In Our Own Worlds #2: Four LGBTQ+ Tor.com Novellas

In Our Own Worlds #2

by Katharine Duckett, Seanan McGuire, Lina Rather

In celebration of Pride, Tor.com Publishing presents four critically acclaimed novellas featuring LGBTQ+ characters.

Miranda in Milan by Katharine Duckett
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
Sisters of the Vast Black by Lina Rather
Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson

With Miranda in Milan, debut author Katharine Duckett reimagines the consequences of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, casting Miranda into a Milanese pit of vipers and building a queer love story that lifts off the page in whirlwinds of feeling.

After the tempest, after the reunion, after her father drowned his books, Miranda was meant to enter a brave new world. Naples awaited her, and Ferdinand, and a throne. Instead she finds herself in Milan, in her father’s castle, surrounded by hostile servants who treat her like a ghost. Whispers cling to her like spiderwebs, whispers that carry her dead mother’s name. And though he promised to give away his power, Milan is once again contorting around Prospero’s dark arts.

With only Dorothea, her sole companion and confidant to aid her, Miranda must cut through the mystery and find the truth about her father, her mother, and herself.

NPR calls Every Heart a Doorway "a mini-masterpiece of portal fantasy — a jewel of a book that deserves to be shelved with Lewis Carroll's and C. S. Lewis' classics". Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and Alex AWARD winner, World Fantasy and British Fantasy Award finalist, and Tiptree Honor List title.

Eleanor West's Home for Wayward Children
No Solicitations
No Visitors
No Quests

Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere... else.

But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.

Nancy tumbled once, but now she's back. The things she's experienced... they change a person. The children under Miss West's care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.

But Nancy's arrival marks a change at the Home. There's a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it's up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of things.

No matter the cost.

The sisters of the Order of Saint Rita captain their living ship into the reaches of space in Lina Rather's debut novella, Sisters of the Vast Black.

Years ago, Old Earth sent forth sisters and brothers into the vast dark of the prodigal colonies armed only with crucifixes and iron faith. Now, the sisters of the Order of Saint Rita are on an interstellar mission of mercy aboard Our Lady of Impossible Constellations, a living, breathing ship which seems determined to develop a will of its own.

When the order receives a distress call from a newly-formed colony, the sisters discover that the bodies and souls in their care—and that of the galactic diaspora—are in danger. And not from void beyond, but from the nascent Central Governance and the Church itself.

Sorcerer of the Wildeeps is the Crawford Award-winning novella that Wired listed as one of their twenty-five all-time favorite books.

Critically acclaimed author Kai Ashante Wilson makes his commercial debut with this striking, wondrous tale of gods and mortals, magic and steel, and life and death that will reshape how you look at sword and sorcery.

Since leaving his homeland, the earthbound demigod Demane has been labeled a sorcerer. With his ancestors' artifacts in hand, the Sorcerer follows the Captain, a beautiful man with song for a voice and hair that drinks the sunlight.

The two of them are the descendants of the gods who abandoned the Earth for Heaven, and they will need all the gifts those divine ancestors left to them to keep their caravan brothers alive.

The one safe road between the northern oasis and southern kingdom is stalked by a necromantic terror. Demane may have to master his wild powers and trade humanity for godhood if he is to keep his brothers and his beloved captain alive.

At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Queer, Science Fiction, Short Stories, Anthologies, LGBT

491 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 19, 2020

About the author

Katharine Duckett is the author of Miranda in Milan, a Shakespearean fantasy novella debut that NPR calls "intriguing, adept, inventive, and sexy." Her short fiction has appeared in Uncanny, Apex, PseudoPod, and Interzone, as well as various anthologies including Disabled People Destroy Science Fiction and Wilde Stories 2015: The Year's Best Gay Speculative Fiction. She is the guest fiction editor for Uncanny's Disabled People Destroy Fantasy issue.

