From pre-Columbian Mesoamerica, via the powerful figure of Santa Muerte, to racism in the Bronx, this anthology of speculative stories and essays by Latin American writers, about Latin American life and beyond, is an engrossing and important read. This vibrant anthology presents a selection of speculative stories and fascinating essays highlighting the many voices, mythologies, folklore and storytelling prowess of authors from Latin American countries or writing in the traditions of the Latin American diaspora. Edited by the wonderful V. Castro, Mexican-American speculative, horror and sci-fi writer extraordinaire and author of Mestiza Blood and The Queen of the Cicadas, the authors featured are: Hector Acosta, Gustavo Bondoni, David Bowles, Arasibo Campeche and Ronald Carrasquillo-Flores, Dr. R. Andrew Chesnut, Angel Luis Colón, Rios de la Luz, Laura Diaz de Arce, J.F. Gonzalez, L.P. Hernandez, Alessandro Martinez, Mo Moshaty, Richie Narvaez, Daniel Olivas, Monique Quintana, A.E. Santana and Richard Santos. These are complemented by new stories selected from open submissions. Spanning the many cultures of the region, stories range from those that explore heritage and the importance of ancestors to ones that imagine new worlds and futures, but at their core they all celebrate and give agency to oft-underrepresented Latin American characters and concerns, while the book will help counter the lack of contemporary Latin American literature. The Flame Tree Beyond and Within short story collections bring together tales of myth and imagination by modern and contemporary writers, carefully selected by anthologists, and sometimes featuring short stories from a single author. Overall, the series presents a wide range of diverse and inclusive voices with myth, folkloric-inflected short fiction, and an emphasis on the supernatural, science fiction, the mysterious and the speculative. The books themselves are gorgeous, with foiled covers, printed edges and published only in hardcover editions, offering a lifetime of reading pleasure.
