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In Our Own Worlds #1
In Our Own Worlds: Four LGBTQ+ Tor.com Novellas
In celebration of Pride, Tor.com Publishing presents four critically acclaimed novellas featuring LGBTQ+ characters. In these stories you’ll find reflections of queer identity both as it exists in our world and in imagined worlds from queer authors, augmenting lived experiences with fantastical flourishes, magical monks, alternate realities, time travel, and demonic deer.
The Black Tides of Heaven introduces JY Yang's Tensorate Series, a silkpunk world of magic, martial arts, imperial intrigue, and dinosaurs, which Kate Elliott calls "effortlessly fascinating" and The New York Times praises as "joyously wild." A finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards for Best Novella.
Mokoya and Akeha, the twin children of the Protector, were sold to the Grand Monastery as infants. While Mokoya developed her strange prophetic gift, Akeha was always the one who could see the strings that moved adults to action. While Mokoya received visions of what would be, Akeha realized what could be. What's more, they saw the sickness at the heart of their mother's Protectorate. A rebellion is growing. The Machinists discover new levers to move the world every day, while the Tensors fight to put them down and preserve the power of the state. Unwilling to continue as a pawn in their mother's twisted schemes, Akeha leaves the Tensorate behind and falls in with the rebels. But every step Akeha takes towards the Machinists is a step away from Mokoya. Can Akeha find peace without shattering the bond they share with their twin?
A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson is the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, Theodore Sturgeon, and Locus finalist novella that N. K. Jemisin calls "a love story as painful as it is beautiful and complex". One of Book Riot's "Best Books We Read in November." Long after the Towers left the world but before the dragons came to Daluça, the emperor brought his delegation of gods and diplomats to Olorum. As the royalty negotiates over trade routes and public services, the divinity seeks arcane assistance among the local gods. Aqib bgm Sadiqi, fourth-cousin to the royal family and son of the Master of Beasts, has more mortal and pressing concerns. His heart has been captured for the first time by a handsome Daluçan soldier named Lucrio. In defiance of Saintly Canon, gossiping servants, and the furious disapproval of his father and brother, Aqib finds himself swept up in a whirlwind gay romance. But neither Aqib nor Lucrio know whether their love can survive all the hardships the world has to throw at them.
The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion by Margaret Killjoy pits utopian anarchists against rogue demon deer in this dropkick-in-the-mouth punk fantasy that Alan Moore calls "scary and energetic." Searching for clues about her best friend’s mysterious suicide, Danielle ventures to the squatter, utopian town of Freedom, Iowa, and witnesses a protector spirit — in the form of a blood-red, three-antlered deer — begin to turn on its summoners. She and her new friends have to act fast if they’re going to save the town — or get out alive. Inspired by the pulps, film noir, and screwball comedy,
Passing Strange is a story as unusual and complex as San Francisco itself from World Fantasy Award winning author Ellen Klages, and a finalist for the 2017 Nebula Award for Best Novella San Francisco in 1940 is a haven for the unconventional. Tourists flock to the cities within the city: the Magic City of the World’s Fair on an island created of artifice and illusion; the forbidden city of Chinatown, a separate, alien world of exotic food and nightclubs that offer “authentic” experiences, straight from the pages of the pulps; and the twilight world of forbidden love, where outcasts from conventional society can meet. Six women find their lives as tangled with each other’s as they are with the city they call home.
The Black Tides of Heaven introduces JY Yang's Tensorate Series, a silkpunk world of magic, martial arts, imperial intrigue, and dinosaurs, which Kate Elliott calls "effortlessly fascinating" and The New York Times praises as "joyously wild." A finalist for the Hugo, Nebula, and Locus Awards for Best Novella.
Mokoya and Akeha, the twin children of the Protector, were sold to the Grand Monastery as infants. While Mokoya developed her strange prophetic gift, Akeha was always the one who could see the strings that moved adults to action. While Mokoya received visions of what would be, Akeha realized what could be. What's more, they saw the sickness at the heart of their mother's Protectorate. A rebellion is growing. The Machinists discover new levers to move the world every day, while the Tensors fight to put them down and preserve the power of the state. Unwilling to continue as a pawn in their mother's twisted schemes, Akeha leaves the Tensorate behind and falls in with the rebels. But every step Akeha takes towards the Machinists is a step away from Mokoya. Can Akeha find peace without shattering the bond they share with their twin?
