What do you think?
Rate this book
New Suns 2: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color
The stunning follow-up to the multiple-award-winning anthology of SFF by people of colour
Octavia E. Butler said, “There’s nothing new under the sun, but there are new suns.”
New Suns 2 brings you fresh visions of the strange, the unexpected, the shocking—breakthrough stories, stories shining with emerging truths, stories that pierce stale preconceptions with their beauty and bravery. Like the first New Suns anthology (winner of the World Fantasy, Locus, IGNYTE, and British Fantasy awards), this book liberates writers of many races to tell us tales no one has ever told.
Many things come in twos: dualities, binaries, halves, and alternates. Twos are found throughout New Suns 2, in eighteen science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories revealing daring futures, hidden pasts, and present-day worlds filled with unmapped wonders.
Including stories by Daniel H. Wilson, K. Tempest Bradford, Darcie Little Badger, Geetanjali Vandemark, John Chu, Nghi Vo, Tananarive Due, Alex Jennings, Karin Lowachee, Saad Hossain, Hiromi Goto, Minsoo Kang, Tlotlo Tsamaase, Rochita Loenen-Ruiz, Malka Older, Kathleen Alcalá, Christopher Caldwell and Jaymee Goh with a foreword by Walter Mosley and an afterword by Dr. Grace Dillon.
Octavia E. Butler said, “There’s nothing new under the sun, but there are new suns.”
New Suns 2 brings you fresh visions of the strange, the unexpected, the shocking—breakthrough stories, stories shining with emerging truths, stories that pierce stale preconceptions with their beauty and bravery. Like the first New Suns anthology (winner of the World Fantasy, Locus, IGNYTE, and British Fantasy awards), this book liberates writers of many races to tell us tales no one has ever told.
Many things come in twos: dualities, binaries, halves, and alternates. Twos are found throughout New Suns 2, in eighteen science fiction, fantasy, and horror stories revealing daring futures, hidden pasts, and present-day worlds filled with unmapped wonders.
Including stories by Daniel H. Wilson, K. Tempest Bradford, Darcie Little Badger, Geetanjali Vandemark, John Chu, Nghi Vo, Tananarive Due, Alex Jennings, Karin Lowachee, Saad Hossain, Hiromi Goto, Minsoo Kang, Tlotlo Tsamaase, Rochita Loenen-Ruiz, Malka Older, Kathleen Alcalá, Christopher Caldwell and Jaymee Goh with a foreword by Walter Mosley and an afterword by Dr. Grace Dillon.
352 pages, Paperback
First published March 14, 2023
53 people are currently reading
2636 people want to read
About the author
Nisi Shawl
134 books584 followersNisi Shawl is a founder of the diversity-in-speculative-fiction nonprofit the Carl Brandon Society and serves on the Board of Directors of the Clarion West Writers’ Workshop. Their story collection Filter House was a winner of the 2009 Tiptree/Otherwise Award, and their debut novel, Everfair, was a 2016 Nebula finalist. Shawl edited Bloodchildren: Stories by the Octavia E. Butler Scholars (2013). They coedited Strange Matings: Science Fiction, Feminism, African American Voices, and Octavia E. Butler (2013).
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews
April 11, 2024
3.5 stars rounded up
I really loved some of the stories in the collection, others were just okay for me. However, I think the project of bringing together authors of color writing speculative fiction is a great one. Here are a few standouts:
Darcie Little Badger wrote a story that is an interesting modern take on an indigenous monster.
Nghi Vo (is anyone surprise I loved her story?) tells a fantastic tale of unexpected revenge in the best possible way.
Tananarive Due wrote a creepy story about a girl living near a swamp with giant leech monsters.
Christopher Caldwell wrote a genre-bending story about a trans woman and her girlfriend trying to find a place to live and love safely, even in virtual reality.
Certainly a collection worth checking out because you might find a gem of a new author! I received an audio review copy of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.
I really loved some of the stories in the collection, others were just okay for me. However, I think the project of bringing together authors of color writing speculative fiction is a great one. Here are a few standouts:
Darcie Little Badger wrote a story that is an interesting modern take on an indigenous monster.
Nghi Vo (is anyone surprise I loved her story?) tells a fantastic tale of unexpected revenge in the best possible way.
Tananarive Due wrote a creepy story about a girl living near a swamp with giant leech monsters.
Christopher Caldwell wrote a genre-bending story about a trans woman and her girlfriend trying to find a place to live and love safely, even in virtual reality.
Certainly a collection worth checking out because you might find a gem of a new author! I received an audio review copy of this book via Netgalley, all opinions are my own.
June 17, 2023
Some good stories and some medium stories and a couple tedious stories. My favorites were the very good stories by Darcie Little Badger (normal man big owl), K. Tempest Bradford (a Tam Lin retelling), Tananarive Due (evil giant leeches) and Nghi Vo (REVENGE).
On the flip side:
Minsoo Kang’s story made me MAD. It starts off as a fantasy about evil conjoined twin kings, interrupts itself to fourth wall break and navel gaze about how this is ableist, revisit the premise with pure-hearted conjoined twin princesses, fourth wall break AGAIN to reflect that this is also ableist and then bam, story over. It’s shoddy craft but also a deeply embarrassing witnessing of something that should have been saved for a crit group, or perhaps just a diary. I don’t care if you had a deadline dude just delete the Google doc and start over.
On the flip side:
Minsoo Kang’s story made me MAD. It starts off as a fantasy about evil conjoined twin kings, interrupts itself to fourth wall break and navel gaze about how this is ableist, revisit the premise with pure-hearted conjoined twin princesses, fourth wall break AGAIN to reflect that this is also ableist and then bam, story over. It’s shoddy craft but also a deeply embarrassing witnessing of something that should have been saved for a crit group, or perhaps just a diary. I don’t care if you had a deadline dude just delete the Google doc and start over.
April 22, 2023
A lot of the important stories in science fiction and fantasy are being written by people who didn't feel welcomed in the field until recently (and arguably still don't feel welcome in some circles). This anthology continues the work of the first volume to showcase the work of BIPOC and LGBTQ+ writers. The stories reframe some of the standard tropes in the genre to highlight the trauma, challenges and cultures of these people.
The purpose of this anthology may be considered two-fold: It opens up the field to readers who are not members of those groups, but more importantly it centers the stories and is therapeutic for readers who are members of those groups.
I expect good stories from writers like Tananarive Due, Nghi Vo, Darcie Little Badger, Malka Older and John Chu. I was delighted to discover writers new to me like Alex Jennings and Geetanjali Vandemark. I think you will discover some exciting writers for yourself in this anthology.
The purpose of this anthology may be considered two-fold: It opens up the field to readers who are not members of those groups, but more importantly it centers the stories and is therapeutic for readers who are members of those groups.
I expect good stories from writers like Tananarive Due, Nghi Vo, Darcie Little Badger, Malka Older and John Chu. I was delighted to discover writers new to me like Alex Jennings and Geetanjali Vandemark. I think you will discover some exciting writers for yourself in this anthology.
