Book Review: A Wish Upon a Fallen Sky by Rob Callahan
Rob Callahan is a Minnesota journalist and author; this is a collection of his short fiction, some of which appeared in chapbooks that are no longer available.
There are twenty-four pieces in the main section, beginning with “Episode for a New Hope”, a cautionary tale about a race of aliens that look exactly like adorable baby turtles. The ending is grim.
Equally grim is the ending piece, “The Names Have Been Changed to Protect the Survivors”, which is about spiders in people’s brains, and one couple’s crusade against this menace.
Other notables include:
“An Obscure Ghost Story You’ve Probably Never Heard Of”, about a hipster-haunted beer can, which is more humorous than many of the pieces.
“Love in the Time of the Dead”, a multi-part story about a journalist investigating a protest camp/alleged zombie infestation. This one should raise some questions in the back of your head about the official stories you’ve heard about violent protesters.
“The Box”, about a prisoner in solitary confinement trying to stay sane. This one uses a twist I’ve seen at least twice before, but those were public domain stories, and it’s effective here.
Added material is first “PENT”, a chapbook’s worth of 140-character stories suitable for Twitter (before they increased the limit.) They’re hit-or-miss, but with fiction this short, the misses are over quickly and there are a few gems. There’s also illustrations by Whittney A. Streeter for earlier versions of some of the stories. And finally a “hidden track” story that examines subject matter that may freak out some readers.
These pieces tend towards the quiet and “thinky” and I’d recommend this book most to adult readers who will get the references and be inclined to mull over the implications.