Reviews

[Tadiana ✩Night Owl☽]

Four fantasy novellas, including Every Heart a Doorway, available for free through Tor's ebook of the month club. Download before midnight, June 5, at https://ebookclub.tor.com/

[Victoria · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miranda in Milan - Well, I’m uncultured and have never read The Tempest, so. I am definitely missing stuff here. I really enjoyed this story despite missing the foundational information, and the author explains the word well enough that I stopped feeling after the first chapter or so. Miranda remembers nothing before her life on the island and is new to being in the world, so following her perspective allows the narration to smoothly reveal the events after Prospero’s return. The mystery surrounding Miranda, her finally acknowledging the true nature of Prospero, learning her own privilege, and finally agreeing to make up for her past transgressions (to LISTEN!!) and seek happiness and love with Duriya.

Every Heart a Doorway - I actually read Down Among the Sticks and Bones before this, somehow. I enjoyed Every Heart much more than Down Among, although that may be because Every Heart has a lot of the exposition in it that would have been useful when reading Down Among… Every Heart has a compelling cast of characters, and even if I didn’t like some of them on a personal level, they were all very distinct and had their own unique voice. I think it can be difficult to strike a balance between making the story feel full of people and maintaining recognizable individuals, and Every Heart has managed to nail it. Plot-wise WELL I GUESS I NEED TO READ Come Tumbling Down NOW. THANKS. Also, I loved Nancy. I empathized so much with her feelings that people were just too much, too loud, too fast. The sensory overload is absolutely exhausting. I’m so glad she got to go back through her door (and I was also very upset about Loriel’s chance being cut short. The fact that her door existed and that little description of it hurt me).

Sisters of the Vast Black - I’ve had this on my wishlist for a while, so I’m glad to finally be able to read it. I loved the style that this novella was written in, where the worldbuilding, character defining information, and plot were so tightly interwoven that I felt as though I was witnessing some sort of magic trick to fit so much into so little text. Despite this, I found myself only moderately invested in the characters. I’m not exactly sure if it’s that the narrative voice switched between characters or something else. The greatest drives I felt to continue reading were from my curiosity about the universe and my desire to see the outcome of the Reverend Mother’s past coming back to haunt the present. If the author writes more in this universe, I’d read it in a heartbeat.

Sorcerer of the Wildeeps - A lot of this story felt very slice of life (until the last quarter or so), but for me, I never felt that it dragged in pacing. The tidbits of worldbuilding and slow reveal of biographical details of both Demane and the Captain kept me hooked. The prose was dense and parts were about as close to poetry as it could get without turning into verse. I really, really enjoyed the experience itself of reading this story. The story was also good, at least a 4 out of 5, but the lyricallity of the writing and the science-fiction-masquerading-as-fantasy bit that the author pulled off made it a solid 5 out of 5. The ending is perhaps ambiguous, of which I know some readers are not fond. However, I think that the unanswered questions have led me to reflect over every facet of the story with more scrutiny than I would have otherwise. And wow. They are glorious facets.

[J.F.R. Coates · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really interesting mix of stories in here, some I liked more than others.

The first was interesting, though I did struggle with it at first. Given I am largely unfamiliar with The Tempest, I imagine this was a significant part of my troubles with it.
The second story was easily my favourite of the four. I adored the characters, the premise, and the world(s) that were touched upon. Really good story, and would be interested to know more.
The third started slow, but gradually increased my interest as it went on. This was clearly just a drop in the ocean of stories that could be told in this setting.
The fourth unfortunately was the weakest. I just couldn't get a good grasp on what was going on. Every time I thought I understood it, something got me lost again. There were some interesting ideas in here, but I just couldn't link them together.

[Isabelle | Nine Tale Vixen]

1. Miranda in Milan | [my review]
2. Every Heart a Doorway | [my review]
3. Sisters of the Vast Black | [my review]
4. The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps | [my DNF review]

[Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

For Pride Month, I thought I would read Tor.com’s second LGBTQ+ collection of novellas which feature LGBTQ+ characters and authors. I think this year’s offering is even better than last years! First, this is part of what McMillan’s website has to say about the offerings:

“With Miranda in Milan, debut author Katharine Duckett reimagines the consequences of Shakespeare’s The Tempest, casting Miranda into a Milanese pit of vipers and building a queer love story that lifts off the page in whirlwinds of feeling.”

