This Side of the Divide: New Lore of the American West

by Danilo John Thomas (Editor), Vanessa Hua (Foreword), Willy Vlautin

This Side of the Divide: New Lore of the American West is the second entry in the Divide anthology series attempting to capture the newness, vastness, territoriality, and sense of transience alive in the American West. In this collection legends, myths, tales, omens, folk horror, and science fiction explore the fantastical, the apocalyptic, the bizarre, the unknown, and the apocryphal origins and conclusions of life on the occidental side of the Continental Divide. In this collection, after the ‘what is’ comes the ‘what will be’, as acclaimed authors and emerging voices weave tales that push the boundaries of imagination: Ken Liu takes us to the frontiers of America and China in a stark tale of perseverance; Kate Bernheimer immerses us in the fairytale lands of modern celebrity; Benjamin Percy takes us hunting for deer and connection in eastern Oregon; Yuri Herrera grants us insight on our future overlords; Tessa Fontaine places us in-between with a monster and a question; Dominique Dickey chases familiar ghosts; and Willy Vlautin takes us on the wild ride that is a winning streak.

Accompanied by a foreword from This Side of the Divide alum, and author of The Forbidden City, Vanessa Hua, these twenty-five pieces of new lore excavate the beauty, the uncertainty, the longing, the bitter interactions and stark truths; the strong people and vivid places that have shaped, and will continue to shape the West until the end of days.

Genres: Fantasy, Short Stories

220 pages, Paperback

Published February 7, 2023

Reviews

[Tara · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm honored to be in this anthology, and enjoyed each of these eclectic short stories. Standouts for me were Ken Liu's "What I Assume You Shall Assume," a Western with a nod to Asian American history and magical realism; Caitlin Palmer's "Man, Water, Dignity," a surreal dystopian story of a woman's search for water and her Self, beautifully lyrical; Tessa Fontaine's "Crepuscular," about a young woman who lives with her mother on the edge of a wilderness haunted by a beast; and Kathleen McNamara's "Pyrosome," a cli fi story set in Arizona on the bend of Otter Creek, which has no Otters. Also of note for me were Alyson Hagy's "Broken Crow" (Alyson is the author of Scribe, a favorite novel of mine) and Benjamin Percy's "Somebody Is Going to Have to Pay for This."

With a wonderful Intro by Vanessa Hua. This is not your typical anthology and keeps its promise of "New Lore of the American West." A good resource for creative writing courses or courses on hybrid or place-based writing.

[Jennifer Bradshaw · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great variety of stories -- of all of them, my favorite is "What I Assume You Shall Assume" by Ken Liu.

[JMitch · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF