I’ve been a fan of Theodora Goss for some time. Loved her The Collected Enchantments (you can read my review here) and her mashup novel, The Strange Case of the Alchemist’s Daughter (you can read my review here).

Tachyon Press just published Letters From An Imaginary Country which collects both new and older stories. In her informative and celebratory Introduction, Jo Walton asserts: “Theodora Goss is a significant writer, who is doing something different from everyone else, writing things only she can write, and things that are absolutely the lifeblood of the the fantasy genre.” (p. i)

Take “The Mad Scientist’s Daughter” for example. Here are the characters in this unusual story:

Miss Justine Frankenstein

Miss Catherine Moreau

Miss Beatrice Rappaccini

Miss Mary Jekyll

Miss Diana Hyde

Mrs. Arthur Meyrinck (nee Helen Raymond of Arthur Machen’s The Great God Pan)

Theodora Goss crafts a tale of an exclusive club for unique women and gives her characters a chance to deal with their history, identity, and circumstances. “The Mad Scientist’s Daughter” will stay with you for a long time.

Whether it’s “A Letter to Merlin” or “Lost Girls of Oz” you’ll find some marvelous stories in this collection. Don’t miss it! GRADE: A

TABLE OF CONTENTS:

Introduction by Jo Walton — i
“The Mad Scientist’s Daughter” — 1
“Dora/Dóra: An Autobiography” (original to this collection) — 25
“Cimmeria: From the Journal of Imaginary Anthropology” — 62
“England Under the White Witch” — 82
“Frankenstein’s Daughter” — 95
“Come See the Living Dryad” — 112
“Beautiful Boys” — 140
“Pug” — 148
“A Letter to Merlin” — 165
“Estella Saves the Village” — 181
“Pellargonia: A Letter to the Journal of Imaginary Anthropology” — 198
“Lost Girls of Oz” — 220
“To Budapest, With Love” — 242
“Child-Empress of Mars” — 254
“Letters From an Imaginary Country” (original to this collection) — 265
“The Secret Diary of Mina Harker” (original to this collection) — 286

Story Notes — 327