As soon as I read the blurb for this anthology, I knew that I wanted to read it. It ticks all the boxes when I look for an anthology, horror, sci-fi and fantasy. With any anthology I go in with an open mind, I know I won’t love every story but I can guarantee I can find some new authors who I will go onto purchase their work.
New Sun has 17 short stories that will introduce you to various cultures and religions, creatures from other realms and so much more. Each story was completely different and you will change genre from one story to the next.
For the purpose of this review, I will write about the ones I really enjoyed.
The Fine Print by Chinelo Onwualu: The story about how one man wants to change the rules to protect his son. As you read this story, you learn how much Nuhu’s community rely on the Djinn for survival. The idea of the perfect woman (Spells) being got from a catalogue enforced the town’s need. The descriptive style of the author enabled you to imagine the spells, the views of the men and the desperation and determination of Nuhu to break the contract.
Unkind of Mercy by Alex Jennings: Alaina-Rose talks about Johnny the love of her life and the strange feeling that something is in the room with her. I love reading stories that gets your imagination working. The story written from Alaina-Rose’s POV, helps you see how these mysterious creatures are starting to affect her and lets you decide whether it is supernatural or extraterrestrial.
The Freedom of the Shifting Sea by Jaymee Goh: Mayang an unusual sea creature and the affects she has on a mother and daughter. I really enjoyed this story. Yes, Mayang was a sea creature, but it was a story about love and loss. This story was beautifully written. You are drawn into their lives and as this story is told over a long period of time, you see how Mayang changed the lives of Salmah and Eunice.
One Easy Trick by Hiromi Goto: Marnie has a bit of a belly but after a trip into the forest to collect mushrooms, it all changes. As I was reading this story, I did not know what had happened to Marnie and rereading it, I still do not know what she did. However, that did not stop me enjoying this story, my favourite scenes were when she went back into the forest and her conversation with a bear. Reading this reminded me of the Adipose from Dr Who.
Kelsey and the Burdened Breath by Darcie Little Badger: This was my favourite story. Kelsey and Pal, her spirit dog earn a living rounding up lost souls. Written in the 3rd person, makes you feel that you are following her step by step. Tracking down the burdened breath tested her skills. This is a paranormal thriller and I would love to read more of Kelsey and if there were a series I would definitely buy it.
I am glad I got to read this anthology and as expected I have now added more authors to my list to look out for. If you are looking for refreshing stories than pick up this book.

First, I'd like to say, I was so happy to read stories with characters of color in it! It is always a gift reading books with characters who look like me.

That being said, the seventeen stories had such a wide range of genres and I am happy to say that most of them really caught my attention.

Every piece was well written, I will say even though they all weren't my cup of tea. Anthologies can be very tricky but I feel like this was done pretty well.

*I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thanks for the free book!*

I was already excited for this book when I saw that it was "Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color", one of them being Rebecca Roanhorse, whose urban fantasy novel "Trail of Lightning" I had used in one of my classes. When I saw that the foreword was written by LeVar Burton, this trekkie was very happy.

However, I did not like or get all the stories that can be found in this book. Some were confusing, others boring, yet some were extremely well crafted and mind-blowing. Speculative Fiction is not always to my liking, so I just skim-read the stories I didn't enjoy. As they made up more than half of the book, I am sad to rate this book with less than five stars, but I had great expectations after LeVar showed up ;-)

Neverthemore, I enjoyed this very diverse anthology! If you are into speculative fiction and would like to read about taxis for aliens for instance, buy and read this compilation. You will find stories to your liking!

4 Stars!

New Suns contains seventeen stories by writers of colour, raging across many genres - including science fiction, fantasy, horror, retold fairy stories, alternate history, religion, crime and romance - indeed often more than one, almost all with a speculative tinge but with no intention to pursue an overall theme. I have seen some reviews that lament that, but while I love a themed anthology as much as anyone, it really isn't necessary (in my view) for at least three reasons.

First, reading these stories, there is, I think, a commonality which pretty much amounts to a theme. In their different ways, many of these stories explore the position of marginalised people or the effects of power, colonialism or inequality. Even where these themes are not in the foreground they are often visible as part of the furniture of the story. That's not surprising, given that the writers are explicitly identified as people of colour, but the fact that it's not, itself, an overtly imposed theme allows for a more subtle exploration of these issues than if there were an overall theme - and it also means the writers aren't being expected to act as spokespeople just because of who they are.

