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By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars
2025 Hugo Voter Packet version (Best Novelette nominee).
38 pages, ebook
First published January 1, 2024
1 person is currently reading
48 people want to read
About the author
Premee Mohamed
83 books741 followersPremee Mohamed is a Nebula award-winning Indo-Caribbean scientist and speculative fiction author based in Edmonton, Alberta. She is an Assistant Editor at the short fiction audio venue Escape Pod and the author of the 'Beneath the Rising' series of novels as well as several novellas. Her short fiction has appeared in many venues and she can be found on Twitter at @premeesaurus and on her website at www.premeemohamed.com.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
June 6, 2025
This is an OK story
Premee Mohamed's By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars provoked in me an all-too-common reaction:
It's not terrible. It was kind of fun, and I enjoyed it. It helps that it's just a novelette and thus a quick read. It's a story about a wizard who cozens her new apprentice into fighting off an existentially threatening dragon. Actually, that sounds like a pretty good premise for a story!
Well, it is a good premise, and not a terrible story.
Blog review.
Premee Mohamed's By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars provoked in me an all-too-common reaction:
Would someone please explain to me why this is a Hugo finalist?Of course, the answer might simply be that there were not six better novelettes this year. Most of the other five are better, though, in my opinion.
It's not terrible. It was kind of fun, and I enjoyed it. It helps that it's just a novelette and thus a quick read. It's a story about a wizard who cozens her new apprentice into fighting off an existentially threatening dragon. Actually, that sounds like a pretty good premise for a story!
Well, it is a good premise, and not a terrible story.
Blog review.
July 10, 2025
I liked this much more than The Butcher of the Forest
May 23, 2025
As much as I enjoy audiobooks, I don’t listen much to podcasts. Howsomever, last year when I finally realized that a lot of the shorter works nominated for the Hugo Awards were available as podcasts, the penny dropped and I dove in.
Last year, I opened my Hugo reviewing with a short work by one of my favorite authors, and this year continues that trend, albeit with a different author. So here we are with one of the Best Novelette (7,500-17,500 words) nominees, “By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars” by Premee Mohamed, originally published in Strange Horizons Fund Drive 2024.
Strange Horizons as a whole is also nominated for Best Semiprozine, and Premee Mohamed also has a Best Novella nomination for The Butcher of the Forest. Which I read, and liked at the time, but it’s grown on me over the intervening months as I read stories that were similar but not nearly as good and ended up referring to it surprisingly often.
This story reads like a fantasy, although there’s a possibility that the wider world we don’t see is post-apocalyptic. But consider it a fantasy because that’s what we have in front of us, even if the reasons for the world being the way it is might be elsewise.
At first, the story seems to follow a typical pattern, that of the master and their apprentice. Which is never a bad trope for a fantasy to follow, as it allows for more than a few shortcuts to keep the word count down to fit into a shorter work and still come to a satisfying conclusion.
But that’s not the road this one takes, and it’s all the more fascinating for it. Because the ‘Great Wizard Firion’ that the village of Weystone relies on, well, isn’t. Isn’t great. Isn’t all that sure she’s even still a wizard.
The magical spark of Firion’s power is gone – and she can’t figure out how to get it back, although she’s certainly tried. And exhausted herself in trying.
But she still has all her knowledge – even if her possession of wisdom might be debatable under the circumstances. So when the university sends her an apprentice she hasn’t asked for or even looked for, Firion concocts a desperate plan to keep her secret – along with her credentials – from both the university AND her new apprentice.
Because she needs him to solve her other big problem. There’s an enormous sea dragon out in the lake who invades the shore – and the nearby village – once every eight to twelve years. All the signs are present that this year will be one of THOSE years. The Bouldus is coming. And Firion needs her unlooked for apprentice to do all the heavy lifting in keeping the dreaded sea dragon away from the people that she’s supposed to protect.
All she has to do is live up to that old saying that Firion is feeling with every breath she takes, “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, TEACH.”
Escape Rating A-: Short works often end up at A- for me, even at their best, because there’s never quite enough and I always wish there were more. Which is certainly true in this case, as I’d really like to know both what this world is like outside Weystone, what Firion did to herself to cause her magic to burn out – and what brought Apprentice Cane to her door – or to the door of the University at all.
Actually, I’m pretty sure that Firion would like to know that last bit too, but the whole point of this story is that they work together on keeping each other’s secrets along with a message about being able to rise to the occasion, no matter how desperate or dire, with the right teacher, the right teaching, and the right encouragement.
We don’t get enough of Cane to know what he came from, but we do get plenty of hints. This could have been his coming of age story, but that would have been a more typical story. I think I enjoyed it a lot more because the story was told through Firion’s eyes, so we get her wry observations, her feelings of impostor syndrome, her sense of her powers and abilities fading away and her desperation to hold on, and last but not least her sense of duty both to her apprentice and to the village that believes in her so much that she has to come through for them even if she can’t do it with her own two hands. She still has to get it done.
