You go into an anthology expecting not all the stories to be good. It's true. It's not as big a deal if there are a smattering of writers. You can write off one or two writers and still consider it a good book.
But when it's all one guy, he's got to handle the whole load all by himself. It's all him in front of the classroom, with no help. He can't hide behind the other kids.
Brett Weiss tries that in in Filtered Future. It's all him. And it turns out pretty good.
"Washed in the Blood" has a stunning ending. "Wormboy" is about a guy with an awesomely gross superpower. "The Creation Proclamation" is a Galactus-level cosmic story.
All of them are differently fun. Rarely is an anthology, in total, a really pleasant experience. Maybe I'm not reading the right ones. But this one combines pop-culture knowledge and ownership of sci-fi and horror workmanship.
Reviewed by Joe Crowe, © 2012
