I was incredibly excited when my request was chosen on Netgalley to receive an ARC (Advanced Review Copy) of Nordic Visions in exchange for an honest review. ⁠
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Reading horror, science fiction, or fantasy anthologies from different places in the world has become something of a yearly or bi-yearly quest for me. I've read both graphic novel anthologies and short story anthologies featuring Indigenous authors, Northern Canadian authors, Chinese authors, or anthologies that feature only women or only LGBTQ+. It is truly a great way to be introduced to authors that you may not hear of otherwise. ⁠
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Nordic Visions covers all three of the aforementioned genres and is a great introduction to writing from Nordic authors. There were various niches of each genre represented, and it made for an eclectic grouping of stories. A good few of the stories lingered in my thoughts after reading them, as is the goal of speculative fiction. However, a few more just didn't grip me. That said, though, I think this is one of those anthologies where different stories are going to appeal to different people, and the editor chose stories purposefully for this reason. My standout stories include "The First Night," "The Dreamgiver," and "A Lion Roars in Longyearbyen."⁠
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The one thing I would have liked was an introduction to the author of each story or the inspiration behind choosing or writing each story. I think it would have helped set the tone of the whole book, especially for those of us who didn't grow up in a Nordic country. I'd definitely recommend this book for anyone looking for a place to start reading Scadinavian genre authors and to broaden their horizons from the more well-known authors in this region.

First of all, many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for kindly offering an ARC to review! ‘Nordic Visions’ was a great read, especially since I had no idea Scandinavian fiction went beyond thrillers and crime books. I was aware of John Ajvide Lindqvist, of course, after the English translations of his consistently brilliant output, and Hannu Rajaniemi was not unknown to me, as he’s been a widely acknowledged terrific science fiction author (his story in the anthology, in fact, has already appeared many times before in English SF anthologies). The rest, however, I'd never heard of before and were totally unfamiliar to me. Consider my eyes opened: I'd love to read more English translations of Scandinavian speculative fiction, and if this awesome anthology gives any indication, Nordic authors have great stories up their sleeves, all of which would make a fantastic contribution to the genre, whether weird fiction, horror, fantasy or science-fiction.

‘Nordic Visions’ offers sixteen stories classified by country of origin, though this does not really matter since the stories’ settings and the country of the author often diverge, going for literary enjoyment rather than setting up some sort of ‘Nordic fiction’ or something similar. Perhaps this explains the lack of non-fictional essays and/or commentaries or story notes, providing us a glimpse into the context of the stories. Taking them at face value, they are all connected via the common theme of technology, folklore, and the contrast of the natural to the mythical or the scientific. Some good honest horror is included, too, creepy and atmospheric tales such as “The Dreamgiver” by Johann Thorsson and ”She” by Lindqvist himself. Along with these two amazing stories, my particular standouts were “Heather Country” by Jakob Drud, “As You Wish” by Tor Åge Bringsværd, “The Cormorant” by Tone Almhjell, the superb “A Lion Roars in Longyearbyen” by Margrét Helgadóttir, and the sublime “A Bird Does Not Sing Because It Has an Answer” by Johanna Sinisalo. Reading just these convinced me that Scandinavian speculative fiction has much to offer and should be translated into English as soon as possible!

This is a good collection of horror, sci-fi, and fantasy from Scandinavia. Including pieces both written in English and translated into it, the collection represents a lot--but not all, as the editors discuss in their introduction--of places within Scandinavia. There are fantastic tales inspired by folklore as well as stories about aliens, robots, dystopias, elves, and much more. I'd love to re-read these in a class or group where I could learn more about the contexts in which the writers are working.

A very interesting though confusing read. The stories were all gripping but the topic change from story to story was quite a bit confusing. I think the book would be easier if there was some form of information given to the genre of each story or an introduction to the story. However I found I quite enjoyed most of the stories and the variance of storytelling between Scandinavian countries. A great book for people who enjoyed reading metamorphosis and like a bit of mystery as to the meaning of the story.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy of this book. An interesting read with some stand out stories. Checking trigger warnings are a must before reading.

3.75 STARS

CW: death (including of animals and children), insects, sexual content, pregnancy, blood, violence, murder

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

Ever since I learned about the existence of this short story collection I'd been looking forward to it and I was overjoyed when I was approved for an ARC on NetGalley last month! I've lately become fascinated with the Northern European countries and realized I don't really know much about their folklore besides Norse mythology. Additionally, even though as the editor Margrét Helgadóttir mentions in the introduction Scandinavian thriller and crime fiction are incredibly popular, I have never read any (because it's not really my genre).