A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson is the Hugo, Nebula, World Fantasy, Theodore Sturgeon, and Locus finalist novella that N. K. Jemisin calls "a love story as painful as it is beautiful and complex". One of Book Riot's "Best Books We Read in November." Long after the Towers left the world but before the dragons came to Daluça, the emperor brought his delegation of gods and diplomats to Olorum. As the royalty negotiates over trade routes and public services, the divinity seeks arcane assistance among the local gods. Aqib bgm Sadiqi, fourth-cousin to the royal family and son of the Master of Beasts, has more mortal and pressing concerns. His heart has been captured for the first time by a handsome Daluçan soldier named Lucrio. In defiance of Saintly Canon, gossiping servants, and the furious disapproval of his father and brother, Aqib finds himself swept up in a whirlwind gay romance. But neither Aqib nor Lucrio know whether their love can survive all the hardships the world has to throw at them.
The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion by Margaret Killjoy pits utopian anarchists against rogue demon deer in this dropkick-in-the-mouth punk fantasy that Alan Moore calls "scary and energetic." Searching for clues about her best friend’s mysterious suicide, Danielle ventures to the squatter, utopian town of Freedom, Iowa, and witnesses a protector spirit — in the form of a blood-red, three-antlered deer — begin to turn on its summoners. She and her new friends have to act fast if they’re going to save the town — or get out alive. Inspired by the pulps, film noir, and screwball comedy,
Passing Strange is a story as unusual and complex as San Francisco itself from World Fantasy Award winning author Ellen Klages, and a finalist for the 2017 Nebula Award for Best Novella San Francisco in 1940 is a haven for the unconventional. Tourists flock to the cities within the city: the Magic City of the World’s Fair on an island created of artifice and illusion; the forbidden city of Chinatown, a separate, alien world of exotic food and nightclubs that offer “authentic” experiences, straight from the pages of the pulps; and the twilight world of forbidden love, where outcasts from conventional society can meet. Six women find their lives as tangled with each other’s as they are with the city they call home.
657 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 15, 2018
11 people are currently reading
248 people want to read
About the author
Margaret Killjoy
57 books1,437 followersMargaret Killjoy is a transfeminine author and editor currently based in the Appalachian mountains. Her most recent book is an anarchist demon hunters novella called The Barrow Will Send What it May, published by Tor.com. She spends her time crafting and complaining about authoritarian power structures and she blogs at birdsbeforethestorm.net.
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June 4, 2019Tor.com's free ebook bundle for Pride month—available for download until June 7th, 2019 (if you live in Canada or the US) in DRM-free epub or mobi. You just have to sign up for their newsletter.
January 12, 2020
This was a fun free e-book that the publisher (TOR) gave away to celebrate Pride. I had already read one of the four novellas (The Black Tides of Heaven), but it was well worth a re-read, and I enjoyed the other three (all very different and unique) very much. Happy to have new readers to watch for. Recommended if you're interested in queering your sci-fi reading.
June 28, 2019
I guess I have four new favorites now.
June 13, 2020
Tor.com is the blessing that keeps giving to SFF readers as far as I'm concerned. The fact that they bundled together these four phenomenal novellas by queer authors for Pride and offered them for free is just incredible, and I'm incredibly grateful. And they're good. Each novella offers something slightly different, but they all center queer voices and while of course each contains conflict and difficulty, the stories ultimately aren't tragedies (!!). This more than anything is a gift beyond telling.
The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion by Margaret Killjoy - 4 stars. Danielle, a queer woman who lives her life on the road, visits a Midwest town run by anarchists to find out why a friend of hers killed himself - but instead finds that magic works in the town, and a killer deer is stalking some of the people there. Will she stay to find out what's going on? Does she have a choice? This novella is on the horror-lite side of SFF, and the descriptions of the deer and its dead animal followers are pretty creepy and somewhat gory. But the cooler thing was to be immersed in the world of anarchists and self-determination; not sure I've read any SFF within that setting. The ideals of that community tie in to the outcome of the story, but I won't say anymore except that you should read it. Oh! And there's a sort-of romance between Danielle and another woman that is surprisingly real and sweet. I'm going to try to read the continuation, The Barrow Will Send What it May.
