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A review by dreamlibrarian
The Blood of Four Gods and Other Stories by Betsy Bodamer, Jamie Lackey
1.0
Disclaimer: I received a free Digital Advance Reader Copy (ARC) of The Blood of Four Gods and Other Stories from Air and Nothingness Press through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
First and foremost, please be aware that this author uses the Bury Your Gays trope.There is ONE story (Citali's Song) about lesbian lovers, which is one of the few that doesn't have a happy ending. Worse even, one of the women has to kill the other to save her from herself.
And for short stories set in fantastical worlds with elements of magic and mystery, for short stories with many female protagonists, these stories were almost all bout men and women throwing their lives away for them. Instead of exploring the magic and mystery of these new places and powers, Jamie Lackey focused on women who wait on, are rescued by, or offer their lives for men. And not in the way that challenges women giving up their lives for men, but in a way that normalizes it. Even when the women do something bold, their actions are almost entirely motivated by men and are rarely completed by the woman herself, but often led by or finished by the men. In general, this is not the worst thing ever, but when that's all you read about, it gets boring and frustrating to only see women as they relate to their relationships with men.
River Dragon's Curse: A pregnant woman decides to sacrifice herself to a river god to escape the men in her life. 1/5 stars
Beyond the Reach of Moonlight: A were-fish woman gives up her freedom for a man and watches as trouble comes to him. 1/5 stars
The Steam Lord's Autumn Ruby: A woman in captivity waits for a man to come rescue her from an evil lord and his steam-powered guards. 1/5 stars
Rekindled Dreams: A slave/prostitute finds a few grey hairs and realizes she'll never find a husband like that so she decides she wants to leave and meets mysterious man she hopes will rescue her. 1/5 stars
Fox-Woman: A fox-girl controlled by her father is assigned an arranged marriage, but a fox-boy falls in love with her and tries to convince her to let him take her away. 1/5 stars
The Blood of Four Gods: A woman begs a god to save her sick mother, but the god turns her boyfriend into a bird in exchange. The girl then goes on a quest guided by her bird boyfriend to save him. 2/5 stars
The Place of Fear: After a woman marries a man she doesn't know, he's bitten and killed by a poisonous snake. She risks her life to rescue him from the underworld. 1/5 stars
The Sour Thread of Doubt: A woman has a dream that she's a sacrifice for a volcano god and sets about making that a reality. 2/5 stars
Citali's Song: A woman enters the cloud jungle to rescue her lover from captivity. 0/5 stars for the awful use of the Bury Your Gays trope
Quetzalcoatl's Conquistador: The story of legendary Spanish conquistador, Hernan Cortes, as he kidnaps an Aztec woman, who has given up escaping. 1/5 stars
The Balance Between Strength and Wisdom: A girl undergoes a sacred ceremony to become a water seeker and offer help to hunters, one of whom she becomes romantically interested in. 1/5 stars
Jealous Idols: A couple seeks out the snake gods so the woman can witness the gods. 1/5 stars
Of Dreaming and Destiny: A woman has a prophetic dream about the man she's destined to be with. 1/5 stars
The Value of Weakness: A girl hatches an ostrich egg and meets a travelling magician on a quest to learn the value of weakness. 2/5 stars
Content Warning for brief sexual content (sometimes with questionable consent), gore, murder, suicide by ritual sacrifice, and the bury your gays trope.
First and foremost, please be aware that this author uses the Bury Your Gays trope.
And for short stories set in fantastical worlds with elements of magic and mystery, for short stories with many female protagonists, these stories were almost all bout men and women throwing their lives away for them. Instead of exploring the magic and mystery of these new places and powers, Jamie Lackey focused on women who wait on, are rescued by, or offer their lives for men. And not in the way that challenges women giving up their lives for men, but in a way that normalizes it. Even when the women do something bold, their actions are almost entirely motivated by men and are rarely completed by the woman herself, but often led by or finished by the men. In general, this is not the worst thing ever, but when that's all you read about, it gets boring and frustrating to only see women as they relate to their relationships with men.
River Dragon's Curse: A pregnant woman decides to sacrifice herself to a river god to escape the men in her life. 1/5 stars
Beyond the Reach of Moonlight: A were-fish woman gives up her freedom for a man and watches as trouble comes to him. 1/5 stars
The Steam Lord's Autumn Ruby: A woman in captivity waits for a man to come rescue her from an evil lord and his steam-powered guards. 1/5 stars
Rekindled Dreams: A slave/prostitute finds a few grey hairs and realizes she'll never find a husband like that so she decides she wants to leave and meets mysterious man she hopes will rescue her. 1/5 stars
Fox-Woman: A fox-girl controlled by her father is assigned an arranged marriage, but a fox-boy falls in love with her and tries to convince her to let him take her away. 1/5 stars
The Blood of Four Gods: A woman begs a god to save her sick mother, but the god turns her boyfriend into a bird in exchange. The girl then goes on a quest guided by her bird boyfriend to save him. 2/5 stars
The Place of Fear: After a woman marries a man she doesn't know, he's bitten and killed by a poisonous snake. She risks her life to rescue him from the underworld. 1/5 stars
The Sour Thread of Doubt: A woman has a dream that she's a sacrifice for a volcano god and sets about making that a reality. 2/5 stars
Citali's Song: A woman enters the cloud jungle to rescue her lover from captivity. 0/5 stars for the awful use of the Bury Your Gays trope
Quetzalcoatl's Conquistador: The story of legendary Spanish conquistador, Hernan Cortes, as he kidnaps an Aztec woman, who has given up escaping. 1/5 stars
The Balance Between Strength and Wisdom: A girl undergoes a sacred ceremony to become a water seeker and offer help to hunters, one of whom she becomes romantically interested in. 1/5 stars
Jealous Idols: A couple seeks out the snake gods so the woman can witness the gods. 1/5 stars
Of Dreaming and Destiny: A woman has a prophetic dream about the man she's destined to be with. 1/5 stars
The Value of Weakness: A girl hatches an ostrich egg and meets a travelling magician on a quest to learn the value of weakness. 2/5 stars
Content Warning for brief sexual content (sometimes with questionable consent), gore, murder, suicide by ritual sacrifice, and the bury your gays trope.