N. K. Jemisin has been having a great few years. She won three consecutive Best Novel Hugos for her Broken Earth trilogy, a ground breaking (literally) revitalization of the fantasy genre with hints of science fiction. I recently heard her referred to as The Queen of the Genre, and it's hard to dismiss this as hyperbole.
Many of her fans, including this one, were anticipating her first collection of short fiction. So, how is it?
Like most short story collections, I liked some of the stories more than others and loved a few. Especially in speculative fiction, short stories can be difficult because the author lacks the room for world-building that a novel provides. More experimental stories that push the boundaries of the genre(s) can be harder to pull off without perplexing the reader. Only a few of Jemisin's stories fell into this category for me (like "Henosis"), while a few more were okay but didn't quite come together for me (like "Too Many Yesterdays, Not Enough Tomorrows" and "The Evaluators").
Jemisin fans will be delighted to find two stories in familiar universes: "Stone Hunger" in the Broken Earth universe and "The Narcomancer" in the Dreamblood universe. I haven't gotten to the Dreamblood books yet, so that story didn't quite click with me. I really enjoyed "Stone Hunger," which features a Stone Eater and maybe one familiar character.
I tended not to like the New York-focused stories as much. I had read "The City Born Great" before when it was a Hugo nominee, but while I like the idea of conscious cities (or whatever) it didn't work for me as well on a second reading. Hey, New Yorkers, the rest of the world gets it already: your city is great and interesting and wonderful. I liked "The You Train" a lot more, with mysterious non-existent once and future subway trains. "On the Banks of the River Lex" asks, what does Death do in New York after the apocalypse?
I loved both of the New Orleans stories. "The Effluent Engine" is a super fun steampunk about a Haitian lesbian dirigible pirate, because why should straight white dudes get all the dirigible pirate jobs? "Sinners, Saints, Dragons, and Haints, in the City Beneath the Still Waters" was definitely one of my favorites, but I can't decide which I love more: the casual discussions with dragons in a post-Katrina New Orleans or having one of the best titles of any short story ever. It also (along with "On the Banks of the River Lex" and "The Elevator Dancer") shows a bit of Jemisin's sly humor or whimsy, which you don't always see in her novels.
There are two stories about food: "L'Alchemista" and "Cuisine Des Mémoires," both of which are delightful.
The most philosophically interesting stories are probably "The Ones Who Stay and Fight" and "Walking Awake." The first is an answer to Ursula Le Guin's "The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas," which at least among philosophers is read as a reductio of utilitarianism (I think that's a simplification of the story, but that's another review). Jemisin's story is an interesting take on what's sometimes called the paradox of tolerance, or how far should a healthy society tolerate intolerance?
As a response to Le Guin, I'm not sure Jemisin's story is fair, but I don't think Jemisin is responding to Le Guin as much as she's responding to a certain sector of reactionary bigotry (in fandom this tendency is represented by Gamergaters and Rabid Puppies, the latter having targeted Jemisin personally). As a response to those assholes, I think the story works really well. I'm glad to see Jemisin doing her own thing rather than trying to merely imitate or rehash Le Guin, even by way of parody or response. My point isn't that Le Guin is beyond criticism (Jemisin's point on "Omelas" is well taken), but really I see this story as an inspired redirecting of the issue in a way I'd like to think Le Guin would appreciate.
"Walking Awake" is an interesting, trippy treatment of the issue of personal identity: parasite creatures called "Masters" take over human bodies as a way to achieve immortality. Is this symbiote the parasite? The human? Both? Neither? If that's not weird enough, just wait: everything is not as it seems, some of the humans are still aware (and can maybe communicate through dreams), and there's a bizarre revolution brewing.
There are other good stories I didn't mention (like "The Brides of Heaven" and "Red Dirt Witch") and some I didn't care for as much. As fans of Jemisin would expect, her stories contain a lot of diversity in representation in terms of race, gender, sexuality, etc. The importance of such representation in speculative fiction is nicely summed up in the title: How Long 'Til Black Future Month? (This is not the title of a story in the collection).
On the whole, I can say I enjoyed this collection from the Queen of the Genre. May her reign continue until Black Future Month and beyond!
See also my Goodreads review.
No comments:
Post a Comment