At the Mouth of the River of Bees

Starred review from June 18, 2012
In her first collection of short fiction, Johnson (The Fox Woman) covers strange, beautiful, and occasionally disturbing territory without ever missing a beat. Several tales take place in mythical Japan—or a place very much like it—featuring fox spirits in “Fox Magic,” a prophetic empress who acts as a tool of the gods and lives outside of time in “Empress Jingu Fishes,” and a cat carrying stories on a long journey in “The Cat Who Walked a Thousand Miles.” Others, such as the title story, are made stranger by their familiar contemporary settings. Her young heroes in “Ponies” and the previously unpublished “The Bitey Cat” are particularly intriguing for both their innocence and their loss of it. Johnson’s language is beautiful, her descriptions of setting visceral, and her characters compellingly drawn. These 18 tales, most collected from Johnson’s magazine publications, are sometimes off-putting, sometimes funny, and always thought provoking.

Starred review from October 15, 2012

In this highly anticipated collection from the Nebula, Sturgeon, World Fantasy, and now Hugo (see above) Award-winning Johnson (The Fox Woman; Fudoki) delivers a broad range of stories to appeal to most sf fans. Ancient Japan, modern Seattle, quick moments in time, vast multigenerational epics, all are covered in this intensely varied volume. Whether they feature a young girl trying to make sense of her parents' divorce ("The Bitey Cat"), a man whose wife becomes an extinct bird upon her death ("My Wife Reincarnated as a Soltaire"), or an exploration of possibilities ("Schrodinger's Cathouse"), the stories are original, engaging, and hard to put down. Two standouts include "Fox Magic," Johnson's award-winning story of a fox who falls in love with a man and uses her magic to ensnare him, and the transcendent title tale of a woman who follows a river of bees through the American desert with her dying dog. VERDICT Johnson has a rare gift for pulling readers directly into the heart of a story and capturing their attention completely. Readers who enjoy a touch of the uncanny in their reading will love this collection. --Jennifer Beach, Cumberland Cty. P.L., VA

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