What a bravura performance from Andreasen! The stories here are all weirdly wonderful with an inventive energy which positively crackles off the page. Set in strange worlds where a girl can live without a head, where aliens want to understand what it means to be human, where things at the Time Travel Institute can go horribly wrong, and where a love-lorn tentacled sea-beast can desire a ship (while nymphomaniac mermaids hover hopefully with their eyes on the sailors), these stories combine a ferocious imagination with the ability to deliver an emotional kick to the gut. There's real feeling here, and that's what moves these tales on from being fine examples of craft and finish to having humanity and depth.

As with any collection, some stories will speak to individual readers more than others (my least favourite were the two dealing with religious faith) but overall this is a fabulous introduction to an exciting writer - a little bit Angela Carter, but really Andreasen has a voice of his own.