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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
This was really cool!
This book is a collection of retellings of various myths and tales.
What was really neat was that original tale is explained after each retelling.
This book is a collection of retellings of various myths and tales.
What was really neat was that original tale is explained after each retelling.
This book started off SO GOOD for me, I really thought it was going to be one of my all time favorites. Then by the time I was about halfway through, things quickly went downhill. There were a ton of stories based in India, which is fine, but they were all more or less the same...and for some reason they ALL had something to do with dancing. I absolutely hated the ones based on epics. They were so bland and went on for way too long. I was also pretty disappointed that the one Japanese story included was about kitsune because it's so overdone. I wish it had been about kappa or something lol. The Chinese stories were some of the best, in my opinion. I also really, really loved the Korean one about video games (The Land of the Morning Calm). That was my favorite of the entire book. In short, I just wished there had been a little more variety and a little more editing. It's still a good, recommendable read. 3.5 Stars.
Average Rating: 4 stars
This was an incredible collection of Asian re-tellings! There were only a few that I didn't particularly like but overall, this is a strong collection. I especially love when anthologies have the authors write a little afterword to give the reader more insight into their background and inspiration for the story.
1. Forbidden Fruit by [a:Roshani Chokshi|13695109|Roshani Chokshi|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1544538355p2/13695109.jpg] - ★★★★☆
Filipino
Interesting - I really liked this one.
2. Olivia’s Table by [a:Alyssa Wong|8178928|Alyssa Wong|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1469819886p2/8178928.jpg] - ★★★★★
Chinese
Ghosts, yes please! Such a great short story.
3. Steel Skin by [a:Lori M. Lee|7084159|Lori M. Lee|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1368213295p2/7084159.jpg] - ★★★★☆
Hmong
I really liked this science fiction twist!
4. Still Star-Crossed by [a:Sona Charaipotra|7359318|Sona Charaipotra|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1385065970p2/7359318.jpg] - ★★★☆☆
Punjabi
This one felt incomplete to me - I wanted more to this intriguing story!
5. The Counting of Vermillion Beads by [a:Aliette de Bodard|2918731|Aliette de Bodard|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1261567215p2/2918731.jpg] - ★★☆☆☆
Vietnamese
TBH, I found myself a little bored by this one...
6. The Land of the Morning Calm by [a:E.C. Myers|2968447|E.C. Myers|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1286687622p2/2968447.jpg] - ★★★★★
Korean
A thousand times - YES!!!
7. The Smile by [a:Aisha Saeed|8106586|Aisha Saeed|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1396461507p2/8106586.jpg] - ★★★★★
South Asian
Great re-telling!
8. Girls Who Twirl and Other Dangers by [a:Preeti Chhibber|15600901|Preeti Chhibber|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1496408704p2/15600901.jpg] - ★★★★☆
Gujarati
I liked how the myth was told within the short story itself.
9. Nothing into All by [a:Renée Ahdieh|4600197|Renée Ahdieh|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1487663209p2/4600197.jpg] - ★★★★☆
Korean
Nicely written re-telling
10. Spear Carrier by [a:Rahul Kanakia|4114729|Rahul Kanakia|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1443738329p2/4114729.jpg] - ★★☆☆☆
South Asian
A little strange...
11. Code of Honor by [a:Melissa de la Cruz|21911|Melissa de la Cruz|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1521600969p2/21911.jpg] - ★★★☆☆
I felt like we only got a small taste of this story.
12. Bullet, Butterfly by [a:Elsie Chapman|5441417|Elsie Chapman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1351817206p2/5441417.jpg] - ★★★★★
Chinese
Beautiful re-telling
13. Daughter of the Sun by [a:Shveta Thakrar|5097748|Shveta Thakrar|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1543548224p2/5097748.jpg] - ★★★★★
South Asian
Loved this story
14. The Crimson Cloak by [a:Cindy Pon|2471183|Cindy Pon|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1259643400p2/2471183.jpg] - ★★★★★
Chinese
Pon did an amazing job with this re-telling by giving us the goddess' POV
15. Eyes like Candlelight by [a:Julie Kagawa|2995873|Julie Kagawa|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1257816454p2/2995873.jpg] - ★★★★☆
Japanese
, I liked reading this one
This was an incredible collection of Asian re-tellings! There were only a few that I didn't particularly like but overall, this is a strong collection. I especially love when anthologies have the authors write a little afterword to give the reader more insight into their background and inspiration for the story.