Secondly - and more simply - general anthologies, with no theme, are a thing and a perfectly fine thing at that. And many of them have in the past been largely male and white, as well, so even the idea of an implicit theme arising from the choice of the authors is not exactly new.

Finally - and I think this is the most important point - these stories are generally of a very high standard and eminently readable. They're fun! A collection of great stories is a Good Thing and, obviously, how far the editor ranges to assemble one is the real test of any anthology. And here Nisi Shawl has done an excellent job.

So - on to the stories. What's in the book? The stories included are

The Galactic Tourist Industrial Complex - Tobias Buckell
Deer Dancer - Kathleen Alcalá
The Virtue of Unfaithful Translations - Minsoo Kang
Come Home to Atropos - Steven Barnes
The Fine Print - Chinelo Onwualu
Unkind of Mercy - Alex Jennings
Burn The Ships - Alberto Yañez
The Freedom of the Shifting Sea - Jaymee Goh
Three Variations on a Theme of Imperial Attire - E Lily Yu
Blood and Bells - Karin Lowachee
Give Me Your Black Wings Oh Sister - Silvia Moreno-Garcia
The Shadow We Cast Through Time - Indrapramit Das
The Robots of Eden - Anil Menon
Dumb House -Andrea Hairston
One Easy Trick - Hiromi Goto
Harvest - Rebecca Roanhorse
Kelsey and the Burdened Death - Darcie Little Badger)

There is also a Foreword by LeVar Burton and an Afterword by Nisi Shawl, which both set the context for the collection.

The Galactic Tourist Industrial Complex (Tobias Buckle) imagines Earth - by implication, but specifically the US and New York City, as the location for the story - at the receiving end of tourist culture, having to defer to the foibles of "Galactics" with their strange food and smells and their desire for "authentic" Earth culture ("Over half of the US economy was tourism, the rest service jobs"). It's a focussed story, making one point but making it well.

Deer Dancer (Kathleen Alcalá) has a sense of mystery about it. In a post-apocalyptic society which is seeking to rebuild, Tater (named after the root vegetable) loves "imagining what it was like Before, when the sun was scarce". She has some affinity for animals, and enters a dream state which takes the story to strange places. One of those stories where perhaps nothing happens, perhaps everything, the dream here seem freighted with meaning and to point a way forward for the precarious community living on the Edges.

The Virtue of Unfaithful Translations (Minsoo Kang) is framed as a discussion of history, in a setting that (to me) seemed to echo distant Chinese history, written almost as if it were the notes of a seminar or a lecture, of the futility of war ("the copses of ambitious leaders, obedient soldiers, and powerless civilians lay in numbers like grains of sand upon a blood-soaked shore") and the utility of finding ways to avoid it, even at the cost of disobedience. It also points up the power of those invisible to history ("very little can be affirmed about her identity due... to the... lack of information about women...") In its celebration of the outwitting of a powerful and arrogant but dull minded leader I felt a rather cogent point was being made about the present day.

Come Home to Atropos (Steven Barnes) is almost, I'd say, not a story at all. A script for an advertising campaign it features a caribbean (I think) island being marketed to rise, white, elderly - and wealthy - people. But this is no paradise. There has seemingly been a hurricane, but little help has been offered. So is the idea to attract foreign money by marketing the place as a paradise? if so, it doesn't perhaps quite hit the right note... but if it's aiming at other needs, other desires, of its clientele - as it seems, in a rather barded way, it is - then maybe business can be done. A deliciously sharp story. I worked out fairly early what was going on, but that only made a succession of revelations more and more delicious.

The Fine Print (Chinelo Onwualu) is a variation on the idea of how bitter it can be to be granted wishes. The technology has been updated, with a Catalogue, call centres and cubicles offices, but the tension between human will and the ineffable remains, as do the dangers of backing mysogyny with great external power - whether that's colonial power or magical.

Unkind of Mercy (Alex Jennings) was one of my favourite stories here. Jennings cleverly introduces us to a comedian, Johnny, who's moved to LA hoping to make it big but it soon becomes clear that the story is, rather about the woman (Alaina-Rose, not introduced till well into the story) who's narrating everything and who, through the shifting tone of her monologue, is perfectly characterised ("...and I mean, he's not wrong, but he's not right either.") It is, I suppose, more of a horror story than anything else - but one of those where rather than seeing something terrible we're led up to it by that oh-so-ordinary narration. Quite chilling, and more so the more you turn it over in your mind.

