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Sinkhole, and Other Inexplicable Voids: Stories
What do we owe our family and friends in times of wild uncertainty?
That’s the question the women of Leyna Krow’s beguiling, darkly fabulist, new story collection grapple with as they strive to be good mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers, wives, and companions in a world that is constantly shifting around them. Set in the Pacific Northwest, these stories blend high concept magic with the sometimes subtle, other times glaring, realities of climate change.
As protagonists contend with doppelgänger babies, hordes of time travelers, finicky ghosts, and neighborhood demons, there lurks in the background the effects of the region’s rapidly shifting environment. There are wildfires, wind storms, unrelenting heat, disrupted butterfly migration patterns, a new plague, and a catastrophe on the slopes of Mount Rainier that reverberates through three generations of a single family over the course of a half dozen linked stories.
With Krow’s signature blend of sardonic whimsy and unsettling insight, Sinkhole, and Other Inexplicable Voids imagines the rules to be broken, choices to be made, and even crimes to be had, for the sake of the people, and places, we love.
That’s the question the women of Leyna Krow’s beguiling, darkly fabulist, new story collection grapple with as they strive to be good mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers, wives, and companions in a world that is constantly shifting around them. Set in the Pacific Northwest, these stories blend high concept magic with the sometimes subtle, other times glaring, realities of climate change.
As protagonists contend with doppelgänger babies, hordes of time travelers, finicky ghosts, and neighborhood demons, there lurks in the background the effects of the region’s rapidly shifting environment. There are wildfires, wind storms, unrelenting heat, disrupted butterfly migration patterns, a new plague, and a catastrophe on the slopes of Mount Rainier that reverberates through three generations of a single family over the course of a half dozen linked stories.
With Krow’s signature blend of sardonic whimsy and unsettling insight, Sinkhole, and Other Inexplicable Voids imagines the rules to be broken, choices to be made, and even crimes to be had, for the sake of the people, and places, we love.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 28, 2025
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4849 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews
October 12, 2025
4 STARS
This book took me by surprise because I went in expecting a collection of short stories about "women [...] striv[ing] to be good mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers, wives, and companions in a world that is constantly shifting around them" as it says in the blurb on the back of the book. These stories certainly were about that but they were about so much more, about climate change, about inter-generational connection, about family and obligation. And it was much more cohesive than I had anticipated which I immediately liked a lot.
The first story in this collection "The Twin" immediately drew me in because it was weird and I like stories that don't explain everything and leave the reader somewhat baffled. This book had a lot of those. When I realized that Jenna and Troy as well as their children Ruby, Jace and Nicholas are recurring characters throughout the stories in this collection, I was elated because I love a good metanarrative and leaving spaces for the reader to fill in on their own. In the end, these are various short stories, but at the same time they form a unified narrative about the future of the world, about climate change and about human connection in times of crisis.
I really enjoyed the collection. I was reminded of Shirley Jackson's writing a little bit because some things, especially in the first stories, were weirdly uncanny and definitely unsettling. And Jackson is also a master at subliminally connecting her stories with each other and creating a universe that the reader only catches glimpses of through various short stories. Krow does the same thing, though the connections here are way more overt than they are in Jackson's work.
Overall, I wholeheartedly recommend this collection. Don't read just one or two stories though, you should definitely read through this entire thing and let what you read sink in. I believe this is a great piece of ecofiction and I'm very happy I picked this up on a whim at the library.
This book took me by surprise because I went in expecting a collection of short stories about "women [...] striv[ing] to be good mothers, daughters, sisters, grandmothers, wives, and companions in a world that is constantly shifting around them" as it says in the blurb on the back of the book. These stories certainly were about that but they were about so much more, about climate change, about inter-generational connection, about family and obligation. And it was much more cohesive than I had anticipated which I immediately liked a lot.
The first story in this collection "The Twin" immediately drew me in because it was weird and I like stories that don't explain everything and leave the reader somewhat baffled. This book had a lot of those. When I realized that Jenna and Troy as well as their children Ruby, Jace and Nicholas are recurring characters throughout the stories in this collection, I was elated because I love a good metanarrative and leaving spaces for the reader to fill in on their own. In the end, these are various short stories, but at the same time they form a unified narrative about the future of the world, about climate change and about human connection in times of crisis.
I really enjoyed the collection. I was reminded of Shirley Jackson's writing a little bit because some things, especially in the first stories, were weirdly uncanny and definitely unsettling. And Jackson is also a master at subliminally connecting her stories with each other and creating a universe that the reader only catches glimpses of through various short stories. Krow does the same thing, though the connections here are way more overt than they are in Jackson's work.
