A review by larkais
The New Voices of Fantasy by Ursula Vernon, Maria Dahvana Headley, Sofia Samatar, A.C. Wise, Peter S. Beagle, E. Lily Yu, Eugene Fischer, Carmen Maria Machado, Chris Tarry, Sarah Pinsker, Brooke Bolander, Alyssa Wong, Adam Ehrlich Sachs, Ben Loory, Max Gladstone, Amal El-Mohtar, Neon Yang, Jacob Weisman, Hannu Rajaniemi, Usman T. Malik, Kelly Sandoval
adventurous
inspiring
medium-paced
3.5
Apparently this year I am just diving into short story collections. I picked this one up because it had a lot of noteworthy authors such as Max Gladstone and Amal El-Mohtar who wrote This Is How to Losethe Time War, Ursula Vernon who wrote the Clockwork Centaurs series I read this year, and the editor being Peter Beagle who wrote The Last Unicorn.
The earlier stories were more to my taste than the latter ones. I like the fantasy dripping with pretenses and lyrical writing. That is why my favourite short story ended up being:
Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers by Alyssa Wong.
The vampiric/succubus premise of craving strong negative emotion was so unique. Especially when the thoughts manifest physically for the vampires. I cannot get the imagery of beetles and centipedes dropping out of someones head during a meal. It's so visceral.
I thought the first half of the anthology suited my tastes more than the latter half.
Selkie Stories are for Losers by Sofia Samatar
I liked the exploration of different selkie variations here!
"Death is skin tight, Mona says. Gray in front and gray in back."
Tornado’s Siren by Brooke Bolander
I thought the writing of this one was great, I wish there was just a bit more reasoning to it plot wise, like the MC did something very atypical and the tornado was compelled? Sounds like a situation where people just want an exciting relationship instead of a sensible one.
Left the Century to Sit Unmoved by Sarah Pinsker
This one was so mysterious, but well written because of the land's strong characterization. This waterfall diving hole is clearly picky and people disappear out of the blue after the jump into it, never to be seen again. It was a nice small town story that reminded me of Bone Gap with it's in between places.
"Just a thing caught up in the slow process of transformation into another thing."
A Kiss with Teeth by Max Gladstone
Definitely a different take on the vampire and vampire slayer tropes. The summary of how this is the seven year itch but with vampires is really all there is to it. I liked the way details are laid out and the final ball catch scene with Vlad's kid.
Jackalope Wives by Ursula Vernon
I thought the plot construction of this story was a standout, it reflects the traditional legends well with the rule of threes and a strong message about an elder's wisdom. Grandma Harken was an excellent character who didn't know what to do but certainly rationalized each step out.
"She was beautiful," he said. As if it were a reason.
As if it mattered.
As if it ever mattered.
"Better all the way human than this. Better he'd bashed her head in with a rock than this."
"You were a hell of a dancer," said the Father of Rabbits.
"Still am," said Grandma Harken.
"Still are," he agreed.
The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees by E. Lily Yu
The world building in this one was delightful. It felt like a tale of human mishap, particularly when humans release creatures were they aren't native to and lead to invasive colonization of the area. The wasps sailed into the territory of bees and subjugated them all to prevent a repeat of how the humans exterminated them by being so great in sheer numbers, that they can't all be killed at the cost of the bees.
I think everything after the Carpenter Bees suddenly pivoted into the "modern" world and because less magical. I thought the Tallest Doll had interesting writing where buildings suddenly gain sentience and moved around. The Haunting of Apollo A7LB was a nice reflective love story that didn't end well. I thought Here Be Dragons was a clever story about fake dragon slayers but the moral was unclear. Kill your kid and gallivant to the countryside to lie and cheat?? Sure okay. Amal El-Mohtar's story, Wing, was too abstract for me to appreciate.
I thought Philosophers by Adam Sachs was pretty funny. The generations cut short but who still needed to tell their story was doing it in a series of uncoordinated blinks and tongue clicks where it may be possible to leap to conclusions and interpret but no one dares to because maybe that is just how the theory of knowledge's true form and intent is. Conception!! Two Hats spiraled out of control in 30 hats, but I can see that it feels similar to how a child of an immigrant family may need to wear multiple hats to help their parents. I was the chief government form filler, auditor and translator for the family. Otherwise it may be a story where a child happens to inherit a countless amount of views from their parents and may find it uncontrollable.
My Time Among the Bridge Blowers feels like an anthropological adventure that reflects from of Ursula le Guin's stories like the Left Hand of Darkness. Unfortunately, the most interesting part about an alien society is what you do with the knowledge after and I think this one could have been more.
I think the Pauper Prince was overly long, but I know anthologies like to end it on this long note. Didn't like it in Birthday of the World, and didn't like it now.