Passing Strange by Ellen Klages - 4.5 stars. This novella is a love letter to early 1940s San Francisco and the queer women of the time, but you can't tell starting off that that's what it is. The story is amazingly good at "hiding the ball" - offering a mystery involving a valuable pulp art cover that only reveals itself slowly through a series of chapters going further from the initial setup into the lives of a circle of queer women in 1941 before circling back for a satisfying end. I honestly didn't know what to expect from chapter to chapter, and it was a good thing. This one was a surprise and turned out to be my favorite in the collection.
A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson - 3.5 stars. Ha! This one was wild. It starts as if it's going to be a very straightforward (heh) love story between Aqib and Lucrio, two men of different cultures, but uses a time split storytelling style to show the heat of their first encounter alongside Aqib's struggles within his very masculine, hetero-normative society and his feelings of obligation to his family. Aqib's society is super unique: it's got a warrior base, but "women's work" is math and physics, and there's a not-insignificant side plot that takes this story unexpectedly briefly into sci-fi territory. While at times I struggled to understand what was going on, I am impressed at the creativity on display here. And I can't say for sure, but I have a feeling this novella out of all of them may offer the closest alignment with the realities of prejudice black queer men, especially feminine ones such as Aqib is, experience even today. Nonetheless, right at the end this story manages an adroit maneuver that allows Aqib out from under a depressing destiny. Certainly worth the read to find out how that's accomplished!
The Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang - 3.5 stars. I had read this one before (see review), and enjoyed it: this novella kicks off a loosely connected series with the story of two twins who try to untangle their identities and take down a corrupt power structure in an Asian-inspired fantasy world. I recommend the whole series.
I'm so glad that Tor.com decided to do this, and now has a second collection available. Now off to read In Our Own Worlds #2: Four LGBTQ+ Tor.com Novellas!
The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion by Margaret Killjoy - 4 stars. Danielle, a queer woman who lives her life on the road, visits a Midwest town run by anarchists to find out why a friend of hers killed himself - but instead finds that magic works in the town, and a killer deer is stalking some of the people there. Will she stay to find out what's going on? Does she have a choice? This novella is on the horror-lite side of SFF, and the descriptions of the deer and its dead animal followers are pretty creepy and somewhat gory. But the cooler thing was to be immersed in the world of anarchists and self-determination; not sure I've read any SFF within that setting. The ideals of that community tie in to the outcome of the story, but I won't say anymore except that you should read it. Oh! And there's a sort-of romance between Danielle and another woman that is surprisingly real and sweet. I'm going to try to read the continuation, The Barrow Will Send What it May.
Passing Strange by Ellen Klages - 4.5 stars. This novella is a love letter to early 1940s San Francisco and the queer women of the time, but you can't tell starting off that that's what it is. The story is amazingly good at "hiding the ball" - offering a mystery involving a valuable pulp art cover that only reveals itself slowly through a series of chapters going further from the initial setup into the lives of a circle of queer women in 1941 before circling back for a satisfying end. I honestly didn't know what to expect from chapter to chapter, and it was a good thing. This one was a surprise and turned out to be my favorite in the collection.
A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson - 3.5 stars. Ha! This one was wild. It starts as if it's going to be a very straightforward (heh) love story between Aqib and Lucrio, two men of different cultures, but uses a time split storytelling style to show the heat of their first encounter alongside Aqib's struggles within his very masculine, hetero-normative society and his feelings of obligation to his family. Aqib's society is super unique: it's got a warrior base, but "women's work" is math and physics, and there's a not-insignificant side plot that takes this story unexpectedly briefly into sci-fi territory. While at times I struggled to understand what was going on, I am impressed at the creativity on display here. And I can't say for sure, but I have a feeling this novella out of all of them may offer the closest alignment with the realities of prejudice black queer men, especially feminine ones such as Aqib is, experience even today. Nonetheless, right at the end this story manages an adroit maneuver that allows Aqib out from under a depressing destiny. Certainly worth the read to find out how that's accomplished!
The Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang - 3.5 stars. I had read this one before (see review), and enjoyed it: this novella kicks off a loosely connected series with the story of two twins who try to untangle their identities and take down a corrupt power structure in an Asian-inspired fantasy world. I recommend the whole series.
I'm so glad that Tor.com decided to do this, and now has a second collection available. Now off to read In Our Own Worlds #2: Four LGBTQ+ Tor.com Novellas!
Want to read
June 2, 2020I'll add reviews to the books as I read them.
The Black Tides of Heaven: 3.5
I so wanted to love this more than I did. I liked it, ok, but I didn't love it. In fact, I checked out books one and two from the library and, though I enjoyed book one, I still returned book two unread. I liked the non-western fantasy setting. I liked the genderless children (even if the singular use of they clashed with the plural they on occasion since there were two main characters). The writing is lyrical and I liked that too. But when it comes right down to it, I'm not a fan of that sparse writing style common in Chinese writing. This book covers 30+ years in a novella. As a result, I never felt I really got to know the characters or was invested in the building rebellion. I'm claiming no lack of quality. I can sense that it's well-written. This just isn't a style I personally like very much.
A Taste of Honey: 5
First, 500 stars for that cover. It is amazing. I'd have read the book just for that. Yes, I really would.
Second, wow, I loved this writing style. Yes, it was problematic. At times it became overly florid and some of the dialogue is anachronistic, but mostly I loved it. I especially appreciated the difference in dialect between Aqib and Lucrio.
Third, the ending. For most of the book I was enjoying it, but I wasn't loving it. The ending pulled this from a four-star read to a five-star read for me. Several complaints I'd harbored for most of the book were resolved in one fell swoop.
Fourth, I love the way gender norms were convoluted. Yes, if I'm honest, I often find this a cheap plot device and in a way, it is here too, but I think it's done usually well and I really enjoyed it. There were several points in the book where I just had to set it aside and laugh. This is never a bad thing to have happen, in my opinion.
Fifth, setting the book in a culture that more closely resembles Islam than Christianity. It's fantasy, so it's neither really, but so often you can see the roots of the imaginings, and here it's a refreshing change to find something beyond the strictures of the Christian church.
My only real complaints are the occasional missing word that I didn't think was intentional, but rather editing mishaps, and that I didn't feel overly connected to the characters. You don't get to know Lucrio at all really and Aqib always felt a little detached; his life speeding by too fast to really grab ahold of. But overall, I really enjoyed this and will be searching out more of Wilson's writing. I know, for example, that he has some free reads on Tor.com.
The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion:
Passing Strange:
The Black Tides of Heaven: 3.5
I so wanted to love this more than I did. I liked it, ok, but I didn't love it. In fact, I checked out books one and two from the library and, though I enjoyed book one, I still returned book two unread. I liked the non-western fantasy setting. I liked the genderless children (even if the singular use of they clashed with the plural they on occasion since there were two main characters). The writing is lyrical and I liked that too. But when it comes right down to it, I'm not a fan of that sparse writing style common in Chinese writing. This book covers 30+ years in a novella. As a result, I never felt I really got to know the characters or was invested in the building rebellion. I'm claiming no lack of quality. I can sense that it's well-written. This just isn't a style I personally like very much.
A Taste of Honey: 5
First, 500 stars for that cover. It is amazing. I'd have read the book just for that. Yes, I really would.
Second, wow, I loved this writing style. Yes, it was problematic. At times it became overly florid and some of the dialogue is anachronistic, but mostly I loved it. I especially appreciated the difference in dialect between Aqib and Lucrio.
Third, the ending. For most of the book I was enjoying it, but I wasn't loving it. The ending pulled this from a four-star read to a five-star read for me. Several complaints I'd harbored for most of the book were resolved in one fell swoop.
Fourth, I love the way gender norms were convoluted. Yes, if I'm honest, I often find this a cheap plot device and in a way, it is here too, but I think it's done usually well and I really enjoyed it. There were several points in the book where I just had to set it aside and laugh. This is never a bad thing to have happen, in my opinion.
Fifth, setting the book in a culture that more closely resembles Islam than Christianity. It's fantasy, so it's neither really, but so often you can see the roots of the imaginings, and here it's a refreshing change to find something beyond the strictures of the Christian church.
