Buffalo Is the New Buffalo

Eight short stories, each with an accompanying note of the author talking to the reader, explaining or posing further questions. I’ve read a short story collection from Octavia Butler that was the same style, and I love actually getting a peek into the author’s head. Buffalo Bird: 3/5 A lot of historical details relating to indigenous and white Canadian 19th century history and how the text explores an alternate history. This really breaks the narrative, and I’m not sure it works as a short story. It looks like a pitch of a great long-form novel. But then I also think about how European-centric history is forced onto First Nations citizens, so should I really be put out by this? I do think that readers can dislike this first story but still love the rest of the collection. Michif Man: 5/5 At first I thought this was just average good, but the story and the subversion of the superhero origin story has stayed with me, not only living in my head rent free but also buying a few acres there. Dirty Wings: 4/5 Surreal, purposefully dreamlike. It will not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it’s really interesting alongside the notes afterward. Maggie Sue: 5/5 It kept subverting my expectations. I felt like I was along for an intriguing, thought-provoking ride. I feel like I’ll take more from it each time I reread it. Great blend of the spiritual, the dream-like, and the mundanity. A Lodge Within Her Mind: 5/5 So damn interesting! It was written during the pandemic and is set in a pandemic though not explicitly COVID-19. It involves themes around tech and what we could give up when blindly agreeing to terms and conditions. I love how the conflict was resolved by âniskôhôcikan: 5/5 The highlight of the whole collection for me, but I am a total lot nerd. We get the same story 3 ways: as a few lines, as two pages, and as a short story. It really provokes a lot of thought, in particular about what choices new technology and waves of living could give us, especially when rooted in community values. I, Bison: 5/5 A story with lots of layers and complicated topics. One of the things I loved was how the text calls out how weird and unnecessary the tech company headquarters is and that it lines up with the sci-fi dreamed up by a lot of white storytellers: no decor, no shelving or storage, monochromatic white, huge empty spaces. There are things said here that I honestly needed to read as someone with depression. Obviously generational trauma and the effects of past and current colonization leading to depression is completely different. But what Gus said is what I didn’t know I needed to hear. It literally profoundly changed me. Unsettled: 5/5 Not gonna be for everyone, but it shook me and posed more questions than it had answered. Much of classic sci-fi and specifically short sci-fi stories works like this. I would love to read it with people and see how the text is used to figure out who is our first person narrator and who was the patsy. There are some connecting elements in this collection, such as a fictional tech company and a certain fantastical event involving bison. If you don’t like short stories, this isn’t for you. I’ve seen reviews on many different anthologies where people don’t like the genre or haven’t ever found a short story collection they like. You cannot treat short stories as you would a long form sci-fi book or an entire fantasy series. The focus will be more narrow, theme will be important, what’s not said is sometimes as important as what’s said. This is a pet peeve of mine of seeing people keep reviewing short stories and rate them low, not liking the story format. If you haven’t liked the first 5 you’ve read, why keep reading and rating each one low? Obviously there are valid reasons to not enjoy any book, this is just a rant I needed to get off my chest. Overall I’m obsessed and am game for anything else Chelsea Vowel writes. I love SFF shorts, and this one really revitalized the genre, imo. 9/10