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sarahtonin_ 's review for:
A Thousand Beginnings and Endings
by Elsie Chapman, Ellen Oh
A Thousand Beginnings and Endings is an anthology featuring fifteen different stories reimagining classic folktales and mythology from different asian cultures. They range from modern day contemporary settings to otherworldly fantastical tales. Asia is diverse place in itself, and as such I really appreciated that the stories in this collection reflected that. It featured tales from many different cultures and mythologies and was told by authors who shared those identities to ensure they were authentic and sensitively done.
➽Forbidden Fruit
by Roshani Chokshi ★★★★.5
This was the perfect story to begin this collection. Roshani Chokshi truly excels at writing mythological retellings, perhaps because of her gorgeous prose and descriptions. This was inspired by the Filipino myth of Maria Makiling, which I had previously never heard of. You will see that this is a trend for the entire anthology, as I quickly realised that I was nowhere near as familiar with Asian mythos as I am with nordic, greek, roman etc. That is something I want to change, though! This story in particular was so rich and vibrant that it made me wonder what else I am missing out on.
➽Olivia's Table
by Alyssa Wong ★★★.5
This story was centred in China at the Hungry Ghost Festival. I don't typically enjoy stories about ghosts, but this one proved to be the exception! Perhaps it is just that I don't like western books about ghosts- I will have to do further research. Olivia's Table did a brilliant job at transporting me to the scene. It described the customs of the festival in a clear, yet intricate way. Everything was described perfectly, from the food to feelings of grief and loneliness, to the ghosts themselves. An overall solid addition to this collection.
➽Steel Skin
by Lori M. Lee ★★.5
This was a sci-fi retelling of The Woman and the Tiger, a common children's folktale in the Hmong culture. Perhaps because I haven't read the original, I couldn't fully appreciate the Easter eggs and nods to it in this reimagining. It was a fine story in its own right, but wasn't quite as fleshed out as I would have liked it to be. I prefer my sci-fi to have a more complex world and deeper layers to it, but that is probably just a me problem.
➽Still Star-Crossed
by Sona Charaipotra ★★
unfortunately this was one of least favourites in the anthology. As a whole, I didn't jive as much with the contemporary settings some of these were written in, and this was no exception. It almost felt to me as if this was written for white readers, and conformed to a more western style to achieve this, with the odd Hindi word thrown in to remind readers of the setting. I could be completely wrong on this, but it just felt more flat and lifeless than others in the collection and I feel that could be a major reason why. That being said, it was well written (especially the descriptions of food!)
➽The Counting of Vermillion Beads
by Aliette De Bodard ★★★.75
This Vietnamese tale was gorgeously written and fixed the issue I had with the previous story, but in doing so made a little too confusing for me. Now obviously, this is not the fault of the author. My unfamiliarity with the original Tâ'M Cám is my fault and my fault alone. However, I cannot pretend that it didn't make the process of reading this less enjoyable. I was quite confused at times, particularly because I listened to the audiobook and couldn't easily reread passages to get a better idea of what was happening. All that being said, I can appreciate its qualities while also not fully understanding everything that is happening, and I still enjoyed the ride.
➽The Land of the Morning Calm
by E. C. Myers ★★
This story seems to be many people's favourite of the anthology, but unfortunately I found it to be just okay. The Land of the Morning Calm drew heavily from Korean mythology but transposed it into a modern day setting using a video game. I enjoyed the different inclusions of mythological creatures throughout, but wish that we had spent more time on a few of them, rather than short cameos of many that led to a vague idea of them with not as much depth as I would have liked. I loved the mother-daughter relationship in here, too!
➽The Smile
by Aisha Saeed ★★★★.5
The Smile was an absolutely gorgeous retelling of Anarkali, a South Asian tale. Aisha Saeed's writing fit so perfectly with the tone and atmosphere of the story that it felt complete standing on its own. I thought the message behind it was important, but not preachy. Overall, one of my favourites in this entire collection.
➽Girls Who Twirl and Other Dangers
by Preeti Chhibber ★.5
This was... not my thing. I feel bad for rating it so low, but just based on my enjoyment I couldn't justify giving it any higher. Honestly, I think this story wasn't the best fit for this particular anthology. It read too young and simplistic, especially when bookended by such mature and complex works. The only redeeming quality I found was the mythological section and the author's note. I think this could work better for younger readers, but I definitely found it to be one of the weaker stories in this collection.
