Anne Leinonen: Nocchio's Song
Short stories about humanity, growth, and finding oneself.
In Noccio's song, science fiction short stories take readers to alternative realities and unknown planets. Its pages feature mythical creatures, strange events, and a city whose inhabitants live in the shadow of gods walking on the horizon.
Leinonen combines international myths and belief creatures in her stories, but is no stranger to describing contemporary phenomena. Everything is projected into the distant future.
The main characters of the stories, wandering alone, are on a collision course with their environment and themselves. They fight for their existence as independent people, but often as outsiders. When you persistently search for your own path, you can eventually find the truth – be it beautiful or ugly.
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"The collection impresses with the diversity of the milieus and settings. Leinonen creates worlds without sparing and skillfully brings them to life. There is a space circus, isolated dwellings in a sea of bubbles, front lines and border regions."
Kaisa Ranta, Tähtivaeltaja 2/21
"In the Afterword to her short story collection, Leinonen explains how her short stories came about. For example, she wrote the book's title short story, Nokkion laulu, imagining what a circus would be like in a future science fiction world. A circus dancer was born, assembled from scraps. She is poor, abandoned, and then found. In the future world, there are human spare parts, the quality of which depends on each person's wealth. One spare part was particularly valuable, and those parts are rarely available. It has a place in the chest, but with that small piece comes a burden that not everyone can bear."
Sari Passaro, Kulttuurivihkot 19.12.2021
Short story collection
Genre: Science fiction
Published by Osuuskumma in 2021
"Leinonen restores faith in prose that not only startles the reader on the sofa, but also knocks them off."
-Helsingin Sanomat