Review of Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard

This fantasy novella is a finalist for the 2022 Nebula Awards. It was published by Tor.com in February 2021 and runs 98 pages. Aliette de Bodard lives and works in Paris. She has won three Nebula Awards, a Locus Award, a British Fantasy Award and four British Science Fiction Association Awards. She was a double Hugo finalist in 2019. This review contains spoilers.

Thanh is the queen’s youngest daughter. All her older sisters are accomplished adults, but it seems Thanh can never please her mother. For years she served as a hostage in Yosolis. When the palace burnt down and she barely escaped, her mother brought her home, and now the queen expects her to help negotiate with the delegation from Yosolis. They are a powerful kingdom, and Binh Hai is not. When the delegation arrives, Thanh sees that the princess Eldris has come with it. Thanh interprets the delegations requests as a military occupation and tries to head it off, but Eldris makes an offer of marriage. Meanwhile, the small fires around the castle turn out to be a fire elemental that Thanh accidently brought from Yosolis. Can she deal with the demands and find a path forward for Binh Hai?

This is very well done. The chess moves of the negotiations make for a strong plot, and on the side, Thanh tries to deal with the romance of Eldris’ courtship. Themes include domestic violence and coming of age. The characters are strong, and the imagery is strongly sensual. There are symbols: Thanh’s chess game with her mother, the choice between the fiery elemental and the cold climate of Yosolis, the tiger quality of the elmental and the little fires burning around the palace. Interestingly, there is only one male character, the queen’s eunuch Long.

On the less positive side, I don’t know how these people reproduce. Normally courtship is about creating an heir to the throne, but they don’t seem concerned. Maybe the queen has a harem of men somewhere?

Five stars.

Review of Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters by Aimee Ogden

This science fiction novella is a finalist for the 2022 Nebula Awards. Ogden has worked as science teacher and software tester and she is the co-editor of Translunar Travelers Lounge. This is her debut novella. It was published by Tor.com in February of 2021 and runs 112 pages. This review contains spoilers.

Atuale is the daughter of a Sea-Clan lord and has had her body altered so she can live on land with her husband and true love Saareval. However, a plague is killing the people of the clan and now her husband is deathly ill. Atuale has one hope left, a black market mercenary known as the World Witch, who is also her old friend and lover Yanja. She needs to use Yanja’s starship to travel off planet and find a cure for the plague, but their world is locked down because of the sickness. Can the two of them succeed in finding a cure?

This is an exotic, well-imagined setting where the various worlds are connected by jump gates and the occupants are adapted by gene-editing in order to live in particular environments. Most of the narrative is related to the quest plot and the interactions between Atuale and Yanja, who has had their body altered from female to male since they last saw one another. Yanja has something of an attitude about being jilted for Saareval, but they work it out. There’s a certain amount of imagery in the descriptions, and all ends well as Atuale returns with the cure for the plague. It gets extra points for attempting a romantic quets/adventure plot and a science fiction setting.

On the less positive side, I got the feeling I was missing a lot of the backstory here. I ended up with a lot of questions. Maybe these are characters Ogden has developed in other stories? There’s very little description of the living conditions on Atuale’s home world, which seems to be fairly primitive. This brings up the question of why the back market space-going mercenary Yanja is living there. The characterizations don’t feel quite right, as these are highly exotic people, but they interact like ordinary humans–there is no difference it culture. The community of worlds through the jump gates seems to function like a local community in the pandemic when I would expect a little more distance. Atuale violates all the rules, but there are no real consequences—she is just rescued by someone who rewards her persistence with the cure. And, where did Atuale get her body mods done? On her world? Then why don’t they have the technology to find a cure? There are also a couple of elements to this story that seem tailored to what must be publishing requirements at Tor. The first is Yanja’s trans sexuality, and the other is a comment out of nowhere that Saareval’s clan practices equity. Then why is Atuale still so proud of her heritage as the Sea lord’s daughter? Is she on board with the equity or not?

Three and a half stars.

Review of A Psalm for the Wild-Built by Becky Chambers

This science fiction novella is a finalist for the 2022 Nebula Awards. It was published by Tor.com and runs 161 pages. Chambers is a perineal in the awards cycles and is best known for her Wayfarer series, This review contains spoilers.

Sibling Dex is a monk on the moon Panga, where they work in landscaping, but they yearn for something more. They decide their real calling is to be a tea monk who travels from city to city offering tea and comfort. The enclave’s monks are supportive and build Dex a tea wagon. They find the work difficult at first, but eventually they tire of it, too, and decide their real calling is to go into the wilderness, where they hope to hear the song of a cricket. In the wilderness, they encounter a wild-built robot. Mosscap is not one of the original robots who gained self-awareness and left human society centuries ago, but one assembled from various parts from worn out machines. The robot has been elected to contact human society and wants to accompany Dex to find out what humans really want. Can they create a relationship?

