Reviews, Interviews and Mentions |
| Mark Watson of Best SF on "The History Within Us" |
"So the other day I listened to Kate Baker reading Matthew Kresse's 'The History Within Us', which was published in March 2010. Obviously the sensible thing for you to do is to leave Best SF (what, a website encouraging you to leave it?) and either listen to the podcast
here or read the story here. You'll be reading it one of the Year's Best Anthologies next year."
Mark Watson
Best SF |
| Bob Lawson of Interzone on "Saving Diego" - as part of the 2009 Readers' Poll Summation |
"Throughout the period of [issues] 220-225 there has been much to enjoy. My top three stories are, as they say, in no particular order, 'Bone Island' (225), 'Saving Diego' (221), and 'Lady of the White-Spired City' (222), with 'Microcosmos' (222) demanding to know why it's not been included. The most memorable issue was the outstanding 221."
Bob Lawson
May/June 2010 Interzone |
| Rachel Swirsky on "The History Within Us" |
"'The History Within Us' by Matthew Kressel is one of the most powerful stories I've read in a long time. I am deeply moved by it. Go read."
Rachel Swirsky
Apr 29, 2010 |
| Novel Musings on "The History Within Us" |
"This stunning story is told from the perspective of Betsy and flows along with her thoughts...Matthew Kressel's smooth, imaginative but compelling writing style allows you to feel the deep emotional lethargy and turmoil that is going on in Betsy's mind...The History Within Us is a story that will twist and burrow itself among your thoughts with its richly imagined and written world and characters. Its richly filled plot contains love, lost, genocide, revenge, and war among its emotionally filled pages. Head on over to Clarkesworld Magazine and read 'The History Within Us' today, it will be sure to haunt your thoughts for many hours if not days to come."
Novel Musings
Mar 31, 2010 |
| Gord Sellar on "The History Within Us" |
"I especially want to direct your attention to Matthew Kressel's "The History Within Us": it's a particularly striking, dark far-future story about, well, a nightmare from which we cannot wake — though maybe we can find a reason to live on within it. Kressel's story reminds me how fun it can be to watch an author destroy all hope, just to see what your characters will do with the tattered remnants of what was once their lives. Like I said, well worth checking out..."
By Gord Sellar
Mar 2, 2010 |
| Daniel Ausema on "The History Within Us" |
"'The History Within Us' is a far-future SF story about a galaxy in shambles, post-humans, and a group of beings preparing to crash into a black hole in the hope of then being flung into a new universe. It's also the story of memory, of legacy and shame and the stories people tell. Much of the story is actually in the backstory, as it gets revealed, but that's paired with the very human main storyline about what the protagonist will do with her collected pieces of human history."
By Daniel Ausema
Mar 9, 2010 |
| Tangent Online on "The Spaces Between Things" |
"'The Spaces Between Things' by Matthew Kressel is a touching near future story about a war between East and West in which the East has somehow acquired the ability to send messages through time which appear as metaphors in the protagonist's present. A series of flashbacks intersperse with the protagonist's present dilemma, revealing his personal story of love, coming of age, and the invisible connections between people. He reflects on these bits of his past while deliberating whether to counter the successful enemy attack by launching a nuclear strike. This story is excellent if a little slow at times.
Tangent Online
Feb 8, 2010 |
| Interview at Bibliophile Stalker |
Where I talk about Sybil's Garage, Senses Five Press, the KGB Fantastic Fiction reading series, and my fiction, among other things.
By Charles Tan at Bibliophile Stalker
Jan 12, 2010 |
| Michele Lee of BookLove on "The Girl In The Basement" |
"Last of the fiction features is "The Girl in the Basement" by Matthew Kressel, a tale that amps up the creepiness in the previous tale, and poses more questions than answers as it tells a story of the kind of marks abuse leaves on a child's soul. All together the September issue is stellar."
Michele Lee at BookLove
Oct 8, 2009 |
| Lois Tilton (IROSF) on "The Girl in the Basement" |
"Child abuse. In a post-apocalyptic world, a girl is kept imprisoned in a basement room by parents who tell her she is allergic to sunlight. The parents prostitute her as a way of feeding themselves, while pretending their actions are all for her own good.
"I'm sorry," Mother said later, stroking the girl's hair as the girl lay in bed moaning. "But I'm the one who brought you into this world. I'm the one who gave you life, who keeps you alive." She kicked the basement floor with her sandal. "Without me, you're dust."
While the cruelty in this one has a highly authentic touch, the SFnal element is minimal. It would be easy to imagine finding this story in the news reports today, minus the state of the world outside the basement."
Internet Review of Science Fiction
October, 2009 |
| Tangent Online (Bill Ward) on "Saving Diego" |
"Told with cyberpunkish verve, 'Saving Diego' takes full advantage of its intergalactic setting to interlay themes of the vast and the unknowable alongside human-scaled concerns of addiction, friendship, and betrayal."
Tangent Online
July 22, 2009 |
| Garbled Signals (Matt Bruensteiner) on "Saving Diego" |
"'Saving Diego' by Matthew Kressel is the second top-tier stories in the magazine. The protagonist travels across the inhabited galaxy to help an old friend quit a powerful drug addiction. The drug turns out to be more than just a brain-altering chemical, and the traveller ends up being caught by it himself. Flashbacks to the earlier lives of the two friends are handled deftly as is the slow revelation of the nature of the drug. A highly recommended story."
