The Variegated Alphabet

by Caitlín R. Kiernan

About the Book:

Long, long, long ago, in my faraway twenties, I stumbled across a comic book adaptation of Harlan Ellison’s exquisite The Chocolate Alphabet. I thought, Wow, this looks like fun. One day I’ll write one of these of my own! And I finally did, in the spring of 2006, when I wrote The Black Alphabet, twenty-six vignettes that added up to something greater, beginning with A is for Absinthe. And turns out it was fun. As an author who has a reputation for not actually enjoying the act of writing, it is a very happy day, indeed, when that sort of thing happens.

In fact, I enjoyed writing The Black Alphabet so much that I went on to write six additional alphabets: The Crimson Alphabet (2007-2008), The Yellow Alphabet (2010), The Aubergine Alphabet (2015), The Chartreuse Alphabet(2016), The Eldritch Alphabētos (2018), and The Cerulean Alphabet (2020). They are all collected here by Subterranean Press for the first time in a single volume. Which doesn't mean I've done my last primer. Because even after seven of them, it’s still fun.

Genres: Short Stories

288 pages, Hardcover

First published March 1, 2021

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

[Sjgomzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

This sublime collection of flash fiction features ancient sea gods, extraterrestrial fungi, cursed heirlooms, cult sacrifices, inter species sex, mythological beasts, bizarre nightmares, secret agents, forbidden relics, and just about anything else their unlimited imagination can conjure up. Cool stuff!

[Heather · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Eldritch Alphabetos alone was worth the cost of admission.

I really enjoyed most of this collection. There are some brilliant ideas here and, again, I LOVED The Eldritch Alphabetos so much I want more of their take on Lovecraftian mythos.

My only problem was there was so much sexual content and violence. At some points, it felt more like "look where I'm unafraid to go!" rather than actual ideas. I read this (mostly) at work and every entry that was like that, I thought, "oh, here we go again."

One of the ones that really sticks out to me in that vein was the entry of a women who was investigating an alien planet and took some liberties with her hazard equipment, so she wound up with a parasite attached to her clit. And instead of telling anyone around, she occasionally touches it so it gets her off.

It's impressive that a few entries seem to connect back to each other, but again they deal with pseudo-rape there are multiple entries where a woman is completely swollen up with bees entering her and building a hive and making honey inside her womb. When she touches her nipples, she leaks the honey and thinks about what exquisite pleasure she's in. Maybe I'm not thinking hard enough about it, but it just sucks some entries are about women being violated by horrors.

All that said, again, TEA is amazing. I can't wait to read the final Tinfoil Dossier novella and their Houses Under the Sea collection for more of the Lovecraft takes.

[Hannah · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was over the moon when I saw this was getting an ebook release - I'd looked at the print book several times and just couldn't justify the price. after reading, I think I would have been more disappointed if I'd dropped several hundred dollars on this vs the $10 I spent for the ebook. the CONCEPT of the alphabet as horror flash fiction is great, but the execution here didn't always do it for me. I think the alphabets definitely got better over time, and I enjoyed how some were in conversation with each other - though it did seem sometimes that there was repition that wasn't an intentional echo. some very unique and fascinating ideas here - I especially enjoyed when kiernan's paleontology background came shining through. on the whole I did enjoy this and will read more from the author, but it wasn't the knockout favorite I was hoping for.

there's a lot going on here that you're likely expecting, so the only thing I'll put a cw for is a w*****o in the aubergine alphabet

[Cassi]

Honestly, it's not for me. I tried. I made it over halfway through the ARC that Subterranean Press kindly sent to me, and while I can see why the Alphabet(s) have achieved cult status, four months of effort tells me this is simply not my cup of tea. I will say that the Subterranean Press edition -- even in softcover, ARC state -- is lovely, and those who enjoy the Alphabets will appreciate this well-designed volume.