Overall, I wholeheartedly recommend this collection. Don't read just one or two stories though, you should definitely read through this entire thing and let what you read sink in. I believe this is a great piece of ecofiction and I'm very happy I picked this up on a whim at the library.
Read
December 10, 2024This is the first time I’ve encountered Krow’s work. Having read this, I’ve bought her novel and first collection. That’s how impressed I was.
The collection is an excellent mix of the surreal—a girl octopus has a meet-cute with a boy octopus in a neighbouring cave—the hilarious—time travellers keep popping up in a town in America to save the planet from a world-ending plague—and the bizarre—an adult size newborn (yes, a literal man baby) is babysat by a college friend of the mother and gets pissed (not entirely accidentally) on Bloody Marys.
The title story, “Sinkhole,” about a stygian abyss found in the backyard of a newly purchased house (it’s why the place was so affordable) that fixes anything thrown into it, has been optioned by Jordan Peele. The story's ending asks a sinister question that I feel the movie, if it's made, will address.
Spread across the collection is a suite of six stories—five of which centre on the same family over several decades. The first couple of stories are akin to Krow’s weirder fiction—the first piece sees the baffling appearance of a twin boy lying next to his brother in the crib. The boy is named Nicholas, and in the second piece, we learn he might be able to create things—an Egret—from nothing. But the following three stories shift their focus to climate change and the way the family addresses the climbing temperature conditions that saw the glaciers on top of Mount Rainier melt, leading to a devastating mudslide (which is described in detail in the astonishing “Outburst” the sixth of the linked stories and the only one not to feature the family).
It’s these linked stories—stories about how a family acts in times of crisis—the fear, the love, the support—that elevate the collection and make it more than the sum of its parts.
[Sinkhole and Other Inexplicable Voids: Stories is out in January. You can read my longer, much sexier review of the collection in the January issue of Locus.]
The collection is an excellent mix of the surreal—a girl octopus has a meet-cute with a boy octopus in a neighbouring cave—the hilarious—time travellers keep popping up in a town in America to save the planet from a world-ending plague—and the bizarre—an adult size newborn (yes, a literal man baby) is babysat by a college friend of the mother and gets pissed (not entirely accidentally) on Bloody Marys.
The title story, “Sinkhole,” about a stygian abyss found in the backyard of a newly purchased house (it’s why the place was so affordable) that fixes anything thrown into it, has been optioned by Jordan Peele. The story's ending asks a sinister question that I feel the movie, if it's made, will address.
Spread across the collection is a suite of six stories—five of which centre on the same family over several decades. The first couple of stories are akin to Krow’s weirder fiction—the first piece sees the baffling appearance of a twin boy lying next to his brother in the crib. The boy is named Nicholas, and in the second piece, we learn he might be able to create things—an Egret—from nothing. But the following three stories shift their focus to climate change and the way the family addresses the climbing temperature conditions that saw the glaciers on top of Mount Rainier melt, leading to a devastating mudslide (which is described in detail in the astonishing “Outburst” the sixth of the linked stories and the only one not to feature the family).
It’s these linked stories—stories about how a family acts in times of crisis—the fear, the love, the support—that elevate the collection and make it more than the sum of its parts.
[Sinkhole and Other Inexplicable Voids: Stories is out in January. You can read my longer, much sexier review of the collection in the January issue of Locus.]
Want to read
January 31, 2025easily my most anticipated release of 2025 - no question
January 14, 2025
"I thought for a long time, I was a good mountain. I wanted to hold and hold well."
I like to think of Leyna Krow's succinct, history laden and slightly unsettling stories as a series of warrens just meters below our feet. With rabbits old and young navigating the interconnected tunnels of their own design, they all have the same goal: to protect their home and families.
Krow weaves an ornate tapestry of tales culminating in a chapter that seemingly wraps up everything with a neatly tied blood red ribbon. Krow blends the unimaginable with harsh reality to remind us all of the ominent 'gift' under that ribbon that awaits us all.
(Read in preparation for an interview with Leyna Krow, will insert link to article when it's live.)
I like to think of Leyna Krow's succinct, history laden and slightly unsettling stories as a series of warrens just meters below our feet. With rabbits old and young navigating the interconnected tunnels of their own design, they all have the same goal: to protect their home and families.
