All the Hometowns You Can't Stay Away From

by Izzy Wasserstein

In her debut collection, Izzy Wasserstein pries the lid off fourteen different worlds from an already impressive short fiction career. In these pages, you'll meet ne'er-do-wells and orphans, investigators and revolutionaries, diplomats and doctoral students. Wasserstein has a gift for putting her finger on the meaty parts of grief, the catalysts of change, and the pain points of community.
This collection contains fourteen stories, two of which have never been seen before! "Case of the Soane Museum Thefts" unveils a crime of magical curation for its protagonist to puzzle over, while "Blades, Stones, and the Weight of Centuries" brings us the heir to an empire poised at the threshold of change.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories, Queer, Science Fiction, LGBT

204 pages, Paperback

First published July 6, 2022

About the author

Izzy Wasserstein was born and raised in Kansas. She teaches writing and literature, writes poetry and fiction, and shares a house with a variety of animal companions and the writer Nora E. Derrington. She likes to slowly run long distances.

Reviews

[Bogi Takács]

I blurbed this one! Here is what I had to say:

“Izzy Wasserstein has a postapocalyptic sensibility. Her debut collection All the Hometowns You Can’t Stay Away From contains many stories that deal with heart- and gut-wrenching destruction and loss, but this makes the shards of hope gleam all the brighter. Not everything is gone, and some things worth fighting for still remain. Izzy Wasserstein has an impressive range from epic fantasy to scientific mystery, but the emotional core of these stories is invariably resonant. All the Hometowns You Can’t Stay Away From will remain timely for the foreseeable future, and help guide readers through moments of despair to hard-fought joy; it belongs on your bookshelf too.”
____
Source of the book: e-ARC from the publisher for potential blurbing purposes

[Ladz · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read an ARC from the publisher

This collection is full of queer stories that cross streams between science fiction, fantasy, and horror, sometimes crossing over, but never being shy about it. There are multiverses, quests, terrifying boarding schools, haunted museums that need to be emptied, people resisting, people trying their best, and more. I inhaled these in rapid succession. You will find intricate worldbuilding and complex characterizations within these pages, and I’m excited to share my faves.

Overall, this collection is impressive. I am floored by the intricacy of these stories. They deliver the full plots and backstories of entire novels in a small space of several thousand words. The characters aren’t always loveable, but they are complex. They’re people who are trying, and the stories portray the best efforts, regardless the outcome. There is tenderness, but there is also resilience. The author’s notes at the end also provide wonderful context for both the structure of each story and Wasserstein’s process in the writing craft.

The range and variety Wasserstein brings to the table is truly a sight to behold. Here are the stories that I enjoyed the most, but there is something for everyone across the broad spectrum of SFFH:

“All the Hometown You Can’t Stay Away From”
* A kind of multiverse story in which the narrator comes home multiple times to different outcomes
* Similar through lines and characterization despite characters appearing or disappearing
* Bittersweet

“Unplaces: An Atlas of Non-Existence”
* A story told in the literal margins from an artifact in a Museum of Fascism
* Anti-fascist with incredibly lived-in world
* Tragic, hopeful, a roller coaster

“The Good Mothers’ Home for Wayward Girls”
* About a reform school there’s a new girl
* Things are not okay, and this continues to be among my favorite horror subgenres
* Horrifying and intriguing

“Dead at the Feet of a God”
* A high fantasy about assassinating a god told in a fractured, nonlinear timeline
* Angsty with intricate worldbuilding for such a tight space
* CW: corpses, execution

“Hopper in the Frying Pan”
* A cyberpunk near-fear where you’re in danger of becoming who you pretend to be
* Interesting use of social media as plot progression and hacking, so much hacking
* CW: police brutality

“Blades, Stone, and the Weight of Centuries”
* The words, “gladiomancer” and “pestimancer”
* High fantasy with dynamic sword fights and sword lesbians kissing
* Reckons with destiny and the desire for destiny

“The Grass Bows Down, The Pilgrims Walk Lightly”
* A blend of science fiction space exploration and worship of Norse gods (specifically Odin)
* Build, rebuild, explore, repeat
* Seeking something better after ecological collapse, and not stopping until it is found

“Shadows of the Hungry, the Broken, the Transformed”
* Sentient shadows in a police state backdrop and an MC pursuing a PhD
* Weaving as craft and magic
* Magic as a manifestation of loss and reflection

[Nathaniel · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was so beautiful.