August 18, 2024
A great collection. Even the stories that were a bit too experimental to my taste or felt like first chapters of a larger story kept me thinking afterwards, and most stories manages to surprise me and keep me on the edge of my seat, with viewpoints from outside of the dominant perspective, dark undertones critical of kapitalism and colonialism, and imagery pulled from other cultural backgrounds breathing new life in old genres. The prose was generally pretty good as well (to excellent). A great mix of SF, fantasy and horror, with most stories crossing genres. Often I find collections with stories from all over speculative literature jarring, but the editor has done a great job here in creating an overarching tone in the stories that made it feel like a solid anthology, instead of just random stories. The power of SF to speak truth to current society is amplified by outside voices. I felt no compulsion to pause in reading the anthology, going from story to story in my enthousiasm, which I see as a good sign.
The collection started strong, I thought, and the opening stories were all memorable.
'Ocasta' by Daniel H. Wilson is about an AI searching for connection, listening to the stories of people, but whether she will be able to help them? The circular structure of this story told in fragments works well.
'The Farmer's Wife And The Faery Queen' by K. Tempest Bradford is one of the standouts, playing with fairy tale-tropes but giving them an original spin, that left me with a big grin.
'Juan' by Darcie Little Badger is a tense horror story using indiginous mythology.
'Silk and Cotton and Linen and Blood' by Nghi Vo is a great story about a seamstress using the cultural insensitivity of invaders against them. I will have to search for more by this author, as I found this story very involving.
'Chosen' by Saad Hossain uses space opera to comment on refugee communities. A fun story, with big, galaxy spanning ideas, but one that has something to say in the end.
'Home is Where the Heart Is' by Hiromi Goto has more of a magical realist/urban fantasy theme, with a woman coming home and find it's not only she who has to change, but family traditions passed through generations that have kept others down as well. Maybe a bit too allegorical on second thought, but I enjoyed it while reading it.
'Before the Glory of Their Majesties' by Minsoo Kang struck me as a bit too meta, a bit too clever, more of an essay than a story, at first. But it kept me thinking and that is a good thing.
'Dragons of Yuta' by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz was taking a surprising turn with a banished general returing home. With dragons. Maybe I'm biased, as I'm from the Netherlands, where the author is based as well, but I liked this story a lot.
Another highlight of the collection for me as 'The Plant and the Purist' by Malka Older, having people living in a world that has changed a lot since our time looking back at our kapitalist society. A great story, like a sciencefictional Indiana Jones!
'The Fast-Enough Human' by Kathleen Alcalá' had great prose and an intrigueing world for its protagonists to find themselves in. It felt like the start of a larger story that I would be very interested to read.
'Counting her Petals' by Christopher Caldwell was a well executed mix of genres and voices, about people dealing with the constant flow of control and abuse the media dumps on us in different ways. It had a fairy tale magic element that reminded me of Mirrormask (while 'The Never Ending Story' is quoted), cyberpunk and fantasy, but felt like a whole.
'Fever Dreams' by Jaymee Goh was once again a bit too on the nose in its allegory, maybe, but I liked the idea of the story engines.
All in all a great collection that I recommend for anyone interested in SF and fantasy from people of color.
The collection started strong, I thought, and the opening stories were all memorable.
'Ocasta' by Daniel H. Wilson is about an AI searching for connection, listening to the stories of people, but whether she will be able to help them? The circular structure of this story told in fragments works well.
'The Farmer's Wife And The Faery Queen' by K. Tempest Bradford is one of the standouts, playing with fairy tale-tropes but giving them an original spin, that left me with a big grin.
'Juan' by Darcie Little Badger is a tense horror story using indiginous mythology.
'Silk and Cotton and Linen and Blood' by Nghi Vo is a great story about a seamstress using the cultural insensitivity of invaders against them. I will have to search for more by this author, as I found this story very involving.
'Chosen' by Saad Hossain uses space opera to comment on refugee communities. A fun story, with big, galaxy spanning ideas, but one that has something to say in the end.
'Home is Where the Heart Is' by Hiromi Goto has more of a magical realist/urban fantasy theme, with a woman coming home and find it's not only she who has to change, but family traditions passed through generations that have kept others down as well. Maybe a bit too allegorical on second thought, but I enjoyed it while reading it.
'Before the Glory of Their Majesties' by Minsoo Kang struck me as a bit too meta, a bit too clever, more of an essay than a story, at first. But it kept me thinking and that is a good thing.
'Dragons of Yuta' by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz was taking a surprising turn with a banished general returing home. With dragons. Maybe I'm biased, as I'm from the Netherlands, where the author is based as well, but I liked this story a lot.
Another highlight of the collection for me as 'The Plant and the Purist' by Malka Older, having people living in a world that has changed a lot since our time looking back at our kapitalist society. A great story, like a sciencefictional Indiana Jones!
'The Fast-Enough Human' by Kathleen Alcalá' had great prose and an intrigueing world for its protagonists to find themselves in. It felt like the start of a larger story that I would be very interested to read.
'Counting her Petals' by Christopher Caldwell was a well executed mix of genres and voices, about people dealing with the constant flow of control and abuse the media dumps on us in different ways. It had a fairy tale magic element that reminded me of Mirrormask (while 'The Never Ending Story' is quoted), cyberpunk and fantasy, but felt like a whole.
'Fever Dreams' by Jaymee Goh was once again a bit too on the nose in its allegory, maybe, but I liked the idea of the story engines.
All in all a great collection that I recommend for anyone interested in SF and fantasy from people of color.
April 9, 2024
This audiobook was made available to me by RB Media and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The narrators Allyson Johnson and Diontae Black are both familiar to me. I listened to at least one novel narrated by both narrators prior to this. For this novel both narrators assumed unique tones, employing inflection and even accent changes as needed for the short stories in this anthology. The narration reminded me of stories shared before bed, around a campfire or shared at a sleepover, just nostalgic in the best ways. I'll continue to seek out audiobooks narrated by both Ms. Johnson and Mr. Black in the future.
I love anthologies precisely for the opportunity to meet new authors that I can add to my ever growing to-be-read list. That this is an anthology of speculative fiction written by people of color authors is just chef's kiss!
Ocasta by Daniel H. Wilson an AI learning program tells the story of its program life.
The Farmer's Wife and the Fairy Queen K. Tempest Bradford is a feminist anthem in fairytale form.
Juan by Darcie Little Badger this is set during covid lockdown and has Indigenous mythological elements.
Neti Neti by Geetanjali Vandemark is an interesting tale of a monk with a violent past.
Equal Forces Opposed in Exquisite Tension by John Chu a dystopian world in which unauthorized telepathy is strictly monitored.
Silk and Cotton and Linen and Blood by Nghi Vo, a servant of the third class helps a barbarian king choose the appropriate robe.
Suppertime by Tananarive Due a precocious girl, a swamp monster and a camera have an adventure.
Good Night Gracie by Alex Jennings, a group on the search for the right kind of party.
A Borrowing of Bones by Karin Lowachee a dystopian in which pieces of one's life is traded inorder to make a living. A cannibalizing of the poor.
Chosen by Saad Hossain is the story of multiple space faring species with caste designations.
Home Is Where the Heart Is by Hiromi Goto is a fairytale-like feminist story about home.
