Scan barcode
monstrouscosmos's review against another edition
4.5
I really like NK Jemisin as a rule, and these short stories are largely no exception. a lot of heavy themes were tackled with a focus on individual and community survival and connection. I admit to struggling through a lot of the stories, and skipping a couple that ended up having triggering themes/events. I extremely enjoyed the stories connecting peoplehood to places, that's a theme in Jemisin's work I love to return to! I don't know if I'll reread this one, but I'm glad to have read it the one time at least for sure.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Kidnapping, Death, Sexism, and Terminal illness
Moderate: Rape, Religious bigotry, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, Racism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Car accident, Infertility, Injury/Injury detail, and Miscarriage
Minor: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Child death
queer_bookwyrm's review
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
4 ⭐ CW: violence, racism, slavery mention, police violence, bullying, suicide, rape mention, child sexual abuse mention, natural disasters
How Long Til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin is a collection of her afrofuturist/speculative fiction short stories. Jemisin got the title for this book from one of Janelle Monáe's songs, so this was the perfect way to transition into reading The Memory Librarian by Janelle Monáe.
All of these stories center Black people and people of color, and Jemisin has so expertly shown us how to include BIPOC into scifi/speculative fiction. She showed us a world that included and adapted for people with disabilities (even though it was done peripherally). She shows us a Utopia while criticizing those who can not conceive of a world without hate and violence. We see stories that clearly reflect some of Jemisin's other work about stone eaters (The Broken Earth trilogy) and cities becoming sentient (The City We Became).
We get some wonderfully unique stories about cooking as a form of alchemy, digital worlds and digital people, alien worlds, winged lizards who bring hurricanes to New Orleans. Like all of Jemisin's work, she hones in on deep and layers themes. She has the kind of writing that I feel like I would only fully understand upon a reread. We get themes on bodily autonomy and reproductive rights, who is seen as valuable and who is disposable.
It was refreshing to read something to so complex after reading so much YA. Jemisin gives you a lot to chew on. If you're new to Jemisin, this might be a good place to start. There was only one story I didn't care for, but I blame that on me on being smart enough to comprehend the genius of N.K. Jemisin 😆.
How Long Til Black Future Month? by N.K. Jemisin is a collection of her afrofuturist/speculative fiction short stories. Jemisin got the title for this book from one of Janelle Monáe's songs, so this was the perfect way to transition into reading The Memory Librarian by Janelle Monáe.
All of these stories center Black people and people of color, and Jemisin has so expertly shown us how to include BIPOC into scifi/speculative fiction. She showed us a world that included and adapted for people with disabilities (even though it was done peripherally). She shows us a Utopia while criticizing those who can not conceive of a world without hate and violence. We see stories that clearly reflect some of Jemisin's other work about stone eaters (The Broken Earth trilogy) and cities becoming sentient (The City We Became).
We get some wonderfully unique stories about cooking as a form of alchemy, digital worlds and digital people, alien worlds, winged lizards who bring hurricanes to New Orleans. Like all of Jemisin's work, she hones in on deep and layers themes. She has the kind of writing that I feel like I would only fully understand upon a reread. We get themes on bodily autonomy and reproductive rights, who is seen as valuable and who is disposable.
It was refreshing to read something to so complex after reading so much YA. Jemisin gives you a lot to chew on. If you're new to Jemisin, this might be a good place to start. There was only one story I didn't care for, but I blame that on me on being smart enough to comprehend the genius of N.K. Jemisin 😆.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Racism, Bullying, and Racial slurs
Minor: Rape, Sexual violence, Slavery, and Police brutality
charlie_borowicz's review against another edition
5.0
Information about stories with sexual assault/content below
The Brides of Heaven has explicit sexual assault.
The Storyteller's Replacement has some weird sexual content at the end. Not explicitly consensual, and since it's written in the second person I felt a little gross reading it.
The Storyteller's Replacement has some weird sexual content at the end. Not explicitly consensual, and since it's written in the second person I felt a little gross reading it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
Moderate: Violence and Sexual content
questingnotcoasting's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
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? No
3.5
This was a fascinating short story collection. I like sci-fi and fantasy but I don't read that much of it, so while I'm intrigued by N.K. Jemisin's work, I'm also a bit intimidated. I thought short stories would be a good place to start. There's a wide variety of stories here, covering many subgenres of fantasy and sci-fi and I was so impressed with the breadth of Jemisin's imagination. Some stories relied on concepts I couldn't quite get my head around but there were others where I felt I completely understood the world after a few pages. They all felt so different and I really enjoyed most of them.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence
cheye13's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
This collection is absolutely amazing. It's not that every story within is necessarily perfect, but as a whole this book is magnificent. The stories themselves are beautiful pieces of art; Jemisin crafts full and distinct new worlds with each piece, giving them the backbones to stand alone and clothing them in beautiful prose. But the care with which the collection was assembled is also noteworthy – the stories transition so well and the pacing of the collection never stagnates. Even the introduction is a good read, equal parts narrative, inspiring, and contextualizing.
–
★★★★★ | The Ones Who Stay and Fight; Red Dirt Witch; L’Alchemista; The Storyteller’s Replacement; The Brides of Heaven; The Evaluators; The Elevator Dancer; Cuisine des Mémoires; The You Train
–
★★★★★ | The Ones Who Stay and Fight; Red Dirt Witch; L’Alchemista; The Storyteller’s Replacement; The Brides of Heaven; The Evaluators; The Elevator Dancer; Cuisine des Mémoires; The You Train
★★★★ | The Effluent Engine; Cloud Dragon Skies; The Trojan Girl; Walking Awake; The Narcomancer; Henosis; Too Many Yesterdays […]
★★★ | The City Born Great; Valedictorian; On the Banks of the River Lex; Stone Hunger; Non-Zero Probabilities; Sinners, Saints, Dragons, and Haints […]
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Death, Gore, Racism, and Violence
Minor: Police brutality, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexism, and Slavery
None of the sensitive content is gratuitous; all is in service to the stories and handled/written sensitively in my opinion.
More...