Top positive review
4.0 out of 5 stars*Edited/Updated Review*
Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2020
FEARFUL SYMMETRIES was originally published in 2014 and like every other anthology edited by Ellen Datlow, it’s a collection of short fiction stories that boast some of the most respected, established modern Horror/Dark Fantasy/Speculative Fiction authors – as well as some who were at-the-time lesser known within the literary horror community.
I purchased Fearful Symmetries in both the Kindle eBook & Audible/Audiobook formats back in 2018, and it’s been one of the few anthologies that I’ve revisited a number of times due to the strength of these particular stories that Ellen Datlow was able to collect. If you read the introduction she wrote for this book, you’ll see how this anthology was different from others in terms of how it was funded, how the stories were selected, and how it was initially published.
The product you see on the page before now is the exact same one that myself and several others bought a few years ago, with the minor difference of new cover artwork. (As far as I know, but I believe this to be the case).
A few months ago, the title that I’d purchased previously was no longer available here on Amazon. So when I clicked on the page for this book I’d already purchased, it didn’t say, “You’ve already purchased this item; go to your library” but rather it appeared as thought it was a new release and says “click to purchase,” (note: this is not the case for the Audible version for whatever reason). Because of this, I originally wrote a rather childish, scathing review for the title because I wasn’t aware of the circumstances surrounding the book’s reissue – and I would like to personally apologize to the editor, publisher(s), authors, and artists – whose hard work went into creating this collection of stories that I’ve enjoyed reading a number of times over the last few years.
It was recently brought to my attention that the original publisher went out of business for reasons that I do not know, (but also don’t believe to be entirely relevant to this updated review), and that the authors were able to regain the rights to their work in order to have this collection reissued thanks to the publishing company Open Road. There are a few comments below this review that clarified all of these things for me. If you also purchased this title already, just as I did some years ago, and are confused regarding why it’s being listed as a new item, I urge you not to make the same mistake I did – which was to become frustrated & write an angry review.
My real concern is not with the editor or publisher(s) AT ALL, but rather with the fact that an online book store as large as Amazon is somehow incapable of handling these situations such that people who’ve purchased the book under the original publisher are not suggested to re-purchase the same content when it’s a reissued title, not an updated edition with updated/expanded content. Thank you for reading – I know this is hardly a review, but the names of the authors & editor next to the book’s title should assure you of this product’s quality. Cheers.
