out and freedom beckons. Then comes a magic summer.... For Patricia Ann Maas that summer was 1963..." Patty spends her fifth summer at camp Wokanda, where she can be herself and is known by the nickname Peete.
The Scary Ham: A true story. Klages father was given a full-sized ham which he hung in his basement for twenty years, in the room with the litter box. This story and pictures can be found on the Tor website. http://www.tor.com/2014/05/22/the-scary-ham/
Afterword: Why I Write Short Fiction
10 Facts About Ellen Klages
Story Notes About the Author

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Tachyon.
http://www.shetreadssoftly.com/2017/05/wicked-wonders.html
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2007740925

I hadn't read any of Klages' work until getting my hands on Passing Strange last year (silly David) so was very pleased to be able to catch up (not least because in two of the stories we meet characters from that book). It is great that the book lived up to expectations in every way.

These are serious, funny, tough, tender and varied stories. Above all, they have heart and offer hope. In many, women or - especially - girls - struggle with constraints, actual or impending loss or change, and things aren't made easier by the strictures of society: a woman accidentally falling pregnant is placed in an impossible position by her partner. A girl is misunderstood by her mother, forced into a mould that doesn't fit her. Another girl is about to lose everything. In all these stories there is, though, hope: the comfort of a good friend, a chink of light or a realisation of power and potential.

Friendship is at the centre of many of the stories: new friendships, old friendships renewed after decades, unlikely friendships suddenly tested, as in the longest and most intense of the stories, Woodsmoke, an account of two girls spending a summer at camp. Apart from the dawning relationship between then - they don't start off friends, Peete is pretty resentful to begin with - this story is shot through with a kind of childhood luminosity. This is NOT a sentimental story - it has great clarity and honesty, but it shows the glory of enjoying life, of enjoying the moment and - I hope - promises a future of support and solidarity.

The experiences here are common ones: clearing a house after the death of a parent (touched on a couple of times, including in a piece of non-fiction, The Scary Ham), the coming of a new sibling, two women meeting for coffee and cake, a mother putting her child down for the night. But the everyday is made strange - passing strange, perhaps: those two women (in Mrs Zeno's Paradox) meet across time and space in a variety of cafes as they halve their cake and halve it again, the child is being nursed on Mars, the schoolgirl settling down to play boardgames on a Friday night at her boarding school ends up an Alice in Wonderland style adventure - and in San Franscisco, a sorceress can fold space through origami.

Not all the stories are actually fantasy or science fiction: Woodsmoke, for example, is entirely naturalistic (although infused with a sense of the magical) and Sponda the Suet Girl and the Secret of the French Pearl while fantastical in setting (a thief, an inn, a quest for treasure) actually contains nothing not rooted in real science (Household Management is similar, though rooted in a different kind of fiction). Many of course are, and in some it's a twist of magic that provides that little glimmer of hope from the future.

As well as the stories themselves, the book contains a shrewd (I think!) introduction form Karen Joy Fowler and a piece by Klages herself describing her approach to writing and the genesis of some of the stories. Both provide useful insights but in the end the stories stand alone in their wit, courage, fellowship and above all, humanity.

This is a collection of stories that I felt better for having read. Strongly recommended.

Thank You to Tachyon Publications for providing me with an advance copy of Ellen Klages' short story collection, Wicked Wonders, in exchange for an honest review.

PLOT- In her short story collection, Wicked Wonders, Ellen Klages explores a variety of themes; such as pregnancy in space, teenagers caught in a parallel world of classic board games, and what to do with a twenty-year old ham that has been aging in the basement of your childhood home. Wicked Wonders contains stories in several genres, including high fantasy, science-fiction, and literary fiction. Klages writes stories that are hilarious, heartbreaking, and unforgettable.

LIKE- Wicked Wonders is my first experience with Klages' writing. Although I now realize that she is well-known and award-winning, I had not heard of her prior to this collection. I have added all of her books to my wishlist = must read more now! Wicked Wonders is marvelous. Klages has a unique world-view and her stories are both fresh and surprising. While reading this collection, I felt a range of emotions, from laughing to crying and everything in-between. 

I loved that Klages included background info on all of her stories, explaining her inspiration for each. As a fellow writer, I felt relieved to find a kindred spirit in Klages with regard to how she becomes fixated on certain things, especially during research, and that her writing process is a little scattered. She's an amazing writer and hearing about her process gives me hope!

