Boys, Beasts & Men
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- $6.99
Publisher Description
2023 LOCUS AWARD WINNER, BEST COLLECTION
In Nebula Award-winning author Sam J. Miller’s devastating debut short-fiction collection, featuring an introduction by Amal El-Mohtar, queer infatuation, inevitable heartbreak, and brutal revenge seamlessly intertwine. Whether innocent, guilty, or not even human, the boys, beasts, and men roaming through Miller’s gorgeously crafted worlds can destroy readers, yet leave them wanting more.
“Miller’s sheer talent shines through in abundance . . . Boys, Beasts & Men is an outrageous journey which skillfully blends genres and will haunt you with its original, poetic voices as much as its victims, villains, and treasure trove of leading actors.”
—Grimdark Magazine
Despite his ability to control the ambient digital cloud, a foster teen falls for a clever con-man. Luring bullies to a quarry, a boy takes clearly enumerated revenge through unnatural powers of suggestion. In the aftermath of a shapeshifting alien invasion, a survivor fears that he brought something out of the Arctic to infect the rest of the world. A rebellious group of queer artists create a new identity that transcends even the anonymity of death.
Sam J. Miller (Blackfish City, The Art of Starving) shows his savage wit, unrelenting candor, and lush imagery in this essential career retrospective collection, taking his place alongside legends of the short-fiction form such as Carmen Maria Machado, Carson McCullers, and Jeff VanderMeer.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Loneliness, manhood, and ferocious queer joy pervade the sincere but safe debut collection from Nebula Award winner Miller (The Blade Between), whose sweeping prose is hemmed in here by a narrow range of ideas. The strongest pieces are thick with both the tenderness and ugliness of imperfect relationships. "We Are the Cloud" literalizes systemic exploitation and the concept of cognitive load in a New York where the poorest's neurological processing runs free Wi-Fi for the wealthy. The poetic "Conspicuous Plumage" inverts the complex aftermath of a gay-bashing without devaluing its target. The Soviet era–set "The Beasts We Want to Be" directly grapples with toxic masculinity. Attempts at retold material founder, however. Both the King Kong riff "Shattered Sidewalks of the Human Heart" and The Thing sequel "Things with Beards" overshoot sincerity and land as clumsy didacticism. Throughout, overly literal metaphors and too-neat allegories undermine the complexity of Miller's diverse, magic-tinged relationships. The textured landscapes will satisfy dedicated speculative fiction readers, but many will be frustrated by the emotional and structural unadventurousness. Miller doesn't take many risks here, and these pieces are worse off for it.
