Short Reviews for Asian SFF Readers: December 4, 2020

As we all know, 2020 has been the year of me (sort of) rediscovering science fiction and fantasy and just…wallowing in all of the great, female-led stories that now exist. A particular gift has been finding out about the Tor.com novella series (if you don’t know: they’re SFF novellas with beautiful packaging.) I’m not much of a novella person and have always preferred “more substantive” fiction, but these? *chef’s kiss*

So, without further ado: reviews!

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Delicately beautiful and tantalizingly short—The Empress of Salt and Fortune is a beautiful tale-within-a-tale about a cleric, an old woman, and a foreign empress cast aside by her husband. I’m devastated that there wasn’t more to this, though I think that a more fleshed-out story might have ruined the subtlety of this story. They way Nghi Vo was able to create an entire and fully developed secondary universe and culture in so short a space is brilliant.

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While I love the idea behind the text, this novella was disjointed, fractured, and overly vague. It seemed like de Bodard uses a lot of words to explain nothing at all. I wanted more from the characters, the setting, and the development of the relationships at play. I saw some reviews complaining that this was “porn”—it certainly is not, but I would agree that the story seems to jump from vague world-building to intense intimacy between the two protagonists with very little build-up in between. I’m bummed, though, because the idea of the universe I glimpsed here was brilliant—it was simply that the presentation pushed back my attention, rather than drawing it in.

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So: I liked this! As other readers have noted, this is less of a sword-fighting bandits roaming the countryside fantasy (in spite of its promising beginning) and more of a subtle reflection on gender, spirituality, and humanity amidst a changeful, war-torn countryside. Zen Cho doesn’t tackle these subjects with a great deal of dry solemnity, however—The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water is a bit bawdy and irreverent, and the pace is pretty fast. I’m unsure about the “plot twist” with respect to one of the character’s “secret identity,” and I’m pretty sure I’ve seen trans and nonbinary critics speak against that kind of plot point. However, it’s not quite my place to say what is and isn’t harmful, so. *shrugs* That being said, I would happily read a full-length novel set in this world.

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Great world-building, beautiful writing, dynamic characterization—The Black Tides of Heaven brings me everything I look for in fantasy (and in fiction more generally). In an empire ruled by an ageless, all-powerful Protector, twins Akeha and Mokoya struggle to find their places in a gathering upswell of rebellion. Neon Yang (formerly J.Y. Yang)’s vision is so unique and so impressively rendered here—the magic system, the way gender works because of that magic system, the intricate politics of the empire—all so perfectly explored in such a brief story.

I admit that the first few chapters of the book were a bit slow, just because the protagonists (the twins) were only toddlers. But as soon as Akeha and Mokoya matured, things blossomed and I was fully invested into seeing where things would lead. This isn’t quite a “save the world” story; rather, it’s a story of personal growth and maturity amidst a decades’ long attempt to oust a tyrannical leader. The twins and their relationship is the star here, and I think that was a perfect choice for a novella.