Krow weaves an ornate tapestry of tales culminating in a chapter that seemingly wraps up everything with a neatly tied blood red ribbon. Krow blends the unimaginable with harsh reality to remind us all of the ominent 'gift' under that ribbon that awaits us all.
(Read in preparation for an interview with Leyna Krow, will insert link to article when it's live.)
dnf
May 12, 2025I guess this author is not for me in the end. I’m more bored than engaged with most of the stories.
I liked the first two stories - The Twin and Sinkhole. So I had high hopes! Then it became like… I liked aspects of the stories but ultimately felt disappointed. I also did not care for the way we kept returning to the characters of The Twin in more stories. Krow did a similar thing in her other collection, so maybe that’s a pattern she wants to maintain. But I find the interconnected bits the least interesting part here and in the other collection.
I liked the first two stories - The Twin and Sinkhole. So I had high hopes! Then it became like… I liked aspects of the stories but ultimately felt disappointed. I also did not care for the way we kept returning to the characters of The Twin in more stories. Krow did a similar thing in her other collection, so maybe that’s a pattern she wants to maintain. But I find the interconnected bits the least interesting part here and in the other collection.
August 26, 2025
This is hovering somewhere between 2-3 ⭐️ for me. I really wanted to like this but it was just a little too strange for me. Def was other worldly and had moments of like woah that was intriguing. I found that because it was a series of short stories, I was desperately trying to figure out how they were connected which came easier in some chapters than others, but overall just didn’t love, did hate. Not sure if I’d recommend this to everyone but maybe a select few literary geeks out there.. lookin at u @nickkuell
September 7, 2025
This is such a strange collection of stories, I don’t know how to review it. The complexity of family was done so well- these stories are full of generations of women and how they navigate being mothers and daughters and sisters and wives. The collection started coming together for me right around the octopus story. The story about the lahar was the most impactful- I was surprised by how strong my emotional response to it was- but the story that made me feel the most was the story with the butterflies. Loved all of the stories with the three siblings- fascinating dynamics.
March 26, 2025
An insightful, funny jaunt through an uncertain future. Loved it.
September 3, 2025
Easily the best short stories collection that I’ve read this year.
December 19, 2025
I received this book as a Goodreads giveaway. Leyna Krow’s stories in "Sinkhole, and Other Inexplicable Voids" are weighted by the varied reactions to the climate disasters we’re seeing, some in their own ways. From denial to despair to a simple refusal to look to finding strength in neighbors or in love, even the most seemingly unrelated tales explore connection and what we owe to each other in a world that is crumbling.
Mu favorite of these stories is “Outburst,” in which a young scientist, Andi, discovers that according to her research, a glacier on Mount Rainier will collapse any day, releasing a disastrously sized lahar, or rush of mud and water, into the valley. She tells everyone she knows, but no one wants to hear it. Her mentor is interested only in getting her own proprietary sensors involved. A fellow professor turns out to be using her for emotional support. Locals in town are all waiting for a disaster, but a different one—they’re focused on possible wildfires. Her family only half-listens, thinking it would be too wild to evacuate before anything has happened. And so all Andi can do is observe. She gets to know the townsfolk. Upset when her parents appear for a visit, she finds herself showing them around. When no one is listening, all she can do is witness, and wait for a disaster she knows is coming. This is a feeling that too many scientists today can likely sympathize with. That so many activists, too, know well. She screams warnings and no one listens. And so she’s filled to the brim with impending doom, doubt, guilt, and anxiety, even as the people around her simply go on obliviously with their everyday lives.
Overall the book offers a playful yet earnest examination of how people interact with each other and the world.
Mu favorite of these stories is “Outburst,” in which a young scientist, Andi, discovers that according to her research, a glacier on Mount Rainier will collapse any day, releasing a disastrously sized lahar, or rush of mud and water, into the valley. She tells everyone she knows, but no one wants to hear it. Her mentor is interested only in getting her own proprietary sensors involved. A fellow professor turns out to be using her for emotional support. Locals in town are all waiting for a disaster, but a different one—they’re focused on possible wildfires. Her family only half-listens, thinking it would be too wild to evacuate before anything has happened. And so all Andi can do is observe. She gets to know the townsfolk. Upset when her parents appear for a visit, she finds herself showing them around. When no one is listening, all she can do is witness, and wait for a disaster she knows is coming. This is a feeling that too many scientists today can likely sympathize with. That so many activists, too, know well. She screams warnings and no one listens. And so she’s filled to the brim with impending doom, doubt, guilt, and anxiety, even as the people around her simply go on obliviously with their everyday lives.