The earlier stories were more to my taste than the latter ones. I like the fantasy dripping with pretenses and lyrical writing. That is why my favourite short story ended up being:
Hungry Daughters of Starving Mothers by Alyssa Wong.
The vampiric/succubus premise of craving strong negative emotion was so unique. Especially when the thoughts manifest physically for the vampires. I cannot get the imagery of beetles and centipedes dropping out of someones head during a meal. It's so visceral.
Spoiler
The casual meal on the stove that is flavoured with her baba's soul by her mother was really something. The fun little twist at the end when she becomes the ancient vampire and Aiko ends up alive was great.I thought the first half of the anthology suited my tastes more than the latter half.
Selkie Stories are for Losers by Sofia Samatar
I liked the exploration of different selkie variations here!
Spoiler
Particularly when one story featured the MC, where she found her mother's skin and gave it back to her, never to be seen again."Death is skin tight, Mona says. Gray in front and gray in back."
Tornado’s Siren by Brooke Bolander
I thought the writing of this one was great, I wish there was just a bit more reasoning to it plot wise, like the MC did something very atypical and the tornado was compelled? Sounds like a situation where people just want an exciting relationship instead of a sensible one.
Left the Century to Sit Unmoved by Sarah Pinsker
This one was so mysterious, but well written because of the land's strong characterization. This waterfall diving hole is clearly picky and people disappear out of the blue after the jump into it, never to be seen again. It was a nice small town story that reminded me of Bone Gap with it's in between places.
Spoiler
We left the Century to sit unmoved. The spare key, the one that didn't disappear with Nick, lives in a bowl of coins near our front door. It used to be on top, but it gradually downed in pennies and dimes.""Just a thing caught up in the slow process of transformation into another thing."
A Kiss with Teeth by Max Gladstone
Definitely a different take on the vampire and vampire slayer tropes. The summary of how this is the seven year itch but with vampires is really all there is to it. I liked the way details are laid out and the final ball catch scene with Vlad's kid.
Spoiler
"I miss when we could be violent with each other"Jackalope Wives by Ursula Vernon
I thought the plot construction of this story was a standout, it reflects the traditional legends well with the rule of threes and a strong message about an elder's wisdom. Grandma Harken was an excellent character who didn't know what to do but certainly rationalized each step out.
Spoiler
I like the twist at the end where she was a jackalope wife, but when offered the pelt, she decided not to take it but to gift it to the jackalope who was stuck in between the transformation. It was different from the selkie story in a good way because Grandma Harken was still self possessed and knew who needed the pelt more rather than spiriting away to the bonfires again."She was beautiful," he said. As if it were a reason.
As if it mattered.
As if it ever mattered.
"Better all the way human than this. Better he'd bashed her head in with a rock than this."
"You were a hell of a dancer," said the Father of Rabbits.
"Still am," said Grandma Harken.
"Still are," he agreed.
The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees by E. Lily Yu
The world building in this one was delightful. It felt like a tale of human mishap, particularly when humans release creatures were they aren't native to and lead to invasive colonization of the area. The wasps sailed into the territory of bees and subjugated them all to prevent a repeat of how the humans exterminated them by being so great in sheer numbers, that they can't all be killed at the cost of the bees.
I think everything after the Carpenter Bees suddenly pivoted into the "modern" world and because less magical. I thought the Tallest Doll had interesting writing where buildings suddenly gain sentience and moved around. The Haunting of Apollo A7LB was a nice reflective love story that didn't end well. I thought Here Be Dragons was a clever story about fake dragon slayers but the moral was unclear. Kill your kid and gallivant to the countryside to lie and cheat?? Sure okay. Amal El-Mohtar's story, Wing, was too abstract for me to appreciate.
I thought Philosophers by Adam Sachs was pretty funny. The generations cut short but who still needed to tell their story was doing it in a series of uncoordinated blinks and tongue clicks where it may be possible to leap to conclusions and interpret but no one dares to because maybe that is just how the theory of knowledge's true form and intent is. Conception!! Two Hats spiraled out of control in 30 hats, but I can see that it feels similar to how a child of an immigrant family may need to wear multiple hats to help their parents. I was the chief government form filler, auditor and translator for the family. Otherwise it may be a story where a child happens to inherit a countless amount of views from their parents and may find it uncontrollable.
My Time Among the Bridge Blowers feels like an anthropological adventure that reflects from of Ursula le Guin's stories like the Left Hand of Darkness. Unfortunately, the most interesting part about an alien society is what you do with the knowledge after and I think this one could have been more.
I think the Pauper Prince was overly long, but I know anthologies like to end it on this long note. Didn't like it in Birthday of the World, and didn't like it now.