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Stone and Steel
When General Aaliyah returns triumphant to the city of Titus, she expects to find the people prospering under the rule of her Queen, the stone mage Odessa. Instead, she finds a troubling imbalance in both the citizens’ wellbeing and Odessa’s rule. Aaliyah must rely on all of her allies, old and new, to do right by the city that made her.
92 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 5, 2020
12 people are currently reading
1261 people want to read
About the author
Eboni J. Dunbar
6 books67 followersEboni J. Dunbar (She/her) is a queer, black woman who writes queer and black speculative fiction. She lives in Northern California with her wife. She received her BA from Macalester College in English and her MFA in Creative Writing from Mills College. Eboni is a VONA Alum, and the former managing editor for the Hugo Award-Winning FIYAH Literary Magazine. She is also the winner of the Lambda Literary 2023 Randall Kenan Prize for Black LGBTQ Fiction and the IGNYTE Award 2024 for outstanding novelette for "Spell for Grief and Longing" (FIYAH, issue 26).
Her work can be found in Stellium Literary Magazine, FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, Drabblecast, Anathema: Spec from the margins, Nightlight Podcast and Beneath Ceaseless Skies. She also has a novella, Stone and Steel, out from Neon Hemlock, order here.
Eboni has also been nominated for an Ignyte Award in the Novella Category for Stone and Steel in 2022.
She can be found on Twitter: @ebonidunbar, BlueSky: @ebonidunbar.bsky.social IG: ej_beezington
Sign up for my newsletter: https://buttondown.com/ebonidunbar
Her work can be found in Stellium Literary Magazine, FIYAH Magazine of Black Speculative Fiction, Drabblecast, Anathema: Spec from the margins, Nightlight Podcast and Beneath Ceaseless Skies. She also has a novella, Stone and Steel, out from Neon Hemlock, order here.
Eboni has also been nominated for an Ignyte Award in the Novella Category for Stone and Steel in 2022.
She can be found on Twitter: @ebonidunbar, BlueSky: @ebonidunbar.bsky.social IG: ej_beezington
Sign up for my newsletter: https://buttondown.com/ebonidunbar
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June 19, 2020From the author's Twitter:
"Looking for a f/f speculative novella that's black as hell and queer as hell? Look no further than Stone and Steel out September 5th."
-Via Eboni
"Looking for a f/f speculative novella that's black as hell and queer as hell? Look no further than Stone and Steel out September 5th."
-Via Eboni
January 5, 2021
I am really, REALLY struggling with whether to give this 2 or 3 stars. I am settling on 2.5 stars rounded up because yay Black speculative fiction authors. #sorrynotsorry
However, this comes with a caveat. I do not think this was particularly well-written. I know that novellas can tell a complete story in a short amount of time, and have seen it done on numerous occasions. I do not feel like this book accomplished that. I still had too many unanswered questions at the end. There were typos and punctuation errors that just irked me - and I cannot and will not apologize for my frustration on that front.
I wanted to be happy that this was "hella Black," as one review called it, but it just did not work for me. AAVE was too underutilized to feel authentic - the passages that used it could have easily been rewritten to fit the rest of story. And I feel uncomfortable giving that criticism because while I'd love more fantasy set or partially set in the hood, here it just felt like an afterthought.
There were some elements that could have been explored more (further explanation of the element and mage systems, for example) that led to my feeling that this story was incomplete. The reveal of the heroine's origin felt rushed, the supposed gender/lack thereof diversity understated... There were just too many things that should have set this story apart that were not developed enough to make it memorable.
However, this comes with a caveat. I do not think this was particularly well-written. I know that novellas can tell a complete story in a short amount of time, and have seen it done on numerous occasions. I do not feel like this book accomplished that. I still had too many unanswered questions at the end. There were typos and punctuation errors that just irked me - and I cannot and will not apologize for my frustration on that front.
I wanted to be happy that this was "hella Black," as one review called it, but it just did not work for me. AAVE was too underutilized to feel authentic - the passages that used it could have easily been rewritten to fit the rest of story. And I feel uncomfortable giving that criticism because while I'd love more fantasy set or partially set in the hood, here it just felt like an afterthought.
There were some elements that could have been explored more (further explanation of the element and mage systems, for example) that led to my feeling that this story was incomplete. The reveal of the heroine's origin felt rushed, the supposed gender/lack thereof diversity understated... There were just too many things that should have set this story apart that were not developed enough to make it memorable.