Overall the book offers a playful yet earnest examination of how people interact with each other and the world.
December 19, 2024
Sorry - I'm going to go against the flow and offer the unpopular opinion here.
Through the majority of the book, I found these stories to be random, disjointed, without meaning or point. Several did not have endings - they just abruptly stopped. The first two stories center around the 'high-concept magic' mentioned in the summary, but with no real reason or direction - weird magic for no point relative to the rest of the book. I kept feeling like something was being built, but was never finished and I could never tell what it was supposed to be.
The exception are the six linked stories scattered though the book, skillfully wrapped up in the appendix "Selected Letters From Grandma Jenna". This collection (which should have been it's own story collection or novel) very clearly had messages for me - specifically, that there are no right or wrong answers. Is bringing children into this decaying world immoral? Yes it is / no it isn't - and either choice comes with guilt and fear. None of us are doing enough / we are all doing what we can. Ultimately it is a message that all sides have a point, all sides are 'right' in their way and we all could stand to strive to understand that better.
The 'Grandma Jenna' story line by itself will stick with me and would have garnered a 4 or 5 star rating by itself.
Through the majority of the book, I found these stories to be random, disjointed, without meaning or point. Several did not have endings - they just abruptly stopped. The first two stories center around the 'high-concept magic' mentioned in the summary, but with no real reason or direction - weird magic for no point relative to the rest of the book. I kept feeling like something was being built, but was never finished and I could never tell what it was supposed to be.
The exception are the six linked stories scattered though the book, skillfully wrapped up in the appendix "Selected Letters From Grandma Jenna". This collection (which should have been it's own story collection or novel) very clearly had messages for me - specifically, that there are no right or wrong answers. Is bringing children into this decaying world immoral? Yes it is / no it isn't - and either choice comes with guilt and fear. None of us are doing enough / we are all doing what we can. Ultimately it is a message that all sides have a point, all sides are 'right' in their way and we all could stand to strive to understand that better.
The 'Grandma Jenna' story line by itself will stick with me and would have garnered a 4 or 5 star rating by itself.
April 21, 2025
4.5 stars
I was introduced to Leyna Krow through her 2022 debut novel "Fire Season," which was one of my favorite books of that year. But it wasn't until this story collection was hitting shelves that I even knew she had new work coming out, and since then I haven't heard much buzz surrounding it. Which just means that Krow was once again a wonderful surprise for me—this was an excellent collection that I thought built upon itself and got better with every story.
These stories are connected by themes of a helplessness in an unraveling world and how characters decide to live and connect with others (or don't) as things crumble around them. There's a lot of weird here—including a first-person perspective octopus meet-cute—but some entries are more grounded, and all are moving. There's a lot of dark humor in Krow's writing, but I felt every element of human emotion through this book.
If you like a little dark humor and magic realism, I encourage you to check this collection out. Krow deserves more attention.
I was introduced to Leyna Krow through her 2022 debut novel "Fire Season," which was one of my favorite books of that year. But it wasn't until this story collection was hitting shelves that I even knew she had new work coming out, and since then I haven't heard much buzz surrounding it. Which just means that Krow was once again a wonderful surprise for me—this was an excellent collection that I thought built upon itself and got better with every story.
These stories are connected by themes of a helplessness in an unraveling world and how characters decide to live and connect with others (or don't) as things crumble around them. There's a lot of weird here—including a first-person perspective octopus meet-cute—but some entries are more grounded, and all are moving. There's a lot of dark humor in Krow's writing, but I felt every element of human emotion through this book.
If you like a little dark humor and magic realism, I encourage you to check this collection out. Krow deserves more attention.
April 28, 2025
“It seemed to me love was always a little selfish. Or more accurately, love was always an act of sacrifice. Sometimes you sacrificed your plans, sometimes you sacrificed your space. Sometimes you sacrificed your offspring and your duty to your species and the implicit promise you made to the millions of strong, beautiful female octopuses who came before you. You gave that all away in the name of something better, something just for you.”
i absolutely loved this! not only is each story fantastic on its own, the connections and common themes within the collection as a whole makes it a 5 star. the standout story for me was definitely “the octopus finds love at home,” so much so that i wish it was a full length novel.
i absolutely loved this! not only is each story fantastic on its own, the connections and common themes within the collection as a whole makes it a 5 star. the standout story for me was definitely “the octopus finds love at home,” so much so that i wish it was a full length novel.
