Other & Different: A Diverse Short Fiction Antholology

by Max Turner (Publisher), Sarah Boyd (Editor), Busayo Akinmoju (Contributor)

Other & Different is the first print anthology brought to you by A Coup of Owls - home of online quarterly anthologies from creators from marginalised and/or underrepresented communities or backgrounds.

Other & Different features a collection of stories exploring the theme or Other and/or Different in whatever way the author wished to explore or interpret it.

With a range of styles and genres expect: Folklore, Fantasy, Gothic, Speculative, Supernatural, Science Fiction, Weird, Horror, and Contemporary Fiction from our wonderful contributors.

More information on the anthology, the contributors and their stories is available on the Coup of Owls Press website.

Paperback

First published June 16, 2023

About the author

Max Turner is a queer fella living in the UK.

He is a nerd, Intersectional Feminist, retired performer and writer of speculative fiction, science fiction, fantasy, urban fantasy, horror and LGBTQ+ fiction, and combinations there of.

Currently undergoing Parenting 101, he can be found hanging on for dear life to the nearest cup of strong coffee.

Max has also written under the name L.E. Turner

https://www.maxturneruk.com/

Reviews

[Malik Berry · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wrote one of the stories in this book. It's good.

The rest are incredible however. It's an honor to be among these talented scribes.

[Timmi Kline · Rating 5 out of 5]

**I was an ARC reader and post this review for free and totally voluntarily**

Really incredible work, though I wouldn’t have expected anything else from A Coup of Owls. I got so absorbed in each piece that I ended up blowing through the whole thing in one sitting immediately after I got it! Every single one is different in the way it celebrates its, well—difference, and the whole thing spans an incredible breadth of genre, mood, and viewpoint. What a massive variety of works, and each one so incredibly unique.

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Wreckwood (Jonathan Olfert): “By ancient law and common sense, you could only light a fire if you walked along the shore until you couldn’t see home.” This story had maybe some of the coolest worldbuilding I’ve seen—and worldbuilding is ALWAYS a strong point in publications from CoO. The Watcher’s Breath thing was FASCINATING!!! And I looooved seeing how it impacted everything else in the world like using bugs as light sources to keep from igniting things!!! I also LOVED the vibe of the silent watching god. And I thought the characters were super likable.

What Grief Tastes Like (Avra Margariti): One thing about me is I’m always down for a witch story. I thought the language in this was lilting and bright: grief-hollow, opaline-bellied, smooth-scaled, moss-soft, lots of really neat turns of phrases. This is such a FASCINATING take on coping with grief, but I also read it as an interesting take on coping with sensory meltdowns. I know there’s an unhealthy escapism element but I think the idea of shape-shifting as an accommodation is so neat.

Moons (Miriam H. Harrison): “Union of compliments” is such a beautiful phrase even though we are anti binary in this house & home. The descriptions are like a steamy and syrupy lavender latte even though it’s brimming with loneliness and longing. It feels so completely dreamlike. “Sometimes she would see another girl with the light of two moons beckoning in her eyes” gave me physical chills.

The Kinsmen (Busayo Akinmoju): I KNEW this was going to absolutely slap from the first couple of words. And I LOVE the character of Segi. I absolutely love the way that the world is shaped in this story, and the pacing is extremely strong—one plot beat crashes breathlessly into another without feeling overcrowded. I love the way the role of the king is dissected. And I LOVED the hopeful uncertainty of the changing world, and the way Segi’s life was spared even though she doesn’t know where her soul will end up (with her own ancestors, hopefully).

The Changeling of Sneem (Marianne Xenos): The interplay between the Commonworld and the Otherworld feels extremely fresh. I also was pretty delighted by the mechanics of the hearth-story. High fantasy isn’t a genre I’ve read in a while, but I still really enjoyed this.

Strawberry Hearts (Corinne Pollard): Wow!!! This was a wild read!! I’m probably going to need to read it a few more times to really get all of the nuances, but this was a slow burn with an explosive end. Skimming back now I love all of the little hints, but I think there’s still a lot I don’t totally understand.

Mitosis (Samir Sirk Morató): IMMEDIATE excitement to see a piece from one of my favorite authors of the decade. “twilight contaminates the deserted party, turning the dripping tablecloth and buttercream to visceral sludge” is soooo good. So was “Necalli eats comforts from her palm.” The mental image of vomiting up organs in the toilet and then hiding them in a turkey bag is so incredibly vivid—the heart beating against the inside, oh my God. There is so much character coiled between every sentence. I was completely sucked into the world of the flesh friends, and, as with so many of their pieces, I was left wanting to know so much more about what happened after the last page (in a good way!).