My only real complaints are the occasional missing word that I didn't think was intentional, but rather editing mishaps, and that I didn't feel overly connected to the characters. You don't get to know Lucrio at all really and Aqib always felt a little detached; his life speeding by too fast to really grab ahold of. But overall, I really enjoyed this and will be searching out more of Wilson's writing. I know, for example, that he has some free reads on Tor.com.
The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion:
Passing Strange:
Read
September 1, 2019This was a free giveaway by Tor for Pride month! It consists of four very different novellas that roughly speaking fall into the "fantasy" genre and all have a LGBTQ theme. Of those the only one I'd heard of before is JY Yang's _The Black Tides of Heaven_ which was nominated for all the awards.
Novellas are always a little bit risky because they often seem to come across as either overly long short stories -- which I'd say the first two here are -- or really short novels, which the Yang is. Of these four, I think _A Taste of Honey_ is the one that truly needed to tell the story in this format.
As a piece of social history, these stories strongly suggest that sexual identity is becoming more fluid. _Passing Strange_ by Ellen Klages focuses on a Lesbian couple with a capital L -- but it's a deliberately old-fashioned period piece set in 1930's San Francisco. Of the characters in the other stories, I'd challenge anyone to say precisely what their fixed gender identity or sexual preference really is -- except perhaps in the case of _Black Tides_ where evidently people get to select their gender in a mysterious process after mostly growing up genderless and using the pronoun "they".
Perhaps more interestingly, monogamous romantic love is almost entirely absent from 3 of the stories. Characters might go to bed with each other out of any number of motivations -- companionship, hatred, reasons of state -- but it's rarely out of a conventional sense of true love. There are still no happily ever afters here.
Novellas are always a little bit risky because they often seem to come across as either overly long short stories -- which I'd say the first two here are -- or really short novels, which the Yang is. Of these four, I think _A Taste of Honey_ is the one that truly needed to tell the story in this format.
As a piece of social history, these stories strongly suggest that sexual identity is becoming more fluid. _Passing Strange_ by Ellen Klages focuses on a Lesbian couple with a capital L -- but it's a deliberately old-fashioned period piece set in 1930's San Francisco. Of the characters in the other stories, I'd challenge anyone to say precisely what their fixed gender identity or sexual preference really is -- except perhaps in the case of _Black Tides_ where evidently people get to select their gender in a mysterious process after mostly growing up genderless and using the pronoun "they".
Perhaps more interestingly, monogamous romantic love is almost entirely absent from 3 of the stories. Characters might go to bed with each other out of any number of motivations -- companionship, hatred, reasons of state -- but it's rarely out of a conventional sense of true love. There are still no happily ever afters here.
September 27, 2019
It's so hard to rate a compilation book. Two of the stories were just ok and two were quite good.
The lamb will slaughter the lion - This book was a bit preachy for me. While anarchism is an interesting topic, I'm not a huge fan of it being thrown at me the way this book did. It was a strangely weird and serious book, right up until it took a weird twist and turned into buffy the vampire hunter. It just didnt work for me.
Passing strange - I enjoyed the present and then past way this story was told. The premise was fascinating, and I really enjoyed learning more about the LGBTQ community across the timeline. I also loved one line specifically where they said if you liked to wear suits, you were called butch, if you wore lipstick you were called femme, why can you just be you and like women, why do we need the labels. That spoke to me. And I'm paraphrasing it horribly I imagine.
A taste of honey - there were some things I really enjoyed about this book and some things I really didnt. I wasnt a huge fan of the writing style or the way the main character treated others. But I did enjoy the slight twist that the story took.
The black tides of heaven - this was my favorite in the collection. I loved the world building and the magic system. And I will definitely be continuing on with this series.
The lamb will slaughter the lion - This book was a bit preachy for me. While anarchism is an interesting topic, I'm not a huge fan of it being thrown at me the way this book did. It was a strangely weird and serious book, right up until it took a weird twist and turned into buffy the vampire hunter. It just didnt work for me.
Passing strange - I enjoyed the present and then past way this story was told. The premise was fascinating, and I really enjoyed learning more about the LGBTQ community across the timeline. I also loved one line specifically where they said if you liked to wear suits, you were called butch, if you wore lipstick you were called femme, why can you just be you and like women, why do we need the labels. That spoke to me. And I'm paraphrasing it horribly I imagine.