March 9, 2025
Found via The Millions 2025 book preview, and I haven't seen this talked about anywhere else.
After trying to start about a dozen novels this week and being unable to focus on any of them, I decided to have a go at short stories and pulled this out of my kobo library. I always enjoy interconnected short stories, although I didn't like that some of these (like the octopus and the finger choppers) were more standalone and therefore felt out of place. The writing was solid and the themes of environmental apocalypse were interesting, but overall I just don't feel like this is a book that made a lasting impact on me, as it felt a bit forgettable even as I was reading it.
After trying to start about a dozen novels this week and being unable to focus on any of them, I decided to have a go at short stories and pulled this out of my kobo library. I always enjoy interconnected short stories, although I didn't like that some of these (like the octopus and the finger choppers) were more standalone and therefore felt out of place. The writing was solid and the themes of environmental apocalypse were interesting, but overall I just don't feel like this is a book that made a lasting impact on me, as it felt a bit forgettable even as I was reading it.
August 1, 2025
This was inventive and funny and touching - I particularly loved the story about butterfly murder walks, but also enjoyed spending time with the family that was threaded throughout the book (Jenna, Troy, Jace, Nicholas, and Ruby), the Moser story, Outburst, etc.
Itching to go hang out in the Pacific Northwest even more now! Would happily read more Leyna Krow, and grateful to the Gretagram newsletter for mentioning this one.
Itching to go hang out in the Pacific Northwest even more now! Would happily read more Leyna Krow, and grateful to the Gretagram newsletter for mentioning this one.
March 10, 2025
Krow's writing feels very contemporary, a particular kind of writing which might not appeal to all readers. Fire Season felt more coherent. Of course, these were short stories, some of them related through the characters who were part of a family. Something fatalistic and inappropriate in some stories felt contrived.
March 17, 2025
I liked these stories while I was reading then but often did not understand when they came to an end because so few of them felt like that stopping point was an ending. Also the magical or the unusual or the unexplainable didn't seem to necessarily follow any rules within the the world of the story which is not a huge deal but which irked me enough to keep thinking about it.
January 29, 2025
First half of book better than second. If you're looking for an intro to her work, recommend the excellent "Fire Season" over this. That said, some good short stories in Sinkhole and it wasn't too dense a read.
March 13, 2025
The stories are unsettling and funny. Magical and real. The characters seem like actual humans. I didn’t know fiction science was a thing; now I do. Also, in the spirit of full transparency: I have a soft spot for books set in Spokane. And ones written by people I know.
May 21, 2025
Some of the short stories were more captivating than others, but all had that slightly unnerving feeling that something bad was going to happen (reading about climate change will do that to ya!). Loved the octopus love story though.
June 17, 2025
I loved this collection so much!! Leyna has a beautiful way of capturing the feeling of doom that is so present in our reality. Her imagination and writing is so creative - I need a full length novel of the time travelers!
June 26, 2025
All the stars for this collection of stories, I didn’t want any of them to end! Gorgeously written, funny and tender. I can’t wait to read everything by Leyna Krow now. So happy I picked this up on a whim at the library and now I can’t wait to buy a copy and read these beautiful stories again.
July 1, 2025
Not a big fan of short stories and I wasn’t aware this was a short story collection before I picked it up. I kept wanting to know more but the stories kept having abrupt endings. However after finishing the book, I kept reminiscing on the stories and making my own after stories.
July 4, 2025
I'm not usually a fan of short stories, as they lean depressing and cerebral. This collection, however, felt connected and had personality (although sometimes was depressing). Definitely one I will be thinking about.
July 16, 2025
Unsettling, surreal, beautiful, a glimpse into the realities of climate change in the near future, a commentary on what it means to be a parent, a universe of bizarre amidst the mundanity—and so much more. I loved every second of this read. 5 stars, no notes. I just want more.
July 26, 2025
I love weird books about weird phenomena and weird families. I liked most short stories especially the ones about Jenna and Troy's family, as I wasn't expecting repeating characters. I also liked the climate change commentary and the time traveling one. All in all, the book was entertaining 3'5/5
January 8, 2025
I liked the short stories, cliffhangers, and sense of mystery. They’re like adult goosebumps books when you get to pick your own ending lol. Has a hint of dystopian present to it.
January 19, 2025
Beautifully done interconnected stories on being a woman and climate change. Wonderful full cast audiobook.
Read
February 15, 2025Good
March 16, 2025
Not my typical read
Displaying 1 - 30 of 42 reviews