Panga seems to be a very friendly place. Chambers creates a number of background characters while investing most of the effort into Dex and Mosscap. She also creates a society and history for Panga where the story plays out. As far a themes go, there’s discussion of self-awareness in machines and animals and whether this should give them status in the human world. Chambers makes an interesting point that fear is what controls interactions, and that humans are unchecked because they are missing a natural predator. From Mosscap’s question, the main theme is presumably “What do humans want?”

On the less positive side, nothing much happens here. There are no threats and no rising action line, just discussion. Dex changes jobs and is still dissatisfied. Mosscap is curious but slightly comical and completely friendly. There seem to be no natural predators in the forest. Also, the world building presents a bucolic society where everyone seems to be friendly and prosperous and has plenty of resources, but no explanation of where these come from or how the economy works. Presumably the enclave supports Dex while they work as a gardener and people pay for the tea service, but how does Dex think they are going to exist in the forest? They don’t seem to have even rudimentary gathering skills and the water needs to be filtered to be potable?  There are no survival issues in this world? It doesn’t quite make sense.

Three and a half stars.

Review of Flowers for the Sea by Zin E. Rocklyn

This dark fantasy/horror novella is a finalist for the 2022 Nebula Awards. It was published by Tor.com in October of 2021 and runs 80 pages. Rocklyn is disabled and uses their as a pronoun. They have appeared in several award-winning and award-nominated anthologies. This review contains spoilers.

Iraxi is one of the Nims people and has gills. She lived in a house with her family, and the kingdom’s prince comes three times to ask for her hand but she refuses because she loves someone else. Later she comes home to find the house burning. She rushes inside to the smell of burning flesh and is burnt, but saves herself by running into the sea. The kingdom floods and a group escapes on an ark ship. They have a green room where they grow beans and citrus, but food is sparse. They are threatened by monstrous flying razonfangs from above and purple-tenacled things from below. At this point, Irixi is heavily pregnant by someone she does not love. She has the child and it speaks to her in multitones, so she thinks it is a demon. Still she is attracted and parades naked with the baby on deck, where most of the residents think the child is a sign of hope. The monsters come for them.

Most reviews omit the summary for a reason. This story is lyrical in style, but heavily surreal. It jumps back and forth in time and between reality and dream so it’s difficult to put the story together into a reasonable whole. There is a lot of emphasis on sensory elements and body fluids, and an extended section on the labor and birth. A certain symbolism causes the dying trees in the green room to sprout as the child is born. This succeeds very well at horror.

On the less positive side, Iraxi is angry with the way life has treated her. She feels burdened by the child, but still guards it selfishly from others, establishing her ownership. She berates the midwife, who had a relationship with the child’s father, and also the man she really loves for not supporting her appropriately. On the nit-picky side, there is no way a green room to grow beans and citrus would support a population of more than 1700 people on the ship. Surely they fish?

Three and a half stars.

Review of “The Giants of the Violet Sea” by Eugenia Triantafyllou

This science fiction novelette is a finalist for the 2022 Nebula Awards. It was published by Uncanny Magazine 9-10, 2021. Triantafyllou is Greek and successful as a short story writer. She has been nominated for Nebula and World Fantasy Awards. This review contains spoilers.

Themis fled from her family to Omega years ago, shuffled aside, a failure as venedolphin tamer and unwilling to be a death-tattoo apprentice to her mother. She has been working at a hospital and has a small apartment there, but how her brother Melas is dead and she needs to return home for the funeral. Melas was a successful tamer, and his death is a mystery until Themis discovers he was caught in a net and poisoned. There are aliens from Freyja colony in the village for a research project, and Themis meets her brother’s friend Pirros, plus a boy Selinos from the meat-eating Alimniot people that Melas was training as a tamer. Can Themis find who murdered her brother? And more important, can she find a place in the village after all this time?

This is an atmospheric story with elements of strong imagery, good world-building and a murder mystery plot. There are clues scattered about as Themis encounters various of the residents of the village and its area and she eventually solves the crime. There ae themes besides the mystery. Freyja has done something to destroy their world and the aliens are here to find out how the colonists have adapted to the harsh environment of this world. The settlement is dependent on the venedolphins who are sentient and responsive. One of Triantafyllou’s strong points is in presenting situations where her characters have to come to terms with old issues. In this case the child Themis, who seems to have a certain talent for taming the venedolphins, was brushed aside by her father in favor of the more talented Melas. Losing her confidence entirely, Tehmis leaves the village rather than attempt the second choice of apprenticing with her mother. This has all festered through the years, and now the sources of her anger are dead—both her father and Melas are gone, so where does that leave Themis?