1. Forbidden Fruit by [a:Roshani Chokshi|13695109|Roshani Chokshi|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1544538355p2/13695109.jpg] - ★★★★☆
Filipino
Interesting - I really liked this one.
2. Olivia’s Table by [a:Alyssa Wong|8178928|Alyssa Wong|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1469819886p2/8178928.jpg] - ★★★★★
Chinese
Ghosts, yes please! Such a great short story.
3. Steel Skin by [a:Lori M. Lee|7084159|Lori M. Lee|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1368213295p2/7084159.jpg] - ★★★★☆
Hmong
I really liked this science fiction twist!
4. Still Star-Crossed by [a:Sona Charaipotra|7359318|Sona Charaipotra|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1385065970p2/7359318.jpg] - ★★★☆☆
Punjabi
This one felt incomplete to me - I wanted more to this intriguing story!
5. The Counting of Vermillion Beads by [a:Aliette de Bodard|2918731|Aliette de Bodard|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1261567215p2/2918731.jpg] - ★★☆☆☆
Vietnamese
TBH, I found myself a little bored by this one...
6. The Land of the Morning Calm by [a:E.C. Myers|2968447|E.C. Myers|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1286687622p2/2968447.jpg] - ★★★★★
Korean
A thousand times - YES!!!
7. The Smile by [a:Aisha Saeed|8106586|Aisha Saeed|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1396461507p2/8106586.jpg] - ★★★★★
South Asian
Great re-telling!
8. Girls Who Twirl and Other Dangers by [a:Preeti Chhibber|15600901|Preeti Chhibber|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1496408704p2/15600901.jpg] - ★★★★☆
Gujarati
I liked how the myth was told within the short story itself.
9. Nothing into All by [a:Renée Ahdieh|4600197|Renée Ahdieh|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1487663209p2/4600197.jpg] - ★★★★☆
Korean
Nicely written re-telling
10. Spear Carrier by [a:Rahul Kanakia|4114729|Rahul Kanakia|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1443738329p2/4114729.jpg] - ★★☆☆☆
South Asian
A little strange...
11. Code of Honor by [a:Melissa de la Cruz|21911|Melissa de la Cruz|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1521600969p2/21911.jpg] - ★★★☆☆
I felt like we only got a small taste of this story.
12. Bullet, Butterfly by [a:Elsie Chapman|5441417|Elsie Chapman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1351817206p2/5441417.jpg] - ★★★★★
Chinese
Beautiful re-telling
13. Daughter of the Sun by [a:Shveta Thakrar|5097748|Shveta Thakrar|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1543548224p2/5097748.jpg] - ★★★★★
South Asian
Loved this story
14. The Crimson Cloak by [a:Cindy Pon|2471183|Cindy Pon|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1259643400p2/2471183.jpg] - ★★★★★
Chinese
Pon did an amazing job with this re-telling by giving us the goddess' POV
15. Eyes like Candlelight by [a:Julie Kagawa|2995873|Julie Kagawa|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1257816454p2/2995873.jpg] - ★★★★☆
Japanese
Spoiler
Though this had a sad ending
5/5 stars
Recommended for people who like: anthologies, fantasy, sci-fi, female-led stories, South-East Asian folklore, Indian folklore, Chinese folklore, Middle Eastern folklore, Japanese folklore, Korean folklore, Hmong folklore
Forbidden Fruit: Roshani Chokshi
5/5 stars
Filipino
Chokshi's story is based on the Maria Makiling folktale based around the spirit of Mount Makiling. The style of writing feels like a traditional folktale, the ones that include morals at the end and cautionary warnings (which is perhaps a redundant statement), and is set in fantasy.
I like how Chokshi included cautions about the tale "do not trust the fruits of Maria Makiling. If you find your pockets full of thorny fruit, throw it out the window" (5) as bookends to the tale. In this story, the spirit of the mountain is in the form of a girl, and since it's a love story, she of course falls in love with a human boy. The story is only 12 pages, but Chokshi develops the emotions of the mountain so she goes from curious and solitary to someone who would risk losing her heart, and though we don't really see the village or know what's going to happen, Chokshi also weaves suspense and the development of greed and jealousy within the pages as well.
Olivia's Table: Alyssa Wong
5/5 stars
Chinese
Wong's story is based on the Hungry Ghost Festival, and is set in a mix between modern-day Arizona and the Old West. In this story, our MC Olivia has taken up her late mother's task of feeding the ghosts in an, pun intended, Arizona ghost town during the Hungry Ghost Festival.
