Core Truths - Lisa Fox - ★★★.¾

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AUTHOR: Lisa Fox
GENRE: Speculative Fiction Anthology
RATING: 3.8 stars.

In a Nutshell: A speculative fiction anthology dealing with some essential ‘core truths’ of what makes us what we are. Quite impressive for a debut work. 


This collection of eighteen stories, while based in speculative fiction, still spans a range of subgenres such as fantasy, sci-fi, magical realism and horror. The author’s introductory note makes the theme clear right at the start. The stories focus, as the title indicates, on ‘core truths’. Each of us has a core truth within us, which defines our personality, guides our actions and motivates us towards certain choices. When life tests us, it is these core truths that determine our reaction, especially when the situation is not in our control.

The central character in each story thus has to confront a tough decision. We discover how they respond to the quandary facing them. Just as in life, not every ending is a happy one. Unfortunately, not every ending was a closed one as well. In some cases, I was left wanting more closure, for the character as well as for myself. 

The stories herein come with an inherent contrast. On one hand, the genre is speculative fiction, which lends to the stories an unworldliness, a bizarreness, a dreamlike (and sometimes, nightmare like) quality. On the other hand, each story is as grounded as can be, rooted in such base human feelings as helplessness, despair, courage and determination. 

The writing in this anthology is well-defined and even innovative at times in its structure. It never feels like a debut collection at all. The plots are distinct from each other, and the protagonists cover a wide array of characters, human and otherwise. I also loved the author’s world-building skills, something that is so tough to get right in a short story. Her prose is also commendable, creating myriad emotions with her choice of words and premises.

As always, I rated the stories individually, and fifteen of the stories reached or crossed the three star mark easily. So I either liked the stories or loved them, which is a great track record. My favourites, each with 4.5+ stars, were:
🌷 Don't Blink – Rarely does a short story leave me with as many questions as this one, but I still enjoyed its originality from start to end. - 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫
🌷 To Lure Gavin Back Home – Is this a mother's wishful thinking or just something bizarre? Either way, worth every minute. Brilliant! - 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫
🌷 Worms – If this doesn’t scare you into using your smartphone for a lesser time, I don’t know what will! - 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫
🌷 A Dignified Death – Began as something typical but the backstory made this extraordinary. - 🌟🌟🌟🌟💫
🌷 The Rise of the Mariner's Star – One of the more rooted tales in the collection. Almost like a mythological lore. Didn’t see the ending coming despite the title. - 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟
🌷 Taking Hope – Reminded me of a Jodi Picoult book, but handled so, so much better! - 🌟🌟🌟🌟🌟


All in all, this is an imaginative anthology, and well worth the read for every spec fic lover. I will look forward to more works by this author because she sure has the right writing chops.

3.8 stars, based on the average of my rating for each story.

My thanks to Rachel's Random Resources and author Lisa Fox for a complimentary copy of “Core Truths”, and for allowing me to be a part of this blog tour. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book. 

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Author Lisa Fox:

Lisa Fox is a pharmaceutical market researcher by day and fiction writer by night. She thrives in the chaos of suburbia, residing in New Jersey (USA) with her husband, two sons, and Double-Doodle puppy. 
Her work has been featured in Dark Matter, Bards and Sages Quarterly, Metaphorosis, New Myths, Brilliant Flash Fiction, and Luna Station Quarterly, among other journals and anthologies. 
Lisa has had work nominated for the Pushcart Prize and for Best Small Fictions and is a previous winner of the NYC Midnight Short Screenplay competition. 


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Blurb:

Core Truths is Lisa Fox's debut collection of 18 speculative short stories that explore the quintessential values driving our thoughts, beliefs, and actions. Each tale culminates in a character's pivotal moment, the one that changes them forever. Sometimes their journey leads toward a rare epiphany or a beautiful resolution. But not every ending is happy.

This assortment of science fiction, fantasy, and horror features robots and androids, biologists and metallurgists. Witches, vampires, sea elves and other mythical creatures traverse these pages along with ordinary humans living under extraordinary circumstances.

All the characters in this collection confront hard truths. When a father and son encounter someone forbidden to exist, they must decide whether extending a kindness is worth risking their lives. Hand-picked by her deceased father to undertake an impossible mission, a young girl realizes that sometimes to be a hero, one needs to be a villain. A scientist from a dying planet is forced to weigh the value of one individual life against the lives of many; a scientist from Philadelphia finds his sanity challenged upon making a remarkable discovery. An ancient being questions the validity of doctrine. A clone questions what it means to be human.

As speculative literary fiction, these narratives glean their energy from the fantastical. Written to shine a light on the world, each story in this anthology is intended to make us think about who we are as people, about those Core Truths that govern the lives we choose to live.

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Check out this book:


Buy Links:

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This has been a pitstop on the #CoreTruths blog tour conducted by Rachel's Random Resources. (@rararesources) Thanks for stopping by!

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