Skin Folk: Stories

I think a short story collection can sometimes be a great introduction to an intriguing author. This was my first Hopkinson book. She is fascinating and a bit "freaky" (freaky as in weird and as in Rick James "Super Freak"). This was a book of short stories ranging from Caribbean folklore, to horror to science fiction. Her stories are sensuous, seductive and yeah a bit salacious as well. She is a gifted storyteller with a command of language many people would appreciate. (view spoiler)[Riding th [...]

What an amazing collection of speculative short stories! I almost loved this as much as Octavia Butler's collection Bloodchild, which is the best sf/fantasy short story collection ever, in my opinion.Full review to come on Casey the Canadian Lesbrarian. Here's the review!I’ve really been spoilt by fantastic short story collections this summer, and Skin Folk by Nalo Hopkinson is no exception. When I say fantastic, I mean it in more than one sense: these stories are remarkable, especially wrappe [...]

Part of fantasy's appeal is that it takes you some place unfamiliar. Yet Ursula Le Guin has rightly criticized the bias of much fantasy literature to assume that characters ought to be white and the world ought to look like medieval Europe. Even contemporary fantasy reverts to the European fairy tale model so often that, while Hans Christian Andersen and the Grimms are awesome, I find myself craving something different. So browsing through my library's eBook collection, when the words "Caribbean [...]

I don't usually like short stories but I absolutely adored this collection by one of my favorite authors, Nalo Hopkinson. In the vein of Octavia Butler, Hopkinson is a able to create wholly original science fiction/fantasy narratives that are rooted deeply in the lives of women of color. The tales in this book range from futuristic stories where racism persists in new forms, modern takes on fairy tales and disturbing narratives that are impossible to forget.

Although this collection is a little uneven, its best stories are powerful and sexy and indelible. Nalo Hopkinson is wonderful, wonderful, wonderful; her stories and novels mix postcoloniality, fabulism and queer studies in consistently entertaining and thought-provoking ways. I hesistate to make comparisons, but if you miss Octavia Butler dearly, and always sort of wish she was a little younger and Canadian/Jamaican and touchy-feely, Nalo Hopkinson's your woman. You should also read her most re [...]

Hopkinson's eerie and haunting collection of short stories influenced by her life and roots, both her Caribbean cultural heritage and her experiences living in Canada. With powerful, vivid prose, Hopkinson unveils strange, unsettling worlds in which an ordinary eggs give birth to strange, deformed monsters, glass storms cut up everything in their path, and trees take flight. Many of these stories explore darkness. "Snake" is an absolutely terrifying tale from the point of view of a child moleste [...]

What a wonderful short story collection. I loved the seamless jumps from realism to sci-fi to folklore. "Fisherman" came as a surprise, because it was very much erotica. Very well written, compelling erotica though. I've been trying to branch out with the type of authors I read, and this was a wonderful change of pace. I picked it up because so many people compared Ms. Hopkinson to the late Octavia Butler, and I was not disappointed. I'll be reading more of Nalo Hopkinson in the future for sure. [...]

Read "The Glass Bottle Trick" onthe Fantasy Magazine website. It's a bluebeard re-telling - and it's amazing - 5/5 stars. The setting and the way the culture immerses the story the way the folklore is brought in and the twist at the end - wow. No fainting heroine in need of rescue here. Her future may be uncertain, and we don't see how it turns out, but she thinks fast and with any luck it'll work in her favor.I need to read more of this author's work - definitely bumping her up to the priority [...]

While there's a couple of stories that aren't re-tellings, the rest of the volume is nearly evenly split between Caribbean and European folklore. And even the European based tales had a heavy Caribbean flavor.

I liked it.

Few things I've read in the last years were as creepy, as enjoyable, or as thoughtful as this collection of short stories.

A mixed bunch of short stories. Not all were to my taste but there was plenty of powerful prose and strong female characters. I enjoyed the way she infused culture and twisted fairy tales. Some of the stories I skimmed through as they did not grab my interest.

I adore how alive Nalo Hopkinson's prose feels. I can only hope to write something half as sensual. And yet, this collection gathers both brilliant stories and those that fall rather flat. In some, it felt like the only surprising or fresh element was the use of Caribbean mythology. And the myths were enough to keep my attention, but they can't be a substitute for plot.

I usually prefer novels to short fiction, but these are some of the best short stories I've ever read.

Oh, the language! The stories are good but the stories are spectacular with the language she uses.

Good stuff, I just want to read everything Nalo Hopkinson has written.

As with any collection, some of the stories here are excellent, some fall short for me. I was already familiar with some of the stories, but a lot were new to me. One of the troubles with a single-author collection is that it starts to sound same-y, by the end it starts to feel like every story has the same voice. I tried to stretch the reading out to minimize that, but Hopkinson has a very strong authorial style. That's not a bad thing, but for me it led to some fatigue. For my money, the best [...]

There were some good stories and characters, and I enjoyed the author's use of dialect, which really enriched the sense of atmosphere; but other stories somehow didn't fit with the rest of the collection, or were more like an isolated scene than a fully-developed story that goes somewhere or says something, so I have to withhold that third star.Based on the better stories, though, I will try some of the author's novels.Warning: many of the stories have a distinct sexual element, at least one bei [...]

This is a fantastic short story collection. Hopkinson combines elements of Caribbean culture and folklore with magical realism and speculative fiction, including a few “Black Mirror”-like stories about technology in the near future. She has an engaging, easy to read writing style that made this book a breeze. It’s only not a 5 because there were a couple stories that didn’t work for me as well as the others. If you enjoy speculative fiction you should read this book! I look forward to di [...]

Fun fun funI enjoyed every story in this collection. No two alike. I loved the rhythm of the language. That too seemed to change from story to story. The characters and settings, each unique and special. More than I expected, truly delightful.

Nalo Hopkinson is stunning as always. Only reason this isn’t 5 stars is that short stories aren’t my favorite literary form personally, but that has nothing to do with Hopkinson. I even found I liked her short stories more than I usually like short stories.

Fascinating, engrossing collection - whether a story is rooted in reality or twenty-minutes-into-the-future or in fairy tales from any one of a mass of traditions.Particular favorites: Under Glass, Precious, The Glass Bottle Trick, Something to Hitch Meat To.

Some very interesting and enjoyable stories in here, "A Habit of Waste" particularly stood out. The collection suffers from the stories feeling a little samey, as almost any collection of short stories from a single author does.

Many fun and interesting stories. Nalo Hopkinson has a wonderful voice and writing style. The mix of Caribbean folklore and sci-fi was refreshing and well done.

Some good stories, some so-so. It gave me a chance to learn a little about another culture, which is always good.

I loved this book. My favorite story was And The Lillies-Them A-Blow.

4.5 stars

Amazing collection of short stories about what's underneath.

I thought the stories in this book varied in quality, but some of them were very, very good. The book follows Hopkinson's theme of folk magical realism, and I enjoyed reading about the now familiar beliefs and customs of the characters in the stories. There were some science fiction stories thrown in for good measure, but with Hopkinson's brand of sensuality and culture thrown in. "The Glass Bottle Trick" and "Fisherman" especially resonated with me. "Fisherman" was perhaps the least couched in [...]

I really wanted to love this book. Nalo is represented by Don Maass, an agent I greatly respect whose ideas about story coincide with my own. The writing was excellent, but the stories usually left something out. I can't describe what. I realize they were short stories and that's fine, but they all felt unfinished. Or, worse, that Hopkinson was using that old trick of not telling us what happens because it's really up to the reader--a cheap trick, I might add, but I'm going to give her the benef [...]