May 19, 2021
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October 29, 2020
This was a very disappointing book. The writing is decent and there is some potential in the setting and plot, but the whole thing is so sloppily executed that I only finished reading it because it is so short. It is doubly disappointing that it is nonetheless so highly rated; if you want to read speculative fiction/fantasy novellas by queer people of color, I'd suggest Kai Ashante Wilson's The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps or A Taste of Honey or even J.Y. Yang's Tensorate series, such as The Black Tides of Heaven or The Red Threads of Fortune. None of these are my favorite books (and I have some strong critiques of several of them), but they are strongly character-focused stories that sensibly incorporate modern concerns and issues into fantasy settings that exhibit thoughtful-- or at least evocative-- world-building. That is the type of story this work presumably aspires to be, but it would require a good deal more effort and editing to get there.
Some specific critiques:
--The scale is all wrong. The setting includes three kingdoms and a southern lands recently conquered/annexed by one of the kingdoms. It feels generically grand and epic, but actually everything is much smaller and more compact that you would expect. The "kingdoms" don't seem to consist of more than their capital cities (and I would assume the farmlands that support the urban populations, though there is no indication that the author was aware of this). And at least two of those cities are mere days travel away from each other.
--The magic system is a lazy knockoff version of Avatar's bending, less the martial-arts associations, and with two extra elements: Iron and Bone. Expanding the element list feels pointless since really only air, earth, and bone are featured prominently; a supporting character controls fire, but doesn't do much with it, only a single water mage shows up as a mook near the end of the story, and there are zero iron mages featured (yes, it is one of the two orders on the outs with the current ruler, but then why is there another mook bone mage acting in Odessa's defense in the end?). All of the uses of magic in the story seem to be brute manipulation of the associated element, no elaborate spells or enchantments. But it is also implied that Bone magic can be used for healing, though relatively few injuries require bones to be fixed (damage to flesh and organs or loss of blood are usually sufficient).
--Aaliyah is an incredibly weak character. We are often told that she is a great leader, but we are never shown that. She also has disturbingly bad taste in women: at the beginning she is in a disturbing incestuous relationship with her adopted sister and queen, Odessa (and no, the fact that they are not blood relatives does not make things any less squicky), a person who is rather obviously deceitful and treacherous and has a history of abusing Aaliyah by literally throwing stones at her (with magic); having finally decided that was not going to work, she hooks up with Mercy, a childhood friend with a history of practicing her Bone magic by twisting Aaliyah's limbs (it's supposed to be okay, because she fixed her up afterwards), and who is essentially a criminal boss that is first seen in the story using said magic to torture someone to death.
I could go on with this, but I've already wasted more time on this book than I should have.
Some specific critiques:
--The scale is all wrong. The setting includes three kingdoms and a southern lands recently conquered/annexed by one of the kingdoms. It feels generically grand and epic, but actually everything is much smaller and more compact that you would expect. The "kingdoms" don't seem to consist of more than their capital cities (and I would assume the farmlands that support the urban populations, though there is no indication that the author was aware of this). And at least two of those cities are mere days travel away from each other.
--The magic system is a lazy knockoff version of Avatar's bending, less the martial-arts associations, and with two extra elements: Iron and Bone. Expanding the element list feels pointless since really only air, earth, and bone are featured prominently; a supporting character controls fire, but doesn't do much with it, only a single water mage shows up as a mook near the end of the story, and there are zero iron mages featured (yes, it is one of the two orders on the outs with the current ruler, but then why is there another mook bone mage acting in Odessa's defense in the end?). All of the uses of magic in the story seem to be brute manipulation of the associated element, no elaborate spells or enchantments. But it is also implied that Bone magic can be used for healing, though relatively few injuries require bones to be fixed (damage to flesh and organs or loss of blood are usually sufficient).
--Aaliyah is an incredibly weak character. We are often told that she is a great leader, but we are never shown that. She also has disturbingly bad taste in women: at the beginning she is in a disturbing incestuous relationship with her adopted sister and queen, Odessa (and no, the fact that they are not blood relatives does not make things any less squicky), a person who is rather obviously deceitful and treacherous and has a history of abusing Aaliyah by literally throwing stones at her (with magic); having finally decided that was not going to work, she hooks up with Mercy, a childhood friend with a history of practicing her Bone magic by twisting Aaliyah's limbs (it's supposed to be okay, because she fixed her up afterwards), and who is essentially a criminal boss that is first seen in the story using said magic to torture someone to death.
I could go on with this, but I've already wasted more time on this book than I should have.
August 9, 2020
Full review to come to the blog. But this was a blast to read. Smoldering leading to intense action and a lot of messy queer drama that I am Here For. Love the sense of one revolution leading into a second because the first time it didn't really go right. Love that the answer is basically increased accountability, increased trust, rather than paranoia and greed. Such a great read!
