Folk Songs for Trauma Surgeons is a well curated collection of shorter fiction from Keith Rosson. Due out 23rd Feb 2021 from Meerkat Press, it's 206 pages and will be available in paperback and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
This is a mixed bag of short fiction, 15 in all (plus a short acknowledgements and author bio). One reason I prefer collections and anthologies is that short fiction is really challenging. It's spare and the author doesn't have a wealth of wordage to develop characters or plotting. Well written short fiction is a delight. I also love collections because if one story doesn't really grab me, there's another story just a few pages away. The book doesn't include author notes or previous publishing info.
These are generally high quality speculative fiction/fantasy realism. About half are distinctly dark with original takes on the world and our reality in it. Probably my favorite story (there are several standouts) was "The Lesser Horsemen". Who know the afterlife was streamlining their corporate culture?
Four and a half stars. Outstanding stories from a talented author at the top of his game. All of the stories were previously unfamiliar to me.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
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