Scan barcode
caramm's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.0
mariahaskins's review against another edition
5.0
Sword and Sonnet contains fantasy and science fiction stories featuring women or non-binary battle poets. That theme might sound somewhat specific and narrow in scope, but instead, Sword and Sonnet is one of the strongest and richest anthologies I’ve read this year. Every story here is a gem and I can't recommend it enough for anyone who enjoys speculative fiction.
It includes a heart-stopping and uniquely imagined tale about a gunslinger who can kill with a word by A.C. Wise; the breathtaking “A Subtle Fire Beneath the Skin” by Hayley Stone; C.S.E. Cooney's devastating and beautiful “As For Peace, Call It Murder”; the lyrical lushness of A.E. Prevost’s “Labyrinth, Sanctuary”, and Khaalidah Muhammed-Ali’s powerful and compelling “She Searches For God in the Storm Within”.
It includes a heart-stopping and uniquely imagined tale about a gunslinger who can kill with a word by A.C. Wise; the breathtaking “A Subtle Fire Beneath the Skin” by Hayley Stone; C.S.E. Cooney's devastating and beautiful “As For Peace, Call It Murder”; the lyrical lushness of A.E. Prevost’s “Labyrinth, Sanctuary”, and Khaalidah Muhammed-Ali’s powerful and compelling “She Searches For God in the Storm Within”.
foomple's review against another edition
5.0
I heard Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali's story, "She Searches for God in the Storm Within" on a Podcastle episode and adored it. Now I've gotten the collection and am really looking forward to exploring the others. CW for domestic violence
pers's review against another edition
5.0
An interesting and engaging anthology with some excellent tales in it:
SL Huang's and Samantha Henderson's stories both made me sob unrestrainedly
Matt Dovey's story blew me away
Carlie St George's story was freaky in places, but utterly fascinating overall
Cassandra Khaw's was beautifully profane
Alex Acks' story was intriguing and made me cheer at the ending
A Merc Rustad, Anya Ow, and Suzanne J Willis all wrote intriguing stories.
SL Huang's and Samantha Henderson's stories both made me sob unrestrainedly
Matt Dovey's story blew me away
Carlie St George's story was freaky in places, but utterly fascinating overall
Cassandra Khaw's was beautifully profane
Alex Acks' story was intriguing and made me cheer at the ending
A Merc Rustad, Anya Ow, and Suzanne J Willis all wrote intriguing stories.
daveversace's review against another edition
5.0
A compelling idea for a SFF anthology - women and non-binary battle poets - which has produced a volume of outstanding stories. The editorial team have brought together a cadre of terrifically talented writers to put together one of my favourite anthologies of the year.
Some of the highlights for me were:
The Bone Poet and God (Matt Dovey) - a bear carrying the bones of her ancestors and loved ones ascend a mountain to confront God about the meaning of life (yes really! and it's marvelous!)
She Searches for God in the Storm Within (Khaalida Muhammad-Ali) - concerning suppressed fury and the bonds of love and loyalty between generations of Black American women
The Firefly Beast (Tony Pi) - poets compete over the right to be the city guardian of Song Dynasty Chengdu
And the Ghosts Sang With Her: A Tale of the Lyrist (Spencer Ellsworth) - A good old-fashioned revenge story of fire demons, singing assassins and abyssal pits of ghosts and smoke.
Some of the highlights for me were:
The Bone Poet and God (Matt Dovey) - a bear carrying the bones of her ancestors and loved ones ascend a mountain to confront God about the meaning of life (yes really! and it's marvelous!)
She Searches for God in the Storm Within (Khaalida Muhammad-Ali) - concerning suppressed fury and the bonds of love and loyalty between generations of Black American women
The Firefly Beast (Tony Pi) - poets compete over the right to be the city guardian of Song Dynasty Chengdu
And the Ghosts Sang With Her: A Tale of the Lyrist (Spencer Ellsworth) - A good old-fashioned revenge story of fire demons, singing assassins and abyssal pits of ghosts and smoke.
brynhammond's review against another edition
5.0
Extraordinarily strong collection. 23 stories. Even the few I didn't fancy were fascinatingly different. Five or so I want/need to read again because they are so densely imagined.
I misled myself to expect more historical stories, since the brief of battle poets called to mind historical examples. It turned out less historical -- although, for instance, there was a Tang China City God -- and more fantasy or science fiction.
I misled myself to expect more historical stories, since the brief of battle poets called to mind historical examples. It turned out less historical -- although, for instance, there was a Tang China City God -- and more fantasy or science fiction.
kjcharles's review against another edition
An anthology about women and nonbinary battle poets. I wondered if this might end up being a bit samey, given the highly specific brief, but it has stories by Cassandra Khaw and Alex Acks/Alex Wells so one click, and it was excellent. There are a lot of variations on similar themes--word magic and the silencing of women's voices in particular--but it's prevented from feeling repetitive in large part because of the diversity of the authors. There are a *lot* of different cultures and backgrounds here (and tons of queer rep) which means the stories go off in all sorts of fascinating directions using different histories, mythologies and approaches in the fantasy ones, and ranging from deeply emotional and fable-like to rock hard SF at the more SF end.
Far more hits than misses (any anthology that has more than 1/3 hits is doing pretty damn well in my book); I particularly liked Matt Dovey's bear bone-poet, Samantha Henderson's horrifying tale of a doctor inadvertently calling on a god, Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali's abused woman turning into a storm, and Alex Acks' Siren, about a dying human who merges with a war robot, but I could name a lot more. Recommended.
Far more hits than misses (any anthology that has more than 1/3 hits is doing pretty damn well in my book); I particularly liked Matt Dovey's bear bone-poet, Samantha Henderson's horrifying tale of a doctor inadvertently calling on a god, Khaalidah Muhammad-Ali's abused woman turning into a storm, and Alex Acks' Siren, about a dying human who merges with a war robot, but I could name a lot more. Recommended.
More...