“NPR calls Every Heart a Doorway "a mini-masterpiece of portal fantasy — a jewel of a book that deserves to be shelved with Lewis Carroll's and C. S. Lewis' classics". Hugo, Nebula, Locus, and Alex Award winner, World Fantasy and British Fantasy Award finalist, and Tiptree Honor List title.”

“The sisters of the Order of Saint Rita captain their living ship into the reaches of space in Lina Rather's debut novella, Sisters of the Vast Black.”

“Sorcerer of the Wildeeps is the Crawford Award-winning novella that Wired listed as one of their twenty-five all-time favorite books.”

Each of these novellas really was surprisingly good. My two favorites were Every Heart a Doorway and Sorcerer of the Wildeeps, but all four were very impressive, and quite memorable.

Every Heart a Doorway is a seriously deep portal fantasy, involving a home for young people who disappeared through doorways to other worlds, then returned. It’s also a murder mystery...

In Sorcerer of the Wildeeps, Kai Ashante Wilson returns to the world of his novella A Taste of Honey where the “gods” had visited the world and interbred with humans, leaving the descendants with special talents. This world has a decidedly different flavor from most fantasy settings. I’d like to read some more stories set in this realm.

So, individually, or as a bundle, I recomend these novellas. Particularly if one wishes to see LGBTQ+ characters in your stories.

[Sadie Forsythe]

I'll add reviews as I finish each book.

Miranda in Milan:

Every Heart a Doorway:

Sisters of the Vast Black:

Sorcerer of the Wildeeps: 2
Oh wow, I did not expect to not like this book. I loved A Taste of Honey and expected to love this too. It just wasn't to be!

First off, the writing is beautiful. It's very poetic. But, BUT all that poetry is at the cost of clarity. So many times I read passages and didn't know what they meant or what was actually happening. I was constantly confused about the timeline, unsure if what I was reading was a flashback or something happening in the future or where I might be in between.

Second, there are the dialects the characters use. Now, I read an article by Wilson in which he talked about how important it is to him to include certain speech patterns in his writing. He talked about cultural and linguistic hierarchies and such. And in general, I don't have a problem with this, applaud it even. But some of what was used in this book worked and some just felt painfully anachronistic, worse it's a fantasy setting that might not even be on Earth. So some of the language just didn't fit at all, even if I saw what the author was trying to do.

And then there was the ending; the did he or didn't he, obscure, unsatisfying, probably tragic ending. Nope. That was the last straw for me. I appreciated the diverse characterization, the lovely cover, and am open to more of Wilson's writing, but this book was not a winner.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

Story #1 - love the premise, wanted to like it more than I did. The writing style is fine but the pacing is kind of weird and I disliked the whole deux ex machina at the climax/ end. This is one of those stories where I feel like I'm too old for the story, or at least find the main character's POV not that accessible. On the other hand, I would read an entire novel about a pair of lesbians and their zombie mother in law trying to set up a household on a magical island, so who knows.

Story #2 - have reviewed separately before. Love the entire book. Own the book. Re-read it twice already.

Story #3 - of the new stories in this book this one is my favorite. I have a weakness for space operas and this story just does SO MUCH. It's got a novel's worth of themes -- about faith, about humanity, about rise in fascism, about life and death and war. The world building is fantastic and I adore the fusion of biotech with space travel.

Story #4 - NOT my taste in writing style. Interesting but it feels more like an epic poem that got forced through a translation algorithm then converted to prose. However, I must say that the stuff it does with linguistics is every bit as good as CLOCKWORK ORANGE and it does NOT have the problematic bits that made me want to fling the book against the wall. Would 100% recommend replacing CLOCKWORK ORANGE with this instead in high school curriculum except the conservative parents would riot, because of Teh Gays and think of the children, Karen, THINK OF THE CHILDREN.