The entire collection is strong, but here are a few of my favorite stories.

The Scary Ham - I didn't realize this was non-fiction as I was reading it, but Klages confirms that this story was autobiographical, about her cleaning out her childhood home after her parents died. In the basement, her father has kept an expensive ham that he has been curing for two decades. Klages and her sister decide to throw a funeral for the ham. It's hilarious. Having dealt with more than my fair share of family death and cleaning out homes, I can relate. I've never found a ham, but there are weird secrets lurking when you start emptying a house, and if you don't laugh about it, you'd probably cry.

Echoes of Aurora- Jo returns to her childhood home after her father dies and meets a mysterious woman, who moves in with her. This story is beautiful and unexpected. I loved the story world, with Jo's family having owned an arcade in a lakeside tourist town. The arcade has not been maintained over the years and it's filled is unusual vintage machines. This mysterious story is a constant battle between decay and life.

Friday Night at St. Cecilia's - Rachel is grounded on a Friday night at her Catholic boarding school and her evening is rather dull, until the new housekeeper, Mrs. Llewelyn, invites her to play a game. I loved the creativity in this story, with Rachel finding herself lost in a board game world. Clue is my all-time favorite board game, so I got a kick out of being included. This story is funny and sinister. 

Goodnight Moons- Zoe has dreamed of space travel, and after years of hard work and good fortune, she has been picked to go on a colonization mission to Mars. It's suppose to be short-term; years, not a lifetime. However, while Zoe is in space, she learns that she is pregnant and that changes everything. It's hard to choose, but this may be my very favorite in Wicked Wonders. It stuck with me. It made me feel uncomfortable. The part that is troublesome is the reactions that Zoe receives regarding her pregnancy and the shift in her life. Baby aside, other choices now cease to be her own. Her wishes and dreams cease to matter. It's terrifying. 

DISLIKE- Nothing. Klages is such a gifted writer, I can't wait to read more of her stories.

RECOMMEND- Yes, yes, yes!!!! Klages is the best "new-to-me" author discovery that I've made in a long time. I have a serious crush on her writing style. I enjoyed the diversity of the stories included in Wicked Wonders. I don't often read fantasy or science-fiction, so it was great to step out of my reading comfort zone.

I don't read a whole lot of short stories, but the stories in this book seemed so promising that I figured I'd give it a go. And there were some wonderful little stories in here. I didn't love them all, in fact there were some I had to push through. But overall, I had a really good time reading these magical stories.

Ellen Klages certainly has a gift with words. Her writing is descriptive, but not overly so, and full of rich language. One of the things I really appreciated about this book was that it didn't feel like Klages was trying too hard to sound intelligent and eloquent, which is a common issue among writers. But this was so well written!

I enjoyed most of the stories, although I think one of my favorites was Sounds the Suet Girl and the French Pearl. It was so delightful and entertaining. I loved the fairytale feel.

This was a quick, enjoyable read. I would recommend this book to anyone who is interés in reading short stories and enjoys fantasy/sci-fi. I'm glad I took a chance on this.

Thank you to NetGalley and Tachyon Publishing for providing a copy of this in excufor an honest review!

A beautifully eclectic collection of short stories that will amaze, confound and leave you wanting to know more. The wonderful thing about this collection is that you will absolutely fall in love with at least one of the stories, they are all so completely diverse that everyone can enjoy different ones.
Personally The Education of a Witch and Sponda the Suet Girl and the Secret of the French Pearl were my favourites.
I'm really excited about this book and have added it to the ordering system at work because I need to own a copy.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Ellen Klages is one of those authors whose name sounds vaguely familiar but I'm not entirely sure if I've ever read anything by her before. But this was really lovely and I'm definitely going to search out some more of her work.

Several of these had that mid-century, small town America vibe that felt a little reminiscent of Ray Bradbury at times - but with more strong female roles and less ickyness.

My hands down favorite is "Goodnight Moons" - the story of a long term expedition to Mars, with a little surprise on board.
[
You want to cheer because there's now a first Martian, and on the surface, the new mother reading "Goodnight Moon" to her baby feels so sentimental. But it's also so melancholy at the same time.