I'm very glad that I began my dive into Nordic literature with this collection because it gave a fascinating overview and selection of Denmark, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland and the Faroe Islands in the form of one or more short stories. None of the authors were familiar to me but I can definitely see myself checking out some other works by a few of them! There was a running theme of solitude and tight-knit communities in these stories that I found utterly enchanting.

I do admit, some of the stories were a little bit boring to me but nevertheless I enjoyed each one of them even the ones that couldn't hold my attention as well as others. My favorites were probably:

The False Fisherman by Kaspar Colling Nielsen (translated by Olivia Lasky) because it gave me a lot to think about and I really liked the composition of the story.

The Dreamgiver by Johann Thorsson because it was creepy and atmospheric and unlike what I usually read which made it all the more interesting to me.

As You Wish by Tor Åge Bringsværd (translated by Olivia Lasky) which was written in a very intriguing style and which also incited me to think about what I was reading.

A Lion Roars in Longyearbyen by Margrét Helgadóttir which had amazing worldbuilding that I would have love to learn more about and which was also incredibly sad but still so good. The title alone is amazing in my opinion.

And finally, The Wings that Slice the Sky by Emmi Itäranta which I found out is inspired / retells a Finnish epic poem that I will definitely have to check out in the future. This was rich in folklore which was noticeable even though I did not know any of said folklore. I'm very curious how this story / these characters are written in the original tale because I have a sneaking suspicion that some aspects were changed in this story. I absolutely loved it.

The collection was so diverse in tones and subject matters that I think everyone will find something to their liking among these stories. I wish there would have been some context, especially when stories were inspired by or involving folklore that the readers might be unfamiliar with. Even if it was just a small note or reference. The short story collection that was always at the back of my mind while reading this (and which I was comparing this to) was The Way Spring Arrives and Other Stories which included some essays interspersed between the stories which provided some commentary and information on culture and, for example, obstacles when it came to translations. I would have been glad for something similar in this collection but as it stands, I will have to do my own research.

I can definitely recommend this collection to SFF fans and even those who don't enjoy fantasy as a lot of the stories were very literary spruced up with some magical or sci-fi elements. Even if there are only a few stories to be read, this is well worth it and I'm glad I read it! When it comes out, I will definitely be purchasing a physical copy!

3/5

A compilation of speculative fiction short stories by sixteen different nordic authors that has a lot of fascinating ideas and wide variety of writing styles. Some of the stories worked for me, others not so much. I did appreciate the taste of the different cultures of the region, I think it's the strongest part of this anthology, so I highly recommend it to anyone out there who is tired of reading the same over and over again.

I think most of them were, at the very least, interesting but I didn't enjoy all of them. The standouts for me were Sing by Karin Tidbeck from Sweden, which shows the way humans adapted to life in an alien planet. From Iceland I quite enjoyed Johann Thorsson's The Dreamgiver, a story about nightmares and family secrets. My favorite of all of them was The Cormorant by Tone Almhjell from Norway, I found it well written, intriguing and full of love.

The formatting for this books was just down right confusing. You'd finish one story and not know it and just start reading the next. Which made everything confusing and hard to read. This book I think will be better in paperback.

Loved this collection of short stories. Some of them I was reading late at night and got a little spooked 😆 right off the bat, “She”, had me trying to not see non-existent figures in the dark of my bedroom 😳😂
I loved that these stories were divided up into a few different countries. I didn’t love that some stories didn’t really have an ending…but I quickly forgot about it with moving onto the next story!
Of course, with any collection of short stories, you’re going to have a few that aren’t your favorite. Overall, I still have this 5 stars!

Thanks to the publisher for providing me with an ARC via NetGalley for an honest review.

Like most short story collections out there (that I've read at least), this anthology doesn't contain only hits, however, for me, this anthology has no misses. At worst, some of the stories just fizzled out without a proper ending (a problem that I've had with many short stories), but they're not bad. And at best, some of these stories are probably gonna stick in my mind for a while, which isn't very common for short stories. The stories here are really diverse and different from each other, from horror, to science fiction, fantasy, and even things in between those genres, this anthology had it all. Some of my favorite stories here include "She" by John Ajvide Lindqvist (the writer of "Let the Right One In") with its gripping horror, "A Lion Roars in Longyearbyen" by Margrét Helgadóttir, a brilliant short story that uses multiple PoVs really well, and "The Dreamgiver" by Johann Thorsson that reminded me of Neil Gaiman's Sandman in the best ways.