I really enjoyed Wong's interplay between loss and family and helping others. Olivia's mom died about one or two years before the story began, though she still keenly feels her loss and reveals that it's what led to her girlfriend breaking up with her. Going back to the Ghost Festival to cook the food is Olivia's way of getting closer to her mom--both a figurative and literal attempt, as Olivia hopes her mom will show up as a ghost. As Olivia helps the ghosts find peace and closure through her food, Olivia begins to heal by helping a forgotten ghost and a lady ghost she had a crush on as a kid. I'm not explaining it well here, but it's one of my favorite stories in the collection.
Steel Skin: Lori M. Lee
5/5 stars
Hmong
This is one of the sci-fi stories in the collection, and it's the one that goes the deepest into the realm of sci-fi. Based on the tale The Woman and the Tiger wherein a tiger kills a hunter and sneaks into the home of his family, killing most of them, only to get killed by the remaining family in turn. Lee flips this on its head a little, and even after reading it twice I'm still not sure who's the tiger in the story.
Yer is the main character of this story, and she lives with her father and memories of a mother who was killed in an android uprising. Yer's father starts acting strangely and seems to be working in a now-illegal field of technology. The story starts out kind of slow and slowly builds as Yer's dad starts acting stranger and stranger until Yer tells her neighbor/boyfriend she thinks her father's been replaced by an android and the two decide to finally find out what's going on with her dad.
Still Star-Crossed: Sona Charaipotra
3/5 stars
Punjabi
Based on the Indian folktale of Mirza and Sahiba, two star-crossed lovers who end the way most of them do--with one of them dead. This story is a modern reimagining of the original tale, set in New Dehli, New Jersey.
This one is mostly just creepy. At first, I thought it was going to be a reincarnating story, where the star-crossed lovers knew each other from a past life and they'd both remember and it wouldn't be quite as creepy. Not entirely the case, though Charaipotra hints throughout the story (and in the afterword) that it's kind of reincarnation for the both of them. However, it mostly seems like the guy remembers the girl and keeps 'finding' (read: stalking) her in hopes she'll agree to hang out or enter into a relationship with him. The twist toward the end makes it even creepier.
The Counting of Vermillion Beads: Aliette De Bodard
4.5/5 stars
Vietnamese
Bodard's story is a reimagining of the Vietnamese tale Tam Cam, which is about two sisters engaged in a jealous rivalry. Bodard turned it on its head and made it so the two sisters are loyal to one another, but have different ideas of what they want and can do in life.
Set in fantasy Vietnam, the two sisters are census takers for the emperor. The elder sister, Tam believes they can escape and be free and go back to their home, while the younger sister, Cam, believes that the only way to freedom is through the system. Tam and Cam both tug their own direction, leading to a rift between the two for a bit, until they realize they can reconcile their ideas of freedom into something new. Cam is the narrator and is more passive than Tam, unwilling to view the system they've been a part of and the walls that surround them as a cage for most of the story, which is why the half star was dropped.
The Land of the Morning Calm: E.C. Myers
5/5 stars
Korean
This one is a meld of sci-fi and contemporary, as it is technically set in modern-times, but also deals with a computer game that may or may not have real elements...okay, so it's also technically fantasy as well, since the game centers largely around magical, ancient Korea. Based on the Chasa Bonpuli epic that follows the main players of death: the god of the underworld, a grim reaper, and a guide to the underworld.
Sunny, the main character, lost her mom five years prior while playing a computer game beloved by the whole family. Since then, none of them have touched the game. As the story opens, the grandfather is convinced the mother is back as a gwisin, or a ghost/spirit, and is trying to tell them something. Both Sunny and her dad brush it off, though Sunny decides to play the game one last time before it's shut down forever, and is thus transported into the land of fantasy and sci-fi. During the story, Sunny struggles to reconcile the death of her mother and the difference between clinging to the past and honoring it.
The Smile: Aisha Saeed
4/5 stars
South Asian
A retelling of the legend of Anarkali, a girl who danced for the king and purportedly fell in love with one of his sons.
I liked the story at first, though there were creepy undertones in this one as well. It's in a more historical setting than a fantasy one, and I enjoyed the way Saeed built the world and the people in it. I also like how Saeed explored consent in a relationship where one is royalty and the other is a servant/dancer of the palace. I mostly docked a star because of the creepy factor and the anger of the prince.
