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utopiastateofmind's review
4.0
This was a fabulous anthology that not only realizes its purpose, but also delivers a stunning speculative fiction collection. It is entertaining and fantastical. It was also affirming to see the diversity within.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley
full review: https://utopia-state-of-mind.com/review-stars-rise-asian-science-fiction-fantasy-edited-lucas-k-law-derwin-mak/
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review from Netgalley
full review: https://utopia-state-of-mind.com/review-stars-rise-asian-science-fiction-fantasy-edited-lucas-k-law-derwin-mak/
klibri's review against another edition
3.0
"Old Souls" by Fonda Lee is the strongest story in this collection
sarabook's review against another edition
3.0
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I enjoyed this, for the most part. As with most anthologies I've read, this was hit and miss. My favourite was Memoriam by Priya Sridhar. Overall however, they were pretty decent and varied and I love that the anthology itself is so diverse in Asian fantasy characters. Would recommend.
I enjoyed this, for the most part. As with most anthologies I've read, this was hit and miss. My favourite was Memoriam by Priya Sridhar. Overall however, they were pretty decent and varied and I love that the anthology itself is so diverse in Asian fantasy characters. Would recommend.
helensbookshelf's review against another edition
4.0
I very much enjoyed this short story collection. The stories are a mix of sci-fi and fantasy and there are some absolute gems in it. I have loads of authors now I want to read more of!
My favourite stories include Back to Myan by Regina Kanyu Wang, Weaving Silk by Amanda Sun, A Star is Born by Miki Dare, The Bridge of Dangerous Longings by Rati Mehrotra and Old Souls by Fonda Lee.
Back to Myan is pure sci-fi. A mermaid on an alien planet whose homeworld overheats. She is evacuated and her tail replaced with legs so that she can live on other planets.
Weaving Silk is a beautifully written story about two sisters trying to survive in a city after an earthquake killed their parents and cut the city off from the outside world.
In A Star is Born an old lady in a home has found a way to time travel back to earlier points of her life.
The Bridge of Dangerous Longings is an unusual story about a bridge that will kill you if you try to cross it.
Old Souls is a tale of reincarnation and a young woman who can not only remember her own previous lives but also see the past lives of everyone she comes into contact with.
There are a couple of stories that I didn't get on with, one that I just couldn't follow and one that I didn't get the point of, but overall the quality is very high.
I highly recommend this, it's an interesting and high-quality collection and it's probably going to be one of my favourite books of this year. I hope they make volume two soon!
I received a free copy from the publisher in return for an honest review.
My favourite stories include Back to Myan by Regina Kanyu Wang, Weaving Silk by Amanda Sun, A Star is Born by Miki Dare, The Bridge of Dangerous Longings by Rati Mehrotra and Old Souls by Fonda Lee.
Back to Myan is pure sci-fi. A mermaid on an alien planet whose homeworld overheats. She is evacuated and her tail replaced with legs so that she can live on other planets.
Weaving Silk is a beautifully written story about two sisters trying to survive in a city after an earthquake killed their parents and cut the city off from the outside world.
In A Star is Born an old lady in a home has found a way to time travel back to earlier points of her life.
The Bridge of Dangerous Longings is an unusual story about a bridge that will kill you if you try to cross it.
Old Souls is a tale of reincarnation and a young woman who can not only remember her own previous lives but also see the past lives of everyone she comes into contact with.
There are a couple of stories that I didn't get on with, one that I just couldn't follow and one that I didn't get the point of, but overall the quality is very high.
I highly recommend this, it's an interesting and high-quality collection and it's probably going to be one of my favourite books of this year. I hope they make volume two soon!
I received a free copy from the publisher in return for an honest review.
thebooktender's review against another edition
4.0
I'd say 80% of these stories were 3* or higher. Well done! There were literal mermaids, reincarnations, creepy-ass spiders, stories about grief, racism, kinship, oppression, and even superheroes! All either set in an Asian country (including West Asia... not always represented) or had an Asian main character. Truly loved it.
Received an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Received an advanced copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
silelda's review against another edition
5.0
If you've followed my blog for a while, you've heard me say that there's always one story in every anthology that I didn't like or I liked every story, but only because I skimmed through the ones I didn't like as much. This book a very rare anthology where I genuinely enjoyed every story and every story kept my full attention. I'm not gonna say I it was a completely fun ride because there were several stories that felt like a gut-punch of emotion. But such was the diverse array of story styles, settings and themes that these emotional stories were well balanced with the lighter-hearted ones.
At no point did I want to put this book down. I actually finished the book and thought "I wish I had been able to read this in one go." It is such an amazing collection that it has introduced me to so many things I didn't know I didn't know, you know? I now need to look up books about King Sejong. I need to find recipes for idlis and onigiri. I need to know more about spider-jinn. Spider-jinn! I wanted to learn Chinese because, as beautiful as "Back to Myan" was in English, how much more beautiful is it in its original language?
