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jlem's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-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? It's complicated
4.0
mayastone's review
From the first story I left my heart in Skaftafell by Victor Lavalle
By the way, this whole time let’s not talk about the Africans. They had no allegiance to me of course. Why should they? The white folks weren’t hugging each other in Caucasian familyhood—still fuck those Africans, and I mean that from the bottom of my soul. In Reykjavik I went bonkers trying to get a little love from any one of them. Nothing. Not even the faintest soul-brother nod. May they all enjoy another hundred years of despotic rule.
Yeah...if I wanted to read xenophobic crap like this I'd spend more time on social media. I'm so disappointed, Lavalle was an author I had planned to read more from. Decided to drop the collection right there. If stuff like this can be allowed to pass in a book celebrating afrofuturism I'll pass. I read AfroSF last year and not a single story disparaged black Americans. Well, removing Lavalle from my TBR and leaving this collection unread.
miss_elease's review
adventurous
fast-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? It's complicated
4.0
lraven13's review against another edition
4.0
3 & 1\2 stars
The stories I loved, I really loved. The stories I, I really didn't. There are some great authors here though, worth the read.
The stories I loved, I really loved. The stories I, I really didn't. There are some great authors here though, worth the read.
casimiera's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
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? Yes
4.0
mmelibertine's review
3.0
This was a very hit or miss collection for me. It has a refreshingly wide range of styles, moods, and settings. There are some striking stories here, and very interesting characters and rich worlds to explore. That said, I think some stories would be better suited to novellas or novels than one-shots, as sometimes the complexity and depth of detail can make some of the stories less accessible than others. Still, it's well worth a read, and I hope to see more such projects in the future!
errantdreams's review
4.0
While the title of Mothership: Tales from Afrofuturism and Beyond indicates that these stories are Afrofuturism, the diversity is a wider range than that. (For example, there’s a story with a Native American journalist in Japan.) This anthology is edited by Bill Campbell and Edward Austin Hall and is a pretty decent length. Some of the stories are a bit on the confusing and/or surreal side, or they get rather philosophical, and I was less fond of those, but that will vary by reader. So if you don’t tend to find difficulty with somewhat surreal, philosophical narratives, you might enjoy this book more than I did (note that I’m still giving it a 4 out of 5, which I consider a “very good”).
The locales include Iceland, Japan, Haiti, Sudan, the Moon, and beyond, so you’ll find plenty of variety! The characters are particularly well-rounded and interesting, from all sorts of backgrounds. Some of these stories didn’t entirely read as sci-fi to me, but it’s one of those genres that can be tough to define. I’ll just note a few of my favorite tales from this volume.
N.K. Jemisin slays it again with a brief, bizarre tale called Too Many Yesterdays, Not Enough Tomorrows. Time seems to be resetting itself every 10 hours, and people are disappearing in droves. The online world allows some interaction, since “the mingling of so many minds kept time linear”. The ending is particularly powerful.
Ernest Hogan’s Skin Dragons Talk sees Goro dealing with his dragon tattoos, which have inexplicably begun to talk to him. Not only that, but they’re… “improving” him. To their own definition, of course. This has a bit of a cyberpunk vibe to it.
One of my favorites is Thaddeus Howze’s Bludgeon. It’s a bizarre story in which humans play a game of baseball with aliens for the fate of the Earth. I know nothing about baseball and care little about sports, and yet somehow this one just came alive for me. I got totally drawn in, and the ending was great.
Unathi Battles the Black Hairballs, by Lauren Beukes, is a delightfully over-the-top story in which Unathi, the Flight Sergeant of a mecha squadron, has to do battle with giant hairballs over Tokyo. Note that suicide is briefly used in a comedic context here (the humor is a bit black).
The Pavilion of Frozen Women, by S.P. Somtow, had a touch of confusion to it for me, but it was still quite arresting. Marie Wounded Bird is a journalist sent to Japan to cover a snow sculpture festival. She ends up being on-scene for a murder, only to find that both subjects are linked.
Dances with Ghosts, by Joseph Bruchas, introduces us to Harley Bigbear, a Kwasuck Indian and former Army Ranger. He’s haunted, and so is his new home. He needs to come to a few realizations before he can put the spirits to rest.
Daniel José Older’s Protected Entity sees a man named Carlos Delacruz trying to solve the murder of black children in West Harlem. He can see ghosts, and his partner, Riley, is one. They’re going to have a tough time stopping this killer.
One Hundred and Twenty Days of Sunlight, by Tade Thompson, explores a kind of vampire who loves a witch, gets accidentally involved with a war, and finally meets more of his own kind.
Carlos Hernandez’s The Aphotic Ghost is a lovely tale of love, fatherhood, the sea, and Mount Everest. I love the relationships in here, and the ending was delightful.
George S. Walker’s Fées des Dents explores a particularly strange version of reality in which doctor Mallory, in Sudan, has to deal with vicious toothfairies, terrifying dragons, and the remains of dead giants.