Girls Who Twirl and Other Dangers: Preeti Chhibber
4/5 stars
Gujarati
A contemporary reimagining of Navratri, a Hinu holiday about community and dancing and being good to people. The story intertwines the actions of the main characters in the contemporary, magic-free world with the events happening that create the origin of Navratri.
Three friends go to a Navratri celebration together and come into contact with the infamous (to them) Dinesh, who's sloppy dancing on Navratri years ago led to one of them having their skirt come unwrapped. In the spirit of the holiday, they decide to get revenge. It's a funny, lighthearted story and the star drop is mostly just me being unable to handle people being embarrassed, which both the girls and Dinesh end up being, to varying degrees.
Nothing Into All: Renee Ahdieh
5/5 stars
Korean
This is another story about siblings and jealousy, this time based on the Korean story The Goblin Treasure, where goblins give two siblings the chance to gain treasure beyond what they know. Ahdieh is one of my favorite fantasy authors and I really enjoyed her contribution to this anthology.
In this one, two siblings venture into the woods in search of the goblins they saw one year. The elder sibling, the sister, still feels guilty for something that occurred in childhood and thus attempts to hide her successes from her brother for fear they'll upset him. The brother has since grown up to be jealous and angry over his sister and what he views as his sister's selfish wishes. Naturally, one finds the goblins and the magic and the other does not and an argument ensues. The story is an interesting exploration through guilt, forgiveness, selfishness, and what one will do for family, even when said family has done wrong.
Spear Carrier: Rahul Kanakia
3/5 stars
South Asian
This is a take on the Mahabharata, a famous Indian epic and, I believe, the longest epic that's ever been written. In the Mahabharata there's a huge battle toward the end of the story, and Kanakia has retold a portion of this battle from the perspective of one of the millions of people/creatures that have shown up to fight. It's another mix between contemporary, fantasy, and sci-fi. This is a story that I'm disappointed I didn't like better, especially since I generally like retellings of Mahabharata stories.
I thought this was a really interesting take on the kinds of massive, all-out war we so often see in epics and high-fantasy books, even if I didn't necessarily like the story itself. The narrator of the story seems to be a high school- or college-aged guy who basically ends up accidentally agreeing to be a part of the battle and spends the time thinking of heroism and who we consider heroes and brings up the rather good question of why people were even fighting in the battle to begin with. I think this question, which is what the author says inspired the story, is really what saved this one for me. Let's face it, when we read stories of epic battles, we don't really ask where every soldier came from and why they decided to fight, we just role with it. Spear Carrier offers the answer that people came from all over, from all times, some for good and some for bad reasons, to fight in a war that needs corpses. If the narrator had been less....I don't even know, less preachy and less like the kind of person who thinks that just because they think deeply has few friends it means everyone else is shallow. Other than that, it's a great concept.
Code of Honor: Melissa de la Cruz
3/5 stars
Filipino
This story is based on the aswangs, which de la Cruz describes as "banshee-like beings" (237) in Filipino folklore, and from what I've gathered from research for one of my books, can also be thought of like a cross between vampires and witches. Basically, they're awesome, oft-forgotten in the West, mythological creatures, which is why I'm so disappointed I didn't like this story better.
The premise of the story is a good one: an aswang who's been orphaned and is searching for the rest of her bloodline. Unfortunately, this comes through by the aswang attending a prestigious high-school in contemporary New York and then being discovered by the bratty popular girl. With the undelivered promise of the story, the fight in the bathroom scene, and the not-quite-answered questions still left at the end of the story I had to drop two of the stars.
Bullet, Butterfly: Elsie Chapman
5/5 stars
Chinese
Chapman's story is based on the Chinese folktale of Liang Zhu, translated as The Butterfly Lovers, where class and duty keep apart two lovers who, again, like most star-crossed lovers do, end up dying. In the original, these two lovers end up being resurrected (reincarnated?) as butterflies. This is the only dystopian/sci-fi story in here and it actually makes me wish there was more of them.
Chapman flips the original on its head a little and instead of having the girl dress up as a guy to go to school, the guy dresses up as a girl to go to the factory. In this world, the girls are the only ones to work in factories until they're old enough to go to war while the guys are stuck at war or in training for longer (unsure how long, I don't think it's specified, but the guys go off first). Viruses keep ravaging the country, which is why the main character isn't off fighting in the war at the moment, he's in recovery. So, he dresses up as a girl and goes to the factory and befriends Zhu. I like the realness of the two of them as they work and get to know each other, the little details Chapman adds, such as the corner they eat lunch in where no one thinks to look. I also like the metaphors she weaves throughout the story, such as the butterfly bullet that's been invented and the gun smoke choking out parts of the country. It's a very metaphorical story based in tragedy, but the characters and their relationships make it worth any heartache.