Garbled Signals
March 26, 2009 |
| From the TTA Press message boards on "Saving Diego" (page 2) |
'All great stories, but I especially enjoyed "Saving Diego" by Matthew Kressel, and "A Clown Escapes From Circus Town" by Will McIntosh.' - Rich Dodgin
"A good strong issue with no weak stories for this reader at least, though I'd have to nominate 'Saving Diego' as the best of the bunch." - Lawrence Conquest
"Another very good issue, the standout being "Saving Diego" for me as well." - Aliette de Bodard
'"Saving Diego"' is first story from Matthew Kressel I've read, and another well crafted story about drug addiction and friendship." - Galaxie500 |
| SciFi Fantasy Fiction at Suite 101, Colin Harvey on "Saving Diego" |
"'Saving Diego' by Matthew Kressel sees a Terran ex-drug addict travel out to the edge of the galaxy in response to a call for help from a friend. Given that Mikal abandoned a stoned Diego to the police years before in Seoul, the call for help is a surprise, as is the nature of Diego's addiction, and Mikal's fate is never going to be happy -- although it's implications are fascinating."
SciFiFantasyFiction @ Suite 101
March 26, 2009 |
| The Barking Dog (Lawrence Conquest) reviews "Saving Diego" |
“In Matthew Kressel’s ‘Saving Diego’ a former drug dealer travels across the galaxy to help wean his old partner off of an addictive drug that allows communication with god-like aliens. Kressel initially keeps the SF elements deceptively light, immersing the reader in characterisation as the drug-fuelled relationship between the two leads is examined. When the SF elements kick in they only serve to strengthen an already strong story, with the metaphor of humans being the equivalent of pet cats to the alien creatures being particularly evocative. Add on a satisfying ending to complete the narrative and the result is a stunning slice of science fiction. Highly recommended.”
The Barking Dog
March 25, 2009 |
| Aliette de Bodard on "Saving Diego" |
"Another very good story in the current issue of Interzone (221): Matthew Kressel's 'Saving Diego', where an ex-junkie travels to a remote planet in order to wean off the titular friend from his drug habit. Except that there may be much more to the planet and the drug than he realises..."
Aliette de Bodard
March 30, 2009 |
| Ellen Datlow interview at Chasing Ray, where she mentions "The Bricks of Gelecek," a story she recently bought for her Naked City anthology |
"I’ve recently bought a story by a relative newcomer, Matthew Kressel. Matt is the editor of Sybil’s Garage, a boutique sf/f magazine--and he’s recently become my co-curator for the KGB Fantastic Fiction reading series in New York City. I knew he was a writer and probably had read some of his stories over the past couple of years. But he submitted a story to my Naked City (urban fantasy) anthology and it blew me away. As soon as I read it, I knew I had something. It’s about creatures in the desert that by their presence, destroy the cities they come to. And it’s a love story." - Ellen Datlow
Chasing Ray
November 18, 2008 |
| Hudson Current interview about Sybil's Garage No. 5 |
The Hudson Current
May 20, 2008 |
| The Hudson Current interviews Matt and E. Sedia about Paper Cities |
The Hudson Current
March 12, 2008 |
| The Fix Online review of "The Writing's on the Wall" |
"“The Writing’s On The Wall” by Matthew Kressel makes no compromises in expressing the voice and thoughts of its narrator. A hard drinking, drug popping, street smart young man tells the story of his encounter with a punk girl with a difference. The narrative voice is compelling and well crafted and carries the reader through the story."
The Fix Online, Damien G. Walter
January 19, 2008 |
| Hudson Current interviews Matt about Sybil's Garage No. 4 |
The Hudson Current
April 13, 2007 |
| Doug Cohen interviews Matt for his series about editors |
Editorial Musings Issue 10
February 15, 2007 |
| ASIF review of "Marie and the Mathematicans" |
Australian Specfic In Focus
December 15, 2006
"The first cab off the rank in this set is 'Marie and the Mathematicians', by Matthew Kressel. This is one of the stories that I really enjoyed from this set." -Alexandra Pierce |
| HorrorGarage review of "Marie and the Mathematicans" |
Horror Garage
November 17, 2006
"A strong opening by Matthew Kressel with 'Marie and the Mathematicians.'"
Mark Smith-Briggs |
| Interview about Sybil's Garage No. 3 |
The Hudson Current
May 3, 2006 |
| Review of "The Many Faces of Lisa Adorn" |
Tangent Online
September 22, 2005
"Kressel takes the reader on an incredible, well-paced journey that is speculative in itself as well as within the framework of the story. The duplicity of Lisa's existence combines with a sense of wonder for what lies beyond our tiny place in the universe to create a classic Science Fiction tale for old and young readers alike. Though the ending is not traditionally "happy," it leaves questions unanswered for future ponderings." - Suzanne Church |
| Interview about the creation of Sybil's Garage |
The Hudson Current
July 1, 2005 |
| Bryn Sparks praises "The Thing In The Refrigerator That Could Stop Time" |
Fat Merchant Princes
October 1, 2005
"His narrative style reeks of craft. Kressel contracts and telescopes time during his sophisticated narrative technique, so that when the main character reaches the climax of his slow-motion bid to prevent a captured creature from escape, so too the reader has joined the protagonist with a full grasp of the events leading to the current crisis." - Bryn Sparks |
