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76 reviews for:
Eat the Sky, Drink the Ocean
Margo Lanagan, Mandy Ord, Vandana Singh, Lily Mae Martin, Annie Zaidi, Payal Dhar, Alyssa Brugman, Justine Larbalestier, Kate Constable, Manjula Padmanabhan, Nicki Greenberg, Anita Roy, Penni Russon, Kuzhali Manicakavel, Kirsty Murray, Samhita Arni, Amruta Patil, Priya Kuriyan, Isobelle Carmody
3.45 AVERAGE
76 reviews for:
Eat the Sky, Drink the Ocean
Margo Lanagan, Mandy Ord, Vandana Singh, Lily Mae Martin, Annie Zaidi, Payal Dhar, Alyssa Brugman, Justine Larbalestier, Kate Constable, Manjula Padmanabhan, Nicki Greenberg, Anita Roy, Penni Russon, Kuzhali Manicakavel, Kirsty Murray, Samhita Arni, Amruta Patil, Priya Kuriyan, Isobelle Carmody
3.45 AVERAGE
I’ve always maintained that I don’t like science fiction or fantasy. My husband maintains that I really do, I just don’t think that I do because science fiction isn’t just about aliens. At any rate, I actually didn’t hate this SF/F anthology that I read for the Book Riot Read Harder challenge, and maybe I even liked it just a teensy bit. We’ll count this as a win.
I enjoyed some of the stories, but most of it just wasn’t my jam.
The impetus behind this collection of short stories were violent crimes against young women and the resulting conversations people were having in 2012 in India and Australia. The editors assembled a number of authors and illustrators and had them collaborate on stories with a feminist slant. While I liked some of the stories, I found the collection uneven, but could appreciate what the creators were doing, and actually wished some of the stories had been longer so that the artists could have developed their ideas more deeply.
-Cat Calls (Margo Lanagan) 4*
-Swallow the Moon (Kate Constable, Priya Kuriyan) 3.5*
-Little Red Suit (Justine Larbalestier) 3.5*
-Cooking Time (Anita Roy) 4*
-Anarkali (Annie Zaidi, Mandy Ort (illustrator)) 3*
-Cast Out (Samhita Arni) 4*
-Weft (Alyssa Brugman) 4*
-The Wednesday Room (Kuzhali Manickavel, Lily Mae Martin (illustrator)) 3*
-Cool (Manjula Padmanabhan) 3*
-Appetite (Amruta Patil) 3.5*
-Mirror Perfect (Kirsty Murray) 3*
-Arctic Light (Vandana Singh) 4* (probably my favourite of the shorts)
-The Runners (Isabelle Carmody, Prabha Mallya (illustrator)) 3.5*
-The Blooming (Manjula Padmanabhan and Kirsty Murray) 2.5*
-What a Stone Can't Feel (Penni Russon) 3*
-Memory Lace (Payal Dhar) 3.5*
-Backstage Pass (Nicki Greenberg) 3.5*
-Cat Calls (Margo Lanagan) 4*
-Swallow the Moon (Kate Constable, Priya Kuriyan) 3.5*
-Little Red Suit (Justine Larbalestier) 3.5*
-Cooking Time (Anita Roy) 4*
-Anarkali (Annie Zaidi, Mandy Ort (illustrator)) 3*
-Cast Out (Samhita Arni) 4*
-Weft (Alyssa Brugman) 4*
-The Wednesday Room (Kuzhali Manickavel, Lily Mae Martin (illustrator)) 3*
-Cool (Manjula Padmanabhan) 3*
-Appetite (Amruta Patil) 3.5*
-Mirror Perfect (Kirsty Murray) 3*
-Arctic Light (Vandana Singh) 4* (probably my favourite of the shorts)
-The Runners (Isabelle Carmody, Prabha Mallya (illustrator)) 3.5*
-The Blooming (Manjula Padmanabhan and Kirsty Murray) 2.5*
-What a Stone Can't Feel (Penni Russon) 3*
-Memory Lace (Payal Dhar) 3.5*
-Backstage Pass (Nicki Greenberg) 3.5*
adventurous
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I was supplied a review copy of this book by Allen & Unwin. Thanks! Here is my review:
The marvellously titled Eat the Sky, Drink the Ocean, edited by Kirsty Murray, Payal Dhar and Anita Roy, is an anthology of short stories and comics by Australian and Indian women writers. The stories could all qualify as ‘speculative fiction’ in some way and there is a strong feminist element to them. What is a little more unusual about the anthology is that there is a collaborative element to many (but not all) of the stories, with the Australian and Indian authors put in touch with each other to brainstorm their approach. This cross-cultural collaboration isn’t always evident in the works themselves, but it has generated some very interesting results. Sometimes the collaboration is explicit, with writer and artist combining for a comic, but more often it takes the place of an exchange of ideas that informs the individual works.