Daughter of the Sun: Shveta Thakrar
4/5
South Asian
I believe this one is set in a urban fantasy (or rural fantasy??) setting, though I'm not entirely sure. It retells the story of Savitri and Satyavan from the larger Mahabharata epic as well as the story of the goddess Gangu and King Shantanu.
In this story, Savitri is born with a sun heart, and because her parents worry for her, they remain mostly isolated on a large museum-estate. One day, Savitri finds a boy with a moon heart standing by the lake being coaxed into the water by a swan. She saves the boy from drowning and brings him back to shore, and the two become fast friends and lovers, only, Savitri is hiding from him what the swan said and why she was luring him to the water--an incident which he has no memory of. As the story goes on, Savitri realizes that the swan, and the goddess she meets, is correct and she cannot make decisions for Satyavan, even if it means letting him 'die,' and thus she gifts him back his choices. I like the story and I like the characters, but I'm a huge fan of choice, so Savitri's decision to take Satyavan's choices without then letting him know is a hard no for me, hence the dropped star on an otherwise fantastic story.
The Crimson Cloak: Cindy Pon
5/5 stars
Chinese
Set in a fantasy world with a golden ox, Pon's story is a retelling of the Chinese legend The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, which tells the tale of a cowherd whose talking ox tells him to steal the red cloak of a fairy girl because it will mean she must marry him. The two marry, have some kids, and then are separated by the fairy's mother who makes the Milky Way to keep them apart, only allowing them to visit on the seventh day of seventh moon.
Pon makes the girl the narrator and a goddess in this one. In it, the girl, Hongyun, sees the cowherd and sets out to trick him into meeting her because she's curious. The two become friends and then lovers, and then realizing that she cannot give him what he wants, Hongyun tries to let him go. It's a story of loving and letting go and coming back together again and how we remember in parts even if we love whole. One of the things I particularly like about this story is how Hongyun directly addresses the reader "despite how the legend goes, the truth of the matter is, Dear Reader, I saw him first" (282). I think it adds a clever dimension to the story, and even in short stories I feel like it's not something that happens a lot.
Eyes Like Candlelight: Julie Kagawa
3/5 stars
Japanese
Based on the Japanese myth of the kitsune, trickster fox creatures that have the ability to manipulate the mind and transform into humans.
The premise of the story is good, it's set in feudal Japan and centers around a young man, Takeo, as he tries to find a way to meet the rice quote for the daimyo's tax. He comes into contact with a kitsune...which is sort of where I stop liking the story. I'm going to be 100% honest, I think this story has some rapey undertones to it. While the kitsune family helps Takeo and gives him the rice he needs to in turn help his family and town, the girl kitsune also heavily manipulates his mind and at the end there's hints that the two of them have had a kid even though they only meet as humans once and Takeo doesn't even seem to fully remembers what happened during that time, despite literally being the third person narrator.
Recommended for people who like: anthologies, fantasy, sci-fi, female-led stories, South-East Asian folklore, Indian folklore, Chinese folklore, Middle Eastern folklore, Japanese folklore, Korean folklore, Hmong folklore
Forbidden Fruit: Roshani Chokshi
5/5 stars
Filipino
Chokshi's story is based on the Maria Makiling folktale based around the spirit of Mount Makiling. The style of writing feels like a traditional folktale, the ones that include morals at the end and cautionary warnings (which is perhaps a redundant statement), and is set in fantasy.
I like how Chokshi included cautions about the tale "do not trust the fruits of Maria Makiling. If you find your pockets full of thorny fruit, throw it out the window" (5) as bookends to the tale. In this story, the spirit of the mountain is in the form of a girl, and since it's a love story, she of course falls in love with a human boy. The story is only 12 pages, but Chokshi develops the emotions of the mountain so she goes from curious and solitary to someone who would risk losing her heart, and though we don't really see the village or know what's going to happen, Chokshi also weaves suspense and the development of greed and jealousy within the pages as well.
