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A review by oleksandr
The Apex Book of World SF, 1 by Yang Ping, Lavie Tidhar, Jamil Nasir, Kaaron Warren, Anil Menon, Nir Yaniv, S.P. Somtow, Mélanie Fazi, Aliette de Bodard, Dean Francis Alfar, Han Song, Guy Hasson, Jetse de Vries, Tunku Halim, Aleksandar Žiljak, Kristin Mandigma
3.0
This is an anthology of short stories from countries whose authors rarely reach English speaking SFF fans. I read is as a part of monthly reading for February 2021 at Speculative Fiction in Translation group. Note that a large share of the stories belong to horror genre, which I don’t consider a part of SFF and which I rarely read.
Here are the notes and ratings for specific stories.
Introduction by Lavie Tidhar a short intro why this book is different from the others
The Bird Catcher by S.P. Somtow, Thailand a horror story as told by a grandfather to his grandson about his friendship with severely traumatized Chinese right after the WW2 on Thailand. 4*
Transcendence Express by Jetse de Vries, Netherlands a famous scientist moves to Africa to teach kids her invention – ‘growing’ bio-quantum computers. Quite original. 4*
The Levantine Experiments by Guy Hasson, Israel a girl grew up in closed room without ever communicating with other people. 3*
The Wheel of Samsara by Han Song, China a wheel in Tibet monastery makes strange sounds and possibly contains a universe. Future Chinese, who already live on Mars, come to investigate. 3*
Ghost Jail by Kaaron Warren, Australia/Fiji a corrupt police chief helps to vacate a spot from poor people, but this time with ghosts as part of everyday life. A journalist investigates. 2.5*
Wizard World by Yang Ping, China a man lived in a virtual reality until some group stole his credentials. Moralistic and I suppose the author hasn’t really played any MUDs. 2*
The Kite of Stars by Dean Francis Alfar, Philippines a fantasy story – a woman wants to be notices by an astronomer and goes on a long journey to collect items for a kite. 4*
Cinderers by Nir Yaniv, Israel a strange SF/horror about artists (?), whose art is fire, often in populated places. 2.5*
The Allah Stairs by Jamil Nasir, Palestine a narrator as a kid knew another kid, who told that after his father hit him, he ascended by Allah stairs and complained and then his father was beaten by monkeys. Years later the narrator returns to find out that that father really died and his last words were ‘monkeys!’ 3*
Biggest Baddest Bomoh by Tunku Halim, Malaysia a guy lusts for a co-worker and asks a rural wizard to entice her. 2.5*
The Lost Xuyan Bride by Aliette de Bodard, France a world where the US is small and poor, while Mexico and Chinese (Xuya) rule the North America. A protagonist is a private eye, asked to find a vanished daughter of a wealthy family. 3.5*
Excerpt from a Letter by a Social-Realist Aswang by Kristin Mandigma, Philippines a Marxist shape shifter criticizes a bourgeois SFF and calls for a social revolution. Funny. 3.5*
An Evening in the City Coffeehouse, With Lydia on My Mind by Aleksandar Žiljak, Croatia a narrator is on the run. He made a living by making illicit videos of unsuspecting women who had sex to sell porn, but once he shout a wrong lady. 4*
Into the Night by Anil Menon, India an old men, whose wife has died and who doesn’t believe in modern picture of the world, half-senile, is taken care by his daughter. 2*
Elegy by Mélanie Fazi, France a letter of a mother to some magic entity, who enchanted and stole her twins two years ago. 3*
Here are the notes and ratings for specific stories.
Introduction by Lavie Tidhar a short intro why this book is different from the others
The Bird Catcher by S.P. Somtow, Thailand a horror story as told by a grandfather to his grandson about his friendship with severely traumatized Chinese right after the WW2 on Thailand. 4*
Transcendence Express by Jetse de Vries, Netherlands a famous scientist moves to Africa to teach kids her invention – ‘growing’ bio-quantum computers. Quite original. 4*
The Levantine Experiments by Guy Hasson, Israel a girl grew up in closed room without ever communicating with other people. 3*
The Wheel of Samsara by Han Song, China a wheel in Tibet monastery makes strange sounds and possibly contains a universe. Future Chinese, who already live on Mars, come to investigate. 3*
Ghost Jail by Kaaron Warren, Australia/Fiji a corrupt police chief helps to vacate a spot from poor people, but this time with ghosts as part of everyday life. A journalist investigates. 2.5*
Wizard World by Yang Ping, China a man lived in a virtual reality until some group stole his credentials. Moralistic and I suppose the author hasn’t really played any MUDs. 2*
The Kite of Stars by Dean Francis Alfar, Philippines a fantasy story – a woman wants to be notices by an astronomer and goes on a long journey to collect items for a kite. 4*
Cinderers by Nir Yaniv, Israel a strange SF/horror about artists (?), whose art is fire, often in populated places. 2.5*
The Allah Stairs by Jamil Nasir, Palestine a narrator as a kid knew another kid, who told that after his father hit him, he ascended by Allah stairs and complained and then his father was beaten by monkeys. Years later the narrator returns to find out that that father really died and his last words were ‘monkeys!’ 3*
Biggest Baddest Bomoh by Tunku Halim, Malaysia a guy lusts for a co-worker and asks a rural wizard to entice her. 2.5*
The Lost Xuyan Bride by Aliette de Bodard, France a world where the US is small and poor, while Mexico and Chinese (Xuya) rule the North America. A protagonist is a private eye, asked to find a vanished daughter of a wealthy family. 3.5*
Excerpt from a Letter by a Social-Realist Aswang by Kristin Mandigma, Philippines a Marxist shape shifter criticizes a bourgeois SFF and calls for a social revolution. Funny. 3.5*
An Evening in the City Coffeehouse, With Lydia on My Mind by Aleksandar Žiljak, Croatia a narrator is on the run. He made a living by making illicit videos of unsuspecting women who had sex to sell porn, but once he shout a wrong lady. 4*
Into the Night by Anil Menon, India an old men, whose wife has died and who doesn’t believe in modern picture of the world, half-senile, is taken care by his daughter. 2*
Elegy by Mélanie Fazi, France a letter of a mother to some magic entity, who enchanted and stole her twins two years ago. 3*