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September 20, 2025DNF on p. 54. Bland writing, frustratingly passive protagonist, and a plot where things happen with absolutely no momentum. It read more like a summary of the plot than like an actual book.
Reminiscent of The Unbroken by CL Clark, complete with a lot of the same conceptual problems, but there at least (iirc) there was something to be said for some aspects of the worldbuilding & cultural imagery. It’s not that I didn’t buy the cultural poverty of the MC in this book, who grew up in deprivation etc. - but even if the protagonist doesn’t know much about the world they’re living in, we as the audience have to believe there’s a full, rich world out there. I wasn’t convinced.
As with a lot of these Neon Hemlock publications, the cover design is quite good but the editing is… not.
Reminiscent of The Unbroken by CL Clark, complete with a lot of the same conceptual problems, but there at least (iirc) there was something to be said for some aspects of the worldbuilding & cultural imagery. It’s not that I didn’t buy the cultural poverty of the MC in this book, who grew up in deprivation etc. - but even if the protagonist doesn’t know much about the world they’re living in, we as the audience have to believe there’s a full, rich world out there. I wasn’t convinced.
As with a lot of these Neon Hemlock publications, the cover design is quite good but the editing is… not.
July 23, 2022
the spiciest thing that happens in this book is the main character and queen being raised as sisters and in love and even then, that's just there.
the prose is very bland, readable and not much else. i want to know if neon hemlock had any editors at the time because the decision to not make line breaks when characters are speaking to each other was frequent and made following conversations hard in places.
it's 'queer as hell' if the top level criteria for this is they certainly exist. but that's also some people's criteria for black fantasy as well, so i'm not surprised about this being exponentially true when we combine the two here.
a coup happens and i don't know why any of these people were in these positions despite being told over and over again. a major ally is strung up outside the palace walls to ruin aaliyah's morale and there's absolutely no time to linger on this because she sees him, cuts him down, a character cries, one sentence about how it sucks, and they move on. no emotional substance whatsoever, so i ended up very bored, not even angry or frustrated with how the story was going.
this is certainly one of the novellas of all time.
the prose is very bland, readable and not much else. i want to know if neon hemlock had any editors at the time because the decision to not make line breaks when characters are speaking to each other was frequent and made following conversations hard in places.
it's 'queer as hell' if the top level criteria for this is they certainly exist. but that's also some people's criteria for black fantasy as well, so i'm not surprised about this being exponentially true when we combine the two here.
a coup happens and i don't know why any of these people were in these positions despite being told over and over again. a major ally is strung up outside the palace walls to ruin aaliyah's morale and there's absolutely no time to linger on this because she sees him, cuts him down, a character cries, one sentence about how it sucks, and they move on. no emotional substance whatsoever, so i ended up very bored, not even angry or frustrated with how the story was going.
this is certainly one of the novellas of all time.
March 4, 2021
This was not "great." The prose was weak and the world felt extremely underdeveloped. But, but, I enjoyed it. I had no problem finishing this off in a couple days. I liked the story and characters even if they were rather opaque. This feels like a project that should have stayed in the workshop longer. Hopefully it is in that stage. Because I think that there are some good ideas here and it could be turned into a really great trilogy if it was just workshopped like...A LOT more.
Sexual violence? No. Other triggers? Death, torture.
Sexual violence? No. Other triggers? Death, torture.
Read
October 19, 2022
Trigger & Content Warnings:
Incest (on-page)
Parental abandonment & neglect
Substance addiction mentioned
Murder & attempted murder
Knife violence & stabbing
Regicide recounted
War themes
Poverty themes
Incest (on-page)
Parental abandonment & neglect
Substance addiction mentioned
Murder & attempted murder
Knife violence & stabbing
Regicide recounted
War themes
Poverty themes
April 7, 2023
Rep: Black cast, lesbian MC, sapphic side characters, achilliean side characters, enby side character
Well, well, well. Look at this gem shining on my all time favorite shelf.
Well, well, well. Look at this gem shining on my all time favorite shelf.
September 12, 2021
“Odessa is the Queen. I am her sword.”
“Gods forbid you should be your own sword.”
Super interesting novella about a general who returns from a war and finds her country and queen (who is also her lover) very much changed, and not in the ways she wanted to expected. Great concept, and there were glimmers in the writing that reminded me of what I love best about Kai Ashante Wilson's work: afro-fantasy and dialect. I liked the world-building; I loved the characters. Out of everything else, what this novella does really well is give us a great sense of the history and deep bonds between the characters, and everything that happened to bring them to the place they're at. There's something very satisfying about a good dysfunctional relationship. But still... I needed way more detail and build-up. It was ambitious to try to tell this story in just a novella, and I don't think it worked all that well. We needed to spend way more time with these characters, and so many aspects of the story could have been better fleshed out. On a simpler note, this desperately needed better editing. Lots of typos, and this has the very annoying quirk of having different lines of dialogue from different characters in the same paragraph, so I was often confused about who was speaking. All the mistakes and the breakneck speed at which we moved through the story made this seem like a rush job.