Olivia's Table: Alyssa Wong
5/5 stars
Chinese
Wong's story is based on the Hungry Ghost Festival, and is set in a mix between modern-day Arizona and the Old West. In this story, our MC Olivia has taken up her late mother's task of feeding the ghosts in an, pun intended, Arizona ghost town during the Hungry Ghost Festival.
I really enjoyed Wong's interplay between loss and family and helping others. Olivia's mom died about one or two years before the story began, though she still keenly feels her loss and reveals that it's what led to her girlfriend breaking up with her. Going back to the Ghost Festival to cook the food is Olivia's way of getting closer to her mom--both a figurative and literal attempt, as Olivia hopes her mom will show up as a ghost. As Olivia helps the ghosts find peace and closure through her food, Olivia begins to heal by helping a forgotten ghost and a lady ghost she had a crush on as a kid. I'm not explaining it well here, but it's one of my favorite stories in the collection.
Steel Skin: Lori M. Lee
5/5 stars
Hmong
This is one of the sci-fi stories in the collection, and it's the one that goes the deepest into the realm of sci-fi. Based on the tale The Woman and the Tiger wherein a tiger kills a hunter and sneaks into the home of his family, killing most of them, only to get killed by the remaining family in turn. Lee flips this on its head a little, and even after reading it twice I'm still not sure who's the tiger in the story.
Yer is the main character of this story, and she lives with her father and memories of a mother who was killed in an android uprising. Yer's father starts acting strangely and seems to be working in a now-illegal field of technology. The story starts out kind of slow and slowly builds as Yer's dad starts acting stranger and stranger until Yer tells her neighbor/boyfriend she thinks her father's been replaced by an android and the two decide to finally find out what's going on with her dad.
Still Star-Crossed: Sona Charaipotra
3/5 stars
Punjabi
Based on the Indian folktale of Mirza and Sahiba, two star-crossed lovers who end the way most of them do--with one of them dead. This story is a modern reimagining of the original tale, set in New Dehli, New Jersey.
This one is mostly just creepy. At first, I thought it was going to be a reincarnating story, where the star-crossed lovers knew each other from a past life and they'd both remember and it wouldn't be quite as creepy. Not entirely the case, though Charaipotra hints throughout the story (and in the afterword) that it's kind of reincarnation for the both of them. However, it mostly seems like the guy remembers the girl and keeps 'finding' (read: stalking) her in hopes she'll agree to hang out or enter into a relationship with him. The twist toward the end makes it even creepier.
The Counting of Vermillion Beads: Aliette De Bodard
4.5/5 stars
Vietnamese
Bodard's story is a reimagining of the Vietnamese tale Tam Cam, which is about two sisters engaged in a jealous rivalry. Bodard turned it on its head and made it so the two sisters are loyal to one another, but have different ideas of what they want and can do in life.
Set in fantasy Vietnam, the two sisters are census takers for the emperor. The elder sister, Tam believes they can escape and be free and go back to their home, while the younger sister, Cam, believes that the only way to freedom is through the system. Tam and Cam both tug their own direction, leading to a rift between the two for a bit, until they realize they can reconcile their ideas of freedom into something new. Cam is the narrator and is more passive than Tam, unwilling to view the system they've been a part of and the walls that surround them as a cage for most of the story, which is why the half star was dropped.
The Land of the Morning Calm: E.C. Myers
5/5 stars
Korean
This one is a meld of sci-fi and contemporary, as it is technically set in modern-times, but also deals with a computer game that may or may not have real elements...okay, so it's also technically fantasy as well, since the game centers largely around magical, ancient Korea. Based on the Chasa Bonpuli epic that follows the main players of death: the god of the underworld, a grim reaper, and a guide to the underworld.
Sunny, the main character, lost her mom five years prior while playing a computer game beloved by the whole family. Since then, none of them have touched the game. As the story opens, the grandfather is convinced the mother is back as a gwisin, or a ghost/spirit, and is trying to tell them something. Both Sunny and her dad brush it off, though Sunny decides to play the game one last time before it's shut down forever, and is thus transported into the land of fantasy and sci-fi. During the story, Sunny struggles to reconcile the death of her mother and the difference between clinging to the past and honoring it.
The Smile: Aisha Saeed
4/5 stars
South Asian
A retelling of the legend of Anarkali, a girl who danced for the king and purportedly fell in love with one of his sons.
I liked the story at first, though there were creepy undertones in this one as well. It's in a more historical setting than a fantasy one, and I enjoyed the way Saeed built the world and the people in it. I also like how Saeed explored consent in a relationship where one is royalty and the other is a servant/dancer of the palace. I mostly docked a star because of the creepy factor and the anger of the prince.
