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steveatwaywords's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I so admire Jemisin as an author, not just for her fresh internally complex characters, but for how her entire worlds are built to shape her questions and themes. This could not be more true than in her Broken Earth trilogy, but she is not always equally successful title to title. That's why this anthology of her short works is so striking.
Jemisin herself says that the short story is a space for her to test out ideas and approaches. Read it for its marvelous stories, of course, but read it too as a terrific example of a writer testing herself in her craft. Each story is unique in its world-building and its character challenges, but many also vary significantly in style--and, like her worlds, the styles are structured not just as gimmick but as essential to the ideas she explores.
Again, not every story hits equally well, but there are definitely stories in here to meet anyone's taste for fantasy or speculative fiction. Some are warm-ups or spin-offs of her other novel worlds, but some are concepts which could only be written as short story, brief challenges or ideas to provoke. So far, this is one of my favorite works of hers, because it reveals a writer working, willing to experiment, to take risks.
Jemisin herself says that the short story is a space for her to test out ideas and approaches. Read it for its marvelous stories, of course, but read it too as a terrific example of a writer testing herself in her craft. Each story is unique in its world-building and its character challenges, but many also vary significantly in style--and, like her worlds, the styles are structured not just as gimmick but as essential to the ideas she explores.
Again, not every story hits equally well, but there are definitely stories in here to meet anyone's taste for fantasy or speculative fiction. Some are warm-ups or spin-offs of her other novel worlds, but some are concepts which could only be written as short story, brief challenges or ideas to provoke. So far, this is one of my favorite works of hers, because it reveals a writer working, willing to experiment, to take risks.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Death, and Grief
mar's review against another edition
medium-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Racism
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Sexism, Sexual content, and Violence
Minor: Bullying, Homophobia, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Rape, Police brutality, and Pregnancy
monstrouscosmos's review against another edition
4.5
I really like NK Jemisin as a rule, and these short stories are largely no exception. a lot of heavy themes were tackled with a focus on individual and community survival and connection. I admit to struggling through a lot of the stories, and skipping a couple that ended up having triggering themes/events. I extremely enjoyed the stories connecting peoplehood to places, that's a theme in Jemisin's work I love to return to! I don't know if I'll reread this one, but I'm glad to have read it the one time at least for sure.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Sexism, Terminal illness, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Infertility, Miscarriage, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Religious bigotry, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Child abuse, Child death, and Pedophilia
readandfindout's review
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
The Ones Who Stay and Fight: 4.5 stars
The City Born Great: 3.5 stars
Red Dirt Witch: 5 stars
L'Alchimista: 4 stars
The Effluent Engine: 4 stars
Cloud Dragon Skies: 3 stars
The Trojan Girl: 3 stars
Valedictorian: 5 stars
The Storyteller's Replacement: 2 stars
The Brides of Heaven: 4 stars
The Evaluators: 4 stars
Walking Awake: 3.5 stars
The Elevator Dancer: 3 stars
Cuisine des Mémoires: 4.5 stars
Stone Hunger: 3.5 stars
On the Banks of the River Lex: 4.5 stars
The Narcomancer: 4.5 stars
Henosis: 2.5 stars
Too Many Yesterdays, Not Enough Tomorrows: 3.5 stars
The You Train: 3 stars
Non-Zero Probabilities: 4 stars
Sinners, Saints, Dragons, and Haints, in the City Beneath the Still Waters: 4.5 stars
The City Born Great: 3.5 stars
Red Dirt Witch: 5 stars
L'Alchimista: 4 stars
The Effluent Engine: 4 stars
Cloud Dragon Skies: 3 stars
The Trojan Girl: 3 stars
Valedictorian: 5 stars
The Storyteller's Replacement: 2 stars
The Brides of Heaven: 4 stars
The Evaluators: 4 stars
Walking Awake: 3.5 stars
The Elevator Dancer: 3 stars
Cuisine des Mémoires: 4.5 stars
Stone Hunger: 3.5 stars
On the Banks of the River Lex: 4.5 stars
The Narcomancer: 4.5 stars
Henosis: 2.5 stars
Too Many Yesterdays, Not Enough Tomorrows: 3.5 stars
The You Train: 3 stars
Non-Zero Probabilities: 4 stars
Sinners, Saints, Dragons, and Haints, in the City Beneath the Still Waters: 4.5 stars
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Death, and Racism
Minor: Racial slurs and Rape
questingnotcoasting's review
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
This was a fascinating short story collection. I like sci-fi and fantasy but I don't read that much of it, so while I'm intrigued by N.K. Jemisin's work, I'm also a bit intimidated. I thought short stories would be a good place to start. There's a wide variety of stories here, covering many subgenres of fantasy and sci-fi and I was so impressed with the breadth of Jemisin's imagination. Some stories relied on concepts I couldn't quite get my head around but there were others where I felt I completely understood the world after a few pages. They all felt so different and I really enjoyed most of them.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence
bibliofilth's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
I just love Jemisin's writing so much.
