The candy itself is vat-mixed, poured onto cold slabs, and then into molds, hot squares solidifying, soft but slightly resistant, texturally similar to a shoulderblade kissed through a chiffon dress. [p.271: 'Bit-U-Men', Maria Dahvana Headley]
An anthology of stories about mummies, featuring a mix of well-known and new contributors, and with an introduction by John J. Johnston of the Egypt Exploration Society ('the UK's oldest independent funder of archaeological fieldwork and research in Egypt, dedicated to the promotion and understanding of ancient Egyptian history and culture'). The settings range from ice-caves, to an American roadtrip, to a flat in Greenwich whose owner has some drugs to dispose of; the themes vary, from cute (and distinctly non-cute) mummified kitties, to nanotech gone wrong, to unrequited love. Several of the stories address orientalism, central to the whole 'curse of the mummy' tradition; I was especially taken with Adam Roberts' 'Tollund', in which Egyptian archaeologists travel to darkest Jutland to examine a bog-body.
There are several tales about the many ways in which mummies -- human, feline, other -- have been used as medicine, fertiliser, ink: really, it's hardly surprising that the spirits of the dead are angry. ('ONCE YOU WORSHIPPED US, ONCE YOU LOVED US, NOW YOU SCATTER US ON YOUR FIELDS AND YOU GROUND US FOR YOUR MEDICINE'.) I think my favourite story here was Maria Dahvana Headley's 'Bit-U-Men', in which a mellified mummy (one preserved in honey) has some say in what becomes of it, and wishes to become ... confectionary. It's a luscious, sensual story, and one that examines the consequences of its premise very well.
I did find the plethora of typos and homophones ('keeping clear of from the abrasive sand'; 'thrills to wile away winter evenings'; 'with most of his photos are in them'...) vexing. But overall, a wide-ranging and intriguing selection.
Purchased in 2015 ...Fulfils the ‘anthology’ rubric of the 52 books in 2022 challenge.
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