That baby will never meet her father. She'll never be able to go outside and play. She'll only experience the foods available in hydroponics or freeze dried versions shipped from earth. She'll probably be a teen or older before she has a companion her own age and will never be able to talk to another child without a huge lag time.

She'll never have the full range of career options open to her - she'll only be able to do things possible in the Martian environment. What if she doesn't want to be a scientist? What if she takes a fancy to art? Or dance?

What will happen to her if the colony proves to be economically or technically nonviable? What if there's a meteor strike? A mechanical fault with no spare parts? A medical emergency? If the next ship is delayed?

Her life is terrifying - there's so many possibilities, but also so many drawbacks and lurking dangers.


And her mother is now trapped there with her. Whether she wanted it or not, she's there for the duration. Months and months of no company other than a newborn baby, and who knows what will happen after the next ship arrives.

Is she ever going to see her husband again? Would she be willing to leave her daughter behind to return to Earth? After how long? Would that be possible or will she herself have suffered enough muscle atrophy and bone loss to make that impossible?

We, as readers, are cheering "Yay, baby! Aww..." But did SHE want to be a mother? Right now? Sure, she dreamed of living on Mars. Eventually. But did she really want to be what amounts to a single parent, a pioneer on a different planet with no adults to speak to for months on end? Her pregnancy basically deprived her of her ability to choose her own path. She's now her baby's mother, like it or not, and her choices are severely limited by that.

But even with the pregnancy, that choice was taken away from her.

The original mission protocol is an abortion, no exceptions, no choice. But when she tells her husband what's happened, his response isn't "What do you want to do?" or "I'll support what you choose." or even a plea to discuss it further. It's "I can't let you do that." Let.

She's never given a choice, either way. That incredibly life-altering decision was taken away from her. She might never see her husband again. Might not ever see Earth again. Might not even survive the next year. Because of choices that other people made on her behalf without consulting her.

She's not even allowed to choose her own child's legal name.
(hide spoiler)]

Just a really lovely story that's beautiful and horrific at the same time. It's haunting, and I'm going to remember it for a long time.


Another striking one from the collection is "Woodsmoke" about two girls' friendship at a summer camp. I'm not even sure if "striking" is a good thing, or a bad thing in this case.

[
There's so much in here - Peete's issues with being a tomboy and dealing with her parent's expectations for her, and her attempting to figure out her sexuality. Maggie's own problems of being displaced and in a culture she's spent little time in. Their friendship and approaching puberty.

But at the same time, it feels like it's dominated by Peete, rather than Maggie - which makes the reveal that Maggie is intersex feel incredibly bizarre.

The doctor's immediate, "Oh, he has to leave right now because he's a boy" and Peete's "I don't know your real name" are in many ways completely infuriating, but given the setting - early 1970s at latest, more likely the 50s or 60s - it does feel like something the doctor would say and Peete could say, and it speaks about Peete's confusion with... well, everything.

I mean, she's giving hints that she might be a lesbian or bi. Maybe. But if Maggie is intersex, and she's attracted to Maggie, what does that make her?

See? It's all about Peete. And that feeling of being all about Peete, makes it feel a little exploitative to me. But I'm sure it wasn't meant to be.
(hide spoiler)]

A couple of other standouts were "Education of a Witch" (the entire reason I got this collection in the first place) and "Echos of Aurora." See status updates for individual story notes.

The story "Goodnight, Moons" alone makes the collection worth it, but there's not a truly bad story
in the lot. Thank you to Tachyon Publications and Netgalley for the ARC and the opportunity to review it.

Wicked Wonders by Ellen Klages is just.....perfect. Short stories that mix childhood, science fiction and imagination.

Stand out favorites involve a wicked little girl who loves Maleficent more than Sleeping Beauty (me too, kid), a heartbreaking camp story, and an unusual romance at a dying arcade.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the book in exchange for this review.

In Wicked Wonders (2017), Ellen Klages has assembled an impressive collection of her short stories. Although almost all of these stories have been previously published (the sole exception is “Woodsmoke”), most of them appeared in anthologies and are unlikely to be familiar to most readers. These fourteen stories run the gamut from non-fiction (“The Scary Ham”) to straight fiction (“Hey, Presto,” “Household Management” and “Woodsmoke”) to science fiction and fantasy. They’re often bittersweet or wistful and frequently surreal; tales of ordinary lives in which the fantastical or unexpected element sneaks up and taps you on the shoulder, and when you turn around the world has shifted.

