Reviews, Interviews and Mentions |
| 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 |
