Bradbury Weather

by Caitlín R. Kiernan

Though Caitlín R. Kiernan is known primarily as a preeminent author of the weird and the macabre, and is often cited as Lovecraft's successor, during the three-decades of their career they have also been a prolific author of science fiction. Indeed, Kiernan's first SF tales appeared in print before any of their weird fiction ("Persephone" and "Between the Flatirons and the Deep Green Sea," both 1995). And while their science fiction has often been praised by critics, the author has only ever released a single collection specifically devoted to their SF--A is for Alien (2009). Finally, with the publication of Bradbury Weather, almost all of Kiernan's science-fiction short stories and novellas have been collected in one volume. These twenty-eight tales paint a picture of dystopian futures, first contacts gone horribly awry, the limits and dangers of technology, and encounters with the alien within us all. From Earth to Mars to distant exoplanets, from the past to the present to the future, Kiernan surveys a cosmos that is strange and marvelous and oftentimes inimical to human life. A paleontologist by training, they bring to their SF a deep understanding of science, its methods, and its limits, with their scientific background often informing and lending an authenticity to their tales of deep time, deep space, extraterrestrial life, and things that might be.

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction, Fiction, Collections

794 pages, Hardcover

First published January 22, 2024

About the author

Caitlín Rebekah Kiernan is an Irish-born American published paleontologist and author of science fiction and dark fantasy works, including ten novels, series of comic books, and more than two hundred and fifty published short stories, novellas, and vignettes.

Reviews

[Curtis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The real Bradbury Weather was all the unreliable narrators we met along the way.

[Philippa · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some of these stories I’ve read before, but I wasn’t sorry to read any of them again. A lot of them feel like windows onto a bigger story: you’re often thrown into the middle of the end of the world; you don’t always get answers; things aren’t always resolved. Sometimes this frustrates me: part of me feels like it’s easier to create a mystery than to provide satisfying answers. But I also *like* the not-knowing, and letting my imagination fill in the blanks. Regardless, the most important part of Kiernan’s writing isn’t so much the plot (although they can write subtle, layered stories) as their masterful blending of science and - I’m looking for the word - mythology? Mysticism? Their writing is always beautiful, and always leaves me feeling like there’s something bigger out there, just waiting to blow off the top of my skull.

Favourite stories:
Onion
I Am the Abyss and I Am the Light
A Barrenness of Daffodils, A Lerna of Ills
Whilst the Night Rejoices Profound and Still
Our Lady of Arsia Mons

[Jenni · Rating 5 out of 5]

A stellar short story collection from Caitlin E Kiernan. I didn't tear through this anthology, I savored it. Kiernan writes such gross, immersive, compelling scifi. A must for fans of Cronenberg, and Kameron Hurley

[Simms · Rating 3 out of 5]

An uneven collection, with a few high highs and a lot of forgettable lows. Looking back at the little notes I made about each story as I finished them, an unfortunately high number of them are some variation on "shrug" or "huh?" -- Kiernan's own author's notes on these stories mention a few times her tendency toward the oblique and unexplained, and a lot of these stories fell flat for me on vagueness grounds. Seems to be a feature, not a bug, of her writing, and perhaps it works better in horror than in science fiction. Kiernan is known primarily as a horror writer (though I have yet to read any of her work in that genre, this being my first foray into her writing) and where this book did shine was in the more horror-inflected moments, whether that be creepy imagery in a science-fictional setting (derelict spacecraft or body horror, say) or stories that are basically just horror stories with a science-fictional gloss. I will particularly highlight the novella "The Dry Salvages" -- which I found delightful, and recommend to any fans of Blindsight -- and the story "Tall Bodies" -- likewise, but substitute "China Miéville". My main takeaway from this collection is that I really ought to go track down more of Kiernan's horror work. She's clearly got a talent for it.

Thanks to NetGalley and Subterranean Press for the ARC.

[Hannah Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

At 800 pages, this is a massive collection of sci-fi and speculative short fiction pieces; it’s an anthology you won’t easily finish in one afternoon. There is so much to this collection, giving readers plenty of options to of stories to choose from. As with most anthologies, not every short story in the collection worked well for me. The piece I liked most was the final, titular short story, “Bradbury Weather.” I also enjoyed “Galapagos” and “Zero Summer.”

However, my favorite parts of the collection, by far, were Kiernan’s introductions for each story. These story introductions, simple as they were, served as unique and clever additions to this anthology. I enjoyed reading the history of each short story, and these sections really add to the full effect of the book. I wish more single-author anthologies would follow suit.

If you’re a fan of straightforward and uncomplicated science fiction, this anthology is not for you. However, if your tastes lean toward the weird or the macabre, this is a collection of strange sci-fi and horror-leaning short stories worth your time.

Thanks to Subterranean Press for an ARC of this book for review. All the above thoughts are my own.
Rating 3.5 (rounded up to 4)

Backshelfbooks.com

[Lexi Denee · Rating 4 out of 5]

These stories fell all over the spectrum for me but I did really enjoy a lot of the scifi elements and original concepts. My favorite stories from this collection were those dealing with first contact, as that is one of my favorite tropes in science fiction!

From what I have seen, this author primarily writes weird and macabre fiction. This collection is a rarity in that it collects her scattered works of scifi in one place.

With a title like Bradbury Weather, the bar was set pretty high for me for this collection. While I really loved some of the works in this book, others really dragged for me and I did find myself skimming a handful of the stories that I just couldn't get into. My only other complaint for this collection is the sheer length of the book. I can see myself picking this one back up to revisit stories that I skipped or overlooked this time around, but couldn't get through the 800 pages without putting this one down for awhile.

**Thank you to NetGalley and Subterranean Press for the eARC of this title!**

[Lisa Davidson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did enjoy reading this although I felt like sometimes she really draws out a story. I feel like Kiernan has that same dreamlike quality whether it's science fiction or fantasy, although maybe I'm prejudiced because my first book by Kiernan was The drowning girl. If you read this, don't worry about tackling it all at once because it's loooong. Thanks to NetGalley for making this available to me

[Michael Kossa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not many stories that I didn't enjoy, but the collection soon started to feel samey to me. Perhaps it was because of the length, and may be better enjoyed more sparingly, but I did find myself wishing for more variety in tone.

[Paul · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great, and long collection of stories. I thought this was impressive. Recommended.

Thanks very much for the free copy for review!!

[Alex Duncan · Rating 5 out of 5]

Awesome science fiction.

[Lee Pfahler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read the novella Bradbury Weather.

[Samuel Beard · Rating 4 out of 5]

Such an incredibly bleak but well constructed short story.

Nihilistic. Cold. Detailed.

Very good too.