"Dangerous Space" is a collection of seven short stories by Kelley Eskridge. Although some of them have scifi and/or fantasy elements, most are not what you'd call "strictly" scifi. These are the kind of edgy, intriguing stories that the term "speculative fiction" was invented for. I was not familiar with Eskridge's work before reading this, but I will definitely be seeking out her other stuff.
The "dangerous space" of the title can, of course, be interpreted in many ways. I think of it as that place inside you where your most extreme emotions live, where you keep them pressed down so that you can function; the place you go to, willingly or not, when something or someone touches you in just the right way. Eskridge's writing is all about exploring the intensity of emotions -- emotions that take you over, that drive your existence, that grab you and won't let go until they've shown you what you need to see, even if you don't want to see it.
Eskridge plays around a lot with gender and sexuality; several of the stories involve main characters whose gender is never explicitly made clear, and several include bisexual behavior. I'll be honest and say that in at least two cases I simply assumed the main character was female and didn't realize until the end that it had never really been specified. In another case, I noticed early on that Eskridge was avoiding any mention of the character's gender, and I found that it really worked in that case. Sex, being one of the things that people tend to feel pretty strongly about, appears in many contexts and configurations in this collection; many of the stories involve a strong undercurrent of lust: innocent and jaded, smooth and kinky, requited and un.
The first story, "Strings," is not necessarily the best way to start off this collection, in my opinion. I say this mainly because the ending is quite predictable and the overall premise -- a world where musicians must play every piece in exactly the same way, and everyone is monitored to make sure they don't dare improvise -- is a bit tough for me to swallow. Still, the story is very well-written and vibrates with the urgency of the protagonist's situation -- so it is certainly a good introduction to Eskridge's style and her no-punches-pulled approach to describing emotions.
"City Life" is a compelling and affecting story about a woman with the power to cure, and a city falling apart. One could argue that its conclusion is predictable as well, but it really works.
"And Salome Danced" is a fascinating and unnerving vignette about a person who can apparently change gender at will, and how he/she derails the protagonist from his/her comfort zone. It's the kind of story that might have your skin crawling if you read it late at night with your defenses down.
"Eye of the Storm" starts out almost familiar to those of us who are used to more "conventional" fantasy: a young person sets out on a journey to find his/her destiny. It takes a turn when that young person encounters a threesome of others and joins them in their quest to audition for the local military. It's a story about combat and sex, embarrassment and audacity. I found the protagonist of this one very sympathetic, and that's saying something from me, since I generally have little patience for "young foolish person goes on a quest and is taught many lessons about life" fiction. In this case, though, it works. You really feel the frantic mixture of emotions that the main character is suffering through: the hot pounding of desire, the confusion, the loneliness ("am I the only one who feels this way?"), the desperation mixed with determination. In many ways it's almost a stereotypical portrayal of the emotional struggles of adolescence -- but Eskridge makes it better than that. She makes the tension coil through the story tighter and tighter until you truly can't believe that the release, when it comes, will satisfy. And yet...it does.
"Somewhere Down the Diamondback Road" was difficult for me to read. Not because it was bad, but it hit a nerve for me personally. It's an edgy, unsettling piece with more questions than answers: a spare story that shows but doesn't tell.
The title story, "Dangerous Space," is the longest and, like several of the others, it's about artists -- specifically musicians. It describes the unique and brittle relationship between a budding rock star and the sound technician who keeps him grounded. I found it problematic in a lot of good ways (and maybe one or two not-so-good). It's beautifully written and keeps you on the edge of your seat, pardon the cliche.
"Alien Jane" is the perfect way to end this collection: a short, bittersweet piece with a deeply flawed narrator who lays it out for you like a punch in the gut. It ends not happily but well, the kind of ending that leaves you saying "no, no," hating Eskridge for doing that even though you know she was right.
All together, a fascinating collection of very different stories, and for me an excellent introduction to Eskridge's work. These are stories that will stick with you for days.