Girls Who Twirl and Other Dangers: Preeti Chhibber
4/5 stars
Gujarati
A contemporary reimagining of Navratri, a Hinu holiday about community and dancing and being good to people. The story intertwines the actions of the main characters in the contemporary, magic-free world with the events happening that create the origin of Navratri.
Three friends go to a Navratri celebration together and come into contact with the infamous (to them) Dinesh, who's sloppy dancing on Navratri years ago led to one of them having their skirt come unwrapped. In the spirit of the holiday, they decide to get revenge. It's a funny, lighthearted story and the star drop is mostly just me being unable to handle people being embarrassed, which both the girls and Dinesh end up being, to varying degrees.
Nothing Into All: Renee Ahdieh
5/5 stars
Korean
This is another story about siblings and jealousy, this time based on the Korean story The Goblin Treasure, where goblins give two siblings the chance to gain treasure beyond what they know. Ahdieh is one of my favorite fantasy authors and I really enjoyed her contribution to this anthology.
In this one, two siblings venture into the woods in search of the goblins they saw one year. The elder sibling, the sister, still feels guilty for something that occurred in childhood and thus attempts to hide her successes from her brother for fear they'll upset him. The brother has since grown up to be jealous and angry over his sister and what he views as his sister's selfish wishes. Naturally, one finds the goblins and the magic and the other does not and an argument ensues. The story is an interesting exploration through guilt, forgiveness, selfishness, and what one will do for family, even when said family has done wrong.
Spear Carrier: Rahul Kanakia
3/5 stars
South Asian
This is a take on the Mahabharata, a famous Indian epic and, I believe, the longest epic that's ever been written. In the Mahabharata there's a huge battle toward the end of the story, and Kanakia has retold a portion of this battle from the perspective of one of the millions of people/creatures that have shown up to fight. It's another mix between contemporary, fantasy, and sci-fi. This is a story that I'm disappointed I didn't like better, especially since I generally like retellings of Mahabharata stories.
I thought this was a really interesting take on the kinds of massive, all-out war we so often see in epics and high-fantasy books, even if I didn't necessarily like the story itself. The narrator of the story seems to be a high school- or college-aged guy who basically ends up accidentally agreeing to be a part of the battle and spends the time thinking of heroism and who we consider heroes and brings up the rather good question of why people were even fighting in the battle to begin with. I think this question, which is what the author says inspired the story, is really what saved this one for me. Let's face it, when we read stories of epic battles, we don't really ask where every soldier came from and why they decided to fight, we just role with it. Spear Carrier offers the answer that people came from all over, from all times, some for good and some for bad reasons, to fight in a war that needs corpses. If the narrator had been less....I don't even know, less preachy and less like the kind of person who thinks that just because they think deeply has few friends it means everyone else is shallow. Other than that, it's a great concept.
Code of Honor: Melissa de la Cruz
3/5 stars
Filipino
This story is based on the aswangs, which de la Cruz describes as "banshee-like beings" (237) in Filipino folklore, and from what I've gathered from research for one of my books, can also be thought of like a cross between vampires and witches. Basically, they're awesome, oft-forgotten in the West, mythological creatures, which is why I'm so disappointed I didn't like this story better.
The premise of the story is a good one: an aswang who's been orphaned and is searching for the rest of her bloodline. Unfortunately, this comes through by the aswang attending a prestigious high-school in contemporary New York and then being discovered by the bratty popular girl. With the undelivered promise of the story, the fight in the bathroom scene, and the not-quite-answered questions still left at the end of the story I had to drop two of the stars.
Bullet, Butterfly: Elsie Chapman
5/5 stars
Chinese
Chapman's story is based on the Chinese folktale of Liang Zhu, translated as The Butterfly Lovers, where class and duty keep apart two lovers who, again, like most star-crossed lovers do, end up dying. In the original, these two lovers end up being resurrected (reincarnated?) as butterflies. This is the only dystopian/sci-fi story in here and it actually makes me wish there was more of them.
