2012.

Because it’s a wonderful short story collection (which I read over the weekend), written by a bunch of talented writers.  I’m not going to do a full review, because there’s about 9 of them online, such as this very good one here, and I don’t really have much to add.  But because I really think 2012 is great, I thought I’d say the following:

Deborah Biancotti’s “Watertight Lies” – I haven’t read many stories written by Deb but this opened my eyes to how fantastic she is.  A pure stylist with a great ear for dialouge.

Tansy Rayner Roberts  “Fleshy”  – Another fantastic piece of writing, though I thought it was a little too predictable.  Still, the enganging prose style makes up for any shortcomings (which is a horrible word, but I couldn’t think of another) of the story.

Simon Brown’s “Oh, Russia” – Just superb and a highlight of the collection.

David Conyers “Soft Viscosity” – David’s a no flinch writer who really knows how to capture a moment and make you gasp or squirm.  The story was a bit too long for me, and lacked focus at times – it probably should have centred on one character, not two – but it was still worth it for some of the gut punch moments. 

Lucy Sussex’s “Apocalypse Rules, OK?” – I like the ambition of having a story like this in the collection, but it is a bit slight.

Dirk Flinthart’s “The Last Word” – Is the first thing I’ve read by Dirk and it’s great.  Loved how authentic and credible it sounded, to my untrained brain, and thought it had a great ending.  I’ll be looking out for more stuff from Dirk. 

Kaaron Warren’s “Ghost Jail” – I’m sorry, but I didn’t get this story at all.  Which I know is a horrible and totally meaningless  thing to say.  I mean, some of the writing is lovely – and the sense of paranoia comes through the piece – but I’m not sure how it all tied in with the ghosts.

Angela Slatters  “I Love you like Water” –  Short and poignant and just fantastic.  Another highlight of the collection. 

Martin Livings’ “Skinsongs”  – I don’t think I’ve ever read a bad story by Martin.  And this didn’t change the trend.  Loved it.

Ben Peek “David Bowie” – It looks simple on the surface, but this is a story with levels.  Reading David Bowie reminded me that I *need* to read Black Sheep and 26 Lies this year.  Because Ben is great.

Sean McMullen “Oblivion” – A very fitting end to the collection.  I’m not sure the “twist” works for me, entirely, and I think it would have been better served without it.  But still a brilliant way to tie the theme of the collection together.

As for Alisa and Ben, they’ve done a brilliant job at collecting together such a diverse and interesting and well written bunch of stories.  They deserve much praise and applauses and nice things said about them.

So go buy 2012.  Now.