Review: Tales from the Cosmic Boneyard by Tim Pearsall

Review: Tales from the Cosmic Boneyard by Tim Pearsall

My rating: 2 of 5 stars

When I think about the short story format, my mind usually jumps to my favorite story of all time in that medium: Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. I read that short story when I was in middle school, and it was easily one of the most impactful short works I have ever read. The short story, when executed well, can hit the reader with just as much impact as a full novel.  

The thing about short stories is, when one is being written, you have less time to build the world, the characters, and the plot, so every word counts to give the reader that experience. Unfortunately, while I enjoy the characters in Pearsall’s collection and the environments they are in, the plots carrying these stories need work. I will talk more about this in the structure and writing sections.

Since this is a collection of short stories, I am forgoing the summary section because it would take too long to summarize every piece in here. That said, I do have some general thoughts on this collection. Let’s get into it!

Thoughts

There is one thing about this collection that blew my mind when I realized what was happening! The way these stories work as a whole in the collection is very interesting to me! I cannot go into too much detail (as why I find them interesting is a spoiler), but I will say that, as I was going through the collection, I found myself rather impressed with how Pearsall created the settings of these stories. There is something about it that I was intrigued by once I caught on, and I like the way it works to make every short story in here count – every story has a specific purpose in this collection that I was able to catch and be interested in.

On the other side of the coin, however, the problems I hinted at earlier are with the way each story is executed. I understand that the short story format can be tricky to work with because there is less time to hook the reader while building the characters and the world, and I think that may have played a role in why my feelings are mixed on the execution of these stories. I will discuss this more later on.

In the meantime, let’s talk about some of the characters!

Characters

Amiko

Amiko is the most interesting character in this entire collection, at least to me. Given the buzz about AI right now and how there is genuine fear related to what it could do, the way Amiko is handled as a robot subverted my expectations. Pearsall makes it difficult to figure out this character at first, only for it to become crystal-clear later what Amiko is doing.

On that subject, I feel for Amiko, for the most part. Seeing all that happens and how they react reminded me of a human. However, I am saying “for the most part” for a reason. There is one thing they do that reminded me again that they are more powerful than humans. The scene suggests that they are not entirely there in terms of being more humanlike. They are close, but not there yet. 

The Professor

I’m going to be honest: the professor might be my favorite character in the entire collection. How kind he was, how willing he was to stand by Kid Colt despite what was happening to her, what she had done, and what she had been through made me smile. We know that Kid Colt has been through some hardship and has not been shown much kindness, so seeing how the professor treats her is rather nice.

In terms of who he is as a character, I feel like he wants to do what is right. One thing that I really like about him is that he has a distinct voice (I’ll talk more about dialogue and voices in the writing section) that shows his compassion and horror when it comes to Kid Colt and what she has been through. How he has his robot aide Mrs. Peel help the Kid shows that – while he cannot do too much physically on his own – he wants to be there for her in some way, shape, or form.

Dylan Black

Dylan is close to the professor in terms of how I feel about him. Seeing him and his dog Taco together and how they work to protect and be there for each other is incredibly heartwarming. Seeing Dylan go up against the predators that terrorize him and Taco throughout the journey they go on is nice to see because it shows that they genuinely care for each other.

Seeing what Dylan will do to protect Taco (and honestly vice-versa as well) is particularly heartwarming because it highlights that – not only do they only have each other – but they have created a rather sweet friendship that is enjoyable to watch unfold throughout the story. Pearsall excels at showing character relationships and what they mean in the long run.

Structure

Because this is a collection of short stories, the structure is different from what I am used to. Each story appears to provide a snapshot of life for the characters along with whatever conflicts they may face. This is interesting because it is utilized to give more depth and character to each person discussed. However, there is a problem with the way Pearsall does this: the way these stories are structured means we only get the briefest glimpse into the story, meaning sometimes the stories don’t always end in a solid manner. I came across endings a few times and was surprised they were wrapping up.

Another thing that bothers me about the structure is the different headings Pearsall uses in each short story. This is similar to an issue I had in another story where chapters were broken up into sections, rather than going into the next chapter and making them shorter and easier to digest. I think I understand why Pearsall is using the headings – they often do help to show cuts to new locations and/or situations – but the issue here is that some of the information between those headings is so minimal that I am questioning if there is a way for the transitions to be placed in the prose somehow, such as Dylan Black starts walking in one paragraph, and then in the next Taco calls to him. I do admit that there may be some issues with implementing this suggestion, but my main point is there must be a way for the scenes in each story to be more easily melded together.  

Writing

I have some issues with the writing as well, unfortunately. The prose is good, even beautiful when it needs to be (such as with the piece which the author uses to open the entire collection), but I admit I don’t like the way the dialogue is written in some cases. Unfortunately, it ended up being rather difficult for me to distinguish which character is which in most cases because the dialogue is not written with different-enough voices to allow distinction between different characters. The dialects are mostly the same, leaving some of the events and interactions difficult to remember for me, especially if two characters with the same dialects were having a conversation.

The first story is a perfect example of that. Truckee and Arabella sound almost exactly alike, making it difficult to follow some of their interactions. I found myself having to reread certain sections because the writing felt too similar for many of the characters in this collection. To solve this, I would allow for slight differences between the voices by possibly varying how often the slang is used for each character. Or, perhaps, have distinct phrases that only that character would say. As I said in the character section, I found the professor in a later story easier to distinguish from the other characters because his word choice was unique. Perhaps picking different words that can be attached to the characters along with the dialect could better help identify them.

Conclusion

I am torn. I do see some likable characters in here and intriguing environments they are put in, but there was unfortunately very little else that worked for me. That said, some of the characters are easy to root for and if you are looking for interesting characters, I would say this is worth looking into. After all, relationships drive these stories and if you are looking for unique takes on different relationship dynamics, I would say the relationships in these stories shine brightest and make the collection worth looking into.