Cover Image: New Suns

New Suns

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Member Reviews

Like in every anthology, there were hits and misses for me in this collection, but overall I highly recommend this collection to anyone looking to diversify their SFF reading list and possibly discover new authors.

The stories by Rebecca Roanhorse and Darcie Little Badger (right at the end of the antho!) were absolute stand-outs for me. I loved them! I also really enjoyed the story by Alberto Yáñez and hope to read more of his work in the future!

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This had a great range of stories and was quite easy to get through. As anthologies can be a mixed bag, I did enjoy most of the stories. Short stories usually struggle to grab me, but even the weaker ones I enjoyed. I wouldn't likely read it again, but I enjoyed my time spent with it.

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New Suns book has a great collection of stories. I enjoyed many of the writers in New Suns and it was a great introduction to them via Ed. Nisi Shawl. The stories covered a vast range and genres, so no one story was the same, every story is like opening a new book.

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This book introduced me to a range of authors with whom I was not previously familiar, some of whom are now among my favorite authors. I've read these stories several times, as well as many of the books written by those included. This is a fantastic collection.

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Anthologies are a great way to find new authors for me and I liked this mixture of stories. I had trouble getting into a few of them but overall enjoyed this collection.

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This anthology of short stories had only two stories that I really liked. It’s probably not a coincidence that they were satirical. In “Tourist Industrial Complex” by Tobias S. Buckell intergalactic tourists come to New York in search of an authentic experience. My favorite story was “Come Home to Atropos” by Steven Barnes. The Caribbean island of Atropos has ordered an infomercial to be promoted to primarily white upper class markets. The island is offering a unique service, but it is struggling to make the ambience appealing. “We need a variety of images of the beautiful people of Atropos, and the hospitality they can provide. Certainly we can find some who don’t look hungry? And no amputees, please.” They created the perfect spa “where our ancestors learned to work in the sun through long hours and with modest caloric intake.”

Most of the rest of the stories were just OK for me. There were a couple of stories that were so weird that they held my interest. “The Freedom of the Shifting Sea” by Jaycee Goh featured a lesbian mermaid/predator. In “One Easy Trick” by Hiromi Goto a woman’s belly fat drops off in the forest and develops the ability to speak. 3.5 stars

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher.

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"I’ve never been a fan of predictions about the time we live in, especially if they’re grandiose, but damn if someone doesn’t claim decades from now that today was a new golden age of SFF, especially in short fiction. Sure, there’s still a lot of the same generic crap being published (for some reason), but simultaneously there’s so much compelling, engaging work coming out that I can’t keep up.

Take, for example, New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color, edited by Nisi Shawl...."

See my full review in my column "500 Words or Less" on Black Gate Magazine (link attached).

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A gorgeous, satisfying collection of premium SFF from writers at the top of their game. The kinds of story that stay with you so that a few days later you wonder what happened to the characters later, or see the world differently because of an idea seeded in your mind.
Special favourites were the atmospheric post-apocalypse dreaming of Deer Dancer (Kathleen Alcalá), Tobias Buckell's wry and all too likely future where Earth is ruined by galactic tourism (just as we are currently doing to certain parts ourselves) and the tender father