When I was at my secondary school, I took part in a school production of the play The Royal Hunt of the Sun. Portraying the conquest of the Inca Empire by Spanish invaders, a scene that has stuck in my mind is of the death (the murder) of Atahualpa, the Inca leader and of the quiet faith of his people that he will rise again to scatter the invaders. of course he does not. Burn The Ships (Alberto Yañez) is a complex, horrific story set in a reality that recalls that: technologically advanced intruders have subjugated a Native population in an astonishingly short time and are committing genocide and seeking to destroy what remains of the traditional religion and culture. But this isn't exactly 15th or 16th century South America, nor, I think, quite earth. Modern technology is referred to but its users seems have fled something - there's almost an implication of alternate realities or gates between universes. The theme is, though, firmly the lengths one might go to to defend one's people, one's culture with women turning forbidden magics and rites while their menfolk sit on their hands - and haughty gods who care little for their people. A lot of food for thought here.

The Freedom of the Shifting Sea (Jaymee Goh) was another favourite of mine. Almost or actually a romance, it kind of turns the mermaid legend inside out - in both story and gender terms - as well making the half woman, half-seaworm encountered on, I think, an Indonesian island ("Mayang could remember a time before British imperialism") a Muslim and family that becomes entwined with her part local, part Western. Featuring a real punch-the-air moment when a rather nasty characters gets a deserved fate, it is a clever, funny story.

Three Variations on a Theme of Imperial Attire (E Lily Yu) revisits a familiar story that never goes out of style and might have a rather obvious reference ("Once there was a vain and foolish emperor, who made up for his foolishness by a kind of low cunning...") However, nothing here is too obvious and the three versions of the story that interweave make this retelling a rather subtle thing. Who is the greater villain - emperor, or tailor?

Blood and Bells (Karin Lowachee), set in an unspecified city given over the gang conflict between "The Nine Nations" is a variant on Romeo and Juliet, a kind of ultra-tuned West Side Story featuring mixed loyalties, death, and loss. Tzak's mother died as he was born; now his father Taiyo tries to keep him safe from opposing factions and to ward off attempts by his mother's people to take him back. This is a convincing portrayal of a young man shouldering immense burdens in an impossible world, a claustrophobic world that seems set on destroying everything he holds dear. It has a real sense of menace, of tension.

How to describe Give Me Your Black Wings Oh Sister (Silvia Moreno-Garcia)? Frankly, I can't. It just is itself, or something: anything you say just misses the point. What it is, is a gem of a story asking the question (I think) "what is a monster?"

The Shadow We Cast Through Time (Indrapramit Das) is, at first sight, a very classic science fiction story about settling other worlds, about the interaction with what was there before. But it turns into more of a reflection on how we alter everything we interact with; there's a sense that the "demons" described on the New World that Das takes us to are more a product of the colonists than a "pristine" feature of an "empty" world. We can't get away form ourselves, we take ourselves wherever we go, and thus there is almost a kind of ecology between the strange "clay spires" described here and the humans. A haunting, entrancing story, part SF, part, in the end, horror.

Dumb House (Andrea Hairston) felt like an exploration for what could become a longer study of a an economically post-apocalyptic society - something like The Space Merchants - where consumption is mandated and hold-out communities - as that of Cinnamon Jones, tucked away in the remote countryside - persecuted. Here we meet two sinister-comic "salesmen" who may in reality be spies but who do seem to find a way to get under Jones' skin... also featuring a ghost-dog and a witch-dog, traditional culture is here enlisted on the side of the resistance. I'd happily read a longer, more detailed account of this struggle.

One Easy Trick (Hiromi Goto) is a clever, circular story focussing on another aspect of oppression, body size and body image. Marine is hunted online by adverts trying to tell her of "Ways to Lose Your Belly Fat!". But she doesn't want to. or Does she? Getting right into that area of ambivalence where a sense of self can be lost, where one can lose track of whether one is reacting to societal pressures or really doing what one wants, which is speculative fiction at its best, externalising a metaphor in a most astonishing way which nevertheless convinces. Another of my favourites.

Harvest (Rebecca Roanhorse). A strange harvest, in this story, seems intended to settle historical injustices - but to unsettle the reader, eventually creating an atmosphere where it's hard to know what to trust, what is real and what isn't, whose wrongs are being revenged. Never, as the story, says, fall in love with a deer woman...