Before the Glory of Their Majesties by Minsoo Kang an ambassador meets with royalty in an effort to save their home.
Haunted Bodies of WombMen by Tlotlo Tsamaase an interesting if harrowing tale of reincarnation.
Dragons of Yuta by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz a tale of ghosts and dragons.
The Plant and the Purist by Malka Older involves an airship adventure.
The Fast-Enough Human by Kathleen Alcalá a tale of immigration and belonging.
Counting Her Petals by Christopher Caldwell a haunting tale with ATR mythological elements.
Fever Dreams by Jaymee Goh a delightful tale of storyengines and storytellers.
I found a few new authors and added their work to my to- read list.
Thank you to RB Media and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook anthology. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own.
The narrators Allyson Johnson and Diontae Black are both familiar to me. I listened to at least one novel narrated by both narrators prior to this. For this novel both narrators assumed unique tones, employing inflection and even accent changes as needed for the short stories in this anthology. The narration reminded me of stories shared before bed, around a campfire or shared at a sleepover, just nostalgic in the best ways. I'll continue to seek out audiobooks narrated by both Ms. Johnson and Mr. Black in the future.
I love anthologies precisely for the opportunity to meet new authors that I can add to my ever growing to-be-read list. That this is an anthology of speculative fiction written by people of color authors is just chef's kiss!
Ocasta by Daniel H. Wilson an AI learning program tells the story of its program life.
The Farmer's Wife and the Fairy Queen K. Tempest Bradford is a feminist anthem in fairytale form.
Juan by Darcie Little Badger this is set during covid lockdown and has Indigenous mythological elements.
Neti Neti by Geetanjali Vandemark is an interesting tale of a monk with a violent past.
Equal Forces Opposed in Exquisite Tension by John Chu a dystopian world in which unauthorized telepathy is strictly monitored.
Silk and Cotton and Linen and Blood by Nghi Vo, a servant of the third class helps a barbarian king choose the appropriate robe.
Suppertime by Tananarive Due a precocious girl, a swamp monster and a camera have an adventure.
Good Night Gracie by Alex Jennings, a group on the search for the right kind of party.
A Borrowing of Bones by Karin Lowachee a dystopian in which pieces of one's life is traded inorder to make a living. A cannibalizing of the poor.
Chosen by Saad Hossain is the story of multiple space faring species with caste designations.
Home Is Where the Heart Is by Hiromi Goto is a fairytale-like feminist story about home.
Before the Glory of Their Majesties by Minsoo Kang an ambassador meets with royalty in an effort to save their home.
Haunted Bodies of WombMen by Tlotlo Tsamaase an interesting if harrowing tale of reincarnation.
Dragons of Yuta by Rochita Loenen-Ruiz a tale of ghosts and dragons.
The Plant and the Purist by Malka Older involves an airship adventure.
The Fast-Enough Human by Kathleen Alcalá a tale of immigration and belonging.
Counting Her Petals by Christopher Caldwell a haunting tale with ATR mythological elements.
Fever Dreams by Jaymee Goh a delightful tale of storyengines and storytellers.
I found a few new authors and added their work to my to- read list.
Thank you to RB Media and NetGalley for the opportunity to listen to and review this audiobook anthology. All opinions and viewpoints expressed in this review are my own.
April 21, 2024
"New Suns 2: Original Speculative Fiction By People of Color" is an anthology collected by Nisi Shawl. There are 19 short stories in this, all by different authors. Some of the stories are horrors, some fantasy, and some speculative fiction.
I found this to be a mixed bag. I liked some and disliked others.
My favorite story was by John Chu:
✅️"Equal Forces Opposed in Exquisite Tension" about a young man, Tam, getting tested for entry into a special college program based on his telepathy and ability to "reify" (create things into reality from mind power alone). I want to read the rest of this as a novel. 5 star for this one
I also gave 4 stars to these stories:
✅️The Farmer's Wife and the Fairy Queen by K. Tempest Bradford (the Fairy Queen takes the wife instead of the son)
✅️Silk and Cotton and Linen and Blood by Nghi Vo (Asian rulers and the robe makers)
✅️ Suppertime by Tananarive Due (a friendly Bobcat and giant leeches)
✅️Chosen by Saad Hossein (alien lives and reincarnation)
✅️Home is Where the Heart Is by Hiromi Goto (Japanese tale about reclaiming your heart)
✅️The Plant and the Purist By Malka Older
(Tombs in a volcano)
✅️Fast Enough Human By Kathleen Alcalá (Indigenous woman)
✅️Counting Her Petals By Christopher Caldwell
(Lesbian with trans woman and virtual reality)
✅️Juan by Darcie Little Badger (pandemic, giant oil, old man)
There were another five stories I gave 3 stars, and three I gave 2 stars. Some of the stories were rather confusing.
Allyson Johnson
and Diontae Black are the narrators. Both did a good job
Thank you to Netgalley, Tantor Audio, and Nisi Shawl for providing me with this early release audiobook in exchange for my honest review.
I found this to be a mixed bag. I liked some and disliked others.
My favorite story was by John Chu:
✅️"Equal Forces Opposed in Exquisite Tension" about a young man, Tam, getting tested for entry into a special college program based on his telepathy and ability to "reify" (create things into reality from mind power alone). I want to read the rest of this as a novel. 5 star for this one
I also gave 4 stars to these stories:
✅️The Farmer's Wife and the Fairy Queen by K. Tempest Bradford (the Fairy Queen takes the wife instead of the son)
✅️Silk and Cotton and Linen and Blood by Nghi Vo (Asian rulers and the robe makers)
✅️ Suppertime by Tananarive Due (a friendly Bobcat and giant leeches)
✅️Chosen by Saad Hossein (alien lives and reincarnation)
✅️Home is Where the Heart Is by Hiromi Goto (Japanese tale about reclaiming your heart)
✅️The Plant and the Purist By Malka Older
(Tombs in a volcano)
✅️Fast Enough Human By Kathleen Alcalá (Indigenous woman)
✅️Counting Her Petals By Christopher Caldwell
(Lesbian with trans woman and virtual reality)
✅️Juan by Darcie Little Badger (pandemic, giant oil, old man)
There were another five stories I gave 3 stars, and three I gave 2 stars. Some of the stories were rather confusing.
Allyson Johnson
and Diontae Black are the narrators. Both did a good job
Thank you to Netgalley, Tantor Audio, and Nisi Shawl for providing me with this early release audiobook in exchange for my honest review.
May 30, 2024
Solid Book: 3 stars
This is possibly the very first short story anthology that I have ever actually finished, and I think it just confirmed for me that short stories are not exactly my thing. There were so many in here that were incredibly well-written, but I definitely don't think I am an analytical enough reader for short stories to be the best medium for me to read.
There were several short stories that stood out in a good way:
Juan by Darcie Little Badger
Equal Forces Opposed in Exquisite Tension by John Chu
Silk and Cotton and Linen and Blood by Nghi Vo
Suppertime by Tananarive Due - this one was very easily my favorite!
Chosen by Saad Hossain
Home is Where the Heart is by Hiromi Goto
The Plant and the Purist by Malka Older
Some of the other ones were either weird, went over my head, or I just absolutely didn't enjoy them.
