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tregina's review against another edition
4.0
It's rare I give an anthology more than three stars, just due to averaging out the weak and strong stories, but this one was fairly consistently strong for me, tipping the scales to the upper end. There is a tremendous mix of stories, though most seem to have been originally written in English (with just a few in translation, and of those the majority were translated by the author). If pressed to choose a favourite--okay, let me have two--they would probably be "L’Aquilone du Estrellas (The Kite of Stars)" by Dean Francis Alfar and Kristin Mandigma's "Excerpt from a Letter by a Social-realist Aswang", two stories which probably couldn't be more different from one another (though, interestingly, are by the two Filipino writers in the anthology).
Well worth reading, and I'm looking forward to the second volume, which my email assures me is making its way through the postal system to me at this very moment.
Well worth reading, and I'm looking forward to the second volume, which my email assures me is making its way through the postal system to me at this very moment.
hazelgold's review against another edition
Another purchase from the Kobo 50% sale.
I have been reading bits and pieces of this collection here and there. I haven't gotten around to coalescing my thoughts on each individual story.
I have been reading bits and pieces of this collection here and there. I haven't gotten around to coalescing my thoughts on each individual story.
readingsengi's review against another edition
2.0
Meh. A very mixed bag, with none particularly special. I think the Aliette de Bodard and the Dean Francis Alfar were my favourite.
lordofthemoon's review against another edition
3.0
I'll get on to the important stuff in a minute, but did anyone else notice the smell of their book? I don't know if it's something to do with the binding process used, or the glue, but it really doesn't smell like a book at all. In fact, it smells sort of unpleasant.
Anyway, skipping over that, this was a bit of a mixed bag for me. It was very definitely speculative fiction, not science fiction. There was a reasonable amount of fantasy as well as SF and more horror than I would have liked.
Highlights included The Gift of Touch, a space opera about a freighter transporting some passengers, which reminded me a bit of the marvellous [b: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet|22733729|The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet|Becky Chambers|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1405532474s/22733729.jpg|42270825]; The Boy Who Cast No Shadow, a tale of being different, literally and metaphorically, powerful and melancholic; and The Symphony of Ice and Dust about an expedition to the far reaches of the solar system and the remains that they find there.
There were a number of misses for me as well, stories that I just didn't really get, including Like a Coin Entrusted in Faith, which may have been a Jewish zombie tale, but I'm not really sure. I felt completely lost for most of that one. Jinki and the Paradox was going okay until the end, when it lost me again. I'm really not sure what to make of the last story in the collection, A Cup of Salt Tears, it's not the way that I would have chosen to end the book, this Japanese almost fairy tale about a woman whose husband is dying and a kappa comes to her and tells her it loves her. Very odd, a bit melancholic and (there's a theme emerging here), I got completely lost by the end.
I like the little flash pieces in between some of the longer stories. While they weren't all to my taste, they were short enough to not outstay their welcome if they weren't. And they were nice little palate cleansers between the chunkier stories.
So an interesting collection albeit one that I sometimes struggled with. I don't know if that's just the stories picked, or the international nature of some of them. I certainly felt that there were a few where knowing more about the cultural context would help me understand them, but it was good to read stuff from a different point of view to the usual British/American perspective. I'm not sure that I'd buy any of the others, but I might look for them in the local library.
Anyway, skipping over that, this was a bit of a mixed bag for me. It was very definitely speculative fiction, not science fiction. There was a reasonable amount of fantasy as well as SF and more horror than I would have liked.
Highlights included The Gift of Touch, a space opera about a freighter transporting some passengers, which reminded me a bit of the marvellous [b: The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet|22733729|The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet|Becky Chambers|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1405532474s/22733729.jpg|42270825]; The Boy Who Cast No Shadow, a tale of being different, literally and metaphorically, powerful and melancholic; and The Symphony of Ice and Dust about an expedition to the far reaches of the solar system and the remains that they find there.
There were a number of misses for me as well, stories that I just didn't really get, including Like a Coin Entrusted in Faith, which may have been a Jewish zombie tale, but I'm not really sure. I felt completely lost for most of that one. Jinki and the Paradox was going okay until the end, when it lost me again. I'm really not sure what to make of the last story in the collection, A Cup of Salt Tears, it's not the way that I would have chosen to end the book, this Japanese almost fairy tale about a woman whose husband is dying and a kappa comes to her and tells her it loves her. Very odd, a bit melancholic and (there's a theme emerging here), I got completely lost by the end.
I like the little flash pieces in between some of the longer stories. While they weren't all to my taste, they were short enough to not outstay their welcome if they weren't. And they were nice little palate cleansers between the chunkier stories.
So an interesting collection albeit one that I sometimes struggled with. I don't know if that's just the stories picked, or the international nature of some of them. I certainly felt that there were a few where knowing more about the cultural context would help me understand them, but it was good to read stuff from a different point of view to the usual British/American perspective. I'm not sure that I'd buy any of the others, but I might look for them in the local library.
imyril's review against another edition
3.0
I received a review copy from Apex. I saw this as a great opportunity to continue to broaden my horizons and get to know the works of international authors, many of whom I hadn't previously heard of. As ever with short story collections, not everything is for everyone and quality varied. A number of stories were positioned at the horror end of the spectrum, which is not to my taste, and a couple dabbled with concepts that I found squicky. That said, I expect SF to challenge me with difficult ideas, and most stories were firmly challenging those ideas not celebrating them.
I do think the collection would have felt stronger if stories had been collected in themes - as it was, the collection jumped from space opera to horror to apocalypse to mythology and so on with no obvious thread. I found it slightly jarring, not least because it left me uncertain at any stage what I would get next. I was indifferent to about half the collection, finding them unengaging and at times confusing, but there was only one DNF (Like a Coin Entrusted in Faith). The rest were various levels of good to awesome.
Overall, the collection left me entertained and there are stories here I will revisit as well as authors I must now explore, which is rather the idea with this compilation - job done!
More details of particular stories over on my blog.
I do think the collection would have felt stronger if stories had been collected in themes - as it was, the collection jumped from space opera to horror to apocalypse to mythology and so on with no obvious thread. I found it slightly jarring, not least because it left me uncertain at any stage what I would get next. I was indifferent to about half the collection, finding them unengaging and at times confusing, but there was only one DNF (Like a Coin Entrusted in Faith). The rest were various levels of good to awesome.
Overall, the collection left me entertained and there are stories here I will revisit as well as authors I must now explore, which is rather the idea with this compilation - job done!
More details of particular stories over on my blog.
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