This book was such a welcome change of pace and scenery for me. The authors are so very creative and engaging. Though my copy of this book was free, I ended up purchasing my own copy. Where the Stars Rise has raise the bar for all future anthologies that I read. And has also greatly expanded my "Want to Read" list on Goodreads. I happily give 5 hoots and encourage you to pick up a copy!
At no point did I want to put this book down. I actually finished the book and thought "I wish I had been able to read this in one go." It is such an amazing collection that it has introduced me to so many things I didn't know I didn't know, you know? I now need to look up books about King Sejong. I need to find recipes for idlis and onigiri. I need to know more about spider-jinn. Spider-jinn! I wanted to learn Chinese because, as beautiful as "Back to Myan" was in English, how much more beautiful is it in its original language?
This book was such a welcome change of pace and scenery for me. The authors are so very creative and engaging. Though my copy of this book was free, I ended up purchasing my own copy. Where the Stars Rise has raise the bar for all future anthologies that I read. And has also greatly expanded my "Want to Read" list on Goodreads. I happily give 5 hoots and encourage you to pick up a copy!
li3an1na4's review against another edition
4.0
I received this ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.
One of the more uneven anthologies I've read in awhile. Some stories were stellar (Weaving Silk and Old Souls) but some lost my interest pretty quickly. What's interesting about having a scifi&fantasy book written by all Asians is just how broad the stories get. The stories take a lot from many different cultures and find a way to mesh the past or a specific culture with a scifi or fantasy plot. For some stories, it's more about just having "non-European names" for characters.
There was one story about Sejong The Great and his invention of Hangul and many other things that I had a small problem with. While the story itself is fine, I view it the same way I view those "Aliens built the pyramids" things - human ingenuity doesn't need outside help. Humans have the capacity to do both great and terrible things all on our own.
3.5/5 rounds to 4. Very uneven with stories ranging from 2/5 - 5/5.
One of the more uneven anthologies I've read in awhile. Some stories were stellar (Weaving Silk and Old Souls) but some lost my interest pretty quickly. What's interesting about having a scifi&fantasy book written by all Asians is just how broad the stories get. The stories take a lot from many different cultures and find a way to mesh the past or a specific culture with a scifi or fantasy plot. For some stories, it's more about just having "non-European names" for characters.
There was one story about Sejong The Great and his invention of Hangul and many other things that I had a small problem with. While the story itself is fine, I view it the same way I view those "Aliens built the pyramids" things - human ingenuity doesn't need outside help. Humans have the capacity to do both great and terrible things all on our own.
3.5/5 rounds to 4. Very uneven with stories ranging from 2/5 - 5/5.
adancewithbooks's review against another edition
4.0
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this review copy in exchange for an honest review.
The first thing that drew me to this book on Netgalley was the cover, I’ll admit it. It is absolutely stunning and just for that reason I don’t understand why I haven’t seen this book around the blogging sphere more. But the second was the anthologies under title; ‘Asian Science Fiction and Fantasy’. I love fantasy, and while I might not read it enough, I am also quite fond of Science Fiction. But let us be honest, it is a very white and male domineered genre. This is why I really wanted to give this book a chance.
+ One of the things that drew me in all of these stories was that they were all so very character driven. It all starts with the character. They are the center, the middle point. Everything else is woven around it. The fantasy and science fiction settings are the backdrop, not the foreground as you sometimes see in other short stories. This anthology tells the story of characters that feel so real. Of characters that are trying to find themselves in difficult worlds, throughout racism, prejudice, war and their own self doubts.
+ All of the characters are Asian characters. There are stories with Malaysian, Korean, Philippine, Chinese, Japanese characters and many more. There is such a richness and diversity to this book. No matter the setting, the culture and background of each character was brought into the story which created something unique.
+ The settings of these books all are diverse too. Some of these stories take place on our Earth, in the Philippines or America. Other stories take place in space, on ships or on the moon. There are so many amazing ideas in this book. So many settings I would love to see back in a bigger story. This goes for most of the characters too.
+ As you will see down below I rated all the short stories 3 stars or higher except one. That was also a very personal thing as I am sure that others might be able to like this story better than I did. For me, it doesn’t happen that often that I rate short stories in anthologies this highly. I think my favorite was Weaving Silk by Amanda Sun.
+ A portion of the anthology’s net revenue will go to support kids help phone. Isn’t that a great reason to go out and buy this anthology?
The afterword was filled with other fantasy and science fiction by Asian authors that you can go check out. I know I am going to check out a few of these mentioned.
Novella Ratings
I tried to write my thoughts down on all short stories initially but there are so many stories and I feel like I would do none of them any justice with just a few scribbled sentences in between reading.
