Book Review - Water

Disclaimer: I am one of the authors in the anthology, this review is for the book as a whole.

I had a chance to meet Nina Munteanu at Limestone Genre Expo in 2017 where we were both on an Alternate History panel. It was there also that we got into a discussion on why it is that science fiction works better in short stories than fantasy does. I believe one of the points we mentioned about was that it's much easier for science fiction to focus on a single topic, be it a theme or a technology whereas fantasy tends to need more world building. It was a few days later that I found myself writing 'The Last Drop' which would end up in the anthology.

Water, released by Reality Skimming Press, is one of those great examples of why science fiction works in short prose. Each story focuses on the theme of water in a variety of scenarios, sharing the common theme of an optimistic ending. Optimism generally isn't a direction in which science fiction tends to stray and so it was a breath of fresh air to get to read the ways which authors chose to illustrate this. Daring, different and thought-provoking, Water gives a small taste of the imaginative spirit of authors in the challenge of, what if things could go right.