Chapman flips the original on its head a little and instead of having the girl dress up as a guy to go to school, the guy dresses up as a girl to go to the factory. In this world, the girls are the only ones to work in factories until they're old enough to go to war while the guys are stuck at war or in training for longer (unsure how long, I don't think it's specified, but the guys go off first). Viruses keep ravaging the country, which is why the main character isn't off fighting in the war at the moment, he's in recovery. So, he dresses up as a girl and goes to the factory and befriends Zhu. I like the realness of the two of them as they work and get to know each other, the little details Chapman adds, such as the corner they eat lunch in where no one thinks to look. I also like the metaphors she weaves throughout the story, such as the butterfly bullet that's been invented and the gun smoke choking out parts of the country. It's a very metaphorical story based in tragedy, but the characters and their relationships make it worth any heartache.
Daughter of the Sun: Shveta Thakrar
4/5
South Asian
I believe this one is set in a urban fantasy (or rural fantasy??) setting, though I'm not entirely sure. It retells the story of Savitri and Satyavan from the larger Mahabharata epic as well as the story of the goddess Gangu and King Shantanu.
In this story, Savitri is born with a sun heart, and because her parents worry for her, they remain mostly isolated on a large museum-estate. One day, Savitri finds a boy with a moon heart standing by the lake being coaxed into the water by a swan. She saves the boy from drowning and brings him back to shore, and the two become fast friends and lovers, only, Savitri is hiding from him what the swan said and why she was luring him to the water--an incident which he has no memory of. As the story goes on, Savitri realizes that the swan, and the goddess she meets, is correct and she cannot make decisions for Satyavan, even if it means letting him 'die,' and thus she gifts him back his choices. I like the story and I like the characters, but I'm a huge fan of choice, so Savitri's decision to take Satyavan's choices without then letting him know is a hard no for me, hence the dropped star on an otherwise fantastic story.
The Crimson Cloak: Cindy Pon
5/5 stars
Chinese
Set in a fantasy world with a golden ox, Pon's story is a retelling of the Chinese legend The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl, which tells the tale of a cowherd whose talking ox tells him to steal the red cloak of a fairy girl because it will mean she must marry him. The two marry, have some kids, and then are separated by the fairy's mother who makes the Milky Way to keep them apart, only allowing them to visit on the seventh day of seventh moon.
Pon makes the girl the narrator and a goddess in this one. In it, the girl, Hongyun, sees the cowherd and sets out to trick him into meeting her because she's curious. The two become friends and then lovers, and then realizing that she cannot give him what he wants, Hongyun tries to let him go. It's a story of loving and letting go and coming back together again and how we remember in parts even if we love whole. One of the things I particularly like about this story is how Hongyun directly addresses the reader "despite how the legend goes, the truth of the matter is, Dear Reader, I saw him first" (282). I think it adds a clever dimension to the story, and even in short stories I feel like it's not something that happens a lot.
Eyes Like Candlelight: Julie Kagawa
3/5 stars
Japanese
Based on the Japanese myth of the kitsune, trickster fox creatures that have the ability to manipulate the mind and transform into humans.
The premise of the story is good, it's set in feudal Japan and centers around a young man, Takeo, as he tries to find a way to meet the rice quote for the daimyo's tax. He comes into contact with a kitsune...which is sort of where I stop liking the story. I'm going to be 100% honest, I think this story has some rapey undertones to it. While the kitsune family helps Takeo and gives him the rice he needs to in turn help his family and town, the girl kitsune also heavily manipulates his mind and at the end there's hints that the two of them have had a kid even though they only meet as humans once and Takeo doesn't even seem to fully remembers what happened during that time, despite literally being the third person narrator.
Ah the premise of this was so promising, but i really struggled with these retellings. They felt a little juvenile for my tastes. Probably more suited to people who love YA.
I really liked this book. I liked the stories and how most of them were very feministic. I listened to it and the narrators were kind of annoying so that’s why I gave it a four out of five stars.
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Confieso que me dejé llevar e inicialmente creí que eran solo historias de medio oriente (lo que me agradaba). En realidad son de diferentes áreas de Asia (lo que me agradó aún más). Los estilos tan variados de los autores hacen parecer este libro más extenso, como un viaje cultural detallado y diverso.
Conocí muchos nombres nuevos, aunque una mayoría ya los había encontrado en antologías. Tengo ganas de tomarme el tiempo de leer a cada uno en obras individuales más extensas, si las tienen.
Conocí muchos nombres nuevos, aunque una mayoría ya los había encontrado en antologías. Tengo ganas de tomarme el tiempo de leer a cada uno en obras individuales más extensas, si las tienen.
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Interesting short stories based on myths from other cultures. I found some more enjoyable than others, but overall was entertained.