2 stars –Spirit of Wine
3 stars – Vanilla Ice / Looking Up / A Star is Born / My Left Hand / DNR / A Visitation For the Spirit Festival / Joseon Fringe / Wintry Hearts of Those Who Rise / Crash / Memoriam
3,5 stars The dataSultan of Streets and Stars / Udatta Sloka
4 stars Weaving Silk / Rose’s Arm / Back to Myan / Meridian / The Observer Effect / Decision / Moon Halves / The Bridge of Dangerous Longings / Old Souls / The Orphans of Nilaveli
The Data Sultan
I would love to get more in this futuristic setting of Djinn-Robot. I loved that Istanbul was the first Metropole with a space station. And the idea of Djinn-Bots was great but I wasn’t sure I quite grasped them either. In that I think that a bigger novella or a full novel would work out a lot more.
Weaving Silk
I loved the details in this dystiopian. There is no real conclusion which is why it isn’t a 5 star read. But there are details in it like a younger child growing out of their clothes when there is no possibility to get bigger ones and things like that. I loved also the metaphors with silk that were used.
A Star is Born
Trigger warning for racial slurs
Back to Myan
It was good to see a story that was translated to English as well. There are many good authors that don’t write in English but in their own native language and we should seek out more often to translate these to English I feel.
The Bridge of Dangerous Longings
Trigger warning of rape
The first thing that drew me to this book on Netgalley was the cover, I’ll admit it. It is absolutely stunning and just for that reason I don’t understand why I haven’t seen this book around the blogging sphere more. But the second was the anthologies under title; ‘Asian Science Fiction and Fantasy’. I love fantasy, and while I might not read it enough, I am also quite fond of Science Fiction. But let us be honest, it is a very white and male domineered genre. This is why I really wanted to give this book a chance.
+ One of the things that drew me in all of these stories was that they were all so very character driven. It all starts with the character. They are the center, the middle point. Everything else is woven around it. The fantasy and science fiction settings are the backdrop, not the foreground as you sometimes see in other short stories. This anthology tells the story of characters that feel so real. Of characters that are trying to find themselves in difficult worlds, throughout racism, prejudice, war and their own self doubts.
+ All of the characters are Asian characters. There are stories with Malaysian, Korean, Philippine, Chinese, Japanese characters and many more. There is such a richness and diversity to this book. No matter the setting, the culture and background of each character was brought into the story which created something unique.
+ The settings of these books all are diverse too. Some of these stories take place on our Earth, in the Philippines or America. Other stories take place in space, on ships or on the moon. There are so many amazing ideas in this book. So many settings I would love to see back in a bigger story. This goes for most of the characters too.
+ As you will see down below I rated all the short stories 3 stars or higher except one. That was also a very personal thing as I am sure that others might be able to like this story better than I did. For me, it doesn’t happen that often that I rate short stories in anthologies this highly. I think my favorite was Weaving Silk by Amanda Sun.
+ A portion of the anthology’s net revenue will go to support kids help phone. Isn’t that a great reason to go out and buy this anthology?
The afterword was filled with other fantasy and science fiction by Asian authors that you can go check out. I know I am going to check out a few of these mentioned.
Novella Ratings
I tried to write my thoughts down on all short stories initially but there are so many stories and I feel like I would do none of them any justice with just a few scribbled sentences in between reading.
2 stars –Spirit of Wine
3 stars – Vanilla Ice / Looking Up / A Star is Born / My Left Hand / DNR / A Visitation For the Spirit Festival / Joseon Fringe / Wintry Hearts of Those Who Rise / Crash / Memoriam
3,5 stars The dataSultan of Streets and Stars / Udatta Sloka
4 stars Weaving Silk / Rose’s Arm / Back to Myan / Meridian / The Observer Effect / Decision / Moon Halves / The Bridge of Dangerous Longings / Old Souls / The Orphans of Nilaveli
The Data Sultan
I would love to get more in this futuristic setting of Djinn-Robot. I loved that Istanbul was the first Metropole with a space station. And the idea of Djinn-Bots was great but I wasn’t sure I quite grasped them either. In that I think that a bigger novella or a full novel would work out a lot more.
Weaving Silk
I loved the details in this dystiopian. There is no real conclusion which is why it isn’t a 5 star read. But there are details in it like a younger child growing out of their clothes when there is no possibility to get bigger ones and things like that. I loved also the metaphors with silk that were used.
A Star is Born
Trigger warning for racial slurs
Back to Myan
It was good to see a story that was translated to English as well. There are many good authors that don’t write in English but in their own native language and we should seek out more often to translate these to English I feel.
The Bridge of Dangerous Longings
Trigger warning of rape
noemi's review against another edition
4.0
I hadn't heard of most of these authors coming in, except for Tony Pi (and as usual, Pi does not disappoint!) And now I have a whole new set of authors to read!
Lots of variation, from superheroes to high fantasy to space travel. Some stories are just fun, some are more introspective. In some stories, race and gender play a big role, while in others, they are not even mentioned.
Overall, a solid compilation. I would recommend to all fans of speculative fiction!
Lots of variation, from superheroes to high fantasy to space travel. Some stories are just fun, some are more introspective. In some stories, race and gender play a big role, while in others, they are not even mentioned.
Overall, a solid compilation. I would recommend to all fans of speculative fiction!