Reviews

New Suns 2: More Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color by Nisi Shawl

whitwein's review against another edition

4.0

Sometimes writing a review for an anthology is tricky. 

I loved what this series is accomplishing and I think it’s very well done. 

Some of the stories I loved and some I didn’t. 

I loved the stories from Darcie Little Badger, Tananarive Due and Hiromi Goto the most. But all were written so well and the whole book is very engaging and a great audiobook with different narrators. 

Thanks to netgalley and Tantor Audio for an alc

omnipresent_photon's review

adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

aardwyrm's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective tense 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? It's complicated

4.5

A strong, challenging, artful collection with incredible range that makes it damn hard to meaningfully review beyond gesturing frantically and making affirmative noises.

laileanah's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

 

This audiobook was made available to me by RB Media and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

The narrators Allyson Johnson and Diontae Black are both familiar to me. I listened to at least one novel narrated by both narrators prior to this. For this novel both narrators assumed unique tones, employing inflection and even accent changes as needed for the short stories in this anthology. The narration reminded me of stories shared before bed, around a campfire or shared at a sleepover, just nostalgic in the best ways. I'll continue to seek out audiobooks narrated by both Ms. Johnson and Mr. Black in the future.

I love anthologies precisely for the opportunity to meet new authors that I can add to my ever growing to-be-read list. That this is an anthology of speculative fiction written by people of color authors is just chef's kiss! 

Ocasta by Daniel H. Wilson an AI learning program tells the story of its program life.

The Farmer's Wife and the Fairy Queen K. Tempest Bradford is a feminist anthem in fairytale form. 

Juan by Darcie Little Badger this is set during covid lockdown and has Indigenous mythological elements.

Neti Neti by Geetanjali Vandemark is an interesting tale of a monk with a violent past.

Equal Forces Opposed in Exquisite Tension by John Chu a dystopian world in which unauthorized telepathy is strictly monitored.

Silk and Cotton and Linen and Blood by Nghi Vo, a servant of the third class helps a barbarian king choose the appropriate robe.

Suppertime by Tananarive Due a precocious girl, a swamp monster and a camera have an adventure.

Good Night Gracie by Alex Jennings, a group on the search for the right kind of party.

A Borrowing of Bones by Karin Lowachee a dystopian in which pieces of one's life is traded inorder to make a living. A cannibalizing of the poor.

Chosen by Saad Hossain is the story of multiple space faring species with caste designations.

Home Is Where the Heart Is by Hiromi Goto is a fairytale-like feminist story about home.

Before the Glory of Their Majesties by Minsoo Kang an ambassador meets with royalty in an effort to save their home.

Haunted Bodies of WombMen by Tlotlo Tsamaase an interesting if harrowing tale of reincarnation.

Dragons of Yuta by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz a tale of ghosts and dragons.

The Plant and the Purist by Malka Older involves an airship adventure.

The Fast-Enough Human by Kathleen Alcalá a tale of immigration and belonging.

Counting Her Petals by Christopher Caldwell a haunting tale with ATR mythological elements.

Fever Dreams by Jaymee Goh a delightful tale of storyengines and storytellers.

I found a few new authors and added their work to my to- read list.

Thank you to RB Media and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook anthology. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own. 

agador_spartacus's review

adventurous challenging dark reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

2.5

A few stand out stories, but overall not very memorable. The few great stories cannot support the weight of all others. 

emmaraeempowered's review

4.75

Volume 2 of New Suns was an incredible collection of speculative fiction stories! I truly loved the range of stories with in this grouping and loved the order. I don't know how these editors of short story collections do it, but Nisi Shawl  did it!

I'll just speak on some of my favorite stories in this collection (although that's difficult because I enjoyed all of these stories!). 

Before The Glory of their Majesties is a story that appears to be a rough draft as the author interrupts the story themselves explaining the ways they are changing things. Why are they doing this? Well, because when getting the idea for the story and writing it they began to realize how disabled peoples are always depicted as evil villains' within stories. The author goes on to explain how once they realized this they immediately began changing the story. The story focusing on conjoined twins who find themselves as the rulers of the throne. He changes the story of them being feared to being loved and honored rulers battling against other rulers. 

Lastly, Home is Where the Heart is! This story immediately strikes out as a favorite for me. Main character Yoko wakes up one morning to discover her heart had turned into a rotten quince hanging from a branch in her mother's garden. She asks for it back only for her mother to tell her to go talk to her grandmother who is in the house. I won't go into too much detail because what unfolds in this story was striking and so imaginative I loved it! 

This collection made me want to explore all these authors further and read more of their works. 

veejaya's review

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

3.5

lcarolyn_author's review

adventurous emotional inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0

This is a collection of short stories (sci-fi/speculative fiction). The stories move fast but I think the authors have all done a wonderful job weaving in the right amount of world building and plot to keep you interested without being confused. I highly recommend, especially if you read the first collection, "New Suns", and enjoyed it!

thebogbody's review

adventurous reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.0

ddmgembala's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative inspiring lighthearted mysterious reflective relaxing sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

5.0