➽Nothing into All
by Renée Ahdieh ★★★★★
I adored this story, but what else could I have expected from Renee Ahdieh? It felt like one of the most fairy-tale like out of the anthology, a parable told with the backdrop of Korean mythology and goblins. It had a complex sibling dynamic and discussions of what it means to be good or evil, and if we are ever just one of the two.
➽Spear Carrier
by Rahul Kanakia ★.5
This was yet another reminder that I don't like the contemporary-set stories as much as the others. the pop-culture references felt out of place and jarring to read. The first person perspective also didn't quite work for me. It was overall a forgettable and sub-par story.
➽Code of Honor
by Melissa de la Cruz ★★.5
Say it with me: the modern day settings were not my thing. This had the potential to be an amazing story of badass vampires, but instead it felt like a CW show. The juvenile tone brought down what could have been a mature and nuanced story. Overall, not the worst of the anthology- but far from being the best.
➽Bullet, Butterfly
by Elsie Chapman ★★★★★
This. This story was what I wanted from the anthology. A beautiful reimagining of the Butterfly Lovers, a Chinese legend. The themes were brilliant, setting vivid and characters complex. Perfection!
➽Daughter of the Sun
by Shveta Thakrar ★★★★.5
Daughter of the Sun was Shveta Thakrar's take on two of the stories in The Mahabharata, the longest epic poem. This one hit the mark with gorgeous atmospheric prose that weaved the stories together effortlessly. I don't have much else to say other than I loved it!
➽The Crimson Cloak
by Cindy Pon ★★★★.25
The penultimate story in A Thousand Beginnings and Endings, The Crimson Cloak was a feminist take on the Chinese legend 'Cowherd'. It is retold through the goddess's eyes, which I think was the perfect choice to refresh and modernise the story, while allowing it to stay true to its roots. An emotional and romantic story that you won't want to miss out on!
➽Eyes like Candlelight
by Julie Kagawa ★★★★
The final story, Eyes Like Candlelight drew from Japanese mythos and involved Kitsunes. We view the mythological creatures from the eyes of a human boy, allowing us to see their majesty, but also their flaws. This has made me reconsider whether I might actually want to pick up her 'Shadow of the Fox' trilogy, if it is anything like this.
All in all, this anthology was a mixed bag of stories good and bad, modern and traditional, from folklore all over south and east Asia. I would definitely recommend if you are looking to broaden your horizons and learn more about eastern mythology. Or if you already know a lot, I am sure it can be equally, if not more enjoyable. If I could only recommend a few, I would say to read Forbidden Fruit, Bullet Butterfly and Nothing Into All.
➽Forbidden Fruit
by Roshani Chokshi ★★★★.5
This was the perfect story to begin this collection. Roshani Chokshi truly excels at writing mythological retellings, perhaps because of her gorgeous prose and descriptions. This was inspired by the Filipino myth of Maria Makiling, which I had previously never heard of. You will see that this is a trend for the entire anthology, as I quickly realised that I was nowhere near as familiar with Asian mythos as I am with nordic, greek, roman etc. That is something I want to change, though! This story in particular was so rich and vibrant that it made me wonder what else I am missing out on.
➽Olivia's Table
by Alyssa Wong ★★★.5
This story was centred in China at the Hungry Ghost Festival. I don't typically enjoy stories about ghosts, but this one proved to be the exception! Perhaps it is just that I don't like western books about ghosts- I will have to do further research. Olivia's Table did a brilliant job at transporting me to the scene. It described the customs of the festival in a clear, yet intricate way. Everything was described perfectly, from the food to feelings of grief and loneliness, to the ghosts themselves. An overall solid addition to this collection.
➽Steel Skin
by Lori M. Lee ★★.5
This was a sci-fi retelling of The Woman and the Tiger, a common children's folktale in the Hmong culture. Perhaps because I haven't read the original, I couldn't fully appreciate the Easter eggs and nods to it in this reimagining. It was a fine story in its own right, but wasn't quite as fleshed out as I would have liked it to be. I prefer my sci-fi to have a more complex world and deeper layers to it, but that is probably just a me problem.
➽Still Star-Crossed
by Sona Charaipotra ★★
unfortunately this was one of least favourites in the anthology. As a whole, I didn't jive as much with the contemporary settings some of these were written in, and this was no exception. It almost felt to me as if this was written for white readers, and conformed to a more western style to achieve this, with the odd Hindi word thrown in to remind readers of the setting. I could be completely wrong on this, but it just felt more flat and lifeless than others in the collection and I feel that could be a major reason why. That being said, it was well written (especially the descriptions of food!)