Several tales in Wicked Wonders are reminiscent of certain of Ray Bradbury’s short stories, in which conventional American suburban life takes a sharp turn toward the fanciful. Even the non-speculative stories have a chimerical feel to them. Many of the stories look at the world through the eyes of a child or teenage girl, in a sympathetic but clear-eyed manner. Klages’ young characters are girls trying to find their place in life, often misfits, and bravely dealing with burdens that life has passed out to them.

In “The Education of a Witch” (4 stars), we experience life from the point of view of Lizzy, a preschool-aged, intelligent girl with a spark of mischief. Lizzy lives in the suburbs, an only child who lives a relatively ordinary life, until two things happen: She sees the Disney movie Sleeping Beauty, and the character who captures her interest and loyalty is the evil witch Maleficent. And a new baby joins Lizzy’s family, an interloper who steals the time and attention of her parents. It’s a story that can be interpreted in different ways; Lizzy is both sympathetic and alarming, and certain things may be just her imagination … but perhaps not. In the Afterword, Klages comments that this story is almost entirely autobiographical.

“Amicae Aeternum” (3.5 stars): Eleven year old Corrine is spending her last day in her town, trying to imprint every precious detail on her memory ― the texture of asphalt, the smell of fresh-mowed grass, the sight of a cat ― before her family leaves forever. Hardest to leave is her best friend Anna. The science fiction element, when it finally hits, is thought-provoking, especially Corry’s list of twenty reasons why where she is going sucks.

“Mrs. Zeno’s Paradox” (4 stars): A humorous short story, in which Annabel and Midge meet at a café to share a brownie, which they carefully cut in half, and again, and yet again. It’s eyebrow-raising, how many times they can divide the brownie … but one might have expected something of this sort from Stephen Hawking’s bastard daughter. The story, like their dessert, is a slight confection, but the ending made me laugh out loud. In her story notes, Klages discloses that she borrowed the characters and the dry, witty tone from a 1941 short story by Dorothy Parker, “The Standard of Living.”

“Singing on a Star” (4.5 stars): Another tale from the point of view of a young girl, five year old Becka, who goes spend the night with her friend Jamie on her first sleepover. When they’re alone in Jamie’s bedroom, Jamie puts a lemon-yellow record on her portable record player, and the song creates magic, literally: Jamie’s closet door opens to an elevator that takes the girls down to a strange, jazzy city, where a never-before-seen brand of candy bar tastes amazing, but there’s something odd going on. It’s an eerie and disturbing tale, another one open to various interpretations.

“Hey, Presto” (3.5 stars): Polly, a high school age student-athlete, resents her father, a stage magician who’s hardly part of her life since her mother died several years ago and Polly was sent to a boarding school. When they’re together during the holidays, her father tends to be busy with theater performances and working in his workshop on new tricks. Now her father wants Polly to spend the summer with him in London. When on of his assistants quits, Polly agrees to step in. She finds not only that magic has a science, but that she and her father have more in common than she expected. It’s a feel-good tale that opens a window on an interesting and unusual lifestyle.

“Echoes of Aurora” (3 stars): Jo Norwood, a newly retired woman, returns to her family home in a dying summer tourist town after the death of her father ― a home that was once a penny arcade, with a dying oak tree in the yard. And Aurora, a mysterious, copper-haired woman dancing to the music of the nickelodeon who moves into Jo’s life and heart. It’s a haunting melding of vivid details from an old-fashioned, small-town carnival and a relationship that somehow feels like it cannot last.

“Friday Night and St. Cecilia’s” (4 stars): Rachel is grounded at her boarding school for the weekend, but mostly she feels badly that she’s been abandoned by her friend Addie. The new housekeeper, an aging dumpling of a woman, offers to play backgammon with Rachel. Mrs. Llewelyn pulls out an odd set of iridescent blue-green dice, Rachel loses … and she finds herself in a strange room, with a certain Professor Plum in the Conservatory. That’s not so bad, but a real-life Chutes and Ladders is nightmarish, and Rachel finds that the danger and the stakes are higher than she could have imagined when she first rolled Mrs. Llewelyn’s dice. But “rules are rules.” It’s an amusing but tense riff on classic board games.

