Scan barcode
A review by grapie_deltaco
Guardian Angels and Other Monsters by Daniel H. Wilson
5.0
4.5⭐️
A haunting, disturbing, and (at times) claustrophobic collection of dark adult sci-fi stories that get told through different styles from one author. From the apocalypse to fighting tyrannical men in power to vengeance, we explore numerous themes in stories suspended in time.
There’s a true sense of fear and hopelessness that runs through the minds of this cast of characters. I think I much prefer this book to Robopocalypse.
There’s one issue I couldn’t really ignore that I understand probably wasn’t done intentionally but is still something I noticed regardless. In the story Blood Memory, I couldn’t help but be a bit uncomfortable with the multiple mentions of how dark-skinned the little Black girl was when she is also the villain of the story. Beatrix is a monster with a mind distorted beyond correction and to put emphasis that she’s a dark skinned girl was definitely…a choice.
Overall, this collection was difficult to put down and regularly gut wrenching.
CW: death, grief, murder, torture, slavery, kidnapping, animal cruelty, dated language in reference to indigenous people, reference to genocide, reference to rape, ableism (& frequent use of r-slur), mentions of child abuse
A haunting, disturbing, and (at times) claustrophobic collection of dark adult sci-fi stories that get told through different styles from one author. From the apocalypse to fighting tyrannical men in power to vengeance, we explore numerous themes in stories suspended in time.
There’s a true sense of fear and hopelessness that runs through the minds of this cast of characters. I think I much prefer this book to Robopocalypse.
There’s one issue I couldn’t really ignore that I understand probably wasn’t done intentionally but is still something I noticed regardless. In the story Blood Memory, I couldn’t help but be a bit uncomfortable with the multiple mentions of how dark-skinned the little Black girl was when she is also the villain of the story. Beatrix is a monster with a mind distorted beyond correction and to put emphasis that she’s a dark skinned girl was definitely…a choice.
Overall, this collection was difficult to put down and regularly gut wrenching.
CW: death, grief, murder, torture, slavery, kidnapping, animal cruelty, dated language in reference to indigenous people, reference to genocide, reference to rape, ableism (& frequent use of r-slur), mentions of child abuse