Some great ideas here, but I didn't like this as much as I wanted to.
November 12, 2021
there are some serious editing issues with typos, misspellings and weird speech issues, the prose is debatable, the characters are underdeveloped, the speech is really stilted and aaliyah’s taste in women is frankly awful, there’s too much incest, relationships are so rushed, reveals don’t make sense because there’s not enough context.
the world building is fascinating and i loved the premise. i think this story has so much potential and what it really needs is to be a full length novel, with some serious background work and a much better editor. but yeah, although i didn’t enjoy this, i liked the settings and a lot of the themes so i see a lot of promise in this author.
the world building is fascinating and i loved the premise. i think this story has so much potential and what it really needs is to be a full length novel, with some serious background work and a much better editor. but yeah, although i didn’t enjoy this, i liked the settings and a lot of the themes so i see a lot of promise in this author.
October 15, 2020
A brightly written, graceful story about a general returning home and discovering her Queen has betrayed their people. Lovely worldbuilding, fascinating characters.
Read
August 17, 2021i always feel like its cheating to mark something i couldnt finish as read but also i want this off my tbr list lmao. i wish people cared about prose even a little bit, this harshed my vibe SO bad lmao.
June 15, 2025
Fast-paced story with a great world and awesome characters. I want more!
September 30, 2020
I'm very conflicted with this story. I'm going to break my review into things I liked and didn't like.
The story is told from the perspective of Aaliyah, Aaliyah is a General and has returned home to Titus from a years long campaign. Aaliyah expected to see Titus prospering under the rule of Odessa; instead, the people are being neglected and hungry, and to criticize Odessa is treason. Aaliyah decides to do right by the people of Titus.
Things I liked:
-Eboni Dunbar is a good writer. The pacing of the story to be well done. It took me a few hours to get read the book.
-Dunbar did an excellent job with crafting Aaliyah's character and others.
-I found the magic system to be interesting. It appears people can control elements. There's fire, air, stone, bone mages. But people can be born without any magic, these people are called magli.
Things I didn't like:
-Sooo, the biggest thing that I had a problem with was the incest. In the first chapter, Aaliyah refers to Odessa, the queen, as her sister. Also, Aaliyah states, "She wanted her warm bed and her warmer women."
Chapter 2 reveals that Aaliyah's lover is Odessa, her sister. But wait, they're adoptive sisters, so Aaliyah argues it's completely fine. But within the world it must not be fine because there's this quote: "Not everyone would care that they did not share blood; after all, they had been raised as sisters." (The synopsis I originally saw for this book there was no mention of Odessa being Aaliyah's lover nor sister. I checked the synopsis on the back of the book and it does say that Odessa is Aaliyah's lover, but no mention of Odessa being her sister.)
Throughout the entire book Aaliyah refers to Odessa as her sister. To me it didn't read like "you're-such-a-great-friend-you're-my-sister. I don't care for incest in stories, so it really turned me off.
-I did like the magic system, but I was left with a few questions about it. There's this one scene where a mage uses stone and air during the fight, which was a bit confusing. It was my understanding a person could control one element. Does it vary? It wasn't explained in the book.
-Also, what was the relationship between Jalil (a royal clerk) and Helima (Aaliyah's second)? Was Jalil Helima's father? Lovers? I don't know because it was never explained.
-Love triangle. I'm not a big fan of the trope.
The story is told from the perspective of Aaliyah, Aaliyah is a General and has returned home to Titus from a years long campaign. Aaliyah expected to see Titus prospering under the rule of Odessa; instead, the people are being neglected and hungry, and to criticize Odessa is treason. Aaliyah decides to do right by the people of Titus.
Things I liked:
-Eboni Dunbar is a good writer. The pacing of the story to be well done. It took me a few hours to get read the book.
-Dunbar did an excellent job with crafting Aaliyah's character and others.
-I found the magic system to be interesting. It appears people can control elements. There's fire, air, stone, bone mages. But people can be born without any magic, these people are called magli.
Things I didn't like:
-Sooo, the biggest thing that I had a problem with was the incest. In the first chapter, Aaliyah refers to Odessa, the queen, as her sister. Also, Aaliyah states, "She wanted her warm bed and her warmer women."
