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jess_mango's review against another edition
5.0
3.5 stars
This is the 4th Hugo Short Story nominee that I've read this week. This character-driven high fantasy short story is written by the same author as the novel [b:The Ten Thousand Doors of January|43521657|The Ten Thousand Doors of January|Alix E. Harrow|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1548174710l/43521657._SY75_.jpg|63516505], which I really enjoyed. I am not a big high fantasy fan so this took a bit of effort for me to get into. This book is focused on 2 primary female characters Eefa and Talaan who are married and have 4 children together. They live in an empire ruled by a female Emperor. Talaan is constantly going to war and Eefa is more on the healing side of things. For me, this story is mostly about the the internal struggle that Eefa has over her wife constantly going to war and the expectation that their children will do the same.
You can read it online here on Beneath Ceaseless Skies: http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/do-not-look-back-my-lion/
This is the 4th Hugo Short Story nominee that I've read this week. This character-driven high fantasy short story is written by the same author as the novel [b:The Ten Thousand Doors of January|43521657|The Ten Thousand Doors of January|Alix E. Harrow|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1548174710l/43521657._SY75_.jpg|63516505], which I really enjoyed. I am not a big high fantasy fan so this took a bit of effort for me to get into. This book is focused on 2 primary female characters Eefa and Talaan who are married and have 4 children together. They live in an empire ruled by a female Emperor. Talaan is constantly going to war and Eefa is more on the healing side of things. For me, this story is mostly about the the internal struggle that Eefa has over her wife constantly going to war and the expectation that their children will do the same.
You can read it online here on Beneath Ceaseless Skies: http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/do-not-look-back-my-lion/
ninj's review against another edition
4.0
Do Not Look Back, My Lion by Alix Harrow.
Women bringing up children in endless war - richly descriptive.
Women bringing up children in endless war - richly descriptive.
fonteya's review against another edition
4.0
Leído para los Hugo 2020. Muy bueno.
Me parece muy curioso el uso de "husband" y "wife" que hace Harrow aquí.
Me parece muy curioso el uso de "husband" y "wife" que hace Harrow aquí.
titusfortner's review against another edition
4.0
A review of Alix Harrow's delightful "Do Not Look Back, My Lion"
A fun short story that examines gender roles and sexual norms and perceptions of strength and weakness and family tensions and the costs of war and the motivations of people to fight them. Well executed in a so few pages..
A fun short story that examines gender roles and sexual norms and perceptions of strength and weakness and family tensions and the costs of war and the motivations of people to fight them. Well executed in a so few pages..
fenchurch's review against another edition
4.0
5 stars — Harrow's Do Not Look Back, My Lion
3 stars — Theodoridou's To Stab with a Rose, to Love with a Knife
3 stars — Theodoridou's To Stab with a Rose, to Love with a Knife
mollyfischfriedman's review against another edition
2.0
I... didn't like this short story. Because it's a short story, there isn't a lot of room for exposition, but I felt like this story and the world within really needed it. I did appreciate the gender flipping throughout.
ishouldreadthat's review against another edition
4.0
Read for the 2020 Hugos. A really interesting story about war and motherhood. Lovely writing, as you'd expect from Harrow, that plays with gender and gender roles.
bookaneer's review against another edition
4.0
Rating and review only for Alix E. Harrow's Do Not Look Back, My Lion.
Well, since this is the only Hugo's short story nominee I have yet to read (though I have downloaded it in my Kindle for months), obviously I have to read it asap.
At first, I felt like reading one of Kameron Hurley's stories, really, with all the group marriages and fluid gender roles, but Harrow has her own distinct style that's more subtle and melancholic. She succeeded in weaving a story with a sympathetic character experiencing a heartfelt conflict in a well-built world in fewer than 7,500 words. Funnily enough, I enjoyed this better than her other nominated work, Ten Thousand Doors of January :)
Can be read here: http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/do-not-look-back-my-lion/
Well, since this is the only Hugo's short story nominee I have yet to read (though I have downloaded it in my Kindle for months), obviously I have to read it asap.
At first, I felt like reading one of Kameron Hurley's stories, really, with all the group marriages and fluid gender roles, but Harrow has her own distinct style that's more subtle and melancholic. She succeeded in weaving a story with a sympathetic character experiencing a heartfelt conflict in a well-built world in fewer than 7,500 words. Funnily enough, I enjoyed this better than her other nominated work, Ten Thousand Doors of January :)
Can be read here: http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/do-not-look-back-my-lion/
balise's review against another edition
3.0
Do Not Look Back, My Lion
Felt like the point was more about subverting gender clichés (which, don't misread me, I like a lot) than about plot. It was well-written, but I got somewhat bored.
Felt like the point was more about subverting gender clichés (which, don't misread me, I like a lot) than about plot. It was well-written, but I got somewhat bored.