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A review by flying_monkeys
The Beauty by Aliya Whiteley
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
4.5
So good!!! This edition contains two novellas - "The Beauty" and "Peace, Pipe" - both of which are nearly perfect. Why not 5 stars then? Because I wanted MORE!!!
In gender-bending "The Beauty," we're asked to contemplate, what is woman and her many roles (lover, wife, mother, sister, teacher, storyteller)? It's not the first story to suggest that in the absence of cisgender women, their male counterparts would adapt, both emotionally and physically. But it's the first story I've read that felt true - deeply, painfully human... in a world with creepy mushroom people.
"Peace, Pipe" explores the power of words and language as a tool to bridge gaps or wage wars.
4.5 stars
(And I will read whatever Aliya Whiteley publishes next.)
"If they were at war with their emotions, thinking was the best weapon they possessed."
"But what is more universal than time? Every creature marks it, in one way or another. I've yet to find one who doesn't age."
"The higher up you go, the less you need to express regret. Instead you simply rewrite to suit."
"They pillaged each language and concept that appealed. A large language, containing over one million words, will hold so many corpses within it. In the process of ingestion many original meanings will be lost, and new ones will be born."
"In a world of so many beings, these descriptions only serve the purpose of telling others how I fit amongst them. How I can be separated, and picked out from the crowd. They matter only when I'm amongst others who are so similar in form and function that we are all desperate to find the delineations."
In gender-bending "The Beauty," we're asked to contemplate, what is woman and her many roles (lover, wife, mother, sister, teacher, storyteller)? It's not the first story to suggest that in the absence of cisgender women, their male counterparts would adapt, both emotionally and physically. But it's the first story I've read that felt true - deeply, painfully human... in a world with creepy mushroom people.
"Peace, Pipe" explores the power of words and language as a tool to bridge gaps or wage wars.
4.5 stars
(And I will read whatever Aliya Whiteley publishes next.)
"If they were at war with their emotions, thinking was the best weapon they possessed."
"But what is more universal than time? Every creature marks it, in one way or another. I've yet to find one who doesn't age."
"The higher up you go, the less you need to express regret. Instead you simply rewrite to suit."
"They pillaged each language and concept that appealed. A large language, containing over one million words, will hold so many corpses within it. In the process of ingestion many original meanings will be lost, and new ones will be born."
"In a world of so many beings, these descriptions only serve the purpose of telling others how I fit amongst them. How I can be separated, and picked out from the crowd. They matter only when I'm amongst others who are so similar in form and function that we are all desperate to find the delineations."