That she trains her apprentice by making up numbered rules for him to follow whenever she’s at a loss for words or instructions or simply wants him to stop interrupting and pay attention was a nice little homage to a character that I never expected to see invoked in fantasy – but fit in perfectly in this particular instance.
This turned out to be a terrific start to this year’s Hugo readings, and the reading by Kat Kourbeti certainly helped! I’m happy to say that I’ll be back with another short work in a couple of weeks – or whenever the mood strikes next.
Originally published at Reading Reality
Last year, I opened my Hugo reviewing with a short work by one of my favorite authors, and this year continues that trend, albeit with a different author. So here we are with one of the Best Novelette (7,500-17,500 words) nominees, “By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars” by Premee Mohamed, originally published in Strange Horizons Fund Drive 2024.
Strange Horizons as a whole is also nominated for Best Semiprozine, and Premee Mohamed also has a Best Novella nomination for The Butcher of the Forest. Which I read, and liked at the time, but it’s grown on me over the intervening months as I read stories that were similar but not nearly as good and ended up referring to it surprisingly often.
This story reads like a fantasy, although there’s a possibility that the wider world we don’t see is post-apocalyptic. But consider it a fantasy because that’s what we have in front of us, even if the reasons for the world being the way it is might be elsewise.
At first, the story seems to follow a typical pattern, that of the master and their apprentice. Which is never a bad trope for a fantasy to follow, as it allows for more than a few shortcuts to keep the word count down to fit into a shorter work and still come to a satisfying conclusion.
But that’s not the road this one takes, and it’s all the more fascinating for it. Because the ‘Great Wizard Firion’ that the village of Weystone relies on, well, isn’t. Isn’t great. Isn’t all that sure she’s even still a wizard.
The magical spark of Firion’s power is gone – and she can’t figure out how to get it back, although she’s certainly tried. And exhausted herself in trying.
But she still has all her knowledge – even if her possession of wisdom might be debatable under the circumstances. So when the university sends her an apprentice she hasn’t asked for or even looked for, Firion concocts a desperate plan to keep her secret – along with her credentials – from both the university AND her new apprentice.
Because she needs him to solve her other big problem. There’s an enormous sea dragon out in the lake who invades the shore – and the nearby village – once every eight to twelve years. All the signs are present that this year will be one of THOSE years. The Bouldus is coming. And Firion needs her unlooked for apprentice to do all the heavy lifting in keeping the dreaded sea dragon away from the people that she’s supposed to protect.
All she has to do is live up to that old saying that Firion is feeling with every breath she takes, “Those who can, do. Those who can’t, TEACH.”
Escape Rating A-: Short works often end up at A- for me, even at their best, because there’s never quite enough and I always wish there were more. Which is certainly true in this case, as I’d really like to know both what this world is like outside Weystone, what Firion did to herself to cause her magic to burn out – and what brought Apprentice Cane to her door – or to the door of the University at all.
Actually, I’m pretty sure that Firion would like to know that last bit too, but the whole point of this story is that they work together on keeping each other’s secrets along with a message about being able to rise to the occasion, no matter how desperate or dire, with the right teacher, the right teaching, and the right encouragement.
We don’t get enough of Cane to know what he came from, but we do get plenty of hints. This could have been his coming of age story, but that would have been a more typical story. I think I enjoyed it a lot more because the story was told through Firion’s eyes, so we get her wry observations, her feelings of impostor syndrome, her sense of her powers and abilities fading away and her desperation to hold on, and last but not least her sense of duty both to her apprentice and to the village that believes in her so much that she has to come through for them even if she can’t do it with her own two hands. She still has to get it done.
That she trains her apprentice by making up numbered rules for him to follow whenever she’s at a loss for words or instructions or simply wants him to stop interrupting and pay attention was a nice little homage to a character that I never expected to see invoked in fantasy – but fit in perfectly in this particular instance.
This turned out to be a terrific start to this year’s Hugo readings, and the reading by Kat Kourbeti certainly helped! I’m happy to say that I’ll be back with another short work in a couple of weeks – or whenever the mood strikes next.
Originally published at Reading Reality
June 3, 2025
Available here, a finalist for this year's Hugo awards for best novelette.
A wizard takes on an unexpected apprentice, all the while looking to defend her village in a few months against a particular sea monster. The theme is, on paper, a bit Patricia McKillip, and I had hopes starting it, but it's all so banal. The plot, the motivation seems to be quite narrowly just the main character's situation, and she is not likeable. Not that I actively disliked her either, I am, theoretically sympathetic, but it made me think of whatever it is that, when written about a character makes me like them or loathe them (and sometimes my feelings are the opposite of what the author intends). But for a work that is so personal-focused the characterization being so dull and lifeless destroys the point. Prose seemed serviceable but not more than that. I am not sure what this is making on the ballot, but I am often an outlier anyway. I did not hate it, though.