My favourite stories:
The Good Mothers' Home for Wayward Girls
The Grass Bows Down, The Pilgrims Walk Lightly

While there were a lot of good stories, these two really stuck out to me. I wanted full novels for them. Wasserstein has a way with words. It was such a full, beautiful experience. I will definitely be reading more from her.

[Skye Kilaen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some of my new favorite fantasy and sci-fi short stories are in this collection by a queer trans woman author. I'd never heard of Wasserstein until I saw the announcement of her next book on Bluesky, and I am so happy I backtracked to this collection which came out in late 2022. If you enjoy either genre, definitely pick this up!

[Sam · Rating 5 out of 5]

A really interesting collection of speculative fiction short stories often focussed on grief, science, climate change, hierarchies and community (or lack thereof). Often queer, often anti-facist, often weird in the best way! I've read two books by Izzy Wasserstein now (this one and These Fragile Graces, This Fugitive Heart) and she has definitely catapulted herself to the spot of "Looking forward to her next work and pre-ordering asap" immediately!

My favorite short stories where:
"All the Hometowns You Can't Stay Away From" - A sci fi story about travelling to different universes and about returning to the home you were kicked out of as a kid, dealing with grief and loss. An incredible start to this short story collection and a really good intro into what to expect.
"Unplaces: An Atlas of Non-Existence" - A book about fantastical places interspersed with notes by an unknown author living through a facist regime and dealing with grief. Really beautiful and heartbreaking.
"The Good Mothers' Home for Wayward Girls" - A cosmic horror about an world ravaged by monsters and the girls trying to survive in it, really scary and I really enjoyed it!
"Requiem Without Sound" - An AI awakens in a lonely spaceship only to find that the pilot that coded her has died in an accident, very interesting exploration of consciousness
"The Case of the Soane Museum Thefts" - Ghosts heists! Taking back what British colonizers stole to put in museums and returning it to the communities it belongs to! Ghosts that steal stuff! Really good and fun!
"Hopper in the Frying Pan" - In a futuristic world where everything is plastered full with targeted ads, the only way to be free is to become a body hopper. When one of those hoppers finds herself in the middle of a murder investigation, she needs to find a way to fight back! I love a good cyberpunk murder mystery.
"The Grass Bows Down, the Pilgrims Walk Lightly" - A scientist has to figure out the reason why the grass bows down during a Pilgrimage in order to receive help from a more advanced alien species for humanity, during her walk she thinks about her past, really, really beautiful and reminded me a bit of LeGuins sci-fi.
"Five Reasons for the Sign Above Her Door, One of Them Unspoken" - A young man walks into an Inn. An Inn that's run and frequented by Chimeras, people who developed animal traits during their teenage years and are often shunned or fetishized by society. The trans metaphor is only thinly veiled, but I enjoyed it a lot! A heartbreaking (although very short) story, where I especially adored the end!
"Everything the Sea Takes, It Returns" - A woman wanders a post-apocalyptic world after the death of her wife, mostly sticking to the beach. When she sees another woman taking samples of the ocean, she joins her. Heartbreaking and beautiful.
"Shadows of the Hungry, the Broken, the Transformed." - A woman who finds herself unable to keep up with her university assignments of heartweaving after a loss leaves her untethered from her shadow. Very, very dense worldbuilding and a place I would absolutely adore to read more of.

[K.C. Norton · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was arranged the way the best albums are: standalone stories, but with repeating and interlocking themes, references, and ideas. In some stories, the world is past saving; in others, it’s well on its way to be healed. There are physical transformations and body swaps and monsters and horrors and found family. I love this on a technical level, as a series of smart commentaries, and just for the fun of it. I love this style of writing, the stories were tight, and the order of tales was a sheer delight. Neon Hemlock’s catalogue is all hits no misses for me so far. 👏

[Kai Ahia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Several stand out stories in this collection. A few I bounced off of but that’s inevitable in an anthology. The consistent tone across stories, even the ones not for me, really pulled the book together.

[Originalconcept · Rating 2 out of 5]

DNF@60%

Many creative premises with disappointing, predictable resolutions.

Once I realized that many stories followed the same template -- the plucky, marginalized protagonist contends with an unjust power structure at a cost -- I lost interest in reading further.

[Dimitri Alexei · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fucking incredible

[Venneh · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great collection that focuses on community, speculative futures, and deciding what to do in the wake of larger forces really fucking sucking. Great read for the start of 2025.

[Mari S.H. · Rating 5 out of 5]

really good! very gay! Lot of different worlds, a lot sad and dystopic, but really interesting reads as standalone pieces. Didn't feel too repetitive. I recommend!