Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the Sea
Short story collection by Sarah Pinsker
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Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the Sea is a 2019 short story collection by Sarah Pinsker. It includes thirteen stories, each incorporating elements of speculative fiction, most notably science fiction and fantasy.
| Author | Sarah Pinsker |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Speculative fiction |
| Publisher | Small Beer Press |
| Publication date | March 19, 2019 |
| Publication place | United States |
| Pages | 304 |
| Award | Philip K. Dick Award |
| ISBN | 978-1-61873-155-5 |
Contents
- "A Stretch of Highway Two Lanes Wide"
- "And We Were Left Darkling" (originally published in Lightspeed, 2015[1])
- "Remembery Day"
- "Sooner or Later Everything Falls into the Sea" (originally published in Lightspeed, 2016[2])
- "The Low Hum of Her"
- "Talking with Dead People"
- "The Sewell Home for the Temporally Displaced"
- "In Joy, Knowing the Abyss Behind" (originally published in Strange Horizons, 2013[3])
- "No Lonely Seafarer" (originally published in Lightspeed, 2014[4])
- "Wind Will Rove"
- "Our Lady of the Open Road"
- "The Narwhal"
- "And Then There Were (N-One)" (originally published in Uncanny Magazine, 2017[5])
Themes
Several critics noted the atmosphere of loss, nostalgia, music and reinvention throughout the collection.[6][7] Gary K. Wolfe, in a review for Locus, wrote that memory "may be [Pinsker's] characteristic theme".[8] Publishers Weekly wrote that "In all of Pinsker’s tales, humans grapple with their relationships to technology, the supernatural, and one another."[9] Michelle Anne Schingler of Foreword Reviews observed that yearning was integral to many of the stories in the collection.[10]
Many of the protagonists of the stories in some way rebel against or break the norms of their society.[11] Many stories feature characters whose communities have been displaced in some way,[12] and the impact of social and technological change on culture is a recurring theme.[13] Kirkus Reviews wrote that "Pinsker’s characters are often loners dedicated to idiosyncratic artistic pursuits".[11]
The collection also prominently features LGBT characters,[9] and many of its themes tie into gender and sexuality. Alexander Carrigan of Lambda Literary noted that "Pinsker presents characters who are all over the LGBT+ spectrum, and in many cases, it allows for further reading and exploration of each story’s themes and characters."[14]
Reception
The collection received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, Foreword Reviews, and Booklist.[9][15]
The collection appeared on lists of the best books of 2019 by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel,[16] Fantasy & Science Fiction,[17] and BuzzFeed.[18]
| Year | Award | Result | Ref. |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Philip K. Dick Award | Won | [19] |
| World Fantasy Award—Collection | Finalist | [20] |