“Caligo Lane” (4.5 stars): In this wonderful story, which was published on Tor.com, Franny combines mapmaking and origami and the San Francisco fog to create a magical work of art that both consumes life and rescues it. The detailed description of Franny’s creation of her origami-like map is enchanting, but there is an ominous backdrop of World War II and a heavy price that must be paid. It’s a haunting and heartfelt tale of love and loss as well as creation. It’s my favorite story in this collection.

“Goodnight Moons” (4 stars): In one of the pure science fictional tales in this collection, Zoë, a woman astronaut, is one of six people chosen for a seventeen-month long exploratory space mission to Mars. On day 37 of the mission, while still in their spaceship, Zoë gets a very mixed surprise. She reluctantly makes a choice … then finds that choice has been taken from her by others. Klages explores the fall-out in this poignant, subtly feminist tale.

“Gone to the Library” (4.5 stars): Yet another young girl in a suburban life that shifts into the fantastical. In the post-WWII era, 8 year old Isabel Flanagan lives with her widowed mother in a home she turned into a boarding house after Izzy’s father died in the war. Izzy explores outside of her yard, though a rusty gate, and down a path that leads to a home where a young, partially disabled boy lives. Izzy gradually realizes that not only does this boy need her, but that their fathers shared a connection. Her gift for mathematical games may have the power to effect a rescue. The magical element of math was a delight, but there’s an ominous undertone here for me as well, though I’m not sure it was intended by Klages.

“Household Management” (3 stars): A brief but amusing riff on a familiar character in Victorian England, from an unexpectedly twisted point of view.

“Sponda the Suet Girl and the Secret of the French Pearl” (3 stars): In Napoleonic France, Natto the thief hears a story about a French Pearl hidden in a wizard’s lair ― a pearl worth a thousand royals to the emperor! Clearly this pearl needs to be liberated from the wizard so it can benefit Natto. But the pearl, though valuable, isn’t what Natto envisions, and Natto’s taking on some adversaries who may get the best of him. This is another humorous tale, based around a fictionalized version of a historic culinary discovery.

“Woodsmoke” (3.5 stars) is the non-speculative story of a unique friendship at a summer girl’s camp in 1963. Twelve year old Patty has been coming to Wokanda for several years, but this year is special: her parents are going on an extended business trip, so she will be staying for the entire summer ― and she’s delighted about it. She’s not so delighted when she finds out that a new girl, Margaret, will also be staying for the summer, but gradually the two become close. The story meanders along, like a dreamy summer, until it unexpectedly turns around and bites you at the end. “Woodsmoke” evokes the songs, activities and friendships of summer camp, which will resonate especially with readers who’ve experienced such camps and have nostalgic feelings about them.

“The Scary Ham” (4 stars) is a non-fictional vignette from Klages’ life. It’s a hilarious story about a smoked ham that hung in the basement of her father’s home for 20 years, getting moldier and grosser every year. After their father’s death, Klages and her sister realize that something needs to be done with the ham. Personally, I really liked her sister’s Viking funeral proposal.

Wicked Wonders includes a forward by Karen Joy Fowler and also an insightful afterword by Klages, “Why I Write Short Fiction,” which includes this delightful insight into her creative process:

"I cannot create on a keyboard. I scribble images, crumple pages, toss them across the room. I make some pictograms, cross them out, draw big loopy lines that tether sentences to marginal notes as if they were zeppelins. Eventually, I get a keeper, a few words, a paragraph that is strong enough to anchor other prose. Another sentence crawls out of the ooze and onto dry land, grows legs, begins to explore new territory, and I follow."

There are also several pages of story notes, in which she explains some of the inspirations and ideas behind each of the stories in this collection. The insights here are fascinating and illuminating, as are Klages’ tales themselves. They’re well worth reading.

Wicked Wonders is a collection of fourteen stories, one of which is non-fiction, all of which has been written in the last decade or so by Ellen Klages. Klages is a multiple Hugo and Nebula award nominee, and has won the
World Fantasy Award with Andy Duncan for their novella "Wakulla Springs". Wicked Wonders is my first deep dive into her fiction - I've read a couple of stories that are in this collection in other places, so I was at least
passingly familiar with some of her work.