The Ones Who Stay and Fight - 4.5/5
The City Born Great - 2.5/5
Red Dirt Witch - 5/5
L'Alchimista - 4/5
The Effluent Engine - 3.5/5 only because it's so rushed in a short story format - I loved every element of this and would absolutely love a full novella or novel with this concept
Cloud Dragon Skies - 4.5/5
The Trojan Girl - 4/5
Valedictorian - 5/5
The Storyteller's Replacement - 3/5
The Brides of Heaven - 5/5
The Evaluators - 1/5
Walking Awake - 5/5
The Elevator Dancer - 3/5
Cuisine des Memories - 4/5
Stone Hunger - 2/5
On the Banks of the River Lex - 4.5/5
The Narcomancer -2/5
Henosis - 2/5
Too Many Yesterdays, Not Enough Tomorrows - 4/5
The You Train - 3/5
Non-Zero Probabilities - 2/5
Sinners, Saints, Dragons, and Haints, in the City Beneath the Still Waters - 4/5
Content warnings: gore, racism, death (Walking Awake specifically is more horror and has some disturbing imagery)
The Ones Who Stay and Fight - 4.5/5
The City Born Great - 2.5/5
Red Dirt Witch - 5/5
L'Alchimista - 4/5
The Effluent Engine - 3.5/5 only because it's so rushed in a short story format - I loved every element of this and would absolutely love a full novella or novel with this concept
Cloud Dragon Skies - 4.5/5
The Trojan Girl - 4/5
Valedictorian - 5/5
The Storyteller's Replacement - 3/5
The Brides of Heaven - 5/5
The Evaluators - 1/5
Walking Awake - 5/5
The Elevator Dancer - 3/5
Cuisine des Memories - 4/5
Stone Hunger - 2/5
On the Banks of the River Lex - 4.5/5
The Narcomancer -2/5
Henosis - 2/5
Too Many Yesterdays, Not Enough Tomorrows - 4/5
The You Train - 3/5
Non-Zero Probabilities - 2/5
Sinners, Saints, Dragons, and Haints, in the City Beneath the Still Waters - 4/5
Content warnings: gore, racism, death (Walking Awake specifically is more horror and has some disturbing imagery)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Racism
cheye13's review
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
This collection is absolutely amazing. It's not that every story within is necessarily perfect, but as a whole this book is magnificent. The stories themselves are beautiful pieces of art; Jemisin crafts full and distinct new worlds with each piece, giving them the backbones to stand alone and clothing them in beautiful prose. But the care with which the collection was assembled is also noteworthy – the stories transition so well and the pacing of the collection never stagnates. Even the introduction is a good read, equal parts narrative, inspiring, and contextualizing.
–
★★★★★ | The Ones Who Stay and Fight; Red Dirt Witch; L’Alchemista; The Storyteller’s Replacement; The Brides of Heaven; The Evaluators; The Elevator Dancer; Cuisine des Mémoires; The You Train
–
★★★★★ | The Ones Who Stay and Fight; Red Dirt Witch; L’Alchemista; The Storyteller’s Replacement; The Brides of Heaven; The Evaluators; The Elevator Dancer; Cuisine des Mémoires; The You Train
★★★★ | The Effluent Engine; Cloud Dragon Skies; The Trojan Girl; Walking Awake; The Narcomancer; Henosis; Too Many Yesterdays […]
★★★ | The City Born Great; Valedictorian; On the Banks of the River Lex; Stone Hunger; Non-Zero Probabilities; Sinners, Saints, Dragons, and Haints […]
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Gore, Racism, Violence, and Blood
Minor: Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, Slavery, and Police brutality
None of the sensitive content is gratuitous; all is in service to the stories and handled/written sensitively in my opinion.
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