Before I begin, I need to address the glaring issues I had with the book. Were they to do with the writing, the stories, the translations?

No.

What do you need when you read a book?

Clear formatted pages.

However this book did not have that. I do not know if it is the ARC copy, or if this is just how the ebook will be published, but the only way to describe the formatting was awful. Sometimes I would finish a story unknowingly and continue reading and I would grow confused as the writing and plot completely changed. The story changed, because it was a completely different story! However, due to the formatting, no title pages etc I did not even know it.

Also I know nothing about Nordic Science fiction, it would have been nice to receive a foreword with every story. A biography of the writer, where the story was first published and perhaps even a short note from the writer themselves. I ask for nothing new, this formatting and description has been happening in anthologies for years.

Also the contents page was tedious, I had to constantly flip back to the contents page to know the title of the story and also the writer and with no links embedded in the contents page, I had to use my own notes to flip back and forth, turning what should be a pleasant reading experience, into something rather dull and tiresome.



When I first saw this book, I wanted to read it. I constantly cry out for diverse science fiction from all cultures. Rarely have I seen “Nordic” Speculative Fiction in print. I have seen different kinds of Speculative fiction come out of these countries however, films like Troll Hunter, old stories and sagas – but by no means am I an expert.

Whose fault is that? Is it mine?

I believe that literature of all kinds should be available to us, but when I peruse shelves I often find them limited to a select few.

Is that the bookshops fault? The publishers? Or am I simple looking in the wrong place?

A quick google search led to poor results, in fact the search term, “Nordic Speculative fiction” led to this book as the top search result and only search result from various websites and publishers. The search term “Nordic Science Fiction” led to the second result being amazon webpage, who listed authors such as Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. Both British. Of course as discussed in the introduction, Nordic is the word used to brandish several countries with the same brush. I have never had the luxury to visit these countries, and unfortunately have no insight into them, so it was interesting to read Helgadottir insights. After trying “Swedish Science Fiction by” I gave up.

It was not my fault it seems, rather the publishers. I think they need to sort themselves out. We should be able to read a range of Speculative Fiction and this book proves it.

She

John Ajvide Lindqvist

Firstly, I would like to begin by saying, I hate ghost stories. To subvert the themes and concepts of a story down to two words is a crime, however, that’s what this story is. But, unlike other ghost stories, I did not hate this one.
Literature is full of “ghost stories”. The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson. Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol…But those stories have been buried under modern “horror” films. Paranormal Activity, Insidious…the list goes on. Here Lindqvist writes a tale that had me interested. It was segmented into days and he weaves a story about a couple who move in to a new house.

Sound familiar?

What was different, was the detail. I could hear the sounds Lindqvist was describing and there were parts which were quite corny, but I think this may be down to translation.

So, what do modern house buyers have to fear, when moving into their new builds? Just in my area I believe there are several hundred homes going up. Isn’t it only the old and rickety mansions which are plagued by ghosts, or so the TV shows would have you believe. Read it and find out.

Lindqvist is making a point with She. World War Two may seem so far away to us, but it has not even been one hundred years since the start of it. There is no need to find the ancient bones of long lost witches, or ancient tribes. There are darker deeds which happened such a short stone’s throw down the stream of history.
Deeds which we should never forget.

However, throughout the anthology there were no other stories that gripped me quite like this one. The writing of each is detailed and that detail is unlike any other I have seen from other cultures. It was interesting and there is a range of content here to suit the tastes of many. As I have already stated, we need more culture injected into publishing and anthologies. Even though I did not find every story as good as the other, that does not mean that we should put a stop to Nordic science fiction translations. I want to read more of it. If anything, this book has shown me a hole I did not know existed. Keep publishing this! And keep readers cultured!

Interesting and a bit outside what I normally read, but overall there were some great pieces. If the publisher puts out more of these anthologies, I'll likely check them out. It was 3/5 stars for me, as anthologies always have one or two pieces that aren't as great as the others.

A great collection of Nordic stories. Oh how I loved each one. I can't wait to buy a physical copy of this book when it comes out

Thank you to NetGalley and Rebellion for this opportunity to read rate and review this arc which will be available October 10,2023!

