Short Fiction Anthologies are the types of books that I add to my TBR list, but never seem to get around to. I say I want to read more short fiction, say I want to try out some magazines, but never commit the time to it. Spirits Abroad is a first step in trying to make progress on that front and, while it definitely isn’t the best anthology I’ve read, provided several enjoyable reads, including one that I’ll be using in the high school genre fiction class I teach!
Read If Looking For: Urban Fantasy or Magical Realism short fiction, tight focus on Malaysian communities around the world, simple and straightforward language, feminist themes
Avoid if Looking For: writing that experiments with style or structure
Elevator Pitch:
As with any anthology, it’s tough to give a succinct summary of the entire experience of this book. However, the collection is consistently grounded in Malaysian culture, folklore, and mythology. Oftentimes immigrant experiences or examinations of how misogyny uniquely affects Malaysian women are themes and motifs. You should also expect to encounter Malaysian terminology and dialect in each story (the audiobook narrator does a fantastic job), and while most foriegn terms aren’t explained, both absorbing general ideas up from context or pausing to do research can work for a good reading experience. You should also expect darker elements in many stories, with some verging into horror territory.
What Worked for Me
I appreciated the tight focus of the book. While the stories were disparate, it felt like there was intentionality of these stories beyond ‘they were written by the same author’ and belonged in the same collection. There’s a level of intentionality and simplicity that I appreciate in Cho’s writing. I think the books were strongest when they leaned into fairy tale stylings, which fit the prose style and pacing of the books well.
Some of the stories I particularly enjoyed were
- The Fish Bowl: a spin on a dark wish fulfillment story, featuring a student who takes shortcuts to compensate for the pressures of society on her (and also her own laziness)
- If At First You Don’t Succeed, Try, Try Again: a serpent seeks to ascend into a dragon, but, in routine failing, finds a surprising relationship with a human astrophysicist
- Rising Lion – The Lion Bows: a lion dancing troupe that also takes care of hauntings and spirits
- The House of Aunts: a dead girl lives with home of older female relatives (also dead) who don’t understand that just because she’s dead doesn’t mean she shouldn’t also have crushes
What Didn’t Work for Me
Unfortunately, there were a fair few that really didn’t capture my attention. I hesitate to say that they’re bad, but around one in three stories left me feeling unenthused. This is a bit higher than a typical hitrate for me in an anthology, but not so much that I’ll dismiss it outright.
I also wish that Cho had aimed for a few stories that pushed the envelope a little bit more. I think short fiction is a great place to aim for stories that really require you to chew on language or structure, since their compactness lends itself well to dense exploration. This anthology didn’t have that, and I think it was a missed opportunity.
In Conclusion: a good anthology if you’re looking for stories featuring Malaysian culture and folklore, and a generally dark tone.
- Characters – 3
- Worldbuilding – 5
- Craft – 4
- Themes – 3
- Enjoyment – 3
Marked for Plot 