Kelsey and the Burdened Death (Darcie Little Badger) is a clever little story that could be an episode in an urban fantasy series. In an alternate world where the final breaths not only of humans but of animals are prone to linger and can cause trouble, Kelsey's business is to usher them over to - wherever they belong. Confronted with a particularly trouble "burdened" breath she shows considerable courage and resource in dealing with it and I could see a series of such adventures - except that this story is as much about her reconciliation with her past, something she can only approach by risking the loose of what is most dear to her. A genuinely sad, touching story, one of may favourites, which definitely ended the collection on a high.

It's a strong collection. Short stories are tricky things to write, often coming over as extended treatments of a single point or, having little space to develop characters, having to rely on stock figures. There's little of either fault here with most of these protagonists believable in their circumstances, even where these are horrifying of mystifying circumstances. There's a lot to think about and a lot which is seen from a very distinct point of view. I'd strongly recommend both for all these virtues and also as a gateway into these authors' wider bodies of work.

Arc received from Netgalley for an honest review.
I love discovering new worlds, or seeing our current world in a new way, which is why I love fantasy and sci-fi stories. You add a different culture's POV, and that adds a different layer than what you will normally get from less inclusive POV's. It adds more magic, more things to discover, in an already created world while giving you something that can be related to the real world. This collection of seventeen stories hit so many sweet spots for me. Burn the Ships and The Galactic Tourist Industrial Complex are perhaps my favorites. When you have a collection of stories, maybe not every story will be your cup of tea. I didn't love every story, but they were all so well written I didn't feel disappointed if I didn't fall in love with it. I came away with either a new perspective, or with an inspiration for my own writings.
This book is coming out tomorrow! Make sure you get it!

We all know that short story anthologies can be a somewhat hit and miss affair, so I tend to go into them with much trepidation as well as anticipation. That said, it is one of the best ways to discover new authors and genres you may have been missing out on. Fortunately, this turned out to be one of the best and most enjoyable collections I've read in many moons, and I feel strongly that diversity is definitely a key player in that. The seventeen stories presented are from a wide range of genres and indeed some encompass more than one specific genre. Needless to say, they are all original and intriguing. We need more people of colour in all genres of literature.

Each of the tales is well written, introduces us to new concepts and ideas, and promotes both established and fledgeling writers. From experience, Rebellion tend to be one of the most reliable for producing thoroughly enjoyable compendiums; this book is no exception. There is definite merit in arguing that we should not segregate authors by colour and include short stories only if they fit what the editor is looking for; that way we should see representation from all races. It just makes me sad that it seemingly has to be this way. Overall though, an enjoyable read. Speculative fiction fans will lap this up without a problem.

Many thanks to Rebellion Publishing/Solaris Books for an ARC.

Note: I received an Advance Reading Copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest review.

Because of my love for SFF literature, I keep up with a few blogs, twitter accounts, newsletters and sites. I would have to have lived under a rock not to have been aware of the fight of women and POC (and women POC) writers to be read. I have to admit, I struggle with this a lot. Not to give them their time, but with the problem of how to select the works I read. On the one hand, I don’t want to think about what and who I read. About who the writer is, where they are from, what their background is and how this is covered in the subject matter. I just want to read. On the other hand, I am aware that what I am reading, what I am noticing, what is or was winning awards went through a biased pre-selection, and that means I am missing out on good stuff. While I find it hard to comit to a reading strategy prefering women, POC, LGTBQ or non-English writers (I just want to read what I want to read) I do aim to be aware of “the other” writers, to broaden my (white, western but feminine) viewpoint.

Anyway, long story short, I do like to read works, especially science fiction, from different viewpoints, and an anthology like New Suns; Original Speculative Fiction by Poeple of Color, edited by Nisi Shawl, makes finding them no issue at all. In this anthology 17 original new stories are collected, alle written by people of color.

