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masyukun's review against another edition
4.0
Good collection of stories, although there were too many that depended on identity too much for my taste. Got 2 new-to-me authors to follow on Goodreads!
verumsolum's review
3.0
So this was a bit of dipping my toe into a couple of things: short fiction (which I have not read as much of as I would like) and science fiction and fantasy (which have aspects that I love and others I don't and have some baggage that has made it difficult for me to find what I like and to enjoy it when I do). Being an anthology, there were those stories that I enjoyed less than others. On the whole, it was a good trip through the genre and encourages me further to picking up more of both short fiction and of SF/F.
libraryfangirl's review against another edition
4.0
My favorite stories were the last three. Keep an eye out for books by Maureen McHugh, Maria Dahvana Headley and Tobias S. Buckell.
ghidorah_nonsense's review against another edition
5.0
4.5 maybe :) I don't usually pay attention to anthologies, but, wow, most of these are seriously impressive. I'm enthusiastic to follow most every author going forward; tho I didn't connect with two or three stories, there's much more hit than miss.
pleaseinsertpun's review against another edition
5.0
Great collection. My personal favorites:
"You Will Always Have Family: A Triptych" by Kathleen Kayembe
"The Last Cheng Beng Gift" by Jaymee Goh
"Brightened Star, Ascending Dawn" by A. Merc Gustad
"Don't Press Charges and I Won't Sue" by Charlie Jane Anders
"Church of Birds" by Micah Dean Hicks
"The Wretched and the Beautiful" by E. Lily Yu
"Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance" by Tobias S. Buckell
"You Will Always Have Family: A Triptych" by Kathleen Kayembe
"The Last Cheng Beng Gift" by Jaymee Goh
"Brightened Star, Ascending Dawn" by A. Merc Gustad
"Don't Press Charges and I Won't Sue" by Charlie Jane Anders
"Church of Birds" by Micah Dean Hicks
"The Wretched and the Beautiful" by E. Lily Yu
"Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance" by Tobias S. Buckell
ryan_noonan's review against another edition
5.0
Rivers Run Free - 4* - A short, sad story about oppression and hope.
Destroy the City with Me Tonight - 5* - Incredible bizarre tale of super heroism as a disease. Turns all the concepts from the comics on their heads.
You Will Always Have Family: A Triptych - 4* - Great structure and a cool idea. Some genuine horror in the first section. Redemptive ending kind of undercuts it.
Justice Systems in Quantum Parallel Probabilities - 5* - I love these Invisibles Cities kinds of stories. Alternate universe justice systems are a really fun approach.
Loneliness is in Your Blood - 4* - Very beautifully written story about loneliness and motherhood and love.
The Hermit of Houston - 3* - I’m not sure if I like this story much, but I appreciate it. It’s about gender and aging and memory and probably a thousand other things. It’s also kind of impenetrable.
The Last Cheng Beng Gift - 3* - A fun little vignette about parenthood, especially the fraught relationships of Asian mothers and their daughters. I liked it but it’s fairly forgettable.
Brightened Star, Ascending Dawn - 2* - It’s fine, but the relationships that the final part hangs on are not nearly developed enough to support it.
The Resident - 5* - Absolutely masterful. Shirley Jackson meets Kelly Link. Unsettling macabre body horror and haunted house and time travel and everything else. The standout story of the collection.
The Greatest One-Star Restaurant in the Whole Quadrant - 5* - Delightfully gruesome, funny, acerbic. Bonkers take on the quest for a 5* rating (ironic!) and the foodie scene.
Tasting Notes on the Varietals of the Southern Coast - 3* - Cute idea to tell the story of a war through the eyes of the army’s wine snob, but overall too slight for me.
Don’t Press Charges and I Won’t Sue - 5* - Extremely upsetting gut punch of a story. Masterful but very hard to read.
Church of Birds - 2* - Written well enough but the ending is both obvious and unearned.
ZeroS - 5* - Very good military SF about selfhood and bodily control and war. I don’t really feel like it ended anywhere but I liked it a lot and it made me want to read more of Watts’s stuff.
Carnival Nine - 3* - Already read for my Hugo review. A nice story about disability with affecting characters. Hasn’t really stuck with me.
The Wretched and the Beautiful - 4* - A short little fable trembling with rage and despair. Not a subtle allegory but a strong one nonetheless.
The Orange Tree - 5* - A lot of the same themes as The Mere Wife about the anger and secret knowledge of women. Also the same gorgeous prose and a really nice twist on very obscure historical events.
Cannibal Acts - 3* - So dark it’s black. Not much of a story, more of a tone piece.
Black Powder - 3* - Not sure I understand this story at all. It’s beautifully written as always, and the characters are fascinating, but I’m not sure it hangs together.
Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance - 3* - Fun enough story. I like the cleverness of the ending and how the "robot" carefully obeys the letter of Asimov's laws but not at all the spirit.
Destroy the City with Me Tonight - 5* - Incredible bizarre tale of super heroism as a disease. Turns all the concepts from the comics on their heads.
You Will Always Have Family: A Triptych - 4* - Great structure and a cool idea. Some genuine horror in the first section. Redemptive ending kind of undercuts it.
Justice Systems in Quantum Parallel Probabilities - 5* - I love these Invisibles Cities kinds of stories. Alternate universe justice systems are a really fun approach.
Loneliness is in Your Blood - 4* - Very beautifully written story about loneliness and motherhood and love.
The Hermit of Houston - 3* - I’m not sure if I like this story much, but I appreciate it. It’s about gender and aging and memory and probably a thousand other things. It’s also kind of impenetrable.
The Last Cheng Beng Gift - 3* - A fun little vignette about parenthood, especially the fraught relationships of Asian mothers and their daughters. I liked it but it’s fairly forgettable.
Brightened Star, Ascending Dawn - 2* - It’s fine, but the relationships that the final part hangs on are not nearly developed enough to support it.
The Resident - 5* - Absolutely masterful. Shirley Jackson meets Kelly Link. Unsettling macabre body horror and haunted house and time travel and everything else. The standout story of the collection.
The Greatest One-Star Restaurant in the Whole Quadrant - 5* - Delightfully gruesome, funny, acerbic. Bonkers take on the quest for a 5* rating (ironic!) and the foodie scene.
Tasting Notes on the Varietals of the Southern Coast - 3* - Cute idea to tell the story of a war through the eyes of the army’s wine snob, but overall too slight for me.
Don’t Press Charges and I Won’t Sue - 5* - Extremely upsetting gut punch of a story. Masterful but very hard to read.
Church of Birds - 2* - Written well enough but the ending is both obvious and unearned.
ZeroS - 5* - Very good military SF about selfhood and bodily control and war. I don’t really feel like it ended anywhere but I liked it a lot and it made me want to read more of Watts’s stuff.
Carnival Nine - 3* - Already read for my Hugo review. A nice story about disability with affecting characters. Hasn’t really stuck with me.
The Wretched and the Beautiful - 4* - A short little fable trembling with rage and despair. Not a subtle allegory but a strong one nonetheless.
The Orange Tree - 5* - A lot of the same themes as The Mere Wife about the anger and secret knowledge of women. Also the same gorgeous prose and a really nice twist on very obscure historical events.
Cannibal Acts - 3* - So dark it’s black. Not much of a story, more of a tone piece.
Black Powder - 3* - Not sure I understand this story at all. It’s beautifully written as always, and the characters are fascinating, but I’m not sure it hangs together.
Zen and the Art of Starship Maintenance - 3* - Fun enough story. I like the cleverness of the ending and how the "robot" carefully obeys the letter of Asimov's laws but not at all the spirit.
thebisexualbooknerd's review against another edition
5.0
I haven't loved an anthology this much in a long, long time. With the exception of one story that I was indifferent toward (ZeroS), I loved every story in here with a fiery passion. I cannot recommend this book enough.
I don't even know where to start. The range is absolutely enormous, covering everything from horror, fairytale retellings, cyberpunk future, space travel, plagues, cannibalistic wastelands, political dystopias, and more. There is something in here for everyone. I even included it on my queer lit shelf, because the representation in here is AMAZINGGGGG. There's so much diversity of gender and sexuality, including various non-binary and trans reps. That in and of itself is important, but when combined with some of the most heartbreakingly beautiful writing I've read in ages, it makes my lil gay heart sing.
I'm including a list of my absolute favorite stories, but it's been almost impossible to narrow it down, so y'all just have to pick it up yourselves. Seriously. I never wanted it to end.
You Will Always Have Family: A Triptych by Kathleen Kayembe - The creep levels on this story are through the ROOF. It's based in Congolese folklore, but it almost has a gothic vibe in parts. It's straight up horror and I loved it.
Loneliness is in Your Blood by Cadwell Turnbull - More horror, this time derived from Caribbean folklore. I loved both the concept and the delicacy of the writing. +10 points for the title.
The Greatest One-Star Restaurant in the Whole Quadrant by Rachel K. Jones - ...I really liked the horror ones, okay? Actually, this one leans more sci-fi, as it's set on a space ship with android-ish beings, but gahhhhh the concept is pulled right out of a Stephen King plot. I haven't stopped thinking about this one for weeks.
Tasting Notes on the Varietals of the Southern Coast by Gwendolyn Clare - Absolutely barbaric. Gorgeous language too.
Carnival Nine by Caroline M. Yoachim - In contrast to all the creepy violence I've been praising thus far, this story is so gentle, sweet, and heartfelt. It exists in its own tiny universe, and it's beautifully constructed.