As with any anthology some works will resonate with the readers more than others and I certainly had my favourites. I was familiar with a number of the Australian contributors, such as Margo Lanagan, Isobelle Carmody, Justine Larbalestier and Nicki Greenberg, but all of the Indian authors were new to me, so there were some delightful discoveries as well as what felt like a return to familiar ground with some of the writers.
Nicki Greenberg’s “Backstage Pass” is like a bonus piece of material from her magnificent graphic novel adaptation of Hamlet, giving Ophelia a voice that largely gets silenced in Shakespeare’s play. Other highlights included the stories “What a Stone Can’t Feel” by Penni Russon and “Memory Lace” by Payal Dhar.
There are plenty of aspects for teachers to latch onto if this text were used in the secondary classroom and the cross-cultural nature of the anthology is perfect to engage with Australia’s place in Asia. It would work particularly well at Years 9 and 10.
The marvellously titled Eat the Sky, Drink the Ocean, edited by Kirsty Murray, Payal Dhar and Anita Roy, is an anthology of short stories and comics by Australian and Indian women writers. The stories could all qualify as ‘speculative fiction’ in some way and there is a strong feminist element to them. What is a little more unusual about the anthology is that there is a collaborative element to many (but not all) of the stories, with the Australian and Indian authors put in touch with each other to brainstorm their approach. This cross-cultural collaboration isn’t always evident in the works themselves, but it has generated some very interesting results. Sometimes the collaboration is explicit, with writer and artist combining for a comic, but more often it takes the place of an exchange of ideas that informs the individual works.
As with any anthology some works will resonate with the readers more than others and I certainly had my favourites. I was familiar with a number of the Australian contributors, such as Margo Lanagan, Isobelle Carmody, Justine Larbalestier and Nicki Greenberg, but all of the Indian authors were new to me, so there were some delightful discoveries as well as what felt like a return to familiar ground with some of the writers.
Nicki Greenberg’s “Backstage Pass” is like a bonus piece of material from her magnificent graphic novel adaptation of Hamlet, giving Ophelia a voice that largely gets silenced in Shakespeare’s play. Other highlights included the stories “What a Stone Can’t Feel” by Penni Russon and “Memory Lace” by Payal Dhar.
There are plenty of aspects for teachers to latch onto if this text were used in the secondary classroom and the cross-cultural nature of the anthology is perfect to engage with Australia’s place in Asia. It would work particularly well at Years 9 and 10.
challenging
emotional
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This short story collection was hit or miss, which tends to be the case for many short story collections I hear. This being my first read of a short story collection, I was surprised that I enjoyed it. There were some stories that I personally didn't like, and I was in a little bit of a slump as I was trying to finish them. The majority of the stories I didn't understand, but I still liked the challenge.
I was confused during half the stories, but I appreciate the messages they tried to convey lol. I enjoyed the illustrated comic-type stories, and only 2-3 of the written ones. I kept trying to find metaphors for female empowerment in all of the high fantasy stories, and I just didn't get a lot of them. Nevertheless, the cover of my edition is beautiful, but I'd never pick this book up again and would probably get rid of it one way or another.
This completes Task 10: Read an SFF anthology edited by a person of color of Book Riot’s Read Harder Challenge. This task was the task I dreaded. So, my rating is based on my dislike for short stories compilations. This will officially be my last one. I just don’t like them.
This book was really hit or miss. It was the only one on the recommended reading list that got my attention…taking myths and stories and place them into a Sci-fi setting with domestic violence/women’s issues as an underlying theme. In theory, that’s what I got. But meh. Lots of the stories I didn’t really understand what they were trying to say. Even reading the Notes on Collaboration helped, but I was like, I didn’t get that at all. Some of the stories just ended. I really liked Little Red Suit (like Little Red Riding Hood) until it ended with her in a house not knowing if she made it back alive.
I loved Cast Out (favorite), Arctic Light, What a Stone Can’t Feel, and Memory Lace. I would read more from these authors, but not any short stories.
This book was really hit or miss. It was the only one on the recommended reading list that got my attention…taking myths and stories and place them into a Sci-fi setting with domestic violence/women’s issues as an underlying theme. In theory, that’s what I got. But meh. Lots of the stories I didn’t really understand what they were trying to say. Even reading the Notes on Collaboration helped, but I was like, I didn’t get that at all. Some of the stories just ended. I really liked Little Red Suit (like Little Red Riding Hood) until it ended with her in a house not knowing if she made it back alive.
I loved Cast Out (favorite), Arctic Light, What a Stone Can’t Feel, and Memory Lace. I would read more from these authors, but not any short stories.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense