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Over the past few years, I’ve slowly moved away from ebooks. It has been part of a collective return to social media, an attempt to create a deeper sense of ownership of what I love and collect. A Kindle is obviously more convenient than a paperback: It’s smaller, has a bigger library, and you can buy new books instantly. But, similar to retro game cartridgesI find that there is a deep connection made with a book dug out of a tree in a used shop versus just choosing the next item on a list from a menu on an e-reader. But I haven’t given up on my Kindle, and there’s one big reason – actually, there are a lot of smaller reasons.
Amazon’s Original Stories Publishing has slowly evolved into a great collection of short stories, often by big-name authors and great if you like this genre of fiction. The latest, which came out this week, is called “Magic and Mystery,” and it brings together a bunch of fantasy writers and has them read comic book mysteries, many of which involve murder of some sort.
Like the old collection – which has analyzed everything from a large space to straight risks – the stories here are incredibly diverse, exploring the topic in a variety of ways and intellectually. Biography of Travis Baldree Miss Gentle is the Case of the Most Orderly Monksfor example, it introduces a police character that I really need to see to solve some mysteries: an old woman who is fully armored in human armor, and never shows her face. Robert Jackson Bennett Lion’s tuskthis time, it involves a gruesome murder at a royal wedding, and features an ingenious and mysterious murder weapon unlike anything I’ve ever seen or read about.
Some of the most interesting stories can squeeze a whole bunch of world-building into a short story that you can finish in one go. Biography of Heather Fawcett The Bee Labyrinth it introduces a fantasy realm rich with the history of competing gods and religions, while The Witch Who Kept Suspicious Author Scott Lynch convincingly portrays an ancient arrangement of magic users who have been friends for years, and meet every 13 years to socialize and show off their skills.
There are two main features of these meetings. One, obviously, is the news itself. I recommend all seven shorts in “Magic and Mystery,” and my favorite authors have contributed in the past. This includes the likes of Min Jin Lee (Pachinko), Lauren Beukes (Bright Girls), and NK Jemis (The Legacy Trilogy), and Jeff VanderMeer (and Southern Reach list). There is even an original six-part story from Guillermo del Toro and Chuck Hogan that Netflix is turning it into a movie. Short stories are an often overlooked genre that allows you to discover new writers and gives established writers a chance to be weird and experimental. Often times, this results in a memorable work for the writer. Arthur C. Clarke has published many books, but nothing has ever stood out to me as a terrifying summary. Stars.
But what is also good about this product from Amazon is the freedom it offers. Historically, short stories have appeared in magazines or in larger groups. But on a digital platform like Kindle, you have more options in how you interact with stories. Although I think every story in “Magic and Mystery” is worth checking out, you don’t have to buy the whole thing at once. Each clip is available individually, giving the collection an episodic feel. It’s like watching an anthology like Black Mirrorwhere as soon as one part is over, you can decide where you want to go, or if you want to continue. The articles are cheap enough — often running a buck or two — that they easily get lost in a random shopping spree.
The downside is that these shorts are mostly available on Amazon. There is only one thing – del Toro’s The Boy in the Iron Box and to find physical release – but digging into these categories requires having a Kindle, or reading the app on your phone. For me, that was reason enough to keep my readers paying even though my shelves are full of physical books.