Chapter 2 reveals that Aaliyah's lover is Odessa, her sister. But wait, they're adoptive sisters, so Aaliyah argues it's completely fine. But within the world it must not be fine because there's this quote: "Not everyone would care that they did not share blood; after all, they had been raised as sisters." (The synopsis I originally saw for this book there was no mention of Odessa being Aaliyah's lover nor sister. I checked the synopsis on the back of the book and it does say that Odessa is Aaliyah's lover, but no mention of Odessa being her sister.)
Throughout the entire book Aaliyah refers to Odessa as her sister. To me it didn't read like "you're-such-a-great-friend-you're-my-sister. I don't care for incest in stories, so it really turned me off.
-I did like the magic system, but I was left with a few questions about it. There's this one scene where a mage uses stone and air during the fight, which was a bit confusing. It was my understanding a person could control one element. Does it vary? It wasn't explained in the book.
-Also, what was the relationship between Jalil (a royal clerk) and Helima (Aaliyah's second)? Was Jalil Helima's father? Lovers? I don't know because it was never explained.
-Love triangle. I'm not a big fan of the trope.
February 19, 2021
Really this is like a 2.5 star book. There are a lot of really good ideas in this book, but it's just not well executed. Which is a shame, because if it had a good editor I think it really could have shone. I love queernorm worlds, and there's a lot of fun ideas floating around here. But there's not enough time for anything to breathe, and the merging of modern slang with epic fantasy is mainly in dialogue and not in the actual narration and it just doesn't quite work. That's basically the whole story--cool ideas cobbled together without the sinew they need to actually work. If you really just need some queer Black characters, read it and fill in your own gaps, but hopefully we'll get more like this but... better.
December 8, 2020
Black, queer fantasy—now here's something there isn't enough of in this world!
Dunbar captures a classic fantasy feel with a kingdom where people have elemental powers but makes it totally her own with a very modern style. What I loved most about this story were the messy relationships and flawed characters. I feel like often in fantasy, characters can feel infallible, but Dunbar wasn't afraid to make her characters layered, which to me, made them more real. In a read that's perfect for one sitting, she delivers all the goods for an excellent story: world-building, action, obstacles, betrayals, magic, and of course, badass women.
Dunbar captures a classic fantasy feel with a kingdom where people have elemental powers but makes it totally her own with a very modern style. What I loved most about this story were the messy relationships and flawed characters. I feel like often in fantasy, characters can feel infallible, but Dunbar wasn't afraid to make her characters layered, which to me, made them more real. In a read that's perfect for one sitting, she delivers all the goods for an excellent story: world-building, action, obstacles, betrayals, magic, and of course, badass women.
September 27, 2020
The character dynamics really snuck up on me. They were well drawn and engaging.
It was fast paced yet contextual enough to build a vast alternative world.
Come for the mages, stay for the maglis.
It’s a must read for long time fans of fantasy and newcomers alike.
It was fast paced yet contextual enough to build a vast alternative world.
Come for the mages, stay for the maglis.
It’s a must read for long time fans of fantasy and newcomers alike.
March 10, 2023
An excellent fantasy novella that immediately brought high stakes and a great cast of characters.
February 13, 2022
3.5, rounding up. I liked a lot about Stone and Steel: the development of lead character Aaliyah was excellent, the setting was compelling, and Dunbar writes dialogue and interaction wonderfully: I feel like even though this story is short (92 pages!) the descriptions of small gestures, brief glances, and quick nods between characters really brought their personalities and dynamics to life. I found the pacing consistent & the plot held my interest throughout. I do wish, though, that more of Odessa's backstory was included - I wanted her to feel more complex in her motivations than just 'she loved + wanted power for herself.' There are a lot of compelling ideas and characters here and I would definitely pick up another book set in this universe. I am looking forward to reading more of Dunbar's work.
Content warnings: abandonment, incest, violence, gore, blood, injury detail, murder, attempted murder, one very brief torture scene
Content warnings: abandonment, incest, violence, gore, blood, injury detail, murder, attempted murder, one very brief torture scene
January 2, 2022
I really liked this. I love it when fantasy stories change norms and in this case the norm was being black and queer, which I really enjoyed.
The world was so rich for being built in only 90 pages. It has the potential to be in a full length novel and yet it managed to tell me everything I needed to know.
The only downside was that because of the fast pace I wasn’t able to get very engaged with the characters and in turn didn’t care all that much about them.
The world was so rich for being built in only 90 pages. It has the potential to be in a full length novel and yet it managed to tell me everything I needed to know.
The only downside was that because of the fast pace I wasn’t able to get very engaged with the characters and in turn didn’t care all that much about them.
