SFF Reviews - Science Fiction and Fantasy

Review of Rudali by Amal Singh (2870 words) Mithila Review, August 2016 : Subscribe or Read Online Not an easy story, but an important one. And if it can bring up so many feelings in me as a reader, I can only imagine the emotional upheaval the author must have gone through to create this story. Grief comes in many forms, and is expressed in many different ways too. And sometimes it is hard to separate what you want to do from what you have to do. And then there's also the undead here for some fantasy representation, so this story has basically everything! I absolutely loved everything about this, from the character development, the world it is set in, the choices Shashi makes - just everything. I appreciate that the author is from India and is able to portray Indian culture in a realistic and respectful way. Being Indian myself, it irks me when Indian writers whitewash our culture, but Amal Singh is refreshing. I look forward to reading more of his work! Support us o...

Review of External Processors by Sherry Yuan (6117 words) Luna Station Quarterly, Issue 051 : Purchase or Read Online Set in a future that is utopian for some, but eerily close to dystopia for others, this story hits all the right notes. People use ExP, or External Processor, stickers to improve their cognitive abilities, but where do those enhanced abilities come from? This story shows two sides of the story, two very different lives of people on both sides of the sticker, so to speak. Very well executed world and plot, and I liked the narrative style and prose too. Spoiler : I was very surprised by one of the character’s decision at the end. Going off their past experiences, it was unexpected. On giving it some thought, it was probably because they knew what it was like and knew the importance of having that to get ahead. The decision was a nice juxtaposition compared to someone else in the story who made a very different switch.     Support us on Ko-fi -...

Review of Kali_Na by Indrapramit Das (7558 words) The Year's Best Science Fiction, Volume 1, Edited by Jonathan Strahan, Purchase Anthology A cyberpunk style story set in India, Kali_Na focuses on our protagonist, a lower caste girl named Durga, and an AI Goddess simply named Devi. Devi is the Hindi word for Goddess - she is simply that. Not one of the many Goddesses from Hindu culture with a rich and varied life and stories, and this is an important distinction. No, she is just generic Goddess 2.0, to whom devotees may ascribe any quality they choose, one who will bless everyone with their own particular type of request, instead of having to ask specific Goddesses for specific things. A product of capitalism, she was supposed to be every Goddess in one. But maybe they forgot to code out the qualities of Kali Maa. And then we see a shift. The sheer power and scale of this story was reminiscent of the scale and scope of Hindu sagas and tales. A truly fantastic story and ...

Review of 2122, Barrel-Aged and Biding by Jordan Hirsch (1000 words) Luna Station Quarterly, Issue 051 : Purchase or Read Online  With an intriguing title and opening paragraph, I was immediately drawn in. Unfortunately, the stakes are never clarified, we are only aware that they are high. All the characters know more than we do, and not enough is revealed to sustain a reader, not even at the very end. Good world-building, though. Once again, as always, this is just my opinion. Support us on Ko-fi -  https://ko-fi.com/ohjustbooks     

Review of A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies by Alix E. Harrow (4916 words) Apex Magazine, Issue 105 : Purchase or Read Online In this world, some librarians are witches, and almost all books are magic. This is the premise and it’s immediately relatable because all readers, at some point, have genuinely believed books were a type of magic. They can transport you somewhere else, which is just what the skinny black teenager wants. He just wants to go somewhere else, anywhere but where he is, stuck in a life that isn’t what he wants it to be. And the narrator, the witchy librarian, wants to help as much as she can, but even witches have rules. And this story is about whether or not to break those rules, whether or not to give someone what they really need, so that they can have their chance at happiness. Cleverly written, with a great magical reality so closely coexisting with our own un-magical one. The tight plot and vivid descriptions make...

Review of Peanut Butter Elegy by Jenna Glover (3269 words) Luna Station Quarterly, Issue 051 : Purchase or Read Online The narrator makes some choices, and while they may not be the best choices, she did what she did. She was grieving and she said things and now she can’t take it back. Lies always build up and sometimes it snowballs into a much bigger web of lies and then you’re in too deep to do anything but continue to lie. I get the feeling of helplessness, but I don’t understand the need to lie. Apart from the plot being built on it, I mean. I did enjoy the world building and the community they lived it, but lying is never good. By the end of the story, she does feel some remorse about it, but things have reached a stage where it doesn’t help. I’m ambivalent about how this story ends. At least a little note of hope, or the beginning of an attempt to fix things? Support us on Ko-fi -  https://ko-fi.com/ohjustbooks    

Review of How I Got Published (12 Tips from a Bestselling Author) by Dominica Phetteplace (731 words) Fireside Magazine, Issue 52, February 2018 : Purchase or Read Online I do enjoy a good list story! This was a fun, magical take on what it takes to get published. It definitely isn't easy, and it raises a lot of questions about how to navigate it and what are the things you are willing (or not willing) to do in pursuit of publication and success. Great prose, good style and a wonderful fantasy bent to this story. All this while still being able to provide social commentary on how difficult writers have it, and how many choices they need to make - in terms of writing, approach, how to promote themselves, and where to find the right audience who can relate. Support us on Ko-fi -  https://ko-fi.com/ohjustbooks