Mermaid Tails and Tinfoil Hats (Anastasia Jill): I felt the immediate dread of dehumanization with the tampon removal and the pee cup, very good job of immediately unsettling me. It really does a great job holding hands with the previous story—it criticizes the severely inadequate healthcare system just like Mitosis prodded at the weaknesses in foster care, and I also like the unintentional parallels between the protagonists. Placing these stories side by side was a great idea. The end absolutely destroyed me, though. I definitely had to sit with it in silence for a few moments.

Below the Horizon (Anita Goveas): Another excellent story that I’m probably going to need to read a couple of times to get the full contours of, but wow. Breathtaking. I love the intergenerational dynamics here, and the dotted lines drawn between the narrator and the potted plants and the stories. I loved the hopeful note that the story ended on.

The Shiny People (Heather Haigh): “Even something that exquisite can’t hide the twisted wire beneath” OOOOH. WOW I LOVE LOVED LOVED the ending, so incredibly joyful and warm and made me so happy.

You See Food, You Eat It (Malik Berry): This was really sweet! Honestly paired really well with The Shiny People—both stories feel like a warm pat on the knee; not too touchy feely, but silently reassuring.

Dear Name (Kyungseo Min): What a really fascinating bent for a story. I liked the exploration of being othered and being indescribable, and I kept wondering where the procedure was leading, and then where the pregnancy was leading, but I didn’t even have any good guesses—which feels fitting!

Power to the People (A.M. Gautam): DANG the comment about the Mohalla Vigilance Committee right off the bat hit hard. Same with “Idea-Infection” and the disposable fiber screen of the newspaper—really great job setting things up. And giving a medal for reporting a classmate! My jaw actually dropped when the details of the poll came up, and made me remember that the voting age WAS TEN.

[Cat Voleur · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love this press and was so delighted when they sent me to the ARC page for their anthology. I am now happily leaving this review.

I loved the anthology theme as well, the feeling of otherness was something that resonated with me in a lot of the stories and was something that had drawn me into the anthology in the first place. It also introduced me to a lot of new authors, though there were some familiar faces in here as well.

One reason I'd recommend this title is because it was so well-curated. It includes a whole array of stories, subgenres and tones, each unique to the style of the author who provided it.

I will say that was a double-edged sword.

Unlike with many of the hyper-specific, niche anthologies that I read, there is a lot of variety. While this means that there will probably be something for everyone, it also meant that not every story was for me -- which is not to say that there were any bad stories. This just caters to a wide variety of preferences.

The other thing was that it didn't feel like a cohesive read to tear through in a day like I did. (Though a testament to the quality of the chosen entries was that I did tear through it in a single day anyway.) This is the second anthology I've read lately where, in retrospect, I think it might have been a better idea to space out the stories for a better reading experience.

But it was just very hard to put down.

This was a beautifully written and diverse book that I am so glad to have read. If you're looking to broaden your horizons and need an introduction to some very talented authors, this the anthology for you.

[Blue · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wreckwood
This story wasn’t particularly to my taste. I can’t exactly put words to why I wasn’t enamoured by it, it just wasn’t my thing. It might be the genre that was the thing that I didn’t enjoy, or just the setting overall. It was well written, and the characters were enjoyable enough though.

What Grief Tastes Like
I really engaged with the dynamic between Lenore and Adam. It was slightly unusual in the best way. They seemed to understand each other in a way that other people didn’t understand them. It was also a fun concept of someone being able to change their form at will (after taking a potion). I also liked that it discussed ableism and the way it feels to live and function in a world that just fundamentally isn’t designed for you. Obviously, it didn’t mention it in reference to autism or other neurodivergent conditions, however, it went over a lot of things that those people can often experience in their lives.

Moons
I can see why religious abuse is a trigger warning for this story honestly. Having one or a few people seeing things one way, but everyone else convincing them that their opinion/view is wrong because that’s not their experience does sound like the type of thing that can happen within some religious circles. It was certainly a thought-provoking story, to say the least. It also feels a little like the way autistic people and queer people experience things too, being told their identity or their worldview, or even simply the way they interact with their surroundings is wrong because other people don’t deal with those things or circumstances.

The Kinsmen
The look into running and the structure of this kingdom and the way kings and the upper order of ruling is appointed isn't something that is often seen, in media nor in life. I also liked that Segi sees divinations and can summon spirits too.

