New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color
edited by Nisi Shawl
Genre: Sci-fi
Rating: 
Anthology of contemporary stories by emerging and seasoned writers of many races
New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color showcases emerging and seasoned writers of many races telling stories filled with shocking delights, powerful visions of the familiar made strange. Between this book’s covers burn tales of science fiction, fantasy, horror, and their indefinable overlappings. These are authors aware of our many possible pasts and futures, authors freed of stereotypes and clichés, ready to dazzle you with their daring genius.
Unexpected brilliance shines forth from every page.
A few months back I posted about the cover release for New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color. Rebellion Publishing was kind enough to also send over an advance reading copy for review.
Fantastic anthology with a wonderful range of stories.
While all seventeen stories brought something special to the anthology, the selection below are the ones that stood out to me during my read through. Now excuse me while I go look up more works from a bunch of these authors!
The Galactic Tourist Industrial Complex – Tobias Buckell
NYC cab driver Tavi’s day didn’t go so well when his cephaloid alien passenger steps out his flying cab and falls to his death. Dry humour everywhere and a wonderful picture of future New York’s galactic tourism industry. A great story to kick off the anthology!
Come Home to Atropos – Steven Barnes
Loved this one! An infomercial script for euthanasia tourism to a Caribbean island geared towards rich white people. Cynical. Dark. Satirical. Unnervingly funny.
The Fine Print – Chinelo Onwualu
A Djinn story! Wishes are granted, but there’s always a fine print. Great logic vs. bureaucracy battle.
Burn the Ships – Alberto Yáñez
Natives in a magic world rise up against their colonizers and includes some pretty dark magic. I would love to read a full length novel about this world!
Three Variations on a Theme of Imperial Attire – E. Lily Yu
Retelling of The Emperor’s New Clothes by Hans Christian Andersen. Bloody, chaotic, and hilarious. I lost it at “Ma, I can see his dick.” This story was my favourite in the entire anthology!
One Easy Trick – Hiromi Goto
A woman literally loses her belly fat (like that episode of Doctor Who) and tries to get it back. Oh, and there’s a talking bear. This was one the weirder stories in the collection. Weird is always good with me.
Thank you so much, Rebellion Publishing, for sending over a copy!
Book Links: Book Depository | Amazon US | Amazon UK
