Cosmos Latinos: An Anthology of Science Fiction from Latin America and Spain. edited by Andrea L Bell and Yolanda Molina-Gavilán. 2003
COSMOS LATINOS IS RATED 81%.
AVERAGE STORY SCORE: 3.74
27 STORIES : 4 GREAT / 16 GOOD / 4 AVERAGE / 2 POOR / 1 DNF
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When I reviewed Iraq + 100, a collection of Iraqi SF, my comments were full of people who recommended this anthology. While there are many similarities - both feature a people group and language rarely emphasized in anglophone SF - there is one important difference. Cosmos Latinos is foremost a scholarly work. The introduction by the editors is an excellent look at the history, culture, tropes, and people of Spanish-language SF. It is the highlight of this volume and absolutely worth purchasing it for.
The stories are arranged in chronological order with emphasis placed on the 1960s to the mid-1980s. Many of the stories are appearing for the first time in English. Some are translated by the editors of the anthology. All of them are introduced in exceptional detail as befitting a serious work of literary history.
The stories are all pretty good with some truly great stories and only a few clunkers, but occasionally they felt too similar. Perhaps the translations didn’t quite communicate the style of the originals. But there is incredible diversity of era, nationality, and language here. Anyone should be able to find an author or two worthy of future reading.
The best stories are these:
“The Crystal Goblet” by Jerônimo Monteiro. 1964. A man has returned from being tortured by the government and finds a crystal goblet that he discovered during his childhood abuse. Within the goblet are haunting images of a possible future. Beautiful story and yet full of sadness. The writing is crystalline like the goblet and bounces around in time quite a bit.
“The Last Refuge” by Eduardo Goligorsky. 1967. The secrets he has been keeping from the government have been accidentally revealed and he must run for his life and try to escape his country which has cut itself off from the rest of the world. Another sad tale of hope in the face of oppression.
“Stuntmind” by Braulio Tavares. 1989. This is a very interesting and elegant story about the prices paid for pushing the boundaries. In this instance, it is a small subset of humans who have the ability to interface with alien mentalities. It results in fabulous riches but has a serious cost in mind and spirit.
“Gray Noise” by Pepe Rojo. 1996. This story feels ripped from the modern headlines of citizen journalism, social media, influencer culture, and the corporations who benefit at the expense of the average person. Great ideas, well described, and full of interesting characters.
COSMOS LATINOS IS RATED 81%.
27 STORIES : 4 GREAT / 16 GOOD / 4 AVERAGE / 2 POOR / 1 DNF
How do I arrive at a rating?
“The Distant Future” by Juan Nepomuceno Adorno. 1862
Good. Hopeful and optimistic look at a utopian future for Earth.
“On the Planet Mars” by Nilo María Fabra. 1890
Good. Martian compare their perfection to Earth’s flaws.
“Mechanopolis” by Miguel de Unamuno. 1913
Good. A man stumbles into a world run by machines.
“The Death Star” by Ernesto Silva Román. 1929
Good. A rogue star approaching earth makes sudden biological changes to all of humanity.
“Baby H. P.” by Juan José Arreola. 1952
Good. “You too can harness your baby’s energy to run your household!”
“The Cosmonaut” by Ángel Arango. 1964
Good. Misunderstandings between a cosmonaut and an alien race lead to horrible consequences.
“The Crystal Goblet” by Jerônimo Monteiro. 1964
Great. A survivor of government torture finds a glowing goblet that he discovered as an abused young boy. Within the goblet, one can see the disquieting future.
“A Cord Made of Nylon and Gold” by Álvaro Menen Desleal. 1965
Good. An astronaut cuts ties with his spaceship and floats over the earth as it plunges into chaos.
“Acronia” by Pablo Capanna. 1966
Average. Workers are caught in meaningless work/lives as everything in their world is run by machines.
“The Last Refuge” by Eduardo Goligorsky. 1967
Great. A man flees an oppressive government that has cut his country off from the rest of the world. Finding a space shuttle, he struggles to escape on it.
“Post-Boomboom” by Alberto Vanasco. 1967
Good. Darkly humorous story of men trying to remember ‘facts’ to preserve them after the apocalypse.
“Gu Ta Gutarrak (We and Our Own)” by Magdalena Mouján Otaño. 1968
Good. Basque scientists use time travel to discover the ancient roots of the Basque people.
“Future” by Luis Britto García. 1970
Average. A paradox about the futility of trying for utopia.
“When Pilate Said No” by Hugo Correa. 1971
Good. A Messiah arrises on an alien world occupied by humans. The human try mightily to NOT let him die.
“The Falsifier” by José B. Adolph. 1972
Good, A brief alternate history of the Incas and their contact with aliens and religion.
“The Violet's Embryos” by Angélica Gorodischer. 1973
DNF. I couldn’t get into this story about violet patches that create the desire of stranded astronauts.
“Brain Transplant” by André Carneiro. 1978
Good. An insane scatalogical, sexual, experimental story of a professor teaching a classroom about brain transplants.
“The Annunciation” by Daína Chaviano. 1983
Poor. An angel seduces Mary.
“A Miscalculation” by Federico Schaffler. 1983
Good. A quiet story of a young boy staring up at the stars.
“Stuntmind” by Braulio Tavares. 1989
Great. Some people have the ability to mentally connect with aliens. This comes with huge rewards and equally large sacrifices.
“Reaching the Shore” by Guillermo Lavín. 1994
Good. A families life is tragically disrupted by a ‘chip’ addiction of the father that resulted from a taking part in a company trial.
“First Time by Elia Barceló. 1994
Average. A barely literate young woman talks about her first time … killing a “Forner.”
“Gray Noise” by Pepe Rojo. 1996
Great. Cyberpunk live-journalism and the mental, social, and financial price that a young man pays to engage in it.
“Glimmerings on Blue Glass” by Mauricio-José Schwarz. 1996
Poor. A detective wishes he was more like a certain fictional detective.
“The Day We Went Through the Transition” by Ricard de la Casa and Pedro Jorge Romero. 1998
Good. Time cops must prevent terrorists from disrupting the transition of power after France. Again and Again.
“Exerion” by Pablo Castro Hermosilla. 2000
Average. A young man plays video games while the authorities are en route to capture him.
“Like the Roses Had to Die” by Michel Encinosa. 2001
Good. Exciting and inventive cyberpunk and a wolf girl and a powerful “Wizard” search for her husband, captured when a job went wrong.