Read
March 15, 2022dnf @ 1/3 i can't do the incest sorry ✌️
August 9, 2025
I really enjoyed the story of this and the characters. Wouldn’t mind if a full length novel came out one day.
August 24, 2020
Full review here: https://youtu.be/EgCEJFA9Ce8
October 14, 2020
3.5 stars
This review and others posted over at Milliebot Reads.
Thank you to Neon Hemlock for sending me this book for free in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.
Stone and Steel covers a lot of ground fantasy novel readers will be familiar with. Would I love to see the world, especially the magic system, and the characters fleshed out more? Of course! This is yet another book that I easily could have read a full-length novel of.
I’m a dingus and didn’t make a note of the different types of mages in this world, but I believe there are six. I know there’s steel, bone, and stone; I also know that if you’re a bone mage you can literally manipulate bones, which is badass and scary as hell. I would have gladly read many chapters about the different types of magic and what the mages could do with it.
But the story focuses on Aaliyah, her relationship with Odessa, and her dedication to the people of her city. She finds herself fighting to end the suffering of the poorer citizens, of which Aaliyah was raised, and who she thought would be cared for when Odessa came to power. Aaliyah’s return is complicated by both her family and romantic dynamic with Odessa, making her mission to save her city all the harder.
Again, I won’t really talk about the plot, but I’d also recommend this if you’re looking for a quick, magical fantasy with a couple female/female relationships. Of note, I did notice several typos throughout, which kept taking me out of the story – but don’t let that stop you from checking this one out!
This novella also has a stunning cover design.
This review and others posted over at Milliebot Reads.
Thank you to Neon Hemlock for sending me this book for free in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.
Stone and Steel covers a lot of ground fantasy novel readers will be familiar with. Would I love to see the world, especially the magic system, and the characters fleshed out more? Of course! This is yet another book that I easily could have read a full-length novel of.
I’m a dingus and didn’t make a note of the different types of mages in this world, but I believe there are six. I know there’s steel, bone, and stone; I also know that if you’re a bone mage you can literally manipulate bones, which is badass and scary as hell. I would have gladly read many chapters about the different types of magic and what the mages could do with it.
But the story focuses on Aaliyah, her relationship with Odessa, and her dedication to the people of her city. She finds herself fighting to end the suffering of the poorer citizens, of which Aaliyah was raised, and who she thought would be cared for when Odessa came to power. Aaliyah’s return is complicated by both her family and romantic dynamic with Odessa, making her mission to save her city all the harder.
Again, I won’t really talk about the plot, but I’d also recommend this if you’re looking for a quick, magical fantasy with a couple female/female relationships. Of note, I did notice several typos throughout, which kept taking me out of the story – but don’t let that stop you from checking this one out!
This novella also has a stunning cover design.
March 10, 2023
How this book got published, in case anyone was wondering - these are the submission guidelines from the publisher, Neon Hemlock:
[General submission notes:
Submissions for the 2025 series will open in June 2023 for trans women and writers of color, and then in October 2023 for all writers.
Unless the editors are otherwise specified, you can address cover letters to “Dear editors” or “Dear dave.” Please avoid “Dear Mr. Ring.”
If you joke about how straight white men are underrepresented in speculative fiction, it will not win you any points.
Please query admin@neonhemlock.com if you aren’t sure if your submission went through. We’re happy to check.
Thanks for thinking of Neon Hemlock for your work!
Please don’t self-reject.]
Hey Hemlock, telling writers "don't self reject" while marginalizing white authors and mocking them when they make reference to it is the definition of telling them to self-reject based on their skin color. Just a reminder, cuz it looks like you forgot.
Anyway, I posted this because I know that the average reader doesn't know, and maybe doesn't care, how the modern publishing industry works, but if you wonder why work from self-identified "marginalized" people (brown people and LGBT people, in other words, because that's who the publishing industry cares about, for the most part) are usually not as well-reviewed as those pesky straight white men in the same genre (say, Brandon Sanderson, or Steven Erikson for example, in the fantasy / speculative genre) it's because "marginalized" authors are given biased and preferential treatment by publishers that allows them to be published based on identity politics, in lieu of talent, resulting in more "diverse" books, but not necessarily more books of quality.
"Marginalized" people are, of course, eager to profit financially from this biased treatment, because many of them would likely not otherwise have careers in the publishing industry if the system was not actively stacking the deck in their favor by - OPENLY - and sneeringly discriminating against 'undesirables' (read: straight white people, especially straight white men, and white trans men who don't feel like basing their writing career on proclaiming their transness as a selling point, despite the fact that most publishers gobble that stuff right up.)