Overall it was refreshing to read stories that were based in different settings. Even when reading speculative fiction, settings can be very white/Western-based (or seem that way, through my own white Western glasses). However, several stories in this anthology have a distinctly different starting point, and it took me a while to get comfortable. Which is exactly the reason anthologies like this should exist, so it succeeded there. The stories are truely speculative, ranging from future/near-future SF like “The Galactic Tourist Industrial Complex” by Tobias Buckell (which also shows NYC as a sort of third world tourist destination for Aliens that are clearly more well-off than anybody on earth) and “Dumb House” by Andrea Hairston (about resisting smart technology in your life, something we should already be considering IMHO). Some are more fantasy/gotic like, like “Kelsey and the Burdened Breath” by Darcie Little Badger (about spirits) and “The Freedom of the Shifting Sea” by Jaymee Goh (about a seacreature and her loves). Some are more re-imagined history and fairy tales, such as “Burn the Ships” by Alberto Yáñez (about the arrival/presence of non-natives (called Dawncomers) to the lands of the natives of middle-America) and “Three Variations on a Theme of Imperial Attire by E. Lily Yu (a great retelling of the emperor’s new clothes, and one that hits close to home too).

My favorite story was “The Freedom of the Shifting Sea” by Jaymee Goh, because the way she has imagined a seacreature (or is it traditional Malaysian? To my shame I don’t know) that is truely different from us. It is not a human with a tail, it is inhuman in every way. Very refreshing and interesting to read.

All in all this collection is a very well balanced collection, that introduced me to a lot of new (to me) POC writers, and I highly recommend it to all lovers of spec-fic out there! Four stars.

This collection contains one of the coolest stories I have ever read. Find out which one by reading my full review <a href="https://skiffyandfanty.com/blogposts/reviews/bookreviews/reviewnewsunseditednisishawl/"> over at Skiffy and Fanty.</a>

I generally find anthologies tricky depending, as they do, on an editor’s goal for inclusion which may not match what I am hoping for. I also have an up and down affair with short stories as they take real skill to develop a world and characters in virtually no time at all- like magic!

I choose to read New Suns with the hope that I would walk away with a few new names of authors to keep in mind. Finding a new author is such a joy and I found several! My guess is that other readers may enjoy different writers than the ones I did, which is, to my thinking, the perfect raisin d’etre for an anthology.

Magic, in the form of well written short stories, will be found in New Suns. Read and find your new authors to follow!

Honestly, this is a 2.5 as some of the shorts were good...nothing epic, but good.

I'm a bit disappointed because I really was expecting to read stories that would blow me away. As I said in my update, it was hard to resonate with a majority of the shorts told and then some of them just didn't make sense at all. Isn't the point of speculative fiction is to expand people's imaginations? Have them question the story but in a good way? I was so very confused and it didn't help that many of the shorts ended with no real finish.

Out of seventeen stories, honestly I can say I enjoyed three. I'll definitely look some of the authors mentioned in the book up and check out their individual works.

**Thank to the Publisher/Netgalley for the opportunity to review.

An anthology of short stories, which, like any anthology, has its highs and lows. Some of my favorite stories:

Galactic Tourist Industrial Complex by Tobias S. Buckell. In a New York City that has become a backwater tourist-trap for aliens, a taxi driver accidentally ends up with a dead alien in his cab and has to deal with the intergalactic consequences. There's a sharp sense of humor here (like aliens asking to go somewhere that has "real human food", not that commercialized stuff) that really worked for me.
The Virtue of Unfaithful Translations by Minsoo Kang was a wonderfully lovely take on the role of minor players in grand historical events, how history gets told, and what happens in the gaps historians can never recover.
Come Home to Atropos by Steven Barnes was my absolute favorite story out of the whole book. It's very short, only two or three pages, and consists of the script for a commercial advertising a very unique Caribbean vacation. This is some dark, dark satire, but it had me laughing out loud.
The Fine Print by Chinelo Onwualu combines djinn ("be careful what you wish for...") and the current capitalist, commercial world in extremely clever ways, though I felt like the ending got off a little too easy.
The Freedom of the Shifting Sea by Jaymee Goh was about a gory, inhuman mermaid, and of course I loved it; I am always here for mermaids as predators of the sea.
Three Variations on a Theme of Imperial Attire by E. Lily Yu consists of three separate retellings of "The Emperor's New Clothes". I think Yu could easily have made her point with just the first retelling, but goddamn, some of the lines in that last sequence have really stuck with me. Such powerful language and imagery.
The Robots of Eden by Anil Menon is a chilling look at a future where emotions are repressed for the sake of stability. The glimpses of anger, sadness, and jealousy trying to break through the protagonist's veneer are just so devastating.

