If you’ve been looking for an introspective collection of stories that will make you think about what it means to be human, look no further.

In The Other Shore: Stories, Rebecca Campbell shares ten stories that left me questioning what it means to be human, the role technology plays in society, and heightened my fear surrounding what the future could look like if we’re not careful.

When I read, I read for one of a few reasons (or a blend of these options):

• To escape reality for a little while
• To learn about something new (or an interest I have)
• To have my viewpoints challenged

The Other Shore: Stories definitely falls into a mix of the second and third reasons. While I enjoyed each story within, this was not a collection I found myself just casually reading. I had to really tune in (or, as the kids would say these days, lock in) to make sure I was comprehending what I was reading, and not just reading the words on the page. My brain was pushed a little more whilst reading (which I thoroughly enjoyed because that’s how we grow and develop our thought processes, after all), and Campbell’s writing style is exquisitely captivating, further encouraging me to continue.

This is a collection I can see myself coming back to time and time again, particularly to re-read ‘On Highway’.

From StoryGraph:

“From the winner of the 2023 Ursula K Le Guin Prize for Fiction comes a short story collection that radiates from the dark forests of the Pacific northwest. In ten tales, Rebecca Campbell’s exquisite prose channels ancient forest spirits, the lost ghosts of unknown fates, biological and technological transformations, and challenges the ways that colonization and extraction have shaped not only landscapes but how we imagine the future. Campbell zeros in on horrors and hopes, readying readers for the world to come.

About Campbell’s interconnected short stories in her novella Arboreality, the 2023 Ursula K. Le Guin Prize selection committee said, “In her masterful and profoundly ethical stories, Campbell asks us what might be saved, what must be saved, and what it will take to do so.” Continuing in this tradition, The Other Shore delves deep into what transformations we need to survive and thrive.”

Disclaimer: Stelliform Press kindly sent me a digital copy of The Other Shore: Stories. The book cover image is from the Stelliform Press website.

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