A taste of honey - there were some things I really enjoyed about this book and some things I really didnt. I wasnt a huge fan of the writing style or the way the main character treated others. But I did enjoy the slight twist that the story took.
The black tides of heaven - this was my favorite in the collection. I loved the world building and the magic system. And I will definitely be continuing on with this series.
Read
June 18, 20201. The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion | [my review]
2. Passing Strange | [my review]
3. A Taste of Honey | [my review]
4. The Black Tides of Heaven | [my review]
2. Passing Strange | [my review]
3. A Taste of Honey | [my review]
4. The Black Tides of Heaven | [my review]
February 2, 2021
Thanks to Tor.com, I’ve been on a free sci-fi novella kick. This book added four more to the 9 I’ve read this past year or so. In addition, I’ve been aiming for a wider diversity of SF authors, so I’ve been reading Chinese sci-fi, Africanfuturism, and now this set with LGBT protagonists. The current collection is a pretty fun range. Here’s the short overview: one preachy, but fun punk horror story--the most political (Killjoy); one charming and loosely magical realist piece set it San Francisco--the most historical (Klages); one richly detailed diachronic saga--the most anthropological (Wilson); and one Asian-influenced empire fantasy, with ambiguous pronouns and great world building--the most sociological (Yang). (For the latter, I suggest that if you want to sell readers on singular "they", you not have twin protagonists! That said, I sought out and enjoyed the rest of the trilogy.) Altogether, a great set of new authors to pursue.
June 18, 2019
The novellas in this anthology are amazing. Cross-cultural and cross-genre as well as showing different colors of the LGBTQ+ rainbow, all four depict people who wish to live simply as they are. I can't really say I had a personal favorite; I loved all of these for their writing and very different perspectives:
- "The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion" hooked me right away with its folk-horror and political elements.
- "Passing Strange" continues to haunt me for its depiction of San Francisco and the way it treated lesbians in the 1940s.
- "A Taste of Honey" and "The Black Tides of Heaven" are both the most fantasy-oriented of the four, but the worldbuilding in both is amazing and the stories gripped me from beginning to end.
"Lamb" and "Tides" both kick off series which I'm looking forward to reading more of!
- "The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion" hooked me right away with its folk-horror and political elements.
- "Passing Strange" continues to haunt me for its depiction of San Francisco and the way it treated lesbians in the 1940s.
- "A Taste of Honey" and "The Black Tides of Heaven" are both the most fantasy-oriented of the four, but the worldbuilding in both is amazing and the stories gripped me from beginning to end.
"Lamb" and "Tides" both kick off series which I'm looking forward to reading more of!
December 1, 2019
I wanted to love this. I really am happy to have been introduced to new authors and new worlds. The only story in this quartet, however, that I really liked was "Passing Strange," a historical fantasy set in New York. "The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion" was a little creepy, "A Taste of Honey" was confusing because it jumped around in time, and "The Black Tides of Heaven" was just too brutal.
There is such a range of story styles represented here that I think people will find at least one story in this collection that interests them. It was definitely interesting to get non-hetero main characters and see different perspectives on how fantasy can be written.
There is such a range of story styles represented here that I think people will find at least one story in this collection that interests them. It was definitely interesting to get non-hetero main characters and see different perspectives on how fantasy can be written.
Read
September 1, 2020No combined stars for the whole anthology because I didn't read all novellas.
The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion by Margaret Killjoy - I skipped this one. Not my cup of tea.
Passing Strangeby Ellen Klages - mesmerizing story about San Francisco during WWII. I enjoyed the story very much.
A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson - the combination of a alternative language use and the timeline jumpiness made my head spin and not in a good way. The novella leaves a dreamasque aftertaste. What was it? A nightmare? A phantasma? Another realm? I'm not sure.
The Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang - hands down the best of the anthology. I'm off to read the series.
The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion by Margaret Killjoy - I skipped this one. Not my cup of tea.
Passing Strangeby Ellen Klages - mesmerizing story about San Francisco during WWII. I enjoyed the story very much.