A wizard takes on an unexpected apprentice, all the while looking to defend her village in a few months against a particular sea monster. The theme is, on paper, a bit Patricia McKillip, and I had hopes starting it, but it's all so banal. The plot, the motivation seems to be quite narrowly just the main character's situation, and she is not likeable. Not that I actively disliked her either, I am, theoretically sympathetic, but it made me think of whatever it is that, when written about a character makes me like them or loathe them (and sometimes my feelings are the opposite of what the author intends). But for a work that is so personal-focused the characterization being so dull and lifeless destroys the point. Prose seemed serviceable but not more than that. I am not sure what this is making on the ballot, but I am often an outlier anyway. I did not hate it, though.
June 6, 2025
Read for the 2025 Hugos
This is a fun, straight-forward little story. You have a wizard , an apprentice that needs to learn, and a really friggin' big dragon. Good combination of ingredients.
My only complaint is that it feels like it's only 2/3 of the story. There's the setup, and there's a climax, but there's nothing in between. There's really no time spent on the apprentice's time learning anything. That makes the story quick, but it also means it feels like it's missing something.
This is a fun, straight-forward little story. You have a wizard , an apprentice that needs to learn, and a really friggin' big dragon. Good combination of ingredients.
My only complaint is that it feels like it's only 2/3 of the story. There's the setup, and there's a climax, but there's nothing in between. There's really no time spent on the apprentice's time learning anything. That makes the story quick, but it also means it feels like it's missing something.
May 23, 2025
I rather enjoyed this little book. Short and I wasn't quite sure what to make of the wizard at first. I loved the apprentice. I think, in the end, I both thought the wizard selfish but also understandable - to have an identity for so long it would be very hard to handle if something happened. World building a bit sparse and I would have liked to know whether I should imagine something like a typical fantasy setting or different. It felt a bit generic. Still I enjoyed this!
June 21, 2025
I needed a full novella. Firion was funny and intriguing and could have been great. The apprentice deserved some character development. This just wasn’t the format for this story. But I liked the premise! Read for the Hugos.
June 30, 2025
I enjoyed the characters and this world, but the story felt too-brief and almost more vignette-like -- as if it could have been a prelude to or chapter within a longer story. It certainly has a beginning-middle-end structure, but it very much left me wanting more when it ended.
July 27, 2025
Every year I read all the finalists of the most prestigious science fiction awards (at least in the English speaking world): the Hugo awards. This story is a finalist in the Novellette category. I had just finished and liked The Butcher of the Forest by the same author, and I was curious to see how this turned out to be. I actually liked this more. Good read.
By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars is the story of an old powerful mage that find herself with no powers all of a sudden, exactly when she needs to train an intern and defend her town from a big powerful monster...
Entertaining story with a very interesting premise. I would be curious to read a sequel to see if the wizard learns to deal with aging...
By Salt, By Sea, By Light of Stars is the story of an old powerful mage that find herself with no powers all of a sudden, exactly when she needs to train an intern and defend her town from a big powerful monster...
Entertaining story with a very interesting premise. I would be curious to read a sequel to see if the wizard learns to deal with aging...
May 2, 2025
read for 2025 Hugos
This was a nice fantasy story about how magic is learned and used, and how teachers can still provide for their students by experience. A good entry for this year's Hugos.
This was a nice fantasy story about how magic is learned and used, and how teachers can still provide for their students by experience. A good entry for this year's Hugos.
May 22, 2025
enjoyable
June 18, 2025
Cute lil story about a wizard professor and her apprentice. Enjoyed. Read for the Hugo Awards.
July 10, 2025
A quiet story about a wizard taking on an apprentice after she loses an important ability. I appreciate the exploration of the value of teaching and relationships. Plus: magic!
July 14, 2025
nice but not hugely memorable
July 22, 2025
A two character story that works rather well. An aging magic user and her apprentice are left to defend a coastline with failing and untested abilities.
July 22, 2025
Happy to read more of this author
July 29, 2025
Enjoyable and with lovely attention to detail. (Hugo 2025 reading project.)
May 24, 2025
2.5 stars
Story about a terrible wizard, her apprentice, and some scary magical creatures. It was kinda funny, but there’s really not much more to it than that. Character arcs are pretty disappointing.
Story about a terrible wizard, her apprentice, and some scary magical creatures. It was kinda funny, but there’s really not much more to it than that. Character arcs are pretty disappointing.
July 12, 2025
I really enjoyed this well written and interesting story and would like to know more about the great wizard Firion, her apprentice and the rest of the world. So even though it was a good read in itself I felt it might be even better in a longer format, perhaps a novel or whole series.
July 2, 2025
This was fine. A compelling plot, an interesting main character, and some cool action at the end. It wasn’t anything particularly creative though and the ending felt a tiny bit rushed after the big climax. Not nearly as extraordinary as her novella The Butcher of the Forest, but I’m still looking forward to reading more from Mohamed.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews