Triangulation: Extinction

by Isaac E. Payne (Editor), Diane Turnshek (Editor), Joshua David Bellin

Can we bring a species back from extinction? Why are dragons not with us today? Would you condemn a whole species to die so you could live? Explore these tales of species extinction. Hold fast against the winds of death with the caretakers of the future. Decipher warnings from the past, the future, and worlds between worlds. Be more dangerous than the big game hunters. Doggedly track down the last specimen across three continents. Recognize messages aliens have left for us so we don't continue on the destructive path we're on. Are our successors already waiting in the wings?

Featuring stories from Hogan, Blake Jessop, Owen Leddy, Katie Sakanai, Joshua David Bellin, Marshall J. Moore, Elana Gomel, Rhonda Eikamp, Jamie Lackey, Jennifer R. Povey, Jim Hanson, Sean Jones, E.A. Petricone, Brett Kozlowski, Bradley Heywood, Jennifer Lee Rossman, Katrinka Mannelly, Bo Balder, Bethany Van Sterling, Steve Carr, Joy Kennedy-O'Neill, Marissa James, Brian Rappatta, Anya Ow, Michael Triozzi, Carina Bissett and Sam Hicks.

Genres: Short Stories, Science Fiction

230 pages, Paperback

Published September 2, 2020

Reviews

[Francisca · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m a fan of short stories, and climate—and all it implies—is at the center of what I do for a living, so finding an anthology of short stories with a massive man-made extinction as their common core was simply too enticing not to read it.

I was pleasantly surprise by the variety in the stories. From length to narrative styles there’s a little for everyone.

Funny thing, among this sea of stories one of my favorites became the one that opens the anthology. Less than 500 words (not even a page long) and by the time I reached the end I was as surprised as I was moved. Really, Warnings by Liam Hogan gives flash fiction a good name.

Also among my favorites was A Killing Garden by Owen Leddy. Perhaps because I read this anthology during quarantine, when solitude felt a lot like loneliness, but the idea of a girl surviving alone, human but not really, having to suddenly face the destructive nature of her own species, felt real and terrorizing.

But, none of the stories in this anthology made such a deep mark as There Were Giants On the Earth In Those Days by Marshall Moore, where three fantastic beast discus their fate as the water rises, looking at Noah’s Ark getting lost in the distance. This story is not only beautifully crafted and full of emotion but also it kind of answered a question I asked myself many times as a child, why did Noah abandon dragons and unicorns and giants and so many other creatures when his mission was to take two of each? Well, while my adult-self feels the question is moot, I was happy to discover I’m not the only one that once worried about the fate of such beast.

I have to say this anthology is one of the best I’ve read in the past years. Don’t take me wrong, almost every short-story anthology will have a few—at least one, for sure—good stories, but more often than not, I will find myself skipping to get to those I like, while reading all through this one was a nice journey full of happy discoveries.

[Radwa · Rating 4 out of 5]

As all anthologies, some stories were great and others were meh. It's always a good opportunity for me to discover new authors. and I've already put all of Triangulation anthologies on my wishlist because they're such a treat. I love it when anthologies have a good theme. It's always interesting to see what authors would do with it. All the authors here were new to me, so that's exciting too.