The Changeling of Sneem
The Fae are a very fascinating topic to me. I also like how ideas surrounding them can be varied between cultures and countries. I also found the characters engaging and nice to read about.

Strawberry Hearts
I don’t know what to make of this story at all. On the face of it, it appeared to have its main characters being ghosts, but I couldn’t honestly tell you whether that was actually the case. I liked it, but I also found it a little disturbing honestly. It felt like maybe one of the characters was hallucinating or something similar because of their actions, but it made me feel very weird.

Mitosis
I understand that the point of fiction, and the purpose of horror as a genre is to suspend your disbelief and just run with the idea it gives you. But this just felt like too much for me. I've never tried purging, and I know once there's nothing else to bring up, it'll just be acid and that causes all manner of bodily issues, but bringing up internal organs through doing it just isn't possible, or at least not from what I've read.

Mermaid Tails and Tinfoil Hats
I knew the warnings going into this book and checked them before I started reading, but that didn't make it much easier to read even knowing it was coming.

Below the Horizon
This story was about a child who has photosensitive epilepsy, and her mother does too, but her mother is better able to control the seizures and triggers. Because of her being epileptic and the fact that her area gets blackouts where lights flicker before cutting out, her father pulled her out of school. Since then she's spent all of her time at home, and she feels alone and isolated because of it. Until she finds something unexpected when she goes looking for candles for the dinner table. This story also shows how ableism can be so embedded in people that they don't even realise that it is ableist. Leena is a little different to others in that she has seizures caused by light triggers, and at home when lights are flickering she walks around with her eyes closed to prevent problems. But she was pulled from school which prevented her from reaching her potential.

The Shiny People
This story is actually pretty interesting. It gives a physical characteristic to something that a lot of people feel and experience during daily life. It talks about Joan as though she’s a robot, or made from metal, and talks about how she feels out of place with the people at her work, only to realise that she’s not quite so different as she thought, which helps her to feel less anxiety and feel more human.

You See Food, You Eat It
This story is about two people who both enjoy food, and find that common connection through the course of one conversation. They go back to one of their houses and proceed to spend intimate time together, and then share their love of food too. It was never more than someone to spend a little time with who understood them, but it was also a comfort, one they kept coming back to. It was fine, it isn’t the most thrilling story I’ve read in this anthology, but I liked it well enough.

Dear Name
A job for an “adventurous woman”, but is it really a job, or is it a way to use her body to further their own ends? It talks about her body being tested on, and eventually her being pregnant, only for that child to actually be an experiment of sorts, to be taken and tested on just as she was. It kinda made me think about medical testing, and about how while those things are important, what’s also important is the well-being and safety of the participants, who’ve signed up willingly for the betterment of whatever. I’m not trying to say that testing and experimentation is a bad thing, because it isn’t in every situation, and yes this is fiction, but it also tells the story of some studies and experiments too no doubt.

Power to the People
I tried to read the final story, but I just couldn’t get into it. It felt like a lot of different dystopian books I’ve read before. Women aren’t allowed to read, or know too much, or express their opinions. They shouldn’t talk too much, they should be a good wife or daughter and obey, do everything they’re told to do, but nothing more. If they fail to comply they’ll be punished or taken away and a new one will take their place, one who will obey. In some senses, while it’s a theme common to dystopian settings, it’s also truth in some places too.
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Thank you to Booksirens for sending me an ARC copy of this book.

[Erin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This was a great anthology with a fitting title! If you’ve ever felt ostracized or different then a lot of these stories will really resonate with you. And if you can’t relate to that I’d still recommend this because I think it would help you gain some empathy on what it feels like to feel like an outsider. There’s also a great variety here of stories that deal with different genres and topics from body horror, fae and changelings, magic, mental health, totalitarian regimes, etc.

[memo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 pretty good considering i picked it up for free

[Terri Noftsger · Rating 4 out of 5]

This collection of stories explores the concept of being Other or Different. The genre of each story varies from fantasy to horror to science fiction…to name a few. I picked up this collection of stories for the LGBTQIA aspect. This is reflected in these stories and even more. What surprised me is that I read and enjoyed stories even in a genre I never read, which is horror. In some stories, I felt seen. In others, I was disturbed. In others, I wanted to hug them. Over all, each of these short stories gave me something to think about and for that reason I rate this book at four and a half stars. I will look for more collections such as these because these stories are growing my love of short stories. As someone who grew up feeling different from all those around me, it is a comfort to feel seen. That is the power of stories such as these.

One of the best things about this book is that it includes information about each author and how you can find more of their writing.

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.