[Thistle · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book contained four novellas:
- Miranda in Milan by Katharine Duckett. A retelling of Shakespeare’s The Tempest. I couldn't get into it at all and stopped trying a few pages in.
- Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire. This one was AMAZING. Set in our world, now and then doorways into other worlds open for certain children. Sometimes the doorways later open again and they are returned. There are secret schools for those kids, since they're now so different and can no longer fit in to our world. So so so so good. I can't wait to read the rest of the books in the series.
- Sisters of the Vast Black by Lina Rather. This was such a strange story, but I really enjoyed it. Set in the distant future, nuns set out on living space ships to tend to groups of people around the universe. I don't generally enjoy stories about real world religions, but this one was so interesting. The living ship was a fascinating "character" as well.
- Sorcerer of the Wildeeps by Kai Ashante Wilson. I'm not sure how this even got onto a "best" list. It really needed an editor (author used semicolons so often and every time wrong). Story didn't hook me at all (seemed to be set in the past, but the characters all used very modern, urban slang), so I dropped it.

[Pat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Read half. Miranda in Milan was a 2-star; Sisters of the Vast Black rated higher; both already reviewed.

I'm not McGuire's audience, though I tried with Every Heart a Doorway and didn't make it past the hideously unhuman dialog in the first couple of scenes. Yes: your mindset is different because you've spent time in a strange world that may or may not match up with the way your brain works, but nobody actually talks the way those characters do, and it didn't look as if it would be improving.

Didn't finish Sorcerer of the Wildeeps, either, once I realized that I (a) had to reread sentences more than once just to almost untangle what was going on and (b) was skimming ahead as a result, hoping that something would actually happen that I would want to try to untangle. I've read a lot of prose produced by students attempting academic writing, and Sorcerer read like someone trying to sound literary. Good grief, just tell me what's going on in the scene! Big disappointment, because the setup was intriguing.

[Dottie · Rating 4 out of 5]

So hard to rate a compilation book like this.

Miranda in Milan - I enjoyed the plot and characters in this one. I found the main character to be very naive but understandably so.

Every heart a doorway - the world for this novella is super fascinating and I'm excited to read more of the stories.

Sisters in the vast black - this one reminded me of Dr Who. Definitely enjoyed.

Sorcerer of the Wildeeps - I did not enjoy this one. It was very slow in the beginning and alternated between a very hard to understand narrative and a very heavy slang dialog. It was hard to follow what was going on. Then the story finally started to ramp up and was actually quite good. Only to be followed up by a terrible ending. I'm betting there are people out there who enjoyed this a lot, but this one was not for me.

[Virginia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Since this is a collection of four novellas I got from Tor (500 pages--it's a book!), I've averaged the rating to 4 stars.

I loved Every Heart a Doorway and will be looking for everything written by Seanan McGuire. I really liked Sisters of the Vast Black, too. It took me a while to get into Miranda in Milan. I liked some aspects of Sorcerer of the Wildeeps but that was definitely my least favorite story.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you Tor for this book. I think I've read 3 of these 4 separately , already, but it was nice to have on my kindle for a quick reread when I didn't have a book with me. Every Heart a Doorway remains my favorite.

[Sasha Ambroz]

DNF. I think it's just ill-timing. None of the four novellas held my attention for more than two or three pages.

[Madison · Rating 3 out of 5]

Miranda in Milan: 1.5 stars
Every Heart a Doorway: 4 stars
Sisters of the Vast Black: 3.5 stars
The Sorcerer of the Wildkeeps: 2 stars

[Mya R · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars? I enjoyed 2/4 of the stories, glad I read the other 2 but they weren’t my style.

[Rhiannon Graye · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent collection of novels. Diverse stories, each superbly written. I highly recommend!

[Josh Mauthe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Miranda in Milan: 4 stars
Every Heart a Doorway (previously read): 3.5 stars
Sisters of the Vast Black: 4.5 stars
Sorcerer of the Wildedeeps (previously read): 4.5 stars

[Zeta Syanthis · Rating 5 out of 5]

I just finished reading Every Heart a Doorway, and I am crying now, for pain and love and heart.

And Sorcerer of the Wildeeps.

Blew me away. <3

[Vedrana · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book contains four different stories, from different authors and different genres, there is fantasy, mystery, science fiction, romance...

The first story, Miranda in Milan I overall liked it was a bit of supernatural a bit of mystery and a bit romance. The characters were okay for a very short story and there were interesting aspects I wished were maybe explored further.