There wasn't any story that I actively disliked, though I suppose Deer Dancer by Kathleen Alcalá came the closest. I didn't hate it, it just didn't work for me; I didn't quite understand anything that was happening, or what it meant, or why. Which I suppose is why it's sometimes hard to commit to reading authors out of your wheelhouse, but in the case of New Suns overall, I'm very glad I did.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2741131987

This speculative fiction anthology focuses on many different authors of color, both new and well-known. The stories in this anthology range from sci-fi to fantasy to creepy horror stories, but all are versions of our world, subtly turned on its edges. I really enjoyed reading this anthology and loved the overall idea and concept. There were a few stories that completely wowed me, some that were just plain strange, and a couple that I couldn’t really get into, but overall this was definitely a four-star read for me. I enjoyed almost all of the stories that I read and they were all very unique.

A few of my favorite reads in this anthology were:

‘Harvest’- Rebecca Roanhorse- A story about a native woman in a relationship with a deer woman who requires hearts from her lover in order to exact revenge. It shouldn’t have surprised me that I loved this story, Roanhorse’s Trail of Lightning was one of my favorite reads of 2018, but the language that she uses and the gut-punch of reality fused with fantasy in her writing always hits hard.

‘Kelsey and the Burdened Breath’- Darcie Little Badger- This story takes place in a world where “breaths” (essentially spirits) sometimes stay behind after a person or animal dies and need to be ushered off of Earth before becoming an issue to the living. I loved this concept and the main character and her dog (who was a ‘breath’) were the cutest damned team ever!

‘Give Me Your Black Wings, Oh Sister’- Silvia Moreno-Garcia- This story is short and sweet, but oh so creepy. I don’t want to give anything away because that would take away from the creep factor, but Silvia Moreno-Garcia’s writing is gothic and gorgeous, and I can’t get enough of it!

This collection was a great look at some of the speculative fiction that writers of different races are coming out with and a wonderful collection to promote. This, coupled with reading Jemisin’s How Long ‘Til Black Future Month, really had me devouring some wonderful anthologies last month! I can’t end this review without mentioning that the cover for New Suns is absolutely gorgeous! I know this is something I would pick up in the bookstore off of cover alone.

This book was so very different but also amazing! I really enjoyed the stories and juxtaposition in each. They each had their own different feel.

This anthology is a collective grab bag of different types of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror stories. I expected this to be more sci-fi than it actually was and that could be part of the problem, but I think more so it was just the execution of most of the stories. I wanted a collection of strong and well written short stories, however, only a few of them met that mark. I was hoping to get some of the Afro-futurism vibes that came from Black Panther, but that isn't what this anthology is offering as a whole. The stories cover a range of topics from intergalactic tourism, human desires, deep space mythology, and even indigenous mythology and lifestyle. The standouts for me were, The Fine Print by Chinelo Onwualu and Harvest by Rebecca Roanhorse. I have read another novel by Roanhorse before and that could be part of my appreciation for the short story, but I am also familiar with the story of Deer Woman. There's a really great one hour Masters of Horror movie about Deer Woman if anyone is interested. All in all a disappointing collection for me, but I have no doubt that there is something in this collection that everyone can appreciate.

This anthology served as my introduction to speculative fiction and I am so glad that I requested this digital arc. It's an interesting mix that took me two full months to read but it was worth it.

My favourites were:
Give Me Your Black Wings Oh Sister by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
5/5. Short and weird. Witches and warlocks and flying creatures that eat children.

The Shadow We Cast Through Time by Indrapramit Das.
4/5. Alien world, human invasion and colonisation of the space and the results.

The Robots of Eden by Anil Menon 5/5.
India future, Black Mirror like. Implants that control or disable negative emotional responses. An man forms a bond with his ex-wife's new husband.

actual rating: 2.5

I hate to give this such a low rating, but I apparently was just not in the mood to focus on an anthology because I found this to be kind of difficult to get through. There were a few stories in here that I definitely enjoyed, but there were also several that I didn't even finish. Of course in any anthology there is going to be a difference in quality between stories, but I found my attention wandering more than usual here. It might have been more that I was in the wrong mood than anything else so don't let my review deter you from trying it if you generally really like anthologies.

Received via Netgalley for review

Unfortunately, while I was looking forward to reading this, I didn't end up liking it that much. It seemed very long (17 stories, which doesn't seem like much when I see the number, but really dragged on when I was reading them) and the stories themselves seemed to drag on.