The stories in Wicked Wonders are similar in theme in that their primary focus is on a young girl or girls, but I wouldn't call this a YA collection by any stretch of the imagination; it certainly doesn't have that feel to me.
The fantastical elements do not take center stage in any of the stories, and don't necessarily play a major part in the story. What every story does have in common are well written and developed characters as well as well
crafted storytelling. They are mostly fantasy stories, although there is a science fiction story or two thrown into the mix. There's something here for everybody, although the reader may not realize it until getting all the way
through the collection.

My favorite story, one of those that I've read before, is called "Amicae Aeternum". The story is sneaky, because Klages doesn't let the reader in on what's happening until more than halfway through it. The story centers on
two friends, Corry and Anna. They are meeting just before dawn, probably not unlike many other days they've met. This day is different, though, as Corry's life will be changing irrevocably. The story's focus on friendship
and loss is, in the end, riveting and poignant. This is an excellent piece of fiction.

Another story that I previously encountered is the magical "Caligo Lane", about cartographer Franny Travers who lives on the titular street and makes maps that allows people to travel between locations as long as the map is folded correctly. That's an overly simplified statement of the story, which is really a description of Travers making a particular map. The story is short but engaging, leaving the reader wanting to know more about the maps that Travers makes.

Other stories are just as engaging and entertaining, if not moreso, than the previous two. In "Hey Presto", Hugh Werdlow is a magician who is in need of a new female assistant on very short notice. He asks his daughter
Polly to join the crew for the show, and she must learn all ths stage tricks and misdirections that go into this particular show. It's a tale of just how difficult it is to put on a magic show as you and I understand it - this tale has nothing of the fantastic in it - and how that show helps a young woman prepare her life's path. "Echoes of Aurora", which follows immediately after "Hey Presto", is the tale of middle-aged Jo Norwood returning
to the place of her youth to finish cleaning up the family business after her father passed away. It's a haunting tale of memories that return to Jo in an unusual form, and how she spends her time with those memories.

"Friday Night at St. Cecilia's" relates the tale of a wager gone wrong at an all-girls religious boarding school and the girl who figures out how to beat the system. It's a fun tale that has the reader travelling back to childhood to remember all those board games they used to play as a kid. I absolutely enjoyed the very short tale (I now wonder if its length is intentionally in keeping with the story itself) about Annabel and Midge who get
together for a treat in the Mission District in San Francisco. Since the story is so short I really can't say anything else otherwise I would give it away. I do, however, get the impression that Klages had a bit of fun with this one. I know I did.

There are two very powerful stories in the collection (that's not to say that others aren't powerful, but in my estimation these two are at the top of the list). The first is "Goodnight Moons", the tale of an expedition to Mars
and what happens when it is discovered that one of the colonists is pregnant. The extra body wasn't planned for, of course, but the extra "crew member" was approved. The power in this story lies not in the birth of the child and the early stages of her life, but the inevitable affect being born on Mars has on humans. The ending is heartrending. The other is "Woodsmoke", about two young girls who befriend each other at summer camp. Peete is a veteran; she's been going there for years, and this year due to her parents' work she gets to stay the whole summer for the first time. Margaret is from a foreign land, and brings much strength and knowledge to the camp. She is there because her parents are afraid that once she gets her first period the men in their village will go wild and she wouldn't be safe. Again, the ending is gut wrenching, and shows the reader that even when you think you know someone, you really don't.

As is evident, many of these stories don't contain elements of the fantastic at all. "The Education of a Witch", "Singing on a Star", "Sponda the Suet Girl and the Secret of the French Pearl", and "Gone to the Library" certainly do, however, and are all terrific stories. "Household Management", I think, defies description, although the landlady makes us think of a famous crime solver. It's short, strange, and offbeat.

Finally, there's "The Scary Ham", a non-fiction piece that Klages told at a Nebula Awards banquet about a real ham that her father had hanging in the basement. It's truly a twisted tale - mostly because it's true. Google it some time - if you get the right result, you even get a picture of the ham. Scary stuff indeed.

Wicked Wonders is truly a wonderful collection of recent short fiction by Ellen Klages. It's a terrific introduction to her work for someone who has not read her before now; take my word for it, because I fell into that
category. The stories are well written and the characters will pull at your heartstrings. This is really good stuff, and has caused me to add yet another author to my list of those of whom I wish to read more. That last
sentence may not be particularly grammatically correct, but rest assured that the sentences Klages writes will be that and a whole lot more.