I thought that the narrators did a nice job: Allyson Johnson; Diontae Black. I enjoyed both of them quite a bit and it was an engaging audiobook.
Overall, I appreciate the project of this anthology, and I think that a lot of them dealt with important topics. For me though, I think that this confirmed that I just struggle with short stories.
Thank you to Netgalley and Tantor Audio for an early audio copy of New Suns 2. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
This is possibly the very first short story anthology that I have ever actually finished, and I think it just confirmed for me that short stories are not exactly my thing. There were so many in here that were incredibly well-written, but I definitely don't think I am an analytical enough reader for short stories to be the best medium for me to read.
There were several short stories that stood out in a good way:
Juan by Darcie Little Badger
Equal Forces Opposed in Exquisite Tension by John Chu
Silk and Cotton and Linen and Blood by Nghi Vo
Suppertime by Tananarive Due - this one was very easily my favorite!
Chosen by Saad Hossain
Home is Where the Heart is by Hiromi Goto
The Plant and the Purist by Malka Older
Some of the other ones were either weird, went over my head, or I just absolutely didn't enjoy them.
I thought that the narrators did a nice job: Allyson Johnson; Diontae Black. I enjoyed both of them quite a bit and it was an engaging audiobook.
Overall, I appreciate the project of this anthology, and I think that a lot of them dealt with important topics. For me though, I think that this confirmed that I just struggle with short stories.
Thank you to Netgalley and Tantor Audio for an early audio copy of New Suns 2. All thoughts and opinions are my own.
May 24, 2023
Brilliant anthology matching its predecessor and delivering a. Host of great stories by great authors. Strongly recommended!
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
December 15, 2023
A good, diverse collection. There is a bit much fantasy and supernatural for my taste, but everything is well-written and interesting.
August 8, 2023
One of the strongest anthologies of stories I’ve read in many years. Many of these stories left me wanting to read much more set in the world that the story had created. I’ve read stories by many but not all of the authors in this collection before so had high expectations going into it and those expectations were exceeded. Highly recommend the entire anthology (even the less successful stories still left me thinking about them long after I finished them).
June 20, 2025
I was deeply impressed by
New Suns,
also edited by Nisi Shawl, which brought together an exceptionally strong selection of short speculative fiction by writers of colour. In contrast, New Suns 2 was a bit of a disappointment. There were only a very few stories that I thought were outright weak - usually because of their heavy-handed moralising, which just has no place in SFF. However, many others focused on a kind of storytelling that just doesn't suit my personal tastes: allegorical, bizarre, sometimes closer to magical realism than proper speculative fiction. There's a lot of disembodied body parts and body modification: in Hiromi Goto's 'Home Is Where The Heart Is', a woman finds her heart hanging on a tree, while in Karin Lowachee's 'A Borrowing of Bones', people can acquire other people's body parts complete with their memories. A couple entries were good, light-hearted fun but no more than that: I enjoyed K. Tempest Bradford's 'The Farmer's Wife and the Faerie Queen' and Saad Hossain's 'Chosen' (which also involves a human inhabiting a sequence of alien bodies).
For me, what bolstered this collection was five stories that felt like they created solid, fully-formed worlds in a short space. Three were by writers I already rate. Tananarive Due's 'Suppertime', like The Reformatory, is set in early twentieth-century Florida and follows a young black girl who has to defend her family from a mysterious monster. Nghi Vo's 'Silk and Cotton and Linen and Blood' has a beautiful folktale feel, set in a Chinese-inspired imperial court where robes are crucial tools of both diplomacy and safety. Malka Older's 'The Plant and the Purist' introduces us to far-future mindsets with some exceptionally efficient worldbuilding; two characters clash over digging up a twenty-first century digital tomb before unblocking a lava conduit in a volcano, which is viewed in this society as utterly urgent. I also loved Darcie Little Badger's 'Juan', where a young man living in a tent outside his house to keep his grandmother safe during Covid-19 encounters a giant owl that, nevertheless, wants to protect him from a creepy entity. John Chu's campus-set 'Equal Forces Opposed in Exquisite Tension' features a satisfying magic system that reminded me a bit of the sympathetic magic and the related scholarly examinations in Patrick Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind (the ONLY thing I liked about that book). But in short, unless your tastes run more to the weird and surreal than do mine, I'd suggest checking out New Suns instead. 3.5 stars.
For me, what bolstered this collection was five stories that felt like they created solid, fully-formed worlds in a short space. Three were by writers I already rate. Tananarive Due's 'Suppertime', like The Reformatory, is set in early twentieth-century Florida and follows a young black girl who has to defend her family from a mysterious monster. Nghi Vo's 'Silk and Cotton and Linen and Blood' has a beautiful folktale feel, set in a Chinese-inspired imperial court where robes are crucial tools of both diplomacy and safety. Malka Older's 'The Plant and the Purist' introduces us to far-future mindsets with some exceptionally efficient worldbuilding; two characters clash over digging up a twenty-first century digital tomb before unblocking a lava conduit in a volcano, which is viewed in this society as utterly urgent. I also loved Darcie Little Badger's 'Juan', where a young man living in a tent outside his house to keep his grandmother safe during Covid-19 encounters a giant owl that, nevertheless, wants to protect him from a creepy entity. John Chu's campus-set 'Equal Forces Opposed in Exquisite Tension' features a satisfying magic system that reminded me a bit of the sympathetic magic and the related scholarly examinations in Patrick Rothfuss's The Name of the Wind (the ONLY thing I liked about that book). But in short, unless your tastes run more to the weird and surreal than do mine, I'd suggest checking out New Suns instead. 3.5 stars.
December 5, 2024
A solid follow-up to the first collection, even though I think the first had a stronger collection of stories overall. Standouts for me were:
Ocasta by Daniel H. Wilson
Juan by Darcie Little Badger (my favorite, Dacrie Little Badger is so good please read all of her stuff)
Silk and Cotton and Linen and Blood by Nghi V
Suppertime by Tananarive Due
Ocasta by Daniel H. Wilson
Juan by Darcie Little Badger (my favorite, Dacrie Little Badger is so good please read all of her stuff)
Silk and Cotton and Linen and Blood by Nghi V
Suppertime by Tananarive Due
May 7, 2024
I read a selection of stories from this, all as potential Hugos nominations.
The Farmer's Wife and the Faerie Queen by K. Tempest Bradford; 4.5⭐
Silk and Cotton and Linen and Blood by Nghi Vo; 4⭐
Suppertime by Tananarive Due; 3.5⭐
Ocasta by Daniel H. Wilson; 5⭐
Goodnight, Gracie by Alex Jennings; 2.5⭐
A Borrowing of Bones by Karin Lowachee; 2.5⭐
The Plant and the Purist by Malka Older; 4.5⭐
The Farmer's Wife and the Faerie Queen by K. Tempest Bradford; 4.5⭐
Silk and Cotton and Linen and Blood by Nghi Vo; 4⭐
Suppertime by Tananarive Due; 3.5⭐
Ocasta by Daniel H. Wilson; 5⭐
Goodnight, Gracie by Alex Jennings; 2.5⭐
A Borrowing of Bones by Karin Lowachee; 2.5⭐
The Plant and the Purist by Malka Older; 4.5⭐
September 29, 2024
“Fast Enough Human” and “Counting Her Petals” were quite good.
