The Gift of Fire / On the Head of a Pin: Two Short Novels from Crosstown to Oblivion by Walter MosleyMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
Walter Mosley is best known as a mystery writer, but these two short speculative fiction novellas demonstrate his incredible range as a writer. The Gift of Fire is a continuation/update of the Prometheus myth, and it is written in the style of a classical myth/epic poem. On the Head of the Pin is more squarely in the science-fiction genre. Both stories wrestle with what it is to be human, the connection to the divine (broadly construed), and with nature of good and evil/love and hatred. These are very different stories with very different styles, but pair well together. They explore these themes in their own parallel ways and though there is tragedy in each, they end on notes of hope and optimism about humanity.
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