➽The Counting of Vermillion Beads
by Aliette De Bodard ★★★.75
This Vietnamese tale was gorgeously written and fixed the issue I had with the previous story, but in doing so made a little too confusing for me. Now obviously, this is not the fault of the author. My unfamiliarity with the original Tâ'M Cám is my fault and my fault alone. However, I cannot pretend that it didn't make the process of reading this less enjoyable. I was quite confused at times, particularly because I listened to the audiobook and couldn't easily reread passages to get a better idea of what was happening. All that being said, I can appreciate its qualities while also not fully understanding everything that is happening, and I still enjoyed the ride.
➽The Land of the Morning Calm
by E. C. Myers ★★
This story seems to be many people's favourite of the anthology, but unfortunately I found it to be just okay. The Land of the Morning Calm drew heavily from Korean mythology but transposed it into a modern day setting using a video game. I enjoyed the different inclusions of mythological creatures throughout, but wish that we had spent more time on a few of them, rather than short cameos of many that led to a vague idea of them with not as much depth as I would have liked. I loved the mother-daughter relationship in here, too!
➽The Smile
by Aisha Saeed ★★★★.5
The Smile was an absolutely gorgeous retelling of Anarkali, a South Asian tale. Aisha Saeed's writing fit so perfectly with the tone and atmosphere of the story that it felt complete standing on its own. I thought the message behind it was important, but not preachy. Overall, one of my favourites in this entire collection.
➽Girls Who Twirl and Other Dangers
by Preeti Chhibber ★.5
This was... not my thing. I feel bad for rating it so low, but just based on my enjoyment I couldn't justify giving it any higher. Honestly, I think this story wasn't the best fit for this particular anthology. It read too young and simplistic, especially when bookended by such mature and complex works. The only redeeming quality I found was the mythological section and the author's note. I think this could work better for younger readers, but I definitely found it to be one of the weaker stories in this collection.
➽Nothing into All
by Renée Ahdieh ★★★★★
I adored this story, but what else could I have expected from Renee Ahdieh? It felt like one of the most fairy-tale like out of the anthology, a parable told with the backdrop of Korean mythology and goblins. It had a complex sibling dynamic and discussions of what it means to be good or evil, and if we are ever just one of the two.
➽Spear Carrier
by Rahul Kanakia ★.5
This was yet another reminder that I don't like the contemporary-set stories as much as the others. the pop-culture references felt out of place and jarring to read. The first person perspective also didn't quite work for me. It was overall a forgettable and sub-par story.
➽Code of Honor
by Melissa de la Cruz ★★.5
Say it with me: the modern day settings were not my thing. This had the potential to be an amazing story of badass vampires, but instead it felt like a CW show. The juvenile tone brought down what could have been a mature and nuanced story. Overall, not the worst of the anthology- but far from being the best.
➽Bullet, Butterfly
by Elsie Chapman ★★★★★
This. This story was what I wanted from the anthology. A beautiful reimagining of the Butterfly Lovers, a Chinese legend. The themes were brilliant, setting vivid and characters complex. Perfection!
➽Daughter of the Sun
by Shveta Thakrar ★★★★.5
Daughter of the Sun was Shveta Thakrar's take on two of the stories in The Mahabharata, the longest epic poem. This one hit the mark with gorgeous atmospheric prose that weaved the stories together effortlessly. I don't have much else to say other than I loved it!
➽The Crimson Cloak
by Cindy Pon ★★★★.25
The penultimate story in A Thousand Beginnings and Endings, The Crimson Cloak was a feminist take on the Chinese legend 'Cowherd'. It is retold through the goddess's eyes, which I think was the perfect choice to refresh and modernise the story, while allowing it to stay true to its roots. An emotional and romantic story that you won't want to miss out on!
➽Eyes like Candlelight
by Julie Kagawa ★★★★
The final story, Eyes Like Candlelight drew from Japanese mythos and involved Kitsunes. We view the mythological creatures from the eyes of a human boy, allowing us to see their majesty, but also their flaws. This has made me reconsider whether I might actually want to pick up her 'Shadow of the Fox' trilogy, if it is anything like this.
All in all, this anthology was a mixed bag of stories good and bad, modern and traditional, from folklore all over south and east Asia. I would definitely recommend if you are looking to broaden your horizons and learn more about eastern mythology. Or if you already know a lot, I am sure it can be equally, if not more enjoyable. If I could only recommend a few, I would say to read Forbidden Fruit, Bullet Butterfly and Nothing Into All.