Normally, in a short story collection, I expect there to be a fair amount of variation in the quality of the stories and some that I like better than others, but none of the stories in this collection really grabbed me. They all seemed to focus on similar themes (treatment of women, sexuality, romantic/familial/etc. connections, violence) and it got a little boring to read after a while. I JUST finished reading it, and while there are a few stories I remember without prompting, I know I won't remember them in the future.

• Galactic Tourist Industrial Complex by Tobias S. Buckell 2/5
Good enough for what it's trying to do and a good opener.

• Deer Dancer by Kathleen Alcalá 2/5
The premise left me intrigued, but there were just too many unanswered questions and I ended up lost.

• The Virtue of Unfaithful Translations by Minsoo Kang 3/5
Very much in an academic style, which works for some people and doesn't for others. I liked the gentle admonishment at the end, scolding the author for not really doing their due diligence. It did feel a little long, however.

• Come Home to Atropos by Steven Barnes 4/5
One of the few I liked! A darkly humorous ad about a beautiful Caribbean island full that has become the premier destination for the euthanasia of wealthy white people, in which the natives are only too happy to oblige.

• The Fine Print by Chinelo Onwualu 1/5
I barely even remember this one. The love of the father for his son was nice.

• unkind of mercy by Alex Jennings 2/5
A kind of confusing kind of ghost story.

• Burn the Ships by Alberto Yáñez 4/5
Another good one: the colonized and oppressed natives of a land finally rises up against their colonizers (who have literally burned their own ships so they cannot leave!) with hints of a dark god who demands their lives.

• The Freedom of the Shifting Sea by Jaymee Goh 2/5
I'm not sure how I feel about this one... I like the idea of an atypical mermaid, but the interplay beneath her relationship with all the members of the family was very strange to me.

• Three Variations on a Theme of Imperial Attire by E. Lily Yu 3/5
Some retellings of The Emperor's New Clothes, with a nice twist at the end.

• Blood and Bells by Karin Lowachee 2/5
A kind of star-crossed romance gangster story in some kind of violent future city, narrated in slang. Another example of a father's love for their child.

• Give Me Your Black Wings Oh Sister by Silvia Moreno-Garcia 3/5
Just long enough to tease you with the dark possibilities.

• The Shadow We Cast Through Time by Indrapramit Das 3/5
Another one that seemed a little too long, about a settled planet that is populated by demons who take human bodies sometimes. Surprisingly little happens.

• The Robots of Eden by Anil Menon 3/5
A "slice of life" story of a man finalizing a divorce while maintaining a friendship with his ex-wife's new husband, in a world where the privileged are "Enchanced" against certain negative emotions (...I think). The hints of strong emotions (rage, sorrow) trying to bubble up in the main character were well done, as was the difficulty of their daughter's adjustment.

• Dumb House by Andrea Hairston 1/5
This seemed like an excerpt from a larger story - there were pre-established settings and characters and attitudes that were never fully accessible to me. And nothing much happens.

• One Easy Trick by Hiromi Goto 2/5
Not terrible, but not for me. A woman loses her belly fat in the woods, and is lectured by a bear about how she doesn't deserve it back.

• Harvest by Rebecca Roanhorse 2/5
I wanted to like this one...! It's incredibly dark and melancholy, but maybe it was just too short to properly draw me in.

• Kelsey and the Burdened Breath by Darcie Little Badger
I have to admit, I was so ready to be done with this collection I didn't even read this one...

It's really a 2 star average, but just barely, so I don't feel bad rounding down to 1.

I got an ARC of this book.

I got this book because an author friend of mine kept saying speculative fiction and recommending short stories that she said were speculative fiction. I had no idea what it was and why she would be so excited by it. So I did my research. This book came up as an option for an ARC and I had to have it. 

I loved this book. I have never really loved an anthology before. Most anthologies are so all over the place that I can't ever settle into them. They range from stories that bore to me tears and stories I love, but this one squarely sat in the camp of love outside of one story. A single story in this whole anthology didn't capture me within the first paragraph. That is amazing for an anthology.

Some of my favorite stories were just so perfectly done. The story about the alien that dies during a cab ride? YES. The story about the least breaths? OMG. There are so many stories in here that really just grabbed at me and won't let go. I am thinking about so many things and can't organize my thoughts for a better review. I just really recommend this book. It has so many plots, so many deep thoughts, so many languages. It really is like getting new worlds with every story. 