At the same time, publishers like Neon Hemlock - essentially, the entirety of the Western publishing industry, which is extremely far-left (this is coming from a registered Democrat) - are very much the norm nowadays. They have created an environment where identity politics and far-left liberal politics dominate the industry to the point where they are not only allowed, but actually congratulate each other, for actively discriminating against 'undesirables' (those pesky, straight white people trying to make an honest living in writing, those jerks) and marginalizing them to a secondary position both when it comes to getting published, and actually getting their work read in the first place. In other words, "marginalized" (read: whoever the publishers agree with on the basis of their political and cultural alliances, and feel that they will look good by publishing; i.e. brown people and trans women, regardless of ability) are given unfair and openly biased, preferential treatment in the publishing industry by organizations such as Neon Hemlock, who run down brown people to drool over their work, while mocking and marginalizing a large percentage of the Western population because they are less 'cool' and 'culturally desirable' to publish.
TL;DR: The reason 'diverse' books like this and others by the same publisher are rated lower, in my opinion, is a direct reflection of the overtly political, identity-based, discriminatory and self-serving anti-white racism - yes, racism is still racism Neon Hemlock, regardless of the liberal sneer that rides your lips when you read anything in defense of equal opportunity and consideration for the majority-population of the Western world you pretend to be serving in your biased platforming of the stories you feel 'deserve' to be 'seen,' regardless of actual literary merit, or fairness to the writers whose work you relegate to the dregs of the submission period after the 'more important people' have received preferential consideration - that dominates the submission, consideration, and acceptance process of modern publishing, which is very much biased. And by the way, publishers, if you're wondering why you get push back on 'diverse' efforts by the majority population that feels marginalized and treated unfairly, here's a concept for you to actually consider - maybe they're not just so evil and privileged that they resent brown people and trans women, etc. getting special consideration - maybe they, like every other person in the world, just wants to be treated fairly. If you're continually getting pushback, lower ratings, and lack of financial success, there's most likely a reason for it. People can tell when they're not being treated fairly - especially when you're brazen and self-congratulatory on your desire to privilege those who you feel 'deserve' to be published more based on their skin color, gender identity, or any other ephemera in which you put too much stock to be halfway as progressive as you think are. (Sorry for ending a sentence on a proposition, but miffed rants are permitted some grammatical errors).
TL;DR, TL;DR2: Books like this are a result of biased practices in the publishing industry, which you can see clearly by reading the publisher's typical submission guidelines. It would be better, in my opinion, if everyone's work was considered fairly, without skin color, gender, or personal identity working either for - or, more commonly, for the unwanted majority of the population that is expected to show up and support these publications financially, despite not being served (or shown respect) by them - against them. Prioritized consideration for 'preferred demographics' is not only bigoted, but is an unnecessary, unjust, and politicized agenda that is degrading the quality of the modern publishing industry. And publishers, don't think readers are so stupid that they don't notice. How are your sales doing? Getting rich off your publishing career? No? Oh, the publishing industry is in decline financially? Hmm. Maybe there's a reason.
[General submission notes:
Submissions for the 2025 series will open in June 2023 for trans women and writers of color, and then in October 2023 for all writers.
Unless the editors are otherwise specified, you can address cover letters to “Dear editors” or “Dear dave.” Please avoid “Dear Mr. Ring.”
If you joke about how straight white men are underrepresented in speculative fiction, it will not win you any points.
Please query admin@neonhemlock.com if you aren’t sure if your submission went through. We’re happy to check.
Thanks for thinking of Neon Hemlock for your work!
Please don’t self-reject.]
Hey Hemlock, telling writers "don't self reject" while marginalizing white authors and mocking them when they make reference to it is the definition of telling them to self-reject based on their skin color. Just a reminder, cuz it looks like you forgot.
Anyway, I posted this because I know that the average reader doesn't know, and maybe doesn't care, how the modern publishing industry works, but if you wonder why work from self-identified "marginalized" people (brown people and LGBT people, in other words, because that's who the publishing industry cares about, for the most part) are usually not as well-reviewed as those pesky straight white men in the same genre (say, Brandon Sanderson, or Steven Erikson for example, in the fantasy / speculative genre) it's because "marginalized" authors are given biased and preferential treatment by publishers that allows them to be published based on identity politics, in lieu of talent, resulting in more "diverse" books, but not necessarily more books of quality.
"Marginalized" people are, of course, eager to profit financially from this biased treatment, because many of them would likely not otherwise have careers in the publishing industry if the system was not actively stacking the deck in their favor by - OPENLY - and sneeringly discriminating against 'undesirables' (read: straight white people, especially straight white men, and white trans men who don't feel like basing their writing career on proclaiming their transness as a selling point, despite the fact that most publishers gobble that stuff right up.)
