“Fu’s stories crackle with quirky plots, and her characters’ problems and hunger for new possibilities are palpable. This is a winner.” – Publishers Weekly, starred review

“Stories blending emotional realism with surreal imagery … Fu addresses questions of technology and community with grace and subtlety. A powerful collection that demonstrates Fu’s range and skill.” – Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Fu joins recent maestros Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (Friday Black, 2018), Charles Yu (Sorry Please Thank You, 2012), and Seong-nan Ha (Bluebeard’s First Wife, 2020) in creating irrefutably fantastic fiction.” – Booklist, starred review

“Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century has people driving wood-paneled station wagons, kids going to work, and folks getting unhealthy breakfast at a drive-through, so it feels normal, like something we know. However, it’s also full of surprises and strange new things – and those make for truly addictive reading. This collection cements Fu as one of the most exciting short story writers in contemporary literature.” –NPR

“. . . the title of Kim Fu’s powerful short story collection, Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century, isn’t a metaphor; these stories really do include, among other things, a sea monster and a sinister doll; Fu “is equally at home chronicling bizarre events and her characters’ inner lives.” – Kirkus Reviews, “10 Most Anticipated Fiction Books of 2022”

“Things get weird in this mesmerizing debut short story collection featuring 12 stories about macabre, beautifully dark images (not unlike a Lana Del Rey song) that include: a girl growing wings on her legs, a group of children who steal a haunted doll, and a runaway bride who encounters a sea monster.” – NYLON, “24 Books We’re Looking Forward to in 2022”

“This collection of 12 inventive and mesmerizing short stories depicts the monstrous hiding within the everyday … Vivid and surreal, readers of Carmen Maria Machado will enjoy this collection.” – Buzzfeed, “23 New Fantasy And Science Fiction Novels To Read This Winter”

“Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century demonstrates Fu’s command of the form. The speculative elements are all anchored by emotional gravity. Her unusual plots and nonconformist characters are drawn with incisive prose of great descriptive power, and they captivate even in miniature.” –Quill & Quire

“An endlessly entertaining bestiary from one of the country’s most exciting practitioners of fiction … There’s nothing to fault in this book; it’s an endlessly inventive collection from a real talent.” – Michael Schaub, StarTribune

“The strange and wonderful define Kim Fu’s story collection, where the line between fantasy and reality fades in and out, elusive and beckoning as shadows flitting on a screen.” –Danielle Trussoni, New York Times Book Review

“As much as the 12 tales in this collection … are filled with discomfiting elements and goings-on – a woman rents a house that slowly fills with beetles, an insomniac is visited by an actual sandman who pours sand down her throat – each is still anchored in recognizable emotional reality. Amidst the trauma, violence and technology gone awry there’s sly humour, too.” –Emily Donaldson, Globe and Mail

“Fu doesn’t offer concrete answers but instead suggests that with all these technological advances, we remain fragile, lonely, fearful of expressing our own truth, and blinded by our own world view. Herein lies the collection’s hope. The ‘known monsters of the 21st century’ are humans. While they have bleakly accepted things, these humans are dreamers, and encourage each other to be our best. Perhaps, we have not completely collapsed into a dystopian world as yet.” –Leslie-Ann Murray, Ploughshares

“Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century is a breathtaking collection of speculative fiction stories about how new places and innovations affect timeless emotions.” –Foreword Reviews, starred review

“As they summon disturbing signs and wonders, the stories invite readers into portraits – of marriage, childhood, grief and our glum zeitgeist – that delight, provoke and entertain.” –Brett Josef Grubisic, Toronto Star

“Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century celebrates a multitude of needs and desires that are not socially or economically prescribed. Characters hold their secrets, their strangest thoughts close. Such flights of fancy — tinged with desperation though they may be — are what make their lives plausible and survivable as well as enchanting.” –Rachel Gerry, Literary Review of Canada

Monsters, figurative or real aside, Kim Fu’s Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century is a terrific collection of speculative fiction, with evocative, textured prose that left a lasting impression on this reader. – Ian Mond, Locus Magazine

“Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century by Kim Fu is a lovely, new collection of eclectic tales, with everything from virtual simulations with the dead to a man made of sand.” –Silvia Moreno-Garcia, The Washington Post

“An endlessly surprising story collection without a single flawed entry in the bunch, Kim Fu’s Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century is brilliantly textured. Moving from an argument with the operator of a VR machine to an insomniac’s encounter with a veritable sandman to a couple who can die and resurrect themselves at will, Fu’s worlds are fantastical and enterprising in their own right. But these set-ups stealthily reveal themselves to be structures for unspeakably moving revelations about the most real of human experiences—grief, anger, mistrust, sex, nostalgia, sacrifice. A deeply emotional collection that delights, dares, and dazzles.” – 2022 Scotiabank Giller Prize Jury

“From a story about a girl growing wings to another about a bug-infested house, Fu’s tales are a gripping exploration of the blurred lines between reality and fantasy.” – Annabel Gutterman, Time Magazine “The 100 Must-Read Books of 2022”

“Lesser Known Monsters of the 21st Century presents a mesmerizing array of characters whose encounters with the world are alternately mythical and monstrous, technological and disturbing. There are surreal insect infestations, sea monsters, and winged youth – but also futuristic body printers, memory simulators, and time-altering cubes. Navigating these metaphorical and psychological worlds with dexterous turns of phrase and evocative prose, Kim Fu is masterful at telling stories that engage and astound the reader.” – Danuta Gleed Literary Award Jury Citation