Jeffrey Ford, The Empire of Ice Cream (Golden Gryphon, 2006)
I must admit that it is somewhat overwhelming just how much reading arrives here at Green Man to be reviewed. Naturally most of it goes out for review, but there are certainly things which I can't resist. Right now, this is what's in my reading pile -- the advance reading copy of Charles Stross' Glasshouse; The Sandman Papers, which is a look at Neil Gaiman's Sandman series and Jeffrey Ford's The Empire of Ice Cream. As usual, I tend to read three or more different books at a time, so this is typical mix. I'll read three or four chapters of the current novel being read, followed by a short story or two, with a bit of non-fiction tossed in as an aperitif between courses to whet the appetite. Now finding a readable novel is never been all that difficult ,as there's always a plethora of excellent novels arriving in the post to be read. I wish I could say this was also true for short fiction. Sometimes I despair of seeing a good collection arrive here, as almost all of the ones -- and I'll not name names! -- are hardly worth the paper they're printed on. I'm not saying that they're aren't good collections out there, but I will say they are as rare as attractive virgins in a twisted fable tale!
Now some of the finest collections I've ever read come from Golden Gryphon Press. What would I recommend from them? Oh, here's a list -- George Alec Effinger's Budayeen Nights and Live! From Planet Earth, Joe R. Lansdale's Bumper Crop, Kage Baker's Black Projects, White Knights -- The Company Dossiers and Ian R. MacLeod's Breathmoss and Other Exhalations to name but a few of the superb collections published by them. It's certainly worth noting what their editions are like, so I'll quote from my review of Live! From Planet Earth where I said
Now before we get to this collection, a few words about Golden Gryphon Press. It goes without saying that any publication, be it hard- or soft cover, from GPP will be of the finest quality possible -- and sold at a price which won't cause you to mortgage your favorite possessions to pay for owning it. (Live! costs a mere $25.95!) Incredible cover art, tastefully selected quotes (me in this case), and a great printing job mean a work which you will treasure for years. I have a number of GGP publications here, which are among the finest books in my library. On its Web site, GGP calls them 'Archival Quality Hardcovers' and I certainly wouldn't disagree with that claim.'
A good quality printing job is, in my opinion, as important to the reading experience as the actual text which I am reading. On this count, Golden Gryphon never disappoints me.
Jeffrey Ford's no stranger to me, as I had read his short fiction in such publications as Witpunk, Trampoline, The Faery Reel, The Silver Gryphon, The Dark, and I'm sure in multiple volumes of The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror. However, I've never read his short fiction all by itself, as I somehow missed reading The Fantasy Writer's Assistant & Other Stories which Golden Gryphon also published. This is not unusual, as I encounter most of the short fiction I read in anthologies of one sort or another. (I don't read any monthly fiction magazines, as none of them appeal to me. Too much dross and and not enough gold to make any of them worth reading.) So how was it as a collection?
Brilliant, absolutely brilliant. It wasn't quite as superb overall as Patricia McKillip's Harrowing the Dragon, which is the best collection I've read in quite some time, but it certainly will make my Best of The Year list.
My favorites? Certainly the title story of a young musician perceiving another world of senses as the result of drinking cup after cup of coffee is spot on. Then there's one of my favorite tales from The Faery Reel: Tales from the Twilight Realm (an anthology edited by Ellen Datlow and Terri Windling), 'The Annals of Eelin-Ok', where one of the Twilmish, a sort of very short-lived beach fey, tells of his ever so short adventures during those few hours between the outgoing and incoming tides.
You can savor 'The Empire of Ice Cream' online here as long as the corporate masters for that site leave it up. (Nice thing about The Empire of Ice Cream as a physical object -- once you've acquired it, the stories won't simply vanish without notice!) Without doubt, these two tales will stick with me long after I've put down this collection, but everything else is also excellent. Be advised that this collection -- like all single author collections! -- is best approached by reading one story a night.
Two of the stories herein, 'A Night in the Tropics' (where we learn of a possible demonic chess board!) and 'Boatman's Holiday', have or will be appearing in the platinum standard for genre anthologies -- The Year's Best Fantasy and Horror. Indeed I'm sure that much of the material in The Empire of Ice Cream will wind up garnering accolades from reviewers and award committees alike. Not to mention readers!
So how can you go wrong -- for only $24.95, you get a generous 135,000 words of Ford's superb writing, an introduction by Jonathan Carroll that is a treat in itself, and the ever-so-cool wraparound cover art by Hugo Award finalist John Picacio illustrating the title story. All in all, a great collection of short fiction pleasing presented.
Do finish your reading here off with 'Botch Town', a well-crafted novella (and the only previously unpublished piece in the collection) which is is 'autobiographical' in nature. This sweet tale of a kid for whom the mundane seems unreal and the fantastic is all too real should get a Hugo if there's any justice at all in this universe.
