Morris, “States of Deseret” (Reviewed by Conor Hilton)

Title: States of Deseret
Editor: William Morris
Publisher: Peculiar Pages
Genre: Alternative history, Short fiction. Multi-author anthology.
Year Published: 2017
Number of Pages: 109
Binding: Kindle only
Price: $3.00

(Reviewed by Conor Hilton)

The worst part of this anthology is how short it is! In eight stories, this fine collection of tales demonstrates a wide range of genres that can be used to explore the myriad of directions that Mormon history could have taken (and in so doing, similar to the Mormon Steampunk anthologies and the Mormons and Monsters collection, dig into what Mormonism is, has been, and may yet be).

I loved everything here and WANT MORE.

Three that particularly stand-out:
“The Guns of Perdition”, DJ Butler: Love this pulpy, spooky, mysterious look at what could be. Butller’s work that I’ve encountered is great and I’ve gotta check out more of it.

“Richard Meets the Missionaries”, Anneke Garcia: Lots of interesting ideas here about revelation and what’s from God and man and what racial dynamics could have been like with a few tweaks. All kinda digging into the complexity of really building Zion in a way that includes people of all races.

“Subject to Kings”, Lee Allred: This story is cinematic and engaging and remarkable and provocative. Love the ideas that Allred explores here and the world that he builds. I’ll be thinking about the possibilities of the world that Allred sketches out for quite some time.

Again, a wonderful collection, whose greatest sin (and perhaps strength!) is its brevity. Very eager to check out what else the authors and editor have put together, because if this collection is any indication, very many wonderful things lie in store. And, I hope that others (perhaps myself included!) continue to explore the rich possibilities that STATES OF DESERET displays as worthy of our labors.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.