The Art of Space Travel and Other Stories
by Nina Allan
Nina Allan is best known as a writer of speculative fiction, but her stylistic references and inspirations are surprisingly varied. The Art of Space Travel is a collection of stories written over a period of about fifteen years, providing an interesting cross-section of Allan’s oeuvre for fans and newcomers alike.
The title piece suggests that it is a work of science fiction. In actual fact, the references to space travel and the speculative elements are less important than the human relationships at the heart of the novella. The narrator, Emily, is a head of housekeeping at a hotel where two astronauts will be staying. Besides her work, the centre of her life is her mother, a sufferer from dementia, whom Emily cares for. As the excitement for the astronauts’ visit mounts, Emily also discovers further details about the identity of her (unknown) father. Space travel is also referenced in Flying in the Face of God which features references to “fliers”, space travellers who undergo physical transformation to enable them to travel in space.
An emphasis on human relationships is evident in the earliest stories in this collection. Amethyst, a story about aliens which also deals with the friendship between two girls and Heroes is based on an unlikely but strong bond between a boy and a man who keeps homing pigeons.
Other works are closer to traditional horror stories – for instance, A Thread of Truth about a “spider gene” which runs in the family of the narrator’s friend. Four Abstracts, which is also featured in this collection, is a sort of sequel, where the subject matter is addressed through a description of four artworks. Some of the stories are closer to mainstream horror and weird, although with a twist of the surreal and absurd. The Science of Chance and Marielena are based on a “timeslip” concept, whereas Fairy Skulls is a comedic description of a fairy infestation, with a romantic subplot.
The most recent stories in the collection show that Allan’s preoccupations have remained surprisingly consistent, although there has been a noticeable shift towards a Sebaldian blurring of fact and fiction. In The Gift of Angels, middle-aged writer Vincent tries to come to terms with the fact that his mother left him to undertake a one-way voyage to Mars. There are plenty of allusions to the classic film La Jetée – the comments and analysis of the movie are grounded in fact, the story itself is, of course, pure fiction. Cinema once again lies at the basis of A Princess of Mars: an uncategorisable story which doubles as an essay about an aborted adaptation by Andrei Tarkovsky of the Aleksey Tolstoy’s science fiction novel Aelita.
This collection has a cohesive feel to it with the featured pieces having common elements and, on occasion, shared characters. At the same time, it reveals an accomplished writer’s developing style. These stories have intrigued me enough to lead me to seek out Nina Allan’s novels.
This is a full list of the stories featured in this collection:
Amethyst
Heroes
A
Thread of Truth
Flying
in the Face of God
Microcosmos
Fairy
Skulls
The
Science of Chance
Marielena
The
Art of Space Travel
Neptune’s
Trident
Four Abstracts
The
Common Tongue, the Present Tense, the Known
The
Gift of Angels: An Introduction
A
Princess of Mars: Svetlana Belkina and Tarkovsky’s Lost Movie Aelita
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