The second story Every Heart Doorway really stuck with me. The mystery itself was okay, I was able to predict certain aspects of its but the whole premise of the story and the world is really interesting and unique and the characters were very developed and each of them is very distinct and interesting to read about.

Sisters of the Vast Black, the third entry, was I think my favorite out of the four. The premise of the story, the plot, the world it was super interesting! I really wished it was longer. The only thing that bothered me were that the characters voices were really undistinguishable from one another, each sister does have a unique personality but when the POVs switched it was hard to tell which one was I reading about. Still I do hope the author writes more in this world since I would be more than willing to read it.

The last of the stories in this book, The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps was the one I had most trouble with. I just couldn't get into it. The plot was weirdly structured, the writing style was hard to get into and I nearly gave it up but pushed myself trough it since there were interesting aspects of the story and the characters and I wanted to see it trough. I am not happy I did so. The ending was rather ambiguous (or maybe it escaped my comprehension abilities since I wasn't so engrossed with the story as I wished) and disappointing. All in all this particular story was not for me.

[lvndr · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Sorceror of the Wildeeps was my favourite of all the stories here. I have also read Kai Ashante Wilson's "A Taste of Honey" from the 1st iteration of this anthology and I liked Sorceror much more in comparison. There is something so satisfying about Kai Ashante Wilson's writing; they are so effective with so sparingly a word. I would ravish anything they put out at this point. 

[Francesco · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anche quest'anno Tor ha realizzato una raccolta di racconti a tema LGBTQ+, e anche quest'anno il risultato è ambivalente. Per quanto i racconti siano tutti più o meno incentrati sulla tematica, in realtà in alcuni di questi si tratta solo di una caratteristica del (della, di solito) protagonista, e non il problema centrale della storia; o perlomeno, avrei preferito che fosse maggiormente enfatizzato nella narrazione.

Miranda in Milan
Dopo le avventure raccontate da Shakespeare nella celebre The Tempest, il Duca Prospero e la figlia Miranda tornano a Milano. Qui lei dovrà scoprire un misterioso segreto di famiglia e nel frattempo decidere se diventare l'infelice regina di Napoli o fuggire nel mondo in cerca di un posto in cui vivere il proprio amore verso Dorothea alla luce del sole.

Every Heart a Doorway
Stranamente per i miei standard, essendo caotico e disordinato, l'ho trovato un racconto bellissimo. Immaginate un multiverso in cui ogni persona abbia un mondo a cui accedere che rispecchi il suo carattere o i suoi desideri segreti. In questo romanzo c'è esattamente questo, o meglio c'è la difficoltà di "riadattarsi" al mondo "normale" dopo aver sperimentato un mondo su misura.
Credo che sia il racconto che centra meglio il tema della raccolta.

Sisters of the Vast Black
Una rinfrescante storia sci-fi, anche se mi devono spiegare perché recentemente c'è questa strana moda di avere astronavi "organiche". Leggere le avventure di questo gruppo di suore dell'Ordine di Santa Rita mi ha scatenato l'associazione al mondo di The Expanse (almeno la serie, perché i libri ancora non li ho letti) e un po' quello degli Hyperion Cantos. Nel dubbio, c'è anche una sorella che decide di lasciare il velo per coronare il suo sogno d'amore con una donna-meccanico (aggiungiamoci quindi anche Firefly, perché a me è venuta in mente Kaylee - pur essendo conscio che lei è etero, oh se è etero!).

Sorcerer of the Wildeeps
Ancora una volta Kai Ashante Wilson scrive una novella confusa ma decisamente accattivante come contenuti e come stile narrativo. Il mondo che tratteggia, con questi elementi esotici mescolati ad altri perfettamente "noti", è ancora più affascinante di quello delineato in A Taste of Honey, ma anche in questo caso rimane sul fondo. Il mio problema è che a me della love story di Demane con il Capitano fregava pochissimo, io volevo saperne di più sugli antenati divini di entrambi e sul perché 'sta Strada non se ne sta ferma ma si sposta. Stavano andando a Timbuctu?