As a fan of Beckett’s stories back when I still read Interzone (must pick that up again) and a booster of his first novel, The Holy Machine, I was delighted to hear that this collection had won a major prize, and made sure to get my hands on a copy. As I had hoped and expected, it is very good; I like Beckett’s writing for the same reason I like Brian Aldiss, that very English way of looking askance at the world as it is and as it could be. Particular gems here include the fading provincial horrors of “Monsters”, “Karel’s Prayer” which is a Philip K. Dick piece for our times, and “The Marriage of Sky and Sea” whose unpleasant protagonist gets exactly what he asks for. There’s also a flattering introduction by Alastair Reynolds. Well worth hunting down.