A Taste of Honey by Kai Ashante Wilson - the combination of a alternative language use and the timeline jumpiness made my head spin and not in a good way. The novella leaves a dreamasque aftertaste. What was it? A nightmare? A phantasma? Another realm? I'm not sure.
The Black Tides of Heaven by JY Yang - hands down the best of the anthology. I'm off to read the series.
March 28, 2021
Like many others, I received this book for free during the time the publisher was giving it away. It is a collection of LGBTQ novellas.
That however is not what drives these stories. Yes, the protagonists are LGBTQ. But in these stories, that is just one part of these characters. These are amazing stories of being human and dealing with the human condition in all its ugly joy and difficulty. The masterful storytelling here simply lays bare what we should already know--LGBTQ people are just like all humans, learning to get along and find their way in life. What a joy to see them represented in such a matter-of-fact way.
That however is not what drives these stories. Yes, the protagonists are LGBTQ. But in these stories, that is just one part of these characters. These are amazing stories of being human and dealing with the human condition in all its ugly joy and difficulty. The masterful storytelling here simply lays bare what we should already know--LGBTQ people are just like all humans, learning to get along and find their way in life. What a joy to see them represented in such a matter-of-fact way.
August 4, 2021
Awesome collection of novellas.
Killjoy's and Yang's stories are really lovely and Klages's Passing Strange is among the most beautiful pieces I've ever read. I didn't like Wilson's story, but for reasons that are spoilers — it's very well written and the world he conjures is rich and detailed, I just didn't like an aspect of the plot.
I'll review each novella separately, on their own pages, and link then here once I have done.
Killjoy's and Yang's stories are really lovely and Klages's Passing Strange is among the most beautiful pieces I've ever read. I didn't like Wilson's story, but for reasons that are spoilers — it's very well written and the world he conjures is rich and detailed, I just didn't like an aspect of the plot.
I'll review each novella separately, on their own pages, and link then here once I have done.
June 17, 2019
Four gorgeous novellas, all of them queer. My heart is singing right now. Each story is captivating and transported me. I think my favorite was Passing Strange by Ellen Klages, but they were all so lovely I can't pick just one. Definitely a must read.
June 28, 2019
I received these LGBTQ short stories/novellas free from the publisher, and didn’t have very high expectations. I was very pleasantly surprised: The stories are fresh, rich, and well written, with interesting characters and inventive plots.
Read
November 19, 2020I have no idea how to rate this because the quality of the four stories in it varied so much. They ranged from excellent (the first one) to absolutely terrible (the last one) to good (the ones in the middle.
June 20, 2019
An entertaining quartet of lgbtqia+ novellas, all well-written, with interesting characters.
June 25, 2019
need to get physical copies of each ASAP bc these are all so so good
August 28, 2019
3 out of 4 ain't bad.
January 2, 2020
Hell. Yes.
Read
February 18, 2021(Please see separate novellas for ratings.)
June 29, 2020
Mi aspettavo che i racconti fossero incentrati più sulle tematiche LGBTQ+, in realtà solo in due è così. Di questi, Passing Strange mi è piaciuto molto per la storia e per l'ambientazione mentre di A Taste of Honey ho apprezzato l'ambientazione - sono quindi impaziente di leggere The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps, dello stesso autore - ma non mi è piaciuta per la trama che ho trovato troppo complessa e contorta.
Di sicuro mi sono piaciuti moltissimo The Lamb will slaughter the Lion e The Black Tides of Heaven, di cui in particolare vorrei proseguire nella lettura del ciclo di Tensorate - chissà quando, peraltro, ma troverò il modo.
Questo perché anche se ci sono personaggi lesbici o non-binari, il focus non è su questo fatto ma nel modo con cui questo si inserisce nella narrazione. A dirla tutta, l'unico dei quattro racconti che ci riesce in maniera degna è The Black Tides of Heaven , cosa che non mi stupisce dato che ha vinto l'Hugo 2018. In The Lamb will slaughter the Lion, invece, la cosa è sì presente ma è sentita in maniera non molto differente dal colore della pelle o da una particolare deformazione fisica.
Di sicuro mi sono piaciuti moltissimo The Lamb will slaughter the Lion e The Black Tides of Heaven, di cui in particolare vorrei proseguire nella lettura del ciclo di Tensorate - chissà quando, peraltro, ma troverò il modo.
