A deeply original collection of short stories revealing a realm of possibilities unbound by the natural and supernatural
When it comes to fantasy, science fiction, and other stories that venture beyond realism, worldbuilding plays a significant role. This poses a particular challenge for shorter fiction, but one consistently, skillfully, and variably managed by Australian author, Dirk Strasser. This is a best of, of sorts, a sampler spanning two decades of his broad spectrum of inventive writing.
Stories of the Sand opens with the terrific title entry, a parable of redemption and healing in an exotic locale. In which three people, plus their guide, make a pilgrimage to the mysterious rymlands seeking something to ease their souls.
“The rymland night was a thing to behold. Above us was a canopy of vermilion stars unlike any I had seen before. They burned like angry flames on the dark canvas, and when you weren’t looking seemed to shift to form new constellations.”
This enrapturing story aptly sets the tone for what’s to come: a shifting cornucopia of genres and styles. There are shades of science fiction, speculative, horror, fantasy, myth, magical realism, and more, told with varying degrees of experimentation in terms in form, spanning the prosaic to the epic.
The inconstant human condition is the primary constant among a seemingly infinite amount of worlds. Often contemporary and relatable realism is transplanted, directly or via allusion, to alien or other unnatural environments to bring out each story’s essence. This is achieved with a minimalistic touch to that worldbuilding, giving just enough without saturating, as well as not letting the humanity get sidetracked by gadgets or effects.
The eighteen stories are loosely categorized in six groups of three. Beyond that, each is mutually exclusive and self-contained, save for a couple of entries transplanted from the author’s novels. Many share a dreamlike end-of-the-world aura of loneliness, whether in mood as in the opener, literally with a bored tour guide in “The Jesus Particle,” or eternally with “The Vigilant” where the appearance of demonic entities is always imminent in St. Kilda.
It takes finesse to make a complex story sound simple but several, such as the title story, as well as “The Final Birthplace,” evoke a much larger world and history that’s encapsulated in a short space. Similarly with “The Doppelganger Effect” and the eerie oppressiveness of the unknown haunting “Watching the Soldiers.”
“Suddenly the mist began to lift, and a brightness cut through the grey. For a moment Mikhael thought the golden skies of the first march were about to return, but . . . as the mist cleared, he could see a river of red stretching to the horizon. He saw the soldiers through a filter of blood.”
Throughout there’s an easy, polished manner in the storytelling that’s unhurried yet still moves along. The stories are fully evolved and the work put in to keep them concise is evident. It is apparent that, despite the great variations in, and voices of, individual stories, they stem from a singular imagination.
The disparateness in the stories inevitably will make some more appealing than others. While the actual stories are fine, those told in first person by younger male narrators (“Steering the Waters,” “At Rain’s Grey Remembering”) begin with a smart aleck tone in their voices that can be distracting, until the story evolves. Also, some endings (“i.e. In Theory,” “2084”) are ironically cute and feel a little too pat compared to more intriguing ones elsewhere.
A nice touch for each entry is a brief note from the author about the origins and inspirations. It’s reassuring to hear from the author verify that even in the more seemingly cryptic stories the gist of what was intended comes through. As the stories are not in chronological order, an indication of when they were written could be useful.
Stories of the Sand exhibits a subtle knack for crafting stories in genres that tend to reward expansiveness. That feeling of expansiveness, of larger worlds, is present and bolsters the stories but is restrained enough to not take over. The result is a refreshingly light sci-fi fantasy collection that’s as engaging as it is thought provoking.
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