Unnatural Selection

by Shelly Bryant, Jason Erik Lundberg (Introduction)

Across the story that unfolds in Unnatural Selection, Shelly Bryant pursues many of the impulses that speculative literature typically seeks to accomplish, along with the themes they explore. Her poetry has been described as ‘a puzzle’, ‘thoughtful’ and ‘nuanced’, which is able to ‘work with the nature of humanity’ and ‘confront the human experience.’ While all of this is certainly true, the secret ingredient is the sense of intelligent mischief that knits each poem together.

73 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2015

About the author

Shelly Bryant divides her time between Shanghai and Singapore, working as a poet, writer, and translator. She is the author of seven volumes of poetry, a pair of travel guides for the cities of Suzhou and Shanghai, and a book on classical Chinese gardens. Shelly’s poetry has appeared in journals, magazines and websites around the world, as well as in several art exhibitions. Her translation of Sheng Keyi’s Northern Girls was longlisted for the Man Asian Literary Prize in 2012. Launch Pad (2017) is her first fiction collection.

Reviews

[David Kellogg · Rating 3 out of 5]

OK, this is a pretty interesting, if not that substantial, book of poems.

Spoiler Alert
Surprisingly for a book of poems, this may be better if you don't know the "plot."

Imagine I Robot, or "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep" (or the movie that grew from it, Blade Runner) or the Cybermen from Doctor Who, or Planet of the Apes but with robots instead of apes. Then imagine that story of humanity's demise crossed with a lyric sensibility built on short forms (especially but not limited to the haiku). That's pretty much what you've got here. It's a clever and readable book of sci-fi lyrics connected in a narrative thread (the parts are quite rightly titled "Beginning," "Middle," and "End."

It's very clever, very readable, and not as profound as the end of humanity might be. The kinds of questions about what it already happening to us, cybernetically are left mainly to one side in favor of the "plot". Readability beats depth here. I enjoyed it, but I'm unlikely to read it again, as I do with poetry I value highly.