A Literary Jewel Box: Catherynne M. Valente’s The Future is Blue

I have been following Catherynne M. Valente’s writing career literally since it began. We were LiveJournal acquaintances ages ago, and I remember being delighted for her when she announced the publication of her very first novel, The Labyrinth. I remember reading about the then-fictional Fairyland books in Palimpsest, one of the most beautiful and unusual novels that I’ve ever read. When I learned that she would be publishing The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making for real, I was thrilled. So, it was with great anticipation that I pre-ordered her latest short story collection, The Future is Blue, from Subterranean Press.

Are you familiar with Subterranean Press? If not, you’re welcome / I’m sorry. Subterranean releases beautiful limited edition novels and novellas. And they aren’t kidding about things being limited. I’m not 100% familiar with their process, but I can’t say that I’ve ever seen them reprint anything after it’s sold out. Happily, if you missed out on one of their books, and you just want the story, you can sometimes purchase their offerings in electronic format. This is fortunate for those of us who may not always be able to afford the gorgeous limited edition hardcovers.

The Future is Blue (2018)
Written by: Catherynne M. Valente
Genre: Fantasy (mostly — it is an anthology after all)
Pages: 368 (Kindle)

Disclaimer: Despite my pre-order, I threw my hat in the ring at NetGalley on the off chance that Subterranean might decide to let me read an ARC. They did! So, even though I purchased this book, I still received a review copy of the novel from the publisher via NetGalley. My opinions are my own.

Why I Chose It: I’ve already mentioned that I’m a longtime reader of Valente’s work. There are a few authors on my Must Read list, and Valente is near the top of that list.

The premise:

Subterranean Press is thrilled to present a major new collection from one of the most dazzling, distinctive voices in the literary world. Catherynne M. Valente, the New York Times bestselling and multiple-award-winning author of The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making and other acclaimed novels, now brings readers fifteen stories unlike any others.

In the title story, Theodore Sturgeon Award-winning novelette “The Future Is Blue,” an outcast girl named Tetley lives on floating Garbagetown, in a world that dreams of the long lost land. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos is explored and reinvented in style in “Down and Out in R’lyeh.” In the novelette “The Limitless Perspective of Master Peek, or, the Luminescence of Debauchery,” Perpetua masquerades as a man in order to continue her father’s business as a glassblower and must fashion a special eye for a queen. And in “The Beasts Who Fought for Fairyland Until the Very End and Further Still,” the wyvern A-Through-L, the warrior Green Wind and his giant cat the Leopard of Little Breezes cope with their broken-hearted disappointment over politicks as the evil Marquess ascends to rule.

Of her previous collection, The Bread We Eat in Dreams, the New York Times said, “Valente’s writing DNA is full of fable, fairy tale and myth drawn from deep wells worldwide.” With The Future Is Blue she continues to build and invent unforgettable worlds and characters with lyrical abandon, creating stories that feel old and new at once.

The Future Is Blue also includes three never-before-printed stories, for almost 30,000 words of work exclusive to this collection: “Major Tom,” “Two and Two Is Seven,” and the long novelette “Flame, Pearl, Mother, Autumn, Virgin, Sword, Kiss, Blood, Heart, and Grave.”

No spoilers

Discussion: Reviewing a short story collection is not easy at all. It would be far too easy to fall into the trap of reviewing each and every story.

One of the standouts for me is the titular story, “The Future is Blue.” I’m also going to highlight this one because, joy of joys, a sequel is coming out next year! This was easily one of my favorite stories. Tetley, the heroine, is so lovable and optimistic, despite the trials that she faces in her everyday life. The story itself is a class in the “show don’t tell” rule of fiction. Valente opens up Tetley’s world just enough to intrigue the reader. Garbagetown, the setting, isn’t ever fully explained or explored; the reader sees and experiences what Tetley decides to reveal in her narrative. You don’t fully understand what’s going on until the last few sentences of the story. Valente draws out the experience, letting you experience Tetley’s reality while you learn of her past and what has brought her to this time in her life. It’s an almost agonizing process, this waiting game. I remember grousing “But WHY is this happening to you?” when Tetley described the treatment that she receives from the other citizens of Garbagetown. Once the revelation appeared, I had to go back and read the story again.

I’m also very fond of “Down and Out in R’lyeh.” Lovecraftian stories are becoming some of my favorites. This story, from the point of view of Moloch, an eldritch youth (I can’t say “teenager,” as Moloch is “only 5,000” years old), who resides in (you guessed it) the city of R’lyeh. Recent reviews of Valente’s newest novel, Space Opera focus on the humor. I am here to tell you that Valente’s always been humorous, and this story (originally published in Uncanny Magazine in 2017) is a prime example. Imagine descriptions that you may have read of this famed, watery metropolis. Do any of them include phrases like “the tacky interdimensional shopfronts selling rubbish nobody wants,” or  “the ugly, kitschy non-Euclidean central business district brooding and moping up in your face”? Perhaps they should. Moloch is almost the polar opposite of Tetley, and that’s a great thing. They’re each shockingly realistic in their own way, and that’s what makes this (and all of the other stories in the volume) more than worth your time. Another quote from this story, because I can’t resist: “[Moloch’s sister] works her cloacas off downtown for some effulgy gloon on the Planning Committee—to which I say, how the fuck do you plan the descent of the known universe into bloody infinite shrieking madness? If you have to have a board meeting about it, what’s the fhatgn point?” (All quotes from the online edition of the story, because I don’t have my copy of the book handy to give you accurate page numbers or ebook locations).

I found all of the stories to be winners in their own way. My favorite stories involve complicated characters, those who have their own internal world and agendas. We aren’t always privy to them, and many of these narrators are unreliable, but that’s what makes reading this collection so fascinating. Each character is their own person, and no two of them are the same. I would advise reading only one of these stories per sitting; otherwise the POV shifts could be a little dizzying on one’s brain.

It is difficult to talk about Valente’s fiction without talking about the language itself. Valente’s writing is not for those looking for something to casual to peruse. This collection, as with all of her other works that I’ve read, requires your attention. The wordplay is strong with this one, and you don’t want to miss a single trick. I am in awe of Valente’s verbal acrobatics. I cannot describe them properly; you’re just going to have to experience them for yourself.

In Conclusion: If you haven’t read much of Valente’s fiction before, this is an excellent  way to see if her work might be to your liking. This collection is a very good sampler of her writing and gives you an idea of what you might be getting yourself into if you decide to pick up one of her novels (either the Fairyland series, or Space Opera would be great places to start). Happily, you can acquire this collection for your very own. It’s available in electronic formats in several places (for an extremely reasonable price). I’ve also done some digging and you can acquire a physical copy from a few retailers. I’m glad that I read this, and I look forward to reading it again in the future.

If you like this beautiful book cover, and want to see more of artist Galen Dara’s work, check out her website at this link.