Down to a Soundless Sea (review)

Thomas Steinbeck’s first book, Down to a Soundless Sea, is labeled a collection of stories, though it is more accurately a collection of seven tales, three of which are novella length. It is worthwhile to note the distinction between the short story per se and the tale so readers won’t believe they are getting a book of short stories in the modern sense. The term tale is a looser term that generally refers to any short narrative—either factual