On the less positive side, the venedolphins didn’t quite come across as attractive. Possibly this is because of Themis’s terror of them as a child. The child Selios and the alien character Clem turn out to feel like red herrings, elements that introduced possibilities that didn’t pan out. And last, I was concerned that it took so long to get to the funeral, considering these people have no refrigeration.

Four and a half stars.

Review of “O2 Arena” by Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki

This science fiction novelette is a finalist for the 2022 Nebula Awards. It was published by Galaxy’s Edge 11/21, and is also available online from Apex Magazine. Oghenechovwe Donald Ekpeki is a disabled Nigerian writer and editor and has won a number of awards. This story has a content warning, and the author has dedicated it to Voke Omawunmi Stephen, Emeka Walter Dinjos, and all others struggling with cancer and other similar ailments. This review contains spoilers.

The scene is Nigeria in 2030. Climate change has made the heat almost unbearable and affected the oxygen content of the air so people have to wear masks and buy oxygen with O2 credits. The narrator is pursuing a degree at the privileged Academy of Law. Narrator takes a break from the induction rhetoric and finds his friend Ovoke has done the same. She is delicate but strong and is suffering from ovarian cancer. Trying to keep her ovaries, she had opted for chemo instead of surgery to remove the cancer. They talk, and back in the lecture hall Ovoke reveals that Dr. Umez of property law preys on the students and that the school uses sexual mores to keep everyone in their place. Narrator makes a trip home where he stops at University of Lagos and visits with the Buccaneer fraternity that he belonged to when going to school there. Narrator’s father has died and he needs money to ensure a good future, so he is interested in the O2Arena cage fights. His friend Jaiyesimi accompanies him to the arena, where he applies but is rejected as not having the guts to engage in a fight to the death. When he returns to school, he finds Ovoke has taken a turn for the worse, and is in need of money for surgery to remove her tumor. He returns to the O2 Arena in earnest this time, and is chosen for a fight. Is there a way he can save Ovoke?

The best parts of this story are the African perspective and the flavor of the conversations between the narrator and his friends. There’s mention of foreign companies that owned the country when they produced tobacco and how they have moved now into O2 industries, and of the haves and the have-nots that smother in the heat and bad air. The author proposes that the death of phytoplankton will dominate the issue of climate change, leading to less oxygen production and a shift toward a CO2 atmosphere. In the effort to save Ovoke with the cage fight, the narrator finds his calling for the future.

On the less positive side, this story translates a bit awkwardly into English. The trigger warning is warranted because of the brutality of the cage fights, and for me the plight of Ovoke and the cage fights description didn’t lead to the suspense and emotional climax that it should have provided. Still the story was well-laid out, and the ending satisfying.

This seems to have captured an audience ahd the author has posted additional scenes on his website for his fans.

Three and a half stars.

Review of “Just Enough Rain“ by PH Lee

This fantasy novelette is a 2021 Nebula Finalist and was published in Giganotosaurus 5/21. P.H. Lee is well established as a short story writer and uses “they” as a pronoun. This review contains spoilers.

Anat and her Mom both have a personal relationship with God, and God seems especially partial to Mom. So much so that he comes to the funeral and raises her from the dead. Mom is really concerned that Anat is 38 and not married, so she asks God to intercede. He sends his Angel to connect Anat with a nice man, but the guy flees. He’s a jerk, but on the other hand the Angel is awesome. Anat contacts God and asks for the Angel’s phone number. It doesn’t seem that they have one, but God makes the arrangements. The first date is a disaster, but after that things go better. Will Mom get what she wants out of this relationship?

This is a very entertaining story that reimagines the relationship with God as one where he arrives in the body of a stranger and performs miracles, or calls you on the phone. Mom long conversations Him. In addition, there is some discussion of insecurities and life callings and how a supportive relationship can help these. The world-building, imagery and characterization are all strong. This gets extra points for being a highly positive story.

On the less positive side, the discussion of insecurities and life callings isn’t quite enough to make this a life-changing story. There’s little conflict, and it ends up feels more entertaining than monumental.

Five stars.

Review of “That Story Isn’t the Story“ by John Wiswell

This fantasy novelette is a 2021 Nebula Finalist and was published in Uncanny Magazine 11-12/21. John Wiswell won the Nebula Award last year for Best Short Story for his work “Open House on Haunted Hill” and was also a finalist for the Hugo Award for Best Short Story, the Locus Award for Best Short Story, and World Fantasy Award for Best Short Story. This review contains spoilers.

Anton has bleeding bites on his thighs and he needs to get away from Mr. Bird and the dark house with the blackout shades. He throws a few things in a garbage bag and tries to get out to where his friend Grigorii is waiting in his junker car, but he’s confronted by Pavla, one of of Bird’s minions. Grigorii comes to his rescue, and they make what seems like an escape. Grigorii lets Anton stay with him and Luis in their little house where they have some old sofa cushion as furniture and an ancient game machine. Grigorii and Luis both work odd jobs, but Anton is terrified that Brid will come after him and hides in the house. When he finally gets up enough courage to take a landscaping job, sure enough, Bird and his minions come after not only him, but Luis, too. Anton manages to resists their threats and keeps working. Given his example, some of Bird’s minions start to leave him. Can Anton keep his freedom?

