Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by ericderoulet
One Message Remains by Premee Mohamed
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Full disclosure: I emailed the publisher, Psychopomp, to request an ARC of this collection. Thus, I am reviewing it. I have no affiliation with Psychopomp nor any incentive to provide unduly favorable reviews.
For starters, I emailed Psychopomp about the possibility of reviewing One Message Remains because Premee Mohamed has had a consistent track record of writing some of my favorite books. She has not broken this streak with this collection, far from it.
The shared setting across the stories in this collection comes the closest I've seen to a setting that is believably, compellingly, immersively grimdark. (Or it comes very close to this, though protagonists can at least try to claw hope away from their oppressors and overlords.) I find much grimdark fiction to be overdone, to the point that its horrible elements dilute each other and desensitize the reader. Yet in the world of One Message Remains, the imperial logic of a state that seems to be permanently at war is skillfully substantiated through everything from characters' backstories and motives to the material culture seen in their daily lives. Indeed, Mohamed has once again written a master class in world-building—not inundating her stories with world-building, but writing a world and stories that support and elevate each other.
I won't review individual stories in much depth seeing as I'm reviewing a pre-release, but here's a brief run-down:
For starters, I emailed Psychopomp about the possibility of reviewing One Message Remains because Premee Mohamed has had a consistent track record of writing some of my favorite books. She has not broken this streak with this collection, far from it.
The shared setting across the stories in this collection comes the closest I've seen to a setting that is believably, compellingly, immersively grimdark. (Or it comes very close to this, though protagonists can at least try to claw hope away from their oppressors and overlords.) I find much grimdark fiction to be overdone, to the point that its horrible elements dilute each other and desensitize the reader. Yet in the world of One Message Remains, the imperial logic of a state that seems to be permanently at war is skillfully substantiated through everything from characters' backstories and motives to the material culture seen in their daily lives. Indeed, Mohamed has once again written a master class in world-building—not inundating her stories with world-building, but writing a world and stories that support and elevate each other.
I won't review individual stories in much depth seeing as I'm reviewing a pre-release, but here's a brief run-down:
- The eponymous novelette (or novella?) starts slow but builds narrative momentum with its strange hauntings; the characterization here is a real object lesson in how imperialism is a detriment both to those who assent to it and to those who would prefer to live according to their traditions.
- "The Weight of What Is Hollow" masters narrative voice through contrast, alternating between emotional and macabre elements and almost dry technical writing to demonstrate
how the regime in the story is both sadistic and calculating in its cruelty . - "Forsaking All Others" in particular is a master class in well-contained world-building. The exposition that excessively explains so many fantasy and sci-fi settings is put to limited and effective use here, and the few bits of world-building that feel somewhat indulgent still don't bother me at all because they're so interesting.
- The aforementioned novelette/novella, "The Weight of What is Hollow," and "Forsaking All Others" are all creative experiments with voice; the former two both use a partially epistolary format, but in quite different ways that don't take us out of the action/plot too much.
- "The General's Turn" is a reprint of what might still be my favorite short story from the magazine The Deadlands. Here, Mohamed demonstrates how a story can be made better, not worse, by taking time to flesh out its setting and letting readers luxuriate in the (darkly gorgeous) details rather than rush through plot points at full speed. I've rarely seen Death, culture, or a culture of death portrayed so well in fiction.
One Message Remains, to be released on February 11 this year, is one of LitHub.com’s Most Anticipated Books of 2025—and rightly so. There's no better time for thoughtful writing on imperialism and colonialism, and there's no bad time to immerse oneself in excellently crafted worlds and writing. I unreservedly give this collection a full five stars and will continue to look forward to more releases from Mohamed. I'll published a more in-depth analysis on my blog (https://sadbutbuildingworlds.blog/) shortly after the collection is released.