At Readercon in July, Mythic Delirium Books (i.e. Anita and me) managed to pull off a spectacularly successful launch for The History of Soul 2065 by Barbara Krasnoff, as well as a secondary stage launch for Snow White Learns Witchcraft by Theodora Goss — we sold out all of our copies of both books! While I hope to recap all of that more thoroughly at some point in the not too distant future, I’m playing a different sort of catch up in this post.

Since its release, The History of Soul 2065 has accumulated several more sweet reviews.

The Barnes & Noble Sci-Fi and Fantasy Blog included Barbara’s collection in “The Best Science Fiction & Fantasy Collections & Anthologies of 2019… So Far“:

This epic mosaic novel, made up of 20 connected short stories, is a literary gem, both profoundly moving and deeply human as it delves into the supernatural, fantasy, the real historical horrors of the Holocaust, and even science fiction . . . her stories explore how lives can intersect and affect each other, how people can be connected through time and space, and how we all matter to others in ways we don’t always understand.

Book blogger Sammie of The Writer Way went into a lot of depth in a review that probed the book’s unusual structure and emotional resonance:

The History of Soul 2065 has a little bit of everything, from ghosts to witches to the afterlife to grief, and everything in between. There’s a pervasive eerie supernatural atmosphere in a lot of stories that was easy to get caught up in, and it always kept me guessing . . . There is a little of everything in these stories—I laughed and cried and pondered life and death and fell in love with the characters over and over again.

Writer Trent Walters, on his All Points Between Science and Literature Review blog, also took a long dive into The History of Soul 2065, also analyzing its unusual structure:

You’d think the stories would trip and land flat on their faces. But they don’t. Strangely they can be satisfying like sipping hot mocha on a hot day … What one calls this book may be less important than knowing the overall effect, and for the most part, most Krasnoff stories leave the reader with a little hope and a sweet tenderness, no matter how dismal one’s circumstances may be. And that may be all you need to know.

Bob Roman of Yip Abides found Barbara’s book a delightful surprise:

I was instantly in love . . . The stories straddle fantasy and science fiction. There is, for example, time travel of a sort and the stories extend into our future. But there are also spirits, possession, and afterlife, the sort of premodern magical thinking that so comforts our brief on stage in the play of life.

Author A.C. Wise puts emphasis on the connected histories of the individual stories:

The horrors of the Holocaust and antisemitism are a shadow over the lives in this book, and as such, the stories aren’t always an easy read. There is loss and grief and heartbreak, and some of the most powerful and devastating emotion in the story is conveyed through what the characters leave unsaid, or the layers of story they wrap around the truth in order to protect those around them . . . The theme of aging, disappointment with life, and lost opportunities repeats through many of the characters’ lives, but Krasnoff balances these with stories of love, hope, and friendship. Ancestors and descendants meet each other through time and provide comfort and guidance. Neighbors help each other out, and use a little bit of mystical power to right injustices and correct the course of lives.

Barbara will be giving a reading from The History of Soul 2065 on Wednesday, Oct. 16 as part of the Fantastic Fiction at KGB series alongside Nicole Kornher-Stace, author of Latchkey. It’s a Mythic Delirium Books double header! If you can go, you absolutely should, it will be awesome.

And for sure I’ll be sharing more reviewers here as they crop up. (Maybe some already have.)