Questo perché anche se ci sono personaggi lesbici o non-binari, il focus non è su questo fatto ma nel modo con cui questo si inserisce nella narrazione. A dirla tutta, l'unico dei quattro racconti che ci riesce in maniera degna è The Black Tides of Heaven , cosa che non mi stupisce dato che ha vinto l'Hugo 2018. In The Lamb will slaughter the Lion, invece, la cosa è sì presente ma è sentita in maniera non molto differente dal colore della pelle o da una particolare deformazione fisica.
July 24, 2019
This collection of four novella’s offered by Tor for Pride was an amazing read. Each one was totally different, but fascinating in their own way. Their unifying theme was of course LGBTQ+ characters existing in various fantasy settings, but each was a very different story.
Margaret Killjoy’s “The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion” takes place in an anarchist community where a demonic animal spirit has been summoned to protect the residents from those who would seek power. Can this spirit be put back down again before it destroys what it was meant to protect?
Ellen Klages “Passing Strange” takes place in a golden age San Fransisco, where two women fall in love. When the world closes in on them, will they find a way to escape together?
Kai Ashante Wilson’s “A Taste of Honey” tells the story of a young prince who falls in love with a foreign soldier. Will he choose love, or will his sense of responsibility to his family hold him back. What would happen if he had chosen differently?
JY Yang’s “The Black Tides of Heaven” is a silkpunk fantasy in an alternate world. A powerful ruler known as The Protector gives birth to twins. When they grow old enough, one chooses to become a girl, the other a boy. Both become powerful Tensors who shape the world with magic, and have important roles to play in events to come.
Margaret Killjoy’s “The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion” takes place in an anarchist community where a demonic animal spirit has been summoned to protect the residents from those who would seek power. Can this spirit be put back down again before it destroys what it was meant to protect?
Ellen Klages “Passing Strange” takes place in a golden age San Fransisco, where two women fall in love. When the world closes in on them, will they find a way to escape together?
Kai Ashante Wilson’s “A Taste of Honey” tells the story of a young prince who falls in love with a foreign soldier. Will he choose love, or will his sense of responsibility to his family hold him back. What would happen if he had chosen differently?
JY Yang’s “The Black Tides of Heaven” is a silkpunk fantasy in an alternate world. A powerful ruler known as The Protector gives birth to twins. When they grow old enough, one chooses to become a girl, the other a boy. Both become powerful Tensors who shape the world with magic, and have important roles to play in events to come.
August 1, 2020
Four novellas. A great way to sample the works of multiple authors. All of them held my interest; a couple of them intrigued me. I definitely want to read more of the JY Yang series. And there was a story set in San Francisco which intrigued me (especially when it didn’t go exactly where I expected it to go).
I wish it were easier to find anthologies of novellas, because I often balk at paying what is asked for a single novella. More pages can feel (especially when those pages are still unread) like better “bang for the buck” But when collected together, I feel less pressure, if I find one or two of the novellas less enjoyable
I wish it were easier to find anthologies of novellas, because I often balk at paying what is asked for a single novella. More pages can feel (especially when those pages are still unread) like better “bang for the buck” But when collected together, I feel less pressure, if I find one or two of the novellas less enjoyable
June 12, 2024
The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion: 3 stars, more of a sketch than a story, with the fantasy elements feeling like a different tale than the social ones.
Passing Strange: 4.5 stars, wow what an idea!
A Taste of Honey: wow, an amazing 5 stars. Heartfelt, honest, deeply engaging and hoooboy I want so very much to spend more time in this world! Moving KAW way up in the TBR pile.
The Black Tides of Heaven: 4 stars, didn't quite stick the landing but excellent storytelling up until the end.
Passing Strange: 4.5 stars, wow what an idea!
A Taste of Honey: wow, an amazing 5 stars. Heartfelt, honest, deeply engaging and hoooboy I want so very much to spend more time in this world! Moving KAW way up in the TBR pile.
The Black Tides of Heaven: 4 stars, didn't quite stick the landing but excellent storytelling up until the end.
December 1, 2020
4 wonderful stories and beautifully developed worlds.
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