Tenea D. Johnson’s The Taken shows us what happens when a group that wants reparations for slavery takes a bunch of senators’ children prisoner and makes them live as slaves being transported by boats. They’re forced to acknowledge not just how bad things are–but the number of ways in which what they’re going through isn’t nearly as bad as what actual slaves went through. Given how obviously and understandably traumatized they are, that discrepancy really hits home.
Many other stories in this volume are quite good, but these are the ones that made the biggest impression on me.
Original review posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2019/06/review-mothership-eds-bill-campbell-edward-austin-hall/
The locales include Iceland, Japan, Haiti, Sudan, the Moon, and beyond, so you’ll find plenty of variety! The characters are particularly well-rounded and interesting, from all sorts of backgrounds. Some of these stories didn’t entirely read as sci-fi to me, but it’s one of those genres that can be tough to define. I’ll just note a few of my favorite tales from this volume.
N.K. Jemisin slays it again with a brief, bizarre tale called Too Many Yesterdays, Not Enough Tomorrows. Time seems to be resetting itself every 10 hours, and people are disappearing in droves. The online world allows some interaction, since “the mingling of so many minds kept time linear”. The ending is particularly powerful.
Ernest Hogan’s Skin Dragons Talk sees Goro dealing with his dragon tattoos, which have inexplicably begun to talk to him. Not only that, but they’re… “improving” him. To their own definition, of course. This has a bit of a cyberpunk vibe to it.
One of my favorites is Thaddeus Howze’s Bludgeon. It’s a bizarre story in which humans play a game of baseball with aliens for the fate of the Earth. I know nothing about baseball and care little about sports, and yet somehow this one just came alive for me. I got totally drawn in, and the ending was great.
Unathi Battles the Black Hairballs, by Lauren Beukes, is a delightfully over-the-top story in which Unathi, the Flight Sergeant of a mecha squadron, has to do battle with giant hairballs over Tokyo. Note that suicide is briefly used in a comedic context here (the humor is a bit black).
The Pavilion of Frozen Women, by S.P. Somtow, had a touch of confusion to it for me, but it was still quite arresting. Marie Wounded Bird is a journalist sent to Japan to cover a snow sculpture festival. She ends up being on-scene for a murder, only to find that both subjects are linked.
Dances with Ghosts, by Joseph Bruchas, introduces us to Harley Bigbear, a Kwasuck Indian and former Army Ranger. He’s haunted, and so is his new home. He needs to come to a few realizations before he can put the spirits to rest.
Daniel José Older’s Protected Entity sees a man named Carlos Delacruz trying to solve the murder of black children in West Harlem. He can see ghosts, and his partner, Riley, is one. They’re going to have a tough time stopping this killer.
One Hundred and Twenty Days of Sunlight, by Tade Thompson, explores a kind of vampire who loves a witch, gets accidentally involved with a war, and finally meets more of his own kind.
Carlos Hernandez’s The Aphotic Ghost is a lovely tale of love, fatherhood, the sea, and Mount Everest. I love the relationships in here, and the ending was delightful.
George S. Walker’s Fées des Dents explores a particularly strange version of reality in which doctor Mallory, in Sudan, has to deal with vicious toothfairies, terrifying dragons, and the remains of dead giants.
Tenea D. Johnson’s The Taken shows us what happens when a group that wants reparations for slavery takes a bunch of senators’ children prisoner and makes them live as slaves being transported by boats. They’re forced to acknowledge not just how bad things are–but the number of ways in which what they’re going through isn’t nearly as bad as what actual slaves went through. Given how obviously and understandably traumatized they are, that discrepancy really hits home.
Many other stories in this volume are quite good, but these are the ones that made the biggest impression on me.
Original review posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2019/06/review-mothership-eds-bill-campbell-edward-austin-hall/
michelle_e_goldsmith's review
4.0
A really solid anthology with a great variety of stories featuring a wide range of different cultures, themes and characters. No dud stories. There were a few authors I'd experienced before (all of whom I liked) as well as a decent amount of unfamiliar ones. Definitely worth reading!
tallblackguy's review
5.0
There were more hits than misses, more examples of stories engaging than not, and overall? Probably a GREAT introduction and refutation to the notion that people of color can't write science fiction/fantasy. REALLY enjoyed this volume.
petitfoix's review
4.0
A great, though uneven, collection of afrofuturist fiction featuring stories and authors from across the African Diaspora and people of color. Favorites include N. K. Jemisin's "Too Many Yesterdays, Not Enough Tomorrows," Joseph Bruchac's "Dances with Ghosts," Lisa Allen-Agostini's "A Fine Specimen," and Nisi Shawl's "Good Boy."
Get it if you love stories. Definitely get it if you are looking to find great work from authors of color doing incredibly interesting things with Science Fiction and Fantasy.
Get it if you love stories. Definitely get it if you are looking to find great work from authors of color doing incredibly interesting things with Science Fiction and Fantasy.