Alias Space and Other Stories

Written by Kelly Robson

Narrated by Alyssa Bresnahan

Alias Space and Other Stories is the first fiction collection from Nebula Award-winning writer Kelly Robson, who vaulted onto the Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror stage in 2015, earning spots in multiple Year's Best anthologies. This volume collects Robson's best stories to date, along with exciting new work, and notes to accompany each piece. Robson's stories are noted for their compassion, humanity, humor, rigor, and joy. This volume includes the chilling gothic horror “A Human Stain,” winner of the 2018 Nebula Award; the madcap historical fantasy “Waters of Versailles,” which was a finalist for both the Nebula and World Fantasy Awards; and science fiction stories such as the touching “Intervention,” chilling “The Three Resurrections of Jessica Churchill,” obscene “What Gentle Women Dare,” heartbreaking “Two-Year Man,” and many others. These fourteen stories showcase Robson's whip-smart richness of invention, brilliant storytelling, deep worldbuilding, and devilish sense of humor.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Mar 31, 2021
• ISBN: 9781705019627

Kelly Robson

Kelly Robson lives in downtown Toronto with her wife, writer A.M. Dellamonia. Her novelette “A Human Stain” won the 2018 Nebula Award, and her time travel adventure Gods, Monsters, and the Lucky Peach won the 2019 Aurora Award and was a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, Theodore Sturgeon, and Locus Awards. Kelly’s first short story collection Alias Space and Other Stories was published in 2021. Find her on Twitter and Instagram.

Reviews for Alias Space and Other Stories

[khimaera · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Kelly Robson’s Alias Space and Other Stories takes you on a Queer-friendly journey through speculative spaces and showcases Robson’s evolution as a writer from her first published story to the Nebula Award-winning “A Human Stain”. If this collection is anything to go by, where she is in another five years will be something to see. Starting off with my favorite tale, the ending of the eponymous “Alias Space” felt a bit abrupt, but the truth is that it was the best kind of disappointing because it leaves a reader wanting more of the lush and evocative characters and their artistic world. For a story set in a futuristic Toronto about a famed burlesque troupe and a very special ‘bot named Petunia, it could not be more appropriate to leave the audience always wanting more and this entire collection will do just that.“A Study in Oils” is set in the traditional and pastoral world of the Miao people of southern China where Robson spent time in 2018. A criminal on the run from the Moon is hoping for redemption as he learns about the culture of the Miao. Zhang Lei stumbles at first as he is cut off from all he knows and expects of the world. His lessons in stillness and solitude bring out his old skills as a painter and that may just be the key to saving his life. We need an Afterschool Special movie made from “La Vitesse”. It’s a perfectly ordinary story about a bus driver in rural Canada working out some issues with her rebellious teenaged daughter. Don’t worry about the unrelenting and ravenous dragon chasing the busload full of kids home from school. “Two Watersheds” follows along with a scientist using an avatar to place survey equipment out in the Athabasca River Valley while streaming her feed live to the internet in a post-climate-change world. It’s a remarkable story of dedication, hope, and faith for the future.A comical scene of seduction opens the “Waters of Versailles” as we follow Sylvain who is eager to fit into the upper echelons of the aristocracy. He proudly engineers the fountains, pipes, and the first toilets for the palace, fights off leaks that seem to have a mind of their own, and strives to create more grandiose schemes to keep the fickle aristocrats amused and engaged. He’s keeping a secret hidden in the depths of the palace and sooner or later he’s going to be faced with a choice we all have to make eventually: to decide what is really important to us in this world.Those are my personal favorites but there is a lot more to love in this collection. “Skin City” reads like a Black Mirror episode they haven’t gotten around to filming yet. I have little doubt Zane Grey would be delighted that Riders of the Purple Sage still exists 30,000 years in the future in “We Who Live in the Heart”. The roughest and darkest story is probably “The Three Resurrections of Jessica Churchill” with elements of rape and murder. “What Gentle Women Dare” involves a quiet conversation in a 1763 churchyard in Liverpool between a down-on-her-luck whore and the Devil that questions senseless violence against women. In the author notes for that story, the reader is reminded that writing is often a means of trying to come to terms with unanswerable questions and that is what all these tales do in one way or another. Find your own favorites in this impressive collection and keep an eye out for what’s next from Kelly Robson.** Thank you to Subterranean Press and NetGalley for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest, unbiased review **