This is an anthology of Nordic speculative fiction and horror. It is broken up by country. Norway, Sweden, Iceland, Denmark Finland and The Faroe Islands.

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. 16 uniquely voiced stories from each country. I dug the slight culture changes and nods to each region in each story. The Nordic North isn’t a monolith of one culture but each country has its own and the authors herein really gave their country a moment of pride.

This definitely had an eclectic mix of stories.

However, the formatting was super strange and annoying in the ARC I received- there were no story titles and some of them just ended and a new one began with no break in between. It was definitely disjointing.

I was also expecting more clear and I guess, obvious, Nordic references or settings in every story, but some were definitely based other places.

The cover art is gorgeous and I definitely enjoyed quite a few stories in this anthology.

Thank you to NetGalley, the authors, and editor, and publishers for a copy!

[Blurb goes here]

While not all of the stories are "up there," as it often happens with anthologies, there are a lot of jewels in this one. I mean, one of the authors is John Ajvide Lindqvist (Let Me In, Let The Old Dreams Die).

Most of the tales give you hints here and there about the perils faced by the protagonists or about the part they played in landing in such a situation. I found that sense of "drip-fed information" really interesting. Let me elaborate. When reading the usual short stories, one thing happens often: we get spoon-fed the details. Not here. The reader gets to assemble the puzzle all on their own.

While I've never been a fan of the usual "leave the ending to the reader's imagination," it somehow "clicks" in this collection.

The rich descriptions will put you right there, next to the characters, be it inside a deafening storm or a freezing tundra.

The overall translation is spot on; the tales themselves have a wide range of genres: sci-fi, horror, mystery...

I'll visit this book again in the future, something I don't do often.

A widely recommended read, IMHO.

Thank you for the advanced copy!

This was just not the right book for me. I typically struggle with short story collections, because the stories are usually very hit-or-miss for me and I struggle to find a rhythm when reading a collection. But I thought I’d give this one a try because I’m interested in Nordic literature. I didn’t hate it, but I didn’t love it either.

This is an excellent and varied short story collection for fans of horror, fantasy, and science fiction. The book is divided by country, with between one and four stories from each region (in order): Sweden; Denmark; The Faroe Islands; Iceland; Norway; and Finland.

My own preference is for science fiction, and it was interesting to see similar themes and tropes appearing across the collection. There's a good deal of speculation about a post-climate disaster world, and various ideas about how humanity can atone for its crimes against nature. I really enjoyed the story in which an AI translates bird talk (A Bird Does Not Sing Because It Has an Answer by Johanna Sisisalo), but my favourite was one which took me back to the heyday of 80s and 90s science fiction. Set on a planet where people have entered into a kind of symbiotic relationship with local wildlife, Sing by Karin Tidbeck really felt like visiting an alien world.

Not all the stories fit neatly into genre. The False Fisherman by Kaspar Colling Nielson, for example, is a kind of shaggy dog story, with the rest ranging from folk tales to post-humanity.

The recurring trope of birds is the one thing that holds these stories together, from birds laying eggs in babies; throats to people transforming into birds to birds complaining about "egg thieves", birds are all over this collection.
Not all the stories worked for me, but that's the joy of a short story collection. You might not like one, but then the next one will transport you.

Thanks to Netgalley and Rebellion Publishing for an ARC in return for this review.

This was a really great collection. For me, it was a good mix of authors I was familiar with and love, authors I know but haven't read yet, and brand new authors. The stories were diverse and interesting. Great for someone who is already a fan of Nordic speculative fiction or a newcomer.

This collection of Nordic speculative fiction, like a lot of short story collections for me, has more misses than hits. Unfortunately, only one story in particular stuck out to me, but I do think that it’s worth picking up if you want to dip your toes into seeing what Nordic speculative fiction can look like. I didn’t know anything going in and I was surprised at the variety of ideas in the book, from hauntings and historical traumas to possessions and alien life.

The standout story for me was Tone Almhjell’s tale about birds, transformation, and a mother-daughter relationship. It was sweet and poignant in turn and the ending felt like the story had come full circle.

Overall, Nordic Visions is for people who like their fiction weirder and more ambitious than me.

Thanks to NetGalley and Solaris for an ARC in exchange for my honest review!

This review has been scheduled to be posted on Goodreads, Amazon, and my blog on September 10, 2023.