Somewhere Beneath Those Waves is Sarah Monette’s first general short fiction collection, published by Prime Books, who also handled her collection of Kyle Murchison Booth stories The Bone Key in 2007 (discussed here). While there is one Booth story in this collection, the rest are varied in theme and content, spanning Monette’s career publishing short fiction from the first story (“Three Letters from the Queen of Elfland”) to new tales unique to this collection, and covering all of the ground between.
The book opens with “Draco Campestris” and closes with “After the Dragon,” both stories featuring dragons inspired by the jewelry of Elise Matthesen. Bookended between these two tales are stories ranging from science fiction to classic horror to urban fantasy (with trains!), spanning an emotional gamut from the desolate to the uplifting, often united by their focus on people who have been othered or made outsiders in their society. There are several queer stories, and yet more stories that deal with women’s sexualities (queer and otherwise) and identities in a patriarchal world. Issues of gender, sexuality, class, and able-ness permeate Monette’s short fiction; trauma and recovery, too, are common themes.
[A review]