smalltimereads

Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand is published by Small Beer Press.

I love a book featuring a female protagonist on the far side of forty. Cass Neary is a washed-up almost-was, and she's jaded and tired and a complete mess of a person, and I love her. The writing is wonderfully atmospheric- cold and bleak and creepy. There wasn't a lot of time spent on the central mystery- or rather, the mystery was there throughout the story but didn't really come into proper focus until the end, which worked surprisingly well- but the climax was also wonderfully creepy. I'm looking forward to more creepy adventures for Cass.

The Liminal People by Ayize Jama-Everett was published by Small Beer Press. I actually got this as a remainder when I bought Redemption in Indigo, which I read earlier this year. It just took me a while to get to this.

This book had some interesting ideas, and Taggert is a well-developed main character with a cool backstory and room to grow in multiple directions. Tamara is also a solid character. The writing is often vivid and wonderfully (and sometimes upsettingly) descriptive, especially when it comes to how Taggert's powers work. In under 200 pages, Ayize Jama-Everett managed to pack a lot in and set up for the sequel.

Despite the book's strong points, however, I just...didn't care. Whatever it is that makes me connect to a story was missing, and I'm not quite sure what it is. I think this story would work better as a comic book, and I don't mean that as an insult to the core story at all. I just found myself imagining how certain scenes might be laid out and drawn, and thinking it would work really well.

I don't know if I'll read the sequel. I don't think I'll go out of my way, but if we cross paths, then sure, why not??

Never Have I Ever was published by Small Beer Press.

Never Have I Ever is a wonderful short story collection. It starts with a story about a manananggal, one of my favorite mythical creatures, in a story that is lovely and surprisingly sweet. 'Milagroso' was short and magical and melancholy, a brief glimpse of a world I don't want to live in and can all too easily imagine. 'A Spell for Foolish Hearts' was adorable, and also managed to hit me where it hurts. 'Asphalt, River, Mother, Child' was painful, about the effects of Duterte's war on drugs and state violence. Devastating and tender at once.

I could read a whole book about 'Hurricane Heels (We Go Down Dancing).' Same goes for 'How to Swallow the Moon,' although that story is the perfect length as-is. 'Misty' was like a good classic fireside ghost story.

I also enjoyed how Filipino a lot of the stories were- with the caveat that I have a limited knowledge of the Philippines, and most of that knowledge is Manila-based. But it's always great to read stories with a strong sense of place, by authors who love that place. Really, this is an excellent book.

Redemption in Indigo has been on my 'to read' list for so long I don't remember how I originally heard about it. I could never find it in libraries or book stores, though, until this year, when I remembered I could go directly to the source. I bought my copy of Redemption in Indigo from Small Beer Press' 'Remainders' section, and finally sit down to read it.

It was good! I love fairytale/folktale retellings, especially of stories I'm not familiar with, and this was a very solid retelling. It had a rhythm to it that was reminiscent of an oral retelling without worrying too much about capturing that element. The last chapter (before the epilogue) was especially good at the capturing the story element.

Paama is very practical, which I love in a protagonist. I know 'practical wife' is a stock character in a lot of tales, but that doesn't make them any less enjoyable. Her ordinariness combined with her practicality and stubbornness were very enjoyable to read. Chance, too, was a good character, and his frustration with humans was understandable (especially in this day, although I expect it is always understandable) even when it wasn't good. Trickster was also a fun character, especially in his spider form.

I love retellings, I love stories about choices, and I love Karen Lord's writing (although this is very different from her sci-fi). I'm really glad I finally got to read this.

Small Beer Press is the first indie press I remember being aware of as an indie press, so I thought I'd start with it.

Who are they?
In their own words: "We started Small Beer Press in 2000, after putting out a do-it-yourself zine, and working for years in independent bookstores, in order to publish the kind of books we loved handselling. We publish literary fiction, innovative fantastic fiction, and classic authors whom you just may have missed the first time around. In our catalog, you’ll find first novels, collections both satisfying and surreal, critically acclaimed, award-winning writers, and exciting talents whose names you may never have heard, but whose work you’ll never be able to forget."

Small Beer Press was started by Kelly Link and Gavin Grant. It has two imprints- Big Mouth Books and Peapod Classics, as well as a bi-annual zine, Lady Churchill's Rosebud Wristlet, and chapbooks highlighting short fiction writers. They have some great authors, and their books have won the Shirley Jackson Award, the World Fantasy Award, the Arthur C Clarke Award, the Locus Award, etc., as well as being on multiple top ten/best book of the year lists. Awards aren't everything, but SBP has done a good job at picking the books they publish.

Website and Store
The SBP website is not the sexiest website, but it is pretty straightforward to navigate- lots of clearly labeled links. It took me a few tries to find the quote in the "Who are they?" section, but everything else is findable without much issue. The website does a really good job highlighting their books- links to their book and store section, as well as individual books, are everywhere.

The store is very easy to navigate- there are options for trade paperback and trade cloth editions, and their ebooks are sold through indie ebook store Weightless Books. The store uses PayPal, and shipping within the US is free (Apparently it's about $23 for international shipping, because it's through USPS and that's what they charge). What is really cool is the "remainders" section, which sells less-than-perfect copies for a discount. As someone who prefers paperbacks and used books, having the option to buy a book I won't feel bad for messing up is great.

Have I heard of/read any of their books before?
I didn't pay attention to publishers until recently, and I suspect I've read more indie press books, or at least heard of them, than I realize. So that's what this section is meant to highlight.

I have! I first became aware of Small Beer Press when I read Sofia Samatar's A Stranger in Olondria, which I absolutely loved. Below is a list of SBP books I've heard of, with the title bolded if I've read them:

In Other Lands - Sarah Rees Brennan
The Elemental Logic series - Laurie J Marks
The Winged Histories - Sofia Samatar
Archivist Wasp - Nicole Kornher-Stace
Get in Trouble - Kelly Link
North American Lake Monsters - Nathan Ballingrud
A Stranger in Olondria - Sofia Samatar
Under the Poppy - Kathe Koja
Redemption in Indigo - Karen Lord
Pretty Monsters - Kelly Link
Magic for Beginners - Kelly Link

Anything else?
As I said at the beginning, Small Beer Press is the first independent press I became aware of as "This is an independent press," and it's been great. I don't follow it closely, but if I see a book has been published by them, I'll definitely look at it twice.

As I keep writing these (I have a list of at least ten other small presses at the moment), the format will probably change and hopefully get better, but hopefully this is a decent start.

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Entries tagged with press: small beer press

Review: Generation Loss by Elizabeth Hand

Review: The Liminal People by Ayize Jama-Everett

Review: Never Have I Ever by Isabel Yap

Review: Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord

Small Press Spotlight: Small Beer Press

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November 2022

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