Title: The Phoenix
Author: Isobelle Carmody
In: Green Monkey Dreams (Isobelle Carmody) & The Year’s Best Fantasy and Horror 10 (Ellen Datlow & Terri Windling)
Rating Out of 5: 4 (Really good read!)
My Bookshelves: Dystopia, Horror
Pace: Fast
Format: Short story
Publisher: Allen & Unwin
Year: 1996

I honestly wasn’t expecting the tragedy at the end of this short story. I mean, I knew it wasn’t going to be all sunshine and roses, and I knew that it was going to be a little bit dark. But the tragic way in which this story finished? That I didn’t expect at all. It was seriously convoluted and hard to read. But, I loved reading it anyway!

This tale was all about twisted fate and twisted reality. It had a feeling of potential paranormal / mythological reality. But also just a feeling of mental illness and delusions. At first I thought it was a good metaphor for a dystopian reality, but then I realised that this story was a whole lot darker and more convoluted than anticipated. I mean, it ends in a really final way. And yet, there is still some kind of sense of hope throughout.

The Phoenix felt like a story in which you step into a mad man’s brain. It felt insane and chaotic. And honestly, I want to read it again to try and figure out just what in the heck was going on.

Image source: Allen & Unwin