At the same time, publishers like Neon Hemlock - essentially, the entirety of the Western publishing industry, which is extremely far-left (this is coming from a registered Democrat) - are very much the norm nowadays. They have created an environment where identity politics and far-left liberal politics dominate the industry to the point where they are not only allowed, but actually congratulate each other, for actively discriminating against 'undesirables' (those pesky, straight white people trying to make an honest living in writing, those jerks) and marginalizing them to a secondary position both when it comes to getting published, and actually getting their work read in the first place. In other words, "marginalized" (read: whoever the publishers agree with on the basis of their political and cultural alliances, and feel that they will look good by publishing; i.e. brown people and trans women, regardless of ability) are given unfair and openly biased, preferential treatment in the publishing industry by organizations such as Neon Hemlock, who run down brown people to drool over their work, while mocking and marginalizing a large percentage of the Western population because they are less 'cool' and 'culturally desirable' to publish.
TL;DR: The reason 'diverse' books like this and others by the same publisher are rated lower, in my opinion, is a direct reflection of the overtly political, identity-based, discriminatory and self-serving anti-white racism - yes, racism is still racism Neon Hemlock, regardless of the liberal sneer that rides your lips when you read anything in defense of equal opportunity and consideration for the majority-population of the Western world you pretend to be serving in your biased platforming of the stories you feel 'deserve' to be 'seen,' regardless of actual literary merit, or fairness to the writers whose work you relegate to the dregs of the submission period after the 'more important people' have received preferential consideration - that dominates the submission, consideration, and acceptance process of modern publishing, which is very much biased. And by the way, publishers, if you're wondering why you get push back on 'diverse' efforts by the majority population that feels marginalized and treated unfairly, here's a concept for you to actually consider - maybe they're not just so evil and privileged that they resent brown people and trans women, etc. getting special consideration - maybe they, like every other person in the world, just wants to be treated fairly. If you're continually getting pushback, lower ratings, and lack of financial success, there's most likely a reason for it. People can tell when they're not being treated fairly - especially when you're brazen and self-congratulatory on your desire to privilege those who you feel 'deserve' to be published more based on their skin color, gender identity, or any other ephemera in which you put too much stock to be halfway as progressive as you think are. (Sorry for ending a sentence on a proposition, but miffed rants are permitted some grammatical errors).
TL;DR, TL;DR2: Books like this are a result of biased practices in the publishing industry, which you can see clearly by reading the publisher's typical submission guidelines. It would be better, in my opinion, if everyone's work was considered fairly, without skin color, gender, or personal identity working either for - or, more commonly, for the unwanted majority of the population that is expected to show up and support these publications financially, despite not being served (or shown respect) by them - against them. Prioritized consideration for 'preferred demographics' is not only bigoted, but is an unnecessary, unjust, and politicized agenda that is degrading the quality of the modern publishing industry. And publishers, don't think readers are so stupid that they don't notice. How are your sales doing? Getting rich off your publishing career? No? Oh, the publishing industry is in decline financially? Hmm. Maybe there's a reason.
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August 27, 2021I don't know but okay.
I'm one of those "aw, I wish this was longer" dumdums when it comes to novellas. But this time it works for what the book is. It's a novella, it does what it came to do and it does it.
There's a lot I have thoughts on but also I don't have anything to say. The book did what it came to do and I'm okay with that.
CW/TW: war, death, invasion, knife/knife violence, blood, incest, trauma, PTSD, anxiety/anxiety disorder, starvation, mention of drug abuse, child neglect, parental death
I'm one of those "aw, I wish this was longer" dumdums when it comes to novellas. But this time it works for what the book is. It's a novella, it does what it came to do and it does it.
There's a lot I have thoughts on but also I don't have anything to say. The book did what it came to do and I'm okay with that.
CW/TW: war, death, invasion, knife/knife violence, blood, incest, trauma, PTSD, anxiety/anxiety disorder, starvation, mention of drug abuse, child neglect, parental death
September 23, 2020
Stone and Steel has all the enjoyable fantasy props (magic, swords, etc.) that fans of the genre seek. This story is made especially strong by its fast pace and strong description.
April 11, 2021
Look. At. That. COVER!!!
Best reason for me to buy it, lol.
It's fantasy. With an awesome dark-skinned Black girl.
Another great reason for me to buy it!
Best reason for me to buy it, lol.
It's fantasy. With an awesome dark-skinned Black girl.
Another great reason for me to buy it!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 92 reviews