I am not big on sci-fi or fantasy, never have been. These stories, while having elements of them, are perfect for me. There is just something here that I responded to in a way I never have before. I may have found a new favorite genre. 

Just read this book. My review could never do it justice. There are so many voices in this book and this review is just mine.

I very much enjoyed this anthology of speculative fiction. There were a few that went over my head and that I didn't understand, but there were a few I really enjoyed. There were funny ones and fantastic ones. I think my favourites were Dumb House, The Robots of Heaven, and The Freedom of Shifting Sands.

The collection felt very subtle but strongly feministic which I enjoyed. Also, I loved that there were so many stories that were LGBT+. it was great.

In relation to speculative fiction and my worries about what that mean int he beginning. This was a selection of paranormal, sci-fi (light and heavy), and light fantasy. I very much enjoyed the fantastical element to most of the stories.

I highly recommend this to people who enjoy anthologies, speculative fiction, sci-fi, and fantasy. 

My opinion on the individual stories:

The Galactic Tourist Industry Complex by Tobias S Buckell
Very interesting imagination! I liked the character and the world. It's clear that danger draws people and aliens in especially if it's mundane. The was a lot of information packed into this short story which made the world feel more real. Note taken

Deer Dancer by Kathleen Alcalá
Again I liked the world and the character and her "magic" but I felt it ended before it began. I'm not sure what the story is. Her finding a future? Wasn't there a bear coming for them, a talking bear? Yes, she dreamt of being a deer and she felt like one after the dream. So maybe yes the bears would come and take them all and her feeling of a future was her brain in denial? I don't get it.

The Virtue of Unfaithful Translations by Minsoo Kang
Well, that was something. Its a longer short story based on a fictional reveal of a historical account in a fictional world. But the world was colourful especially in terms of the names for people and things. Then the marginal notes at the end made me think about the entire story in a different way. Very interesting.

Come Home to Atropos by Steven Barnes
It starts off so sweet and light, then ends in the darkness of black humour. I did find the darkness of the topic funny. I won't spoil it for anyone, but I enjoyed it.

The Fine Print by Chinelo Onwualu
I was annoyed at the beginning of this story. Women had no importance and no value in this world. There were hardly any women in this story and the ones who were there to serve and please. Then the djinn spoke the truth in the end and I saw what the author was doing. Well played!

unkind of mercy by Alex Jennings
I'm not sure I got this. Firstly I struggled with the language. English isn't my first language. I'm fluent but that doesn't mean I don't struggle with English that isn't straight. It was a conversation-type language with some slang.

Burn The Ships by Alberto Yáñez
That almost felt real. It felt like the Aztec' point of view during the European invasion of central and South America but with magic, voodoo magic and zombies. Loved it. Women again saves the day

The Freedom of the Shifting Sea by Jaymee Goh
Interesting little LGBT+ story with alternative mermaids and feminism. This is one of few that still resides in my mind. It was very memorable.

Three Variations on a Theme of Imperial Attire by E Lily Yu
A cool retelling of the Emperors New Clothes. Very political but I liked them.

Blood and Bells by Karin Lowachee
This felt like an alternate gang story but I love the little details like the chimes in their hairs which made it so very different.

Give Me Your Black Wings Oh Sister by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
I didn't fully get this one but it does involve baby eaters...

The Shadow We Cast Through Time by Indrapramit Das
I think this went over my head but I liked the bit where two females gave sex and one became pregnant.

The Robots Of Heaven by Anil Menon
This starts off fairly normal but with a feeling, things are a bit off. Then it slowly reviles their true nature and it's weird but wonderful. I loved the style of writing and how the mystery unfolds like a bud in springtime.

Dumb House by Andrea Hairston
I really enjoyed it! The world was interesting and well built up. I liked the characters too; not young, not white, not straight, not your everyday kind of woman.

One Easy Trick by Hiromi Goto
Interesting way to lose your belly fat. very funny. I enjoyed this read.

Harvest by Rebecca Roanhorse
I love Rebecca Roanhorse's writing and this story was no exception. It's thick with native American lore weaves into a modern-day storyline.

Kelsey and The Burdened Breath by Darcie Little Badger
A new twist to "open the window to let the spirit out" and what happens if you don't. I enjoyed this very much.

I wanted to love this one but most of the stories barely grabbed my attention. There was a good mix of diverse writers but I never quite felt a connection to any of the stories. I wasnt able to force myself to continue along with this anthology when most of the stories felt unfinished.