The most interesting point about this story is that it operates on two levels of reality. It’s narrated from Anton’s point of view where the nebulous, evil Bird is some kind of vampire that sucks blood and leaves bleeding bite marks on his slaves. Anton is sure Bird will destroy his friends who opened their home to him, and much of the suspense in the story is whether or not Bird can actually injure or control them. On the other hand, Grigorii thinks he’s rescued Anton from a cult and that he needs therapy to get his life back on track. The theme seems to be about control and not getting sucked into slavery. Anton starts from the bottom when he leaves Bird. The house is rude and he has to walk eight miles to work with his garbage bag as a rain coat, but Anton moves up in the world when he can make his decision stick. Grigorii’s support along his journey is especially touching.

On the less positive side, there feels like a disjoint in the climax and resolution to the story. Anton has been scraping bottom, but with his new income, he takes his friends out to a bar and meets Julian, who immediately sucks him into an upscale lifestyle. This is good on a symbolic level, but not so great for the surface story. here is no final battle between good and evil. Once Anton is on the right path, the evil just fades away. Also, we never quite get inside the characters. There’s a certain distance in the narration.

Four and a half stars.

Review of “Mr. Death“ by Alix E. Harrow

This fantasy short story is a finalist for the 2022 Nebula Awards, published by Apex Magazine in February 2021. Harrow lives in Kentucky and has written Hugo Award-winning short fiction. Her first novel The Ten Thousand Doors of January was a finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards. This review contains spoilers.

Sam is a reaper, recruited by the Archangel Raz after his death from lung cancer. He does a good job, greeting souls as they emerge from the dead and escorting them across the dark river so they can rejoin with the universe instead of just fading away. He’s not quite given up his earthly ties, though, as he still carries a photo of his dead son in his breast pocket. Raz bring his next assignment, a small boy named Lawrence, and Sam goes to the ratty trailer to find that Lawrence, always on the edge of death from an undiagnosed heart condition, can see him. They play ball, and Sam watches the love and hard work Lawrence’s parents are putting into raising their child. When Lawrence’s heart stops that night, Sam reaches out a hand and starts it again. This is going to be trouble. Is there any way he can save himself?

This is a heartwarming story and well-constructed. Sam’s sympathy for the child and his parents is based on the loss of his own son, and he is willing to risk his own continued existence to give them just a few more days with each other. The descriptions give us a clear picture of the home office and the trashy trailer without really telling us about the family’s poverty, and the mythology is interesting, a mix of Christian and Greek visions of the afterlife. The characterizations are also strong, and we get a nice twist at the end.

It’s hard to find any less-positives on this one. There’s not much depth, as it depends heavily on the theme of parental love. Also, we don’t know what happens to Lawrence. Presumably when his number comes up again, he’s dead.

Five stars.

Review of “Let All the Children Boogie” by Sam Miller

This science fiction short story is a finalist for the 2022 Nebula Awards, and was published by Tor.com January 6, 2021. Miller is well established as a writer, and has won several awards.  This review contains spoilers.

It’s 1991. Laurie is sixteen and she’s listening to Iggy Pop’s “The Passenger” on Ms. Jackson’s late night radio show. It’s interrupted briefly by a strange electronic voice. The next day Laurie hears someone singing the song at Salvation Army and finds Fell. The two of them are misfits, and Fell’s mom is an alcoholic and they cling together. The voice Ms. Jackson calls the Star Man continues to interrupt her broadcast, seems to predict the crash of a passenger jet. The military is mobilizing. Fell thinks it’s someone from the future. The voice says the future can either be magnificent or terrifying, depending on which they embrace. What’s going on with the voice?

This story is very touching, constructed of all the memes that beset kids today. Fell is genderless, and Laurie uses they and them pronouns to describe her friend. The situation develops slowly as we learn more about Fell and their problems with their mom. The story is full of threats, desperation and anxiety. In the midst of this terrible world, the two have found each other.

On the less positive side, the elements here don’t quite fit together. The late-night radio show sounds more like underground radio in the 1960s than something from 1991. Not only does Fell’s mom fall short, but Laurie’s seem to, as well. Fell might be keeping away from their mom, but Laurie’s parents show more signs of control. So how does she stay gone from home so much? For someone who is so poor, how does Fell managed to finance a car and keep the tank full of gas? No sign of a job. Plus, the self-concept issues feel a bit contrived. Laurie apologizes for living, is scared to say anything to anybody. It’s a common teen problem, but it feels slightly overdone here.

Three and a half stars.