The Orange Tree by Maria Dahvana Headley - My actual favorite story in this anthology, although as I mentioned, I love all the stories in here so much it's been difficult to narrow it down to these. Headley's writing is some of the tightest, precise, and truly beautiful I've read in recent memory. She has another story in here, Black Powder, that is also quite well done, but there is something about The Orange Tree that is unspeakably lovely to me. It could be I've always been partial to golems, and this retells a specifically interesting myth. But honestly, the elegance of her writing cannot be understated. I can't wait to devour more of her work.
I don't even know where to start. The range is absolutely enormous, covering everything from horror, fairytale retellings, cyberpunk future, space travel, plagues, cannibalistic wastelands, political dystopias, and more. There is something in here for everyone. I even included it on my queer lit shelf, because the representation in here is AMAZINGGGGG. There's so much diversity of gender and sexuality, including various non-binary and trans reps. That in and of itself is important, but when combined with some of the most heartbreakingly beautiful writing I've read in ages, it makes my lil gay heart sing.
I'm including a list of my absolute favorite stories, but it's been almost impossible to narrow it down, so y'all just have to pick it up yourselves. Seriously. I never wanted it to end.
You Will Always Have Family: A Triptych by Kathleen Kayembe - The creep levels on this story are through the ROOF. It's based in Congolese folklore, but it almost has a gothic vibe in parts. It's straight up horror and I loved it.
Loneliness is in Your Blood by Cadwell Turnbull - More horror, this time derived from Caribbean folklore. I loved both the concept and the delicacy of the writing. +10 points for the title.
The Greatest One-Star Restaurant in the Whole Quadrant by Rachel K. Jones - ...I really liked the horror ones, okay? Actually, this one leans more sci-fi, as it's set on a space ship with android-ish beings, but gahhhhh the concept is pulled right out of a Stephen King plot. I haven't stopped thinking about this one for weeks.
Tasting Notes on the Varietals of the Southern Coast by Gwendolyn Clare - Absolutely barbaric. Gorgeous language too.
Carnival Nine by Caroline M. Yoachim - In contrast to all the creepy violence I've been praising thus far, this story is so gentle, sweet, and heartfelt. It exists in its own tiny universe, and it's beautifully constructed.
The Orange Tree by Maria Dahvana Headley - My actual favorite story in this anthology, although as I mentioned, I love all the stories in here so much it's been difficult to narrow it down to these. Headley's writing is some of the tightest, precise, and truly beautiful I've read in recent memory. She has another story in here, Black Powder, that is also quite well done, but there is something about The Orange Tree that is unspeakably lovely to me. It could be I've always been partial to golems, and this retells a specifically interesting myth. But honestly, the elegance of her writing cannot be understated. I can't wait to devour more of her work.
readermonica's review against another edition
4.0
I took my time and read this anthology slowly which worked out really well for me. The stories stayed separate in my mind and didn't all run together. I was able to enjoy them more individually than if I had pushed through the whole thing straight through. Like all collections I enjoyed some more than others but they all had interesting approaches and stories. All in all an enjoyable collection of stories. I now have some new to me authors to track down other writings from.
You can find me at:
•(♥).•*Monlatable Book Reviews*•.(♥)•
Twitter: @MonlatReader
Instagram: @readermonica
Facebook: Monica Reeds
Goodreads Group: The Black Bookcase
You can find me at:
•(♥).•*Monlatable Book Reviews*•.(♥)•
Twitter: @MonlatReader
Instagram: @readermonica
Facebook: Monica Reeds
Goodreads Group: The Black Bookcase
jessgeekmom's review against another edition
4.0
It’s hard to review anthologies. Not a lot of stories from this one stuck with me, though
valgus's review against another edition
4.0
My personal favorites of the collection were:
Destroy the City with Me Tonight by Kate Alice Marshall
You Will Always Have a Family: A Triptych by Kathleen Kayembe
The Last Cheng Beng Gift by Jaymee Goh*
Brightened Star, Ascending Dawn by A. Merc Rustad
The Resident by Carmen Maria Machado*
Don't Press Charges and I Won't Sure by Charlie Jane Anders (heavy transphobia tw)
Cannibal Acts by Maureen McHugh
*Had read previously
Destroy the City with Me Tonight by Kate Alice Marshall
You Will Always Have a Family: A Triptych by Kathleen Kayembe
The Last Cheng Beng Gift by Jaymee Goh*
Brightened Star, Ascending Dawn by A. Merc Rustad
The Resident by Carmen Maria Machado*
Don't Press Charges and I Won't Sure by Charlie Jane Anders (heavy transphobia tw)
Cannibal Acts by Maureen McHugh
*Had read previously