brief review of each story:
- Warnings by Liam Hogan: short and horrifying. 4 stars.
- The Bubble Tea Frogs by Blake Jessop: didn't expect this mix of anime, j-pop, and extinct frogs. a scientist's trip around asia looking for extinct frogs for his research. 4 stars.
- A Killing Garden by Owen Leddy: girl infected with a virus that makes her communicate with plants? a harrowing warning against deforestation. 3.5 stars
- Labyrinthula animalis by Katie Sakanai: A story told by a cell (?) after the extinction of all life on earth, and it really puts is face to face with all our wrongs. 4 stars
- Migratory by Joshua David Bellin: a visitor at a zoo where the circumstances are weird. wasn't very engaging despite liking the writing. 2.5 stars
- There Were Giants on the Earth in those Days by Marshall J. Moore: A spin on Noah's ark, explaining why no unicorns, dragons or giants are present on earth. gives me the vibes of "The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse". 4.5 stars
- Red is the Taste of Death by Rhonda Eikamp: a story of a marine biologist and her mission to save th dolphins in a dying world. Dolphins have always been the closest to my heart among marine animals. 4 stars.
- The Fire of Countless Stars by Jamie Lackey: A story instead of being set in the distant or near future, it's set in the medieval times, dealing with dragons and other fantastical creatures going extinct because of lack of magic. 4 stars.
- As much as the Crows by Jennifer R. Povey: a story about racism and genetics and generations that I'm not sure I fully understood. 3 stars
- Tales of the Shrub by Jim Hanson: a sad poem-like tale told by a shrub to the last human after tragey strikes, by our hands. 3.5 stars.
- Letters for Samantha by Sean Jones: In a world post a pendemic, two sisters joined by two gorillas navigate their collapsed world. Something similar to covid forces social distancing in an extra scary way. a broken down society that still have some sort of order. I'm intrigued to read a full length novel from that world. 4 stars
- We Only Have by E. A Petricone: Heartbreaking and wonderful. Extinction and rebirth. 5 stars
- The Perfect Solution by Brett Kozlowski: liked the dark humor in this one. any story with people dressing up as something else is bound to end up badly. 4.5 stars.
- Four Little Bees by Bradley Heywood: very weird writing and I didn't get on with this one at all. 1.5 stars.
- Will-o-the-Walmart by Jennifer Lee Rossman: a melancholic sad story about the artifical life we're heading towards (or are living) and how a little bit of nature can bring us back to life. 4 stars.
- No one needs a Chiweenie by Katrinka Mannelly: the first line of this story broke my heart as a cat lover, then it got sadder and sadder like the rest of the book. also, anything with gods ie just perfect. 4 stars.
- The Bambi Collaboration by Bo Balder: an interesting story about plastic pollution. 3 stars.
- Ancestral Nocturne by Bethany van Sterling: to short to make somthing out of it.
- Akiki, the Magician by Steve Carr: So many questions and not enough answers. about killing the gorillas and poachers. I believe it's the 2nd story to center on gorillas in this collection. 3 stars
- Run, Baby, Run by Joy KEnnedy O'neil: What an interesting look at extinction and bringing back species. 4 stars.
- In the Garden of Burning Plastic by Marissa James: such a sad sad story of how our life would looks like if we survived the destruction of all life forms and only had plastic for company. 4.5 stars.
- Conjugation of the Verb by Brian Rappatta: a story in the form of a wikipedia page. wierd and i'm not sure what it really implied.
- Loving Monsters by Anya Ow: love the tribal/folk setting in this. seems like it's set among the tribe of some indegineous people and a look on colonization, hunting rare creatures and the building of zoos. also somehow giving off Witcher vibes? 4 stars.
- Rare Seeds by Michael Triozzi: set in a rare seeds vault, a perfect place for a story about extinction. posing the question: at the end of times would we save ourselves or the hope for future humans? very dark and won't end well. 4 stars.
- Aviatrix Unbound by Carins Bissett: feels like a futuristic version of Circe? at least in a loose sense. 4 stars.
- Landscape on the Outskirts by Sam Hicks: I'm not entirely sure what is it I just read.

[Shawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short stories can be a great way to boil down an idea to its essentials. In this case, the stories emphasize the ideas of climate change, extinction, and the future of humanity. None are very long, but most are thought-provoking and several will make people immediately want to work toward changing what seems to be coming.
Some of my favorites from this work were "The Bubble Tea Frogs", a story about a scientist and his search for a possibly extinct from that holds the key to his future; "Will-o-the-Walmart", which brings to life the idea of paving paradise and what we might miss; and "Akikia, the Magician", the tale of Gorillas and the rangers who work to protect them.
The most haunting, however, was the tale which ends this collection: "Landscape on the Outskirts," featuring desolation tourists who come to stay with an old woman on the edge of an abandoned town. To me, this culminating story ties together the ideas in all the preceding works and is a perfectly selected ending.
If you enjoy short stories, dystopian fiction, stories of hope, or the triumph or tragedy of science, this collection is very worth a read.

Thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the opportunity to read an advance copy of this book.
#TriangulationExtinction #NetGalley #shortstories

[Alexandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

Unfortunately, I think I am simply not the intended intended audience for this book. It was presented on NetGalley as being within the horror genre, and although there are some horrific elements woven throughout these tales, none of them were strong enough for me to classify this as horror- and I tend to have a very broad definition of what horror is. This is definitely more sci-fi and fantasy. The stories were all well-written, but this book just wasn't for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Prospero · Rating 3 out of 5]

Full review: http://strangehorizons.com/non-fictio...