The other stories read like first draft story-pitches in an undergraduate creative writing class.
The other stories read like first draft story-pitches in an undergraduate creative writing class.
April 19, 2024
For those who go see A24 movies in the theaters. This isn’t Marvel. It’s not the mass consumption blockbuster. It’s the writing workshop that meets in a vintage record shop. This is a space where exploration is encouraged. This is a box of weird little trinkets.
Personally I love the experience of exploring here. I love digging through the box of things I’ve never seen before. I don’t love everything in the box but I love that the box exists and I got to look through it.
Personally I love the experience of exploring here. I love digging through the box of things I’ve never seen before. I don’t love everything in the box but I love that the box exists and I got to look through it.
April 18, 2024
I really enjoyed this collection. So many great themes explored. I liked all of these stories, but here are some standouts.
(Apologies if titles or names are messed up. I listened to the audiobook and I don’t have great audio processing (and maybe have ADD). The book isn’t out yet, so I wasn’t able to look up a list of the stories to get the correct spellings of names. )
**Ocasta** by Daniel H Wilson – The story of an AI created to watch for and analyze patterns of data. We see its various iterations looking into issues of maternal mortality (specifically how women of color are much more likely to have bad outcomes), police brutality, and how an autistic woman uses it to help with social interactions. I don’t like AI (find it mildly creepy actually haha) but I thought this was pretty interesting. I could have done with more delving into the issues mentioned because they’re important things to question.
**The Farmer’s Wife and the Fairy Queen** by K Tempest Bradford – I think this is my favorite of the bunch. It’s a bit irreverent and the fairy queen proclaiming “some men ain’t worth shit”? Heh. That’s a mood. It’s sort of a spin on Tam Lin. So, Titania the fairy queen (who’s southern and says y’all) occasionally kidnaps pretty boys. When she tries to take the farmer’s son, his wife insists she be taken instead. So now the farmer is left to actually do his own cooking and cleaning and looking after his own children (*gasp* how horrible for him). I liked the lighthearted, teasing tone and way it was told. Very entertaining. Highly recommended.
**Juan** by Darcie Little Badger – another favorite. Big Owl sets a monster after Juan, and Juan must fight back and try to outwit him. I think what makes this one so good for me is Juan. He’s just a sweet guy. It takes place at the height of covid, and he’s freaking living in a tent in the yard to not spread work germs to his wife and his grandmother who is undergoing chemo. The one phone call he has with grandma shows what a sweet relationship they have. I would happily read more of Juan trying to outfox various creatures from Native American folklore and having adorable phone calls and making his grandma laugh too hard.
**Equal Forces Opposed in Exquisite Tension** by Jon Chu – Another one I really enjoyed. It’s about Tam as he sits his exams for a prestigious telepathic engineering school. One of his fathers is a powerful telepath, and the other is the legendary engineer who designed and built The Barricade which holds back the Turbulence (not sure what that is exactly, but apparently it is bad). His father has been rigorously preparing him for this day for his entire life. There’s a loving but rather complex dynamic there. He also has an exam for the archivist librarian track. And he meets a smoking hot telepathic guy and they start talking. (That is kind of adorable as they maybe start a relationship.) I’m white and don’t have high achieving parents so no tiger parents for me, but I could definitely relate to the theme of pressure and the weight of others’ (or your own) expectations and worrying you won’t be good enough. The world seems pretty cool, I mean engineers who use telepathic powers to like fashion things out of thin air, hello? I am a science/STEM teacher I am all for it! Plus, the libraries are described as like elephants like beasts? I don’t know, but it sounds cool. I would totally read the adventures of Tam and the most stunningly gorgeous man he’s ever laid eyes on at telepathic library/engineering school. Like, please can I have that?
**Silk and Cotton and Linen and Blood** by Nghi Vo – soon as I heard Nghi Vo, I was like oh yes this will be great. And it was. (If you haven’t read her works, go do that!) It’s about the royal wardrobist whose king was just killed by invading barbarians. She takes pride in her life’s work and wants to do it right, but also she’s seen as a traitor by the people in town even though she’s just doing what she needs to do to survive. That tension and how she quietly fights back in her own way. So good. If you like her other works, you will love this one too as it’s a similar theme/vibes.
**Chosen** by Saad Hossain – Opens with “We are the scum of the galaxy.” Well, ok, I’m in. Haha. Not usually into space stories, but this was a good one. Humans, or a group of them, somehow have wound up in another galaxy where there are hostile alien things. The narrator’s ship gets blown up, killing everyone, but due to the ancient alien tech remnant he used to do that blowing up, he is reincarnated. The aliens who left that tech are gone for like millions of years, but two bureaucrats in charge of bringing back dead souls somehow got left. And he takes them off on an adventure to get revenge on the ship that blew him and his captain and crew up and then maybe the whole empire. I like how the narrator went from ok wow this one is real psycho to ok psycho’s growing on me. Haha. If you like space stories and some cheeky humor, you should like this one.
**Haunted Bodies of Wombmen** by Tlolo Tsamasse – ok, this one should be longer. I want more. I really liked the themes and the horror leanings. It’s set in South Africa, and it follows a family that did really horrific, terrible things as human sacrifice to attain and keep power and wealth. The spirit of the victim (which has come back and been killed several times) is working to get its revenge. The men in this family get pregnant and give birth and die at age 30. Honestly, a real *good for her* moment. I seriously laughed out loud when aunt spills the beans to the main girl she’s all “how could they do this to me?” Yeah, sure, honey. Your ancestors mutilated and sacrificed people who are coming back as evil spirts for revenge, but way to make it all about you. I also really liked the line where the spirit wonders why women always sacrifice themselves. Like I said, I love the themes of how women are sacrificed and generational trauma and sins of the ancestors this one is exploring and fantasy and horror can mix so well when done right. I want more of this story.
**The Plant and the Purist** by Malka Older – Follows a crew as they explore an ancient burial from a long past civilization in a volcano. The MC has a number of tech implant to enhance senses and get readings and stuff. And the main historian type guy has none (which is odd in this world). Really cool mix of archaeology, studying history, and geology. Liked the exploration of what would our society look like millenia in the future, what will the make of our weirdness? Kind of Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider vibes. Really fun; I liked it a lot.
(Apologies if titles or names are messed up. I listened to the audiobook and I don’t have great audio processing (and maybe have ADD). The book isn’t out yet, so I wasn’t able to look up a list of the stories to get the correct spellings of names. )
**Ocasta** by Daniel H Wilson – The story of an AI created to watch for and analyze patterns of data. We see its various iterations looking into issues of maternal mortality (specifically how women of color are much more likely to have bad outcomes), police brutality, and how an autistic woman uses it to help with social interactions. I don’t like AI (find it mildly creepy actually haha) but I thought this was pretty interesting. I could have done with more delving into the issues mentioned because they’re important things to question.
**The Farmer’s Wife and the Fairy Queen** by K Tempest Bradford – I think this is my favorite of the bunch. It’s a bit irreverent and the fairy queen proclaiming “some men ain’t worth shit”? Heh. That’s a mood. It’s sort of a spin on Tam Lin. So, Titania the fairy queen (who’s southern and says y’all) occasionally kidnaps pretty boys. When she tries to take the farmer’s son, his wife insists she be taken instead. So now the farmer is left to actually do his own cooking and cleaning and looking after his own children (*gasp* how horrible for him). I liked the lighthearted, teasing tone and way it was told. Very entertaining. Highly recommended.
**Juan** by Darcie Little Badger – another favorite. Big Owl sets a monster after Juan, and Juan must fight back and try to outwit him. I think what makes this one so good for me is Juan. He’s just a sweet guy. It takes place at the height of covid, and he’s freaking living in a tent in the yard to not spread work germs to his wife and his grandmother who is undergoing chemo. The one phone call he has with grandma shows what a sweet relationship they have. I would happily read more of Juan trying to outfox various creatures from Native American folklore and having adorable phone calls and making his grandma laugh too hard.
**Equal Forces Opposed in Exquisite Tension** by Jon Chu – Another one I really enjoyed. It’s about Tam as he sits his exams for a prestigious telepathic engineering school. One of his fathers is a powerful telepath, and the other is the legendary engineer who designed and built The Barricade which holds back the Turbulence (not sure what that is exactly, but apparently it is bad). His father has been rigorously preparing him for this day for his entire life. There’s a loving but rather complex dynamic there. He also has an exam for the archivist librarian track. And he meets a smoking hot telepathic guy and they start talking. (That is kind of adorable as they maybe start a relationship.) I’m white and don’t have high achieving parents so no tiger parents for me, but I could definitely relate to the theme of pressure and the weight of others’ (or your own) expectations and worrying you won’t be good enough. The world seems pretty cool, I mean engineers who use telepathic powers to like fashion things out of thin air, hello? I am a science/STEM teacher I am all for it! Plus, the libraries are described as like elephants like beasts? I don’t know, but it sounds cool. I would totally read the adventures of Tam and the most stunningly gorgeous man he’s ever laid eyes on at telepathic library/engineering school. Like, please can I have that?
**Silk and Cotton and Linen and Blood** by Nghi Vo – soon as I heard Nghi Vo, I was like oh yes this will be great. And it was. (If you haven’t read her works, go do that!) It’s about the royal wardrobist whose king was just killed by invading barbarians. She takes pride in her life’s work and wants to do it right, but also she’s seen as a traitor by the people in town even though she’s just doing what she needs to do to survive. That tension and how she quietly fights back in her own way. So good. If you like her other works, you will love this one too as it’s a similar theme/vibes.
**Chosen** by Saad Hossain – Opens with “We are the scum of the galaxy.” Well, ok, I’m in. Haha. Not usually into space stories, but this was a good one. Humans, or a group of them, somehow have wound up in another galaxy where there are hostile alien things. The narrator’s ship gets blown up, killing everyone, but due to the ancient alien tech remnant he used to do that blowing up, he is reincarnated. The aliens who left that tech are gone for like millions of years, but two bureaucrats in charge of bringing back dead souls somehow got left. And he takes them off on an adventure to get revenge on the ship that blew him and his captain and crew up and then maybe the whole empire. I like how the narrator went from ok wow this one is real psycho to ok psycho’s growing on me. Haha. If you like space stories and some cheeky humor, you should like this one.
**Haunted Bodies of Wombmen** by Tlolo Tsamasse – ok, this one should be longer. I want more. I really liked the themes and the horror leanings. It’s set in South Africa, and it follows a family that did really horrific, terrible things as human sacrifice to attain and keep power and wealth. The spirit of the victim (which has come back and been killed several times) is working to get its revenge. The men in this family get pregnant and give birth and die at age 30. Honestly, a real *good for her* moment. I seriously laughed out loud when aunt spills the beans to the main girl she’s all “how could they do this to me?” Yeah, sure, honey. Your ancestors mutilated and sacrificed people who are coming back as evil spirts for revenge, but way to make it all about you. I also really liked the line where the spirit wonders why women always sacrifice themselves. Like I said, I love the themes of how women are sacrificed and generational trauma and sins of the ancestors this one is exploring and fantasy and horror can mix so well when done right. I want more of this story.
**The Plant and the Purist** by Malka Older – Follows a crew as they explore an ancient burial from a long past civilization in a volcano. The MC has a number of tech implant to enhance senses and get readings and stuff. And the main historian type guy has none (which is odd in this world). Really cool mix of archaeology, studying history, and geology. Liked the exploration of what would our society look like millenia in the future, what will the make of our weirdness? Kind of Indiana Jones or Tomb Raider vibes. Really fun; I liked it a lot.
April 1, 2023
New Suns 2 rocks the speculative universe again as the latest installment in the anthology series. From exploring gender and reincarnation to intimate connection within a pandemic, each of the anthologies stories asks us to delve into our minds, bodies, and spirits to seek the truth and understand the cyclical nature of storytelling.
For more about Nisi Shawl and how they edited the collection, you can read my interview with them in The Coachella Review.
For more about Nisi Shawl and how they edited the collection, you can read my interview with them in The Coachella Review.
June 28, 2023
Like most short story collections, a mix of good and bad.
I was really impressed by Daniel H. Wilson's short story, and found #2 to be of similarly high qualityu to the first.
I was really impressed by Daniel H. Wilson's short story, and found #2 to be of similarly high qualityu to the first.
April 10, 2025
Some of the stories in this collection were so good, while others were dnfs or 1 stars. I think my average rating is around a 3 but I think the stories that are good are incredible enough to warrant a 4 star rating for this collection.
See below my thoughts per story.
Story 1: whoa. 5 stars.
Story 2: hell yeah. 5 stars.
Story 3: I thought this was some weird dystopian future until I realised it literally portrays lockdown in the US. I don't really want to read pandemic stories and the only book I tried by this author was a dnf (Elatsoe) but I was somewhat intrigued so I finished it. Underwhelming and a bit boring but not as bad as I expected. A 2,5.
Story 4: awful writing. Dnf. 1 star.
Story 5: I was immediately completely locked in. Not only was this intellectually stimulating, the writing was so vivid I could actually picture what was happening, something that happens to me very rarely. These characters felt so real, this world was so well-built and the writing was perfect. I need more from John Chu, preferably in this world but I'll take anything. 5 stars.
Story 6: this was good. I enjoyed the singing hills cycle books and this was similar. A whole world in a handful of pages. 5 stars.
Story 7: dnf. I don't want to read about an animal being slaughtered ever.
Story 8: dnf. I couldn't get into this at all.
Story 9: dnf. Couldn't get into this one either.
Story 10: this was so good. I'm shocked how the author managed to make this story hopeful. 5 stars.
Story 11: this started out boring but then it became really good and I loved the ending. 3,75 stars.
Story 12: can't get into it. Dnf.
Story 13: dnf.
Story 14: the author could've made Mitos of age when she started dating the then-25yo main character. The story was good but this is a deal breaker. So a 4,5 star story turns into a 1 star.
Story 15: this was so cool. 4,5 stars.
Story 16: dnf.
Story 17: dnf.
Story 18: dnf.
See below my thoughts per story.
Story 1: whoa. 5 stars.
Story 2: hell yeah. 5 stars.
Story 3: I thought this was some weird dystopian future until I realised it literally portrays lockdown in the US. I don't really want to read pandemic stories and the only book I tried by this author was a dnf (Elatsoe) but I was somewhat intrigued so I finished it. Underwhelming and a bit boring but not as bad as I expected. A 2,5.
Story 4: awful writing. Dnf. 1 star.
Story 5: I was immediately completely locked in. Not only was this intellectually stimulating, the writing was so vivid I could actually picture what was happening, something that happens to me very rarely. These characters felt so real, this world was so well-built and the writing was perfect. I need more from John Chu, preferably in this world but I'll take anything. 5 stars.
Story 6: this was good. I enjoyed the singing hills cycle books and this was similar. A whole world in a handful of pages. 5 stars.
Story 7: dnf. I don't want to read about an animal being slaughtered ever.
Story 8: dnf. I couldn't get into this at all.
Story 9: dnf. Couldn't get into this one either.
Story 10: this was so good. I'm shocked how the author managed to make this story hopeful. 5 stars.
Story 11: this started out boring but then it became really good and I loved the ending. 3,75 stars.
Story 12: can't get into it. Dnf.
Story 13: dnf.
Story 14: the author could've made Mitos of age when she started dating the then-25yo main character. The story was good but this is a deal breaker. So a 4,5 star story turns into a 1 star.
Story 15: this was so cool. 4,5 stars.
Story 16: dnf.
Story 17: dnf.
Story 18: dnf.
June 5, 2023
What a great short story collection! Nisi Shawl really knows how to bring together an amazing set of stories. Even though not everything worked for me, the number of 5-star stories in this was incredibly high, and even the stories that weren't my style I could see a lot of value in. I even found some stories that I think will be favorites of the year for me:
"Equal Forces Opposed in Exquisite Tension" by John Chu, which has such creative, immersive science fantasy world building, a lovely budding gay romance, and real depth in the family dynamics and growth.
"Silk and Cotton and Linen and Blood" by Nghi Vo, which has an excellent exploration of what it would look like for a regular person to resist colonization, even while also balancing their need for survival.
"Counting Her Petals" by Christopher Caldwell, which mixes science fiction and fantasy perfectly to explore ideas of how we deal with the world being so messed up around us (especially focusing on transphobia) and the cost to us to both manage that as well as escape that, as well as also a really lovely queer relationship.
If you like SFF short stories at all, I highly recommend giving this collection a try!
Content Warnings:
police brutality, illness, violence, injury, death, death of a family member, genocide, mass murder, war, infidelity, domestic & child abuse, pandemic, body possession, anxiety, body horror, cannibalism, toxic relationships, lack of consent, ableism, colonialism, grave desecration, ecological disaster, transphobia
"Equal Forces Opposed in Exquisite Tension" by John Chu, which has such creative, immersive science fantasy world building, a lovely budding gay romance, and real depth in the family dynamics and growth.
"Silk and Cotton and Linen and Blood" by Nghi Vo, which has an excellent exploration of what it would look like for a regular person to resist colonization, even while also balancing their need for survival.
"Counting Her Petals" by Christopher Caldwell, which mixes science fiction and fantasy perfectly to explore ideas of how we deal with the world being so messed up around us (especially focusing on transphobia) and the cost to us to both manage that as well as escape that, as well as also a really lovely queer relationship.
If you like SFF short stories at all, I highly recommend giving this collection a try!
Content Warnings:
police brutality, illness, violence, injury, death, death of a family member, genocide, mass murder, war, infidelity, domestic & child abuse, pandemic, body possession, anxiety, body horror, cannibalism, toxic relationships, lack of consent, ableism, colonialism, grave desecration, ecological disaster, transphobia
April 22, 2024
I appreciate the diverse voices and styles in this anthology of 18 new speculative fiction short stories by people of color. I didn’t enjoy all of the stories, but collections like this are a great way to step outside your literary comfort zone and discover new authors.
Many of the stories deal with violence, discrimination, and other injustices, and some of them were just too dark for my taste. Others were told with humor and optimism. My favorite was K. Tempest Bradford’s “The Farmer’s Wife and the Faery Queen,” a sly feminist retelling of Tam Lin.
Other stories that I particularly enjoyed include “Silk and Cotton and Linen and Blood” by Nghi Vo, in which a mild-mannered servant cleverly exacts revenge on a group of invaders, and “Chosen” by Saad Hossain, which is a space opera involving reincarnation that made me laugh. The young heroine of “Suppertime” by Tananarive Due also made me smile with her camera and her pet bobcat.
The audiobook production was good. Each story is narrated by either Allyson Johnson or Diontae Black. I enjoyed the narration; both narrators have good pacing and pronunciation, distinctive voices and speech patterns to suit each character, and the ability to convey mood and emotion effectively.
I received a free advanced review copy of the audiobook through NetGalley. I volunteered to provide an honest review.
Many of the stories deal with violence, discrimination, and other injustices, and some of them were just too dark for my taste. Others were told with humor and optimism. My favorite was K. Tempest Bradford’s “The Farmer’s Wife and the Faery Queen,” a sly feminist retelling of Tam Lin.
Other stories that I particularly enjoyed include “Silk and Cotton and Linen and Blood” by Nghi Vo, in which a mild-mannered servant cleverly exacts revenge on a group of invaders, and “Chosen” by Saad Hossain, which is a space opera involving reincarnation that made me laugh. The young heroine of “Suppertime” by Tananarive Due also made me smile with her camera and her pet bobcat.
The audiobook production was good. Each story is narrated by either Allyson Johnson or Diontae Black. I enjoyed the narration; both narrators have good pacing and pronunciation, distinctive voices and speech patterns to suit each character, and the ability to convey mood and emotion effectively.
I received a free advanced review copy of the audiobook through NetGalley. I volunteered to provide an honest review.
June 21, 2024
My spouse nudged this one across the bedstand, telling me to read the dogeared stories and skip the rest. To my regret, I ignored her advice.
There are a couple good stories in this collection: I favored the mythic fantasy stories, like "Juan" by Little Badger, "Silk and Cotton and Linen and Blood" by Vo, "Home Is Where the Heart Is" by Goto, and the revisionist "Farmer's Wife and the Faerie Queen" by Bradford. On the science fiction side, there were strong entries from Alcala ("The Fast Enough Human") and Malka Older ("The Plant and the Purist"), though both felt more like first chapters of a novel than standalone stories.
The remaining stories vacillate between meh to awful. It doesn't make sense to critique them one by one, but it's hard not to call out "Haunted Bodies of WombMen," which manages to achieve the utter creepiness of Butler with none of the coherence. Overall New Suns 2 is too uneven to stand on its merits as a collection, even with its standouts; recommended strictly for committed consumers of short-form sci fi.
There are a couple good stories in this collection: I favored the mythic fantasy stories, like "Juan" by Little Badger, "Silk and Cotton and Linen and Blood" by Vo, "Home Is Where the Heart Is" by Goto, and the revisionist "Farmer's Wife and the Faerie Queen" by Bradford. On the science fiction side, there were strong entries from Alcala ("The Fast Enough Human") and Malka Older ("The Plant and the Purist"), though both felt more like first chapters of a novel than standalone stories.
The remaining stories vacillate between meh to awful. It doesn't make sense to critique them one by one, but it's hard not to call out "Haunted Bodies of WombMen," which manages to achieve the utter creepiness of Butler with none of the coherence. Overall New Suns 2 is too uneven to stand on its merits as a collection, even with its standouts; recommended strictly for committed consumers of short-form sci fi.
July 7, 2024
This was a wonderfully diverse anthology that I could tell was carefully curated and true to Octavia Butler's prolific spirit. I was charmed and delighted listening to stories about fairies and darker beings alike! I was also incredibly moved by these short stories, which is always a reaction I welcome and cherish when it comes from reading speculative fiction. No matter how alien the world the characters inhabited, I easily found myself and others I love in the boundaries of the world --- in the dedicated holy woman searching for someone lost in the veil of reality, in the curious man braving an otherworldly god-like entity to save a life, and in the wild-spirited woman fleeing the trappings of mundanity and pulling her babies along with her. Excellent! Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to receive this advance copy!
April 25, 2024
I received an arc of the book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
This is a really strong anthology centred around an important theme of highlighting authors of colour in the speculative writing world.
Oftentimes, the stories included within anthologies can be hit or miss, but this collection is filled with far more hits than misses. No story was dull or felt like the author couldn't handle the short story format, and so many of them had my undivided attention within a few lines.
Stand out stories for me were the ones by Tananarive Due, K. Tempest Bradford, Malka Older, and Rochita Loenen-Ruiz.
I would recommend this collection to fans of fantasy, sci fi, and speculative fiction, especially if they're ready to discover some new-to-them authors to check out.
This is a really strong anthology centred around an important theme of highlighting authors of colour in the speculative writing world.
Oftentimes, the stories included within anthologies can be hit or miss, but this collection is filled with far more hits than misses. No story was dull or felt like the author couldn't handle the short story format, and so many of them had my undivided attention within a few lines.
Stand out stories for me were the ones by Tananarive Due, K. Tempest Bradford, Malka Older, and Rochita Loenen-Ruiz.
I would recommend this collection to fans of fantasy, sci fi, and speculative fiction, especially if they're ready to discover some new-to-them authors to check out.
July 16, 2024
NetGalley ARC audio
I love Speculative fiction and Nisi Shawl is one of my favorite short story writers, so requesting this book was no brainer for me.
Whenever I read a compilation of short stories, my reading list grows. The stories are written by a diverse group of authors providing interesting perspectives on our possible futures. Some stories veer towards fantasy such as The Farmer's Wine and the Faerie Queen by K. Tempest Bradford. Others more to Science Fiction like Equal Forces Opposed in Exquisite Tension by John Chu.
Some of my other favorite stories include:
Sink and Cotton and Linen and Blood by Nghi Vo.
Chosen by Saad Hossain
Home is Where the Heart is by Hiromi Goto
Haunted Bodies of Wombmen by Tlotlo Tsamaase
The narrators do a fantastic job.
I love Speculative fiction and Nisi Shawl is one of my favorite short story writers, so requesting this book was no brainer for me.
Whenever I read a compilation of short stories, my reading list grows. The stories are written by a diverse group of authors providing interesting perspectives on our possible futures. Some stories veer towards fantasy such as The Farmer's Wine and the Faerie Queen by K. Tempest Bradford. Others more to Science Fiction like Equal Forces Opposed in Exquisite Tension by John Chu.
Some of my other favorite stories include:
Sink and Cotton and Linen and Blood by Nghi Vo.
Chosen by Saad Hossain
Home is Where the Heart is by Hiromi Goto
Haunted Bodies of Wombmen by Tlotlo Tsamaase
The narrators do a fantastic job.
Want to read
July 30, 2025***Who sucked me in?***
Angela of Literature Science Alliance on YouTube in their Underrated Books || Books with less than 1000 ratings on goodreads that you should read! video published on 29 Jul 2025.
I swear my physical TBR is as big as it is because of her channel. I do not know how but she makes books seem so interesting that I will just buy a physical copy instead of a digital one first.
I was actually already interest in this anthology when I saw the cover years (?) ago. But had forgotten about it. So this video was a good reminder.
Angela of Literature Science Alliance on YouTube in their Underrated Books || Books with less than 1000 ratings on goodreads that you should read! video published on 29 Jul 2025.
I swear my physical TBR is as big as it is because of her channel. I do not know how but she makes books seem so interesting that I will just buy a physical copy instead of a digital one first.
I was actually already interest in this anthology when I saw the cover years (?) ago. But had forgotten about it. So this video was a good reminder.
March 19, 2024
This book illustrates the range of tales that can be contained in the realm of the speculative fiction short story. From Tananarive Due's perfectly-told straight forward monster story to the mind-bending "Haunted Bodies of WombMen" by Tlotlo Tsamaase, every story in this book is a winner. My favorite? The fast-paced, semi-crazed exploration of religion in an age of captialism that is "Neti-Neti" by Geetanjali Vandemark. Will read again. Some of those stories I had to read twice just to understand them.
April 13, 2024
3,5* audiobook arc*
It's always hard to write a review about a book that contains so many stories and authors, especially when my opinions vary so much around them. This book contains some real gems and some that clearly needed more work
I do want to highlight my favourite of them, Neti Neti by Geetanjali Vandemark. It was such a nice read and I would love a longer story around the concept!
My arc was an audiobook and the narration was great. It really added life to some of the stories I didn’t enjoy as much.
It's always hard to write a review about a book that contains so many stories and authors, especially when my opinions vary so much around them. This book contains some real gems and some that clearly needed more work
I do want to highlight my favourite of them, Neti Neti by Geetanjali Vandemark. It was such a nice read and I would love a longer story around the concept!
My arc was an audiobook and the narration was great. It really added life to some of the stories I didn’t enjoy as much.
April 13, 2024
Sometimes writing a review for an anthology is tricky.
I loved what this series is accomplishing and I think it’s very well done.
Some of the stories I loved and some I didn’t.
I loved the stories from Darcie Little Badger, Tananarive Due and Hiromi Goto the most. But all were written so well and the whole book is very engaging and a great audiobook with different narrators.
Thanks to netgalley and Tantor Audio for an alc
I loved what this series is accomplishing and I think it’s very well done.
Some of the stories I loved and some I didn’t.
I loved the stories from Darcie Little Badger, Tananarive Due and Hiromi Goto the most. But all were written so well and the whole book is very engaging and a great audiobook with different narrators.
Thanks to netgalley and Tantor Audio for an alc
November 14, 2024
Another really solid and enjoyable collection of stories. As always in an anthology, not all stories will work for all people, but for me, I really liked the stories by Darcie Little Badger, Nghi Vo, along with some stories by authors I haven't read from before. I would definitely recommend this audio book to anyone who likes speculative fiction as they will be sure to find something they enjoy.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.
I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a fair and honest review.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 53 reviews