The Future Is Blue
by Catherynne M. Valente
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Pub Date Jul 31 2018 | Archive Date Jul 30 2018
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Description
Subterranean Press is thrilled to present a major new collection from one of the most dazzling, distinctive voices in the literary world. Catherynne M. Valente, the New York Times bestselling and multiple-award-winning author of The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making and other acclaimed novels, now brings readers thirteen stories unlike any others.
In the title story, Theodore Sturgeon Award-winning novelette “The Future Is Blue,” an outcast girl named Tetley lives on floating Garbagetown, in a world that dreams of the long lost land. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos is explored and reinvented in style in “Down and Out in R’lyeh.” In the novelette “The Limitless Perspective of Master Peek, or, the Luminescence of Debauchery,” Perpetua masquerades as a man in order to continue her father’s business as a glassblower and must fashion a special eye for a queen. And in “The Beasts Who Fought for Fairyland Until the Very End,” the wyvern A-Through-L, the warrior Green Wind and his giant cat the Leopard of Little Breezes cope with their broken-hearted disappointment over politicks as the evil Marquess ascends to rule.
Of her previous collection, The Bread We Eat in Dreams, the New York Times said, “Valente’s writing DNA is full of fable, fairy tale and myth drawn from deep wells worldwide.” With The Future Is Blue she continues to build and invent unforgettable worlds and characters with lyrical abandon, creating stories that feel old and new at once.
The Future is Blue also includes three never-before-printed stories, for almost 30,000 words of work exclusive to this collection: “Major Tom,” “Two and Two is Seven,” and the long novelette “Flame, Pearl, Mother, Autumn, Virgin, Sword, Kiss, Blood, Heart, and Grave.”
Available Editions
| EDITION | Hardcover |
| ISBN | 9781596068742 |
| PRICE | $40.00 (USD) |
Featured Reviews
Jasmine W, Reviewer
One sentence review: A compilation of futuristic worlds leaving you haunted, wondering, and grasping for more.
I read The Future is Blue between other books, reading a story a day until I finished the collection. Each story dug into my mind, lingering, and sparking conversations with my spouse as the stories demanded more attention. I love stories, like those in this book, that demand to be discussed. While some are more fantastical than others, each story brought itself up over dinner, before bed, or in the quiet moments between daydreams and required prolonged rumination in the "real world."
These stories are the most thought-provoking (well, invading) bits of science-fiction I have engaged with in a long while. The characters, the worlds, and the nature of these stories are so incredible that you cannot leave them behind.
Subterranean Press, Catherynne M Valente, and NetGalley made it possible for me to review this book by providing an eARC of The Future is Blue.
Reviewer 390195
I loved this. There were parts of some stories I didn't quite care for, such as the Cthulhu one. However, overall this collection has everything I've come to expect with Valente's works: wit, weirdness, and whatever else begins with W. Words. Yes, these stories have words so powerful they ripped me up like paper out of a notebook. I won't say too much here, as the review that will be posted on my blog will be more thorough.
I will say that to me this is a collection that's best read after you've dipped your toes in the pool of Valente's other works. This is the, "I can still stand comfortably with my torso above the water," book. But more simply, in another W word, it is wonderful.
(Thank you to Sub Press for providing me with an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.)
Jen C, Reviewer
I love Valente's work because it's always full of strangeness and wonder. She experiments with weird worlds and takes classic stories in odd directions. Her prose is magical; she is a master of style and colorful descriptions.
There were a couple of stories in this volume that didn't much appeal to me, but I enjoyed the rest and loved many of them. This is an excellent collection and it has some of the best cover art I've ever seen. I highly recommend this collection if you enjoy thoughtful, weird stories that inspire the imagination.
Janelle W, Reviewer
Catherynne Valente is ALWAYS a delight, and this collection is no exception. It is nearly impossible to guess at her literary influences (other than fairy tales, of course, and one story is a reimagined Lovecraft), but when I read the stories, I felt warm nostalgia for the books I loved as a child. She manages to distill my favorite stories and use their essence to create something new and different. I can’t wait to read more by her.
Pablo R, Reviewer
Top-notch collection of long stories from another author who I usually associate with longer works. My favorite is the opener, which could be YA except for the language. It's 100 years in the future, global warming caused sea levels to rise catastrophically, and we follow the story of a young woman and a boy she likes as they live out their lives on the floating island of garbage out in the Pacific. Funny thing, I had forgotten this was a collection and got so caught up in the first story that I was really shocked (and disappointed) when it ended!
As with most collections, I'm not a fan of every story but even a couple that started off in a direction I didn't care for ended well. Good stuff, and I'm off to check out her novels again.
Crystal K, Reviewer
Valente is one of the authors that tops my list for most pleasurable reading and The Future is Blue did not disappoint. This collection of short stories ranges from complex fairy tales to strange and twisty post-apocalyptic stories that will have your mind spinning for days as you ponder everything within. Lovecraft devotees will adore "Down and Out in R'lyeh" and if you love books about the strangeness of a war-torn tale of what might be, then the book's namesake, "The Future is Blue" about people who live on floating islands of garbage, will be up your alley. Some of my favorite books in the world are Valente's and her stories "The Lily and the Horn" and "The Long Goodbye of Violet Wild" are in the same vein, much to my delight. I didn't think it was possible, but Valente has even further cemented herself in my mind as one of my biggest inspirations in the world of writing. Every turn of phrase is masterful, her descriptions are second to none and I wish I could live forever in a fairy tale of her making. Thanks NetGalley, for the early read.
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