Reviews

An Alphabet of Embers by R.B. Lemberg

scrow1022's review

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5.0

Amazing stories. Rich, vivid, tantalizing, evocative. And such amazing illustrations by M Sereno.

Favorite authors: E Stoddard, JY Yang, S Norja, N Harris, Z Cho, CR Baker, I Muneshwar, A Martine, V Chandrasekera, M Sereno.

misssusan's review

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3.0

this is a collection of very short stories that live somewhere between poetry and prose. i admit i didn't really understand a lot of them but i liked the language enough to read them regardless. plus it's got a fantastic author line-up, i bought it because it was a collection including zen cho, shweta narayan (who i am still pining for a full book from), and amal el-mohtar; like obviously there was no universe in which i wouldn't buy that

3.5 stars

mmelibertine's review

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3.0

This is a lovely book, one that embraces its unclassifiable nature. I love it for that, for the musical, lyrical quality of so much of the prose, but it also makes some stories less accessible than others. That said, there are gems here, and I suspect everyone will find a different one that speaks to them. I highly recommend this collection!

bookdeviant's review

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3.0

this...THIS is why i struggle so much to read anthologies. the concept drags me in. there are stories are are straight up MAGICAL and i want more of. and then there are others that I'm skipping past for one reason or another.

tregina's review

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3.0

This anthology was like a necklace set with beautiful jewels that I just didn't take to the cut or setting of. That it wasn't for me doesn't take away from the fact that they're beautiful jewels! The necklace analogy work for me because there is also a distinct editorial hand to this, the thing that ties all of the jewels together into jewellery. Because they all went together so smoothly and well, that also meant that I didn't find something quite different enough from the rest to really capture my sensibilities. Still, a great idea and a lovely anthology!

battlepoet's review

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4.0

A mixed bag of short stories on love and grief. I’ll have to double-check the table of contents to jog my memory on my favourite stories.

honyombooks's review

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3.0

I really wanted to love everything in this book but it just wasn't the case. I really fell in love with a couple of the stories but others left me incredibly confused what was going on and I just ended up skipping through.

candidceillie's review against another edition

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5.0

This was absolutely beautiful. It filled my heart with joy.
Read my full review HERE!

mmelibertine's review against another edition

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3.0

This is a lovely book, one that embraces its unclassifiable nature. I love it for that, for the musical, lyrical quality of so much of the prose, but it also makes some stories less accessible than others. That said, there are gems here, and I suspect everyone will find a different one that speaks to them. I highly recommend this collection!

utopiastateofmind's review against another edition

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4.0

this is a truly wonderful anthology full of stories that push the very limits of our expectations of fantasy. it should be on your list of you love short fiction, fantasy, and evocative language.

disclaimer: I was sent this book in exchange for an honest review.