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A review by villyidol
Beneath Ceaseless Skies Issue #270 by Alix E. Harrow, Scott H. Andrews, Natalia Theodoridou
3.0
***Do Not Look Back, My Lion by Alix E. Harrow***
A husband’s struggle with her wife’s unwavering sense of duty towards the Emperor and her ceaseless war-making. (no misuse of determiners – they are all women)
Even when Talaan is pregnant with their fifth child, she feels the need to return to the battlefield. It is her duty, for she is a great warrior and "a soldier does not ask for a good Life, only a good Death."
Well, Eefa only wants a life, and a family.
A fantasy-tale of death and birth, of war and love and family, of bloodshed and suffering and duty. A tale of loss, and of hope. Hope for a better life. A different life.
Took quite some time to draw me in. Too long, maybe. But the ending was a bit like catching your first glimpse of sunshine on a long and cloudy day. So I liked that, obviously.
Hugo 2020 nominee for Best Short Story.
Can be read for free here: http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/do-not-look-back-my-lion/
____________________________
Best Novel
• [b: The City in the Middle of the Night|37534907|The City in the Middle of the Night|Charlie Jane Anders|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1532447389l/37534907._SY75_.jpg|64654648] by Charlie Jane Anders
• [b: Gideon the Ninth|42036538|Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #1)|Tamsyn Muir|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1546870952l/42036538._SY75_.jpg|60943229] by Tamsyn Muir
• The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley
• A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
• [b: Middlegame|35965482|Middlegame (Middlegame, #1)|Seanan McGuire|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1537297437l/35965482._SX50_.jpg|57524946] by Seanan McGuire
• [b: The Ten Thousand Doors of January|43521657|The Ten Thousand Doors of January|Alix E. Harrow|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1548174710l/43521657._SY75_.jpg|63516505] by Alix E. Harrow
Best Novella
• Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom by Ted Chiang ([b: Exhalation|41160292|Exhalation Stories|Ted Chiang|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1534388394l/41160292._SX50_.jpg|64336454])
• [b: The Deep|42201962|The Deep|Rivers Solomon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1549411869l/42201962._SY75_.jpg|64281827] by Rivers Solomon, with Daveed Diggs, William Hutson & Jonathan Snipes
• The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark
• [b: In an Absent Dream|38244358|In an Absent Dream (Wayward Children, #4)|Seanan McGuire|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1525436165l/38244358._SY75_.jpg|59926216] by Seanan McGuire
• [b: This Is How You Lose the Time War|43352954|This Is How You Lose the Time War|Amal El-Mohtar|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1545755487l/43352954._SX50_.jpg|58237743] by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone
• To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers
Best Novelette
• The Archronology of Love by Caroline M. Yoachim (Lightspeed Magazine, April 2019)
• Away With the Wolves by Sarah Gailey ([b: Uncanny Magazine Issue 30: Disabled People Destroy Fanatsy! Special Issue|49245882|Uncanny Magazine Issue 30 Disabled People Destroy Fantasy! Special Issue|Lynne M. Thomas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1566875115l/49245882._SX50_SY75_.jpg|73105010])
• The Blur in the Corner of Your Eye by Sarah Pinsker ([b: Uncanny Magazine Issue 29: July/August 2019|52228003|Uncanny Magazine Issue 29 July/August 2019|Lynne M. Thomas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1562183674l/52228003._SX50_SY75_.jpg|71772498])
• Emergency Skin by N.K. Jemisin
• For He Can Creep by Siobhan Carroll
• [b: Omphalos|41160292|Exhalation Stories|Ted Chiang|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1534388394l/41160292._SX50_.jpg|64336454] by Ted Chiang
Best Short Story
• And Now His Lordship Is Laughing by Shiv Ramdas (Strange Horizons 9 September 2019)
• As the Last I May Know by S.L. Huang
• Blood Is Another Word for Hunger by Rivers Solomon
• A Catalog of Storms by Fran Wilde (Uncanny Magazine, Issue 26, January-February 2019)
• Do Not Look Back, My Lion by Alix E. Harrow (Beneath Ceaseless Skies Issue #270)
• Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island by Nibedita Sen (Nightmare Magazine, Issue 80)
Best Series
• The Expanse by [a: James S. A. Corey|4192148|James S.A. Corey|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1573162332p2/4192148.jpg]
• InCryptid by [a: Seanan McGuire|2860219|Seanan McGuire|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1245623198p2/2860219.jpg]
• Luna by [a: Ian McDonald|25376|Ian McDonald|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1372533252p2/25376.jpg]
• Planetfall series by [a: Emma Newman|3329042|Emma Newman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1425124402p2/3329042.jpg]
• Winternight Trilogy by [a: Katherine Arden|13922215|Katherine Arden|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1510754830p2/13922215.jpg]
• The Wormwood Trilogy by [a: Tade Thompson|5782077|Tade Thompson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1593796763p2/5782077.jpg]
Best Related Work
• [b: Becoming Superman: My Journey from Poverty to Hollywood|40651648|Becoming Superman My Journey from Poverty to Hollywood|J. Michael Straczynski|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1552089537l/40651648._SY75_.jpg|63175235] by J. Michael Straczynski
• [b: Joanna Russ|44803864|Joanna Russ|Gwyneth Jones|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1556682415l/44803864._SY75_.jpg|69488169] by Gwyneth Jones
• [b: The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick|40165912|The Lady from the Black Lagoon Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick|Mallory O'Meara|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1539883807l/40165912._SY75_.jpg|56266883] by Mallory O’Meara
• [b: The Pleasant Profession of Robert A. Heinlein|42632383|The Pleasant Profession of Robert A. Heinlein|Farah Mendlesohn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1541399334l/42632383._SY75_.jpg|66365024] by Farah Mendlesohn
• 2019 John W. Campbell Award Acceptance Speech by Jeannette Ng
• Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin, produced and directed by Arwen Curry
Best Graphic Story or Comic
• [b: Die, Volume 1: Fantasy Heartbreaker|48729961|SDCC DIE Volume 1 Fantasy Heartbreaker|Kieron Gillen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1573174207l/48729961._SY75_.jpg|65274583] by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans, letters by Clayton Cowles
• [b: LaGuardia|42762071|LaGuardia|Nnedi Okorafor|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1542046220l/42762071._SY75_.jpg|66506690], written by Nnedi Okorafor, art by Tana Ford, colours by James Devlin
• [b: Monstress, Volume 4: The Chosen|45899240|Monstress, Vol. 4 The Chosen|Marjorie M. Liu|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1559570414l/45899240._SX50_.jpg|70742623], written by Marjorie Liu, art by Sana Takeda
• [b: Mooncakes|44774415|Mooncakes|Suzanne Walker|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1565183719l/44774415._SY75_.jpg|57982519] by Wendy Xu and Suzanne Walker, letters by Joamette Gil
• Paper Girls, Volume 6, written by Brian K. Vaughan, drawn by Cliff Chiang, colours by Matt Wilson, letters by Jared K. Fletcher
• [b: The Wicked + The Divine, Volume 9: "Okay"|46223693|The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 9 "Okay"|Kieron Gillen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1560094188l/46223693._SY75_.jpg|66594104] by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie, colours by Matt Wilson, letters by Clayton Cowles
A husband’s struggle with her wife’s unwavering sense of duty towards the Emperor and her ceaseless war-making. (no misuse of determiners – they are all women)
Even when Talaan is pregnant with their fifth child, she feels the need to return to the battlefield. It is her duty, for she is a great warrior and "a soldier does not ask for a good Life, only a good Death."
Well, Eefa only wants a life, and a family.
A fantasy-tale of death and birth, of war and love and family, of bloodshed and suffering and duty. A tale of loss, and of hope. Hope for a better life. A different life.
Took quite some time to draw me in. Too long, maybe. But the ending was a bit like catching your first glimpse of sunshine on a long and cloudy day. So I liked that, obviously.
Hugo 2020 nominee for Best Short Story.
Can be read for free here: http://www.beneath-ceaseless-skies.com/stories/do-not-look-back-my-lion/
____________________________
2020 Hugo Award Finalists
Best Novel
• [b: The City in the Middle of the Night|37534907|The City in the Middle of the Night|Charlie Jane Anders|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1532447389l/37534907._SY75_.jpg|64654648] by Charlie Jane Anders
• [b: Gideon the Ninth|42036538|Gideon the Ninth (The Locked Tomb, #1)|Tamsyn Muir|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1546870952l/42036538._SY75_.jpg|60943229] by Tamsyn Muir
• The Light Brigade by Kameron Hurley
• A Memory Called Empire by Arkady Martine
• [b: Middlegame|35965482|Middlegame (Middlegame, #1)|Seanan McGuire|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1537297437l/35965482._SX50_.jpg|57524946] by Seanan McGuire
• [b: The Ten Thousand Doors of January|43521657|The Ten Thousand Doors of January|Alix E. Harrow|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1548174710l/43521657._SY75_.jpg|63516505] by Alix E. Harrow
Best Novella
• Anxiety Is the Dizziness of Freedom by Ted Chiang ([b: Exhalation|41160292|Exhalation Stories|Ted Chiang|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1534388394l/41160292._SX50_.jpg|64336454])
• [b: The Deep|42201962|The Deep|Rivers Solomon|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1549411869l/42201962._SY75_.jpg|64281827] by Rivers Solomon, with Daveed Diggs, William Hutson & Jonathan Snipes
• The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark
• [b: In an Absent Dream|38244358|In an Absent Dream (Wayward Children, #4)|Seanan McGuire|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1525436165l/38244358._SY75_.jpg|59926216] by Seanan McGuire
• [b: This Is How You Lose the Time War|43352954|This Is How You Lose the Time War|Amal El-Mohtar|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1545755487l/43352954._SX50_.jpg|58237743] by Amal El-Mohtar & Max Gladstone
• To Be Taught, If Fortunate by Becky Chambers
Best Novelette
• The Archronology of Love by Caroline M. Yoachim (Lightspeed Magazine, April 2019)
• Away With the Wolves by Sarah Gailey ([b: Uncanny Magazine Issue 30: Disabled People Destroy Fanatsy! Special Issue|49245882|Uncanny Magazine Issue 30 Disabled People Destroy Fantasy! Special Issue|Lynne M. Thomas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1566875115l/49245882._SX50_SY75_.jpg|73105010])
• The Blur in the Corner of Your Eye by Sarah Pinsker ([b: Uncanny Magazine Issue 29: July/August 2019|52228003|Uncanny Magazine Issue 29 July/August 2019|Lynne M. Thomas|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1562183674l/52228003._SX50_SY75_.jpg|71772498])
• Emergency Skin by N.K. Jemisin
• For He Can Creep by Siobhan Carroll
• [b: Omphalos|41160292|Exhalation Stories|Ted Chiang|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1534388394l/41160292._SX50_.jpg|64336454] by Ted Chiang
Best Short Story
• And Now His Lordship Is Laughing by Shiv Ramdas (Strange Horizons 9 September 2019)
• As the Last I May Know by S.L. Huang
• Blood Is Another Word for Hunger by Rivers Solomon
• A Catalog of Storms by Fran Wilde (Uncanny Magazine, Issue 26, January-February 2019)
• Do Not Look Back, My Lion by Alix E. Harrow (Beneath Ceaseless Skies Issue #270)
• Ten Excerpts from an Annotated Bibliography on the Cannibal Women of Ratnabar Island by Nibedita Sen (Nightmare Magazine, Issue 80)
Best Series
• The Expanse by [a: James S. A. Corey|4192148|James S.A. Corey|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1573162332p2/4192148.jpg]
• InCryptid by [a: Seanan McGuire|2860219|Seanan McGuire|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1245623198p2/2860219.jpg]
• Luna by [a: Ian McDonald|25376|Ian McDonald|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1372533252p2/25376.jpg]
• Planetfall series by [a: Emma Newman|3329042|Emma Newman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1425124402p2/3329042.jpg]
• Winternight Trilogy by [a: Katherine Arden|13922215|Katherine Arden|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1510754830p2/13922215.jpg]
• The Wormwood Trilogy by [a: Tade Thompson|5782077|Tade Thompson|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1593796763p2/5782077.jpg]
Best Related Work
• [b: Becoming Superman: My Journey from Poverty to Hollywood|40651648|Becoming Superman My Journey from Poverty to Hollywood|J. Michael Straczynski|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1552089537l/40651648._SY75_.jpg|63175235] by J. Michael Straczynski
• [b: Joanna Russ|44803864|Joanna Russ|Gwyneth Jones|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1556682415l/44803864._SY75_.jpg|69488169] by Gwyneth Jones
• [b: The Lady from the Black Lagoon: Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick|40165912|The Lady from the Black Lagoon Hollywood Monsters and the Lost Legacy of Milicent Patrick|Mallory O'Meara|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1539883807l/40165912._SY75_.jpg|56266883] by Mallory O’Meara
• [b: The Pleasant Profession of Robert A. Heinlein|42632383|The Pleasant Profession of Robert A. Heinlein|Farah Mendlesohn|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1541399334l/42632383._SY75_.jpg|66365024] by Farah Mendlesohn
• 2019 John W. Campbell Award Acceptance Speech by Jeannette Ng
• Worlds of Ursula K. Le Guin, produced and directed by Arwen Curry
Best Graphic Story or Comic
• [b: Die, Volume 1: Fantasy Heartbreaker|48729961|SDCC DIE Volume 1 Fantasy Heartbreaker|Kieron Gillen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1573174207l/48729961._SY75_.jpg|65274583] by Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans, letters by Clayton Cowles
• [b: LaGuardia|42762071|LaGuardia|Nnedi Okorafor|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1542046220l/42762071._SY75_.jpg|66506690], written by Nnedi Okorafor, art by Tana Ford, colours by James Devlin
• [b: Monstress, Volume 4: The Chosen|45899240|Monstress, Vol. 4 The Chosen|Marjorie M. Liu|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1559570414l/45899240._SX50_.jpg|70742623], written by Marjorie Liu, art by Sana Takeda
• [b: Mooncakes|44774415|Mooncakes|Suzanne Walker|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1565183719l/44774415._SY75_.jpg|57982519] by Wendy Xu and Suzanne Walker, letters by Joamette Gil
• Paper Girls, Volume 6, written by Brian K. Vaughan, drawn by Cliff Chiang, colours by Matt Wilson, letters by Jared K. Fletcher
• [b: The Wicked + The Divine, Volume 9: "Okay"|46223693|The Wicked + The Divine, Vol. 9 "Okay"|Kieron Gillen|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1560094188l/46223693._SY75_.jpg|66594104] by Kieron Gillen and Jamie McKelvie, colours by Matt Wilson, letters by Clayton Cowles