Black Juice

This is the first I've heard of Margo Lanagan, but I feel it won't be the last. Black Juice is a collection of short stories of the superb quality I have come to expect from the genre's Australian authors. I fully enjoyed every single one of the stories included in this book. * Singing My Sister Down- This is a very sad story about an unusual tribal punishment, and my favourite story in this collection. * My Lord's Man - A story about love, acceptance and misjudgement. * Red Nose Day - An interesting twist on the typical clown story. * Sweet Pippit - A beautiful story about elephants and their love for their handler. This is my second favourite story in this collection. * House of the Many - A story about the fading of our childhood impressions. * Wooden Bride - An interesting story about living up to our word. * Earthly Uses - A twist on the concept of angels. * Perpetual Light - Set in a future world where the air is unbreathable. * Yowlinin - Monsters and outcasts of society meet. * Rite of Spring - Singing in the season. * The Point of Roses - This is my pick for third place in this collection. A boy with great powers influences others. Margo's stories are magnificent, engrossing and above all, thought-provoking. My top three stories in this collection are Singing My Sister Down, Sweet Pippit and The Point Of Roses. All three of these stories are worthy of your attention.

Absolutely superb. Don't read the book copy (it might give too much away), in fact - don't even read these reviews. Just buy the book and dig in. You won't regret it.

The stories in this book are all beautiful and haunting. They are set in a variety of locations that may or may not be real, and they deftly combine everyday emotions with elements of the fantastic or surreal. These are the sort of stories you remember long after you have read them.

Read this collection. The stories are strange and different, the language is wonderful, the characters heartbreakingly real. This book is not particularly for teens -- these stories are sophisticated and some are quite dark. But more than that, these stories are full of that elusive "sense of wonder" that so many SF and fantasy readers are looking for. Look no further -- it's all here.

This is Lanagan's first collection published in the US (she has a # of other titles available in Australia) and it is a cracker! I almost recommend reading the first story last: it is so good and odd and different that you might have to take a break after reading before you read the rest. And you won't want to take that break, because this is one of the best collections you will read this year. Recommended for smart readers of any age.