Recently finished "Mothers & Other Monsters" the latest collection of stories by Maureen McHugh and quite enjoyed it. My review follows.

I'm halfway through Octavia Butler's latest, "Fledgeling" and it's fascinating. It's a vampire novel done Butler-style. Can't wait to finish it but don't want to rush!

"Mothers and Other Monsters"
by Maureen McHugh

Science Fiction novelist McHugh follows in the bold territory of Octavia Butler with her own brand of feminist, speculative fiction. In a collection reminiscent of the great Butler's "Bloodchild and Other Stories," McHugh's "Mothers & Other Monsters" presents a collection of stories that present just that, mothers and monsters, sometimes one and the same. McHugh's stories usually feature a female protagonist, often young, and too often in a bleak or terrifying situation. Not that McHugh's work lacks humor. The stories in this collection run the gamut. And the author is equally at home in a far-flung, interstellar space colony or on a train in the deep south after the Civil War has ended.

Mothers & Other Monsters begins with a mysterious tale of the afterlife called "Ancestor Money," where Rachel, existing alone for decades after her death, receives a notice that she has been left on offering in a Chinese temple by her granddaughter. Rachel's journey in death is more unique than anything she faced in life. "In the Air" is a haunting (literally) tale of dog training where a lonely woman introduces her new boyfriend to her dead twin brother. And in "The Cost to Be Wise," McHugh revists the world of her novel Mission Child where the brutal violence of Janna's world leads only to further harsh lessons of the cruelty of life.

If you're skittish about science fiction, "Mothers & Other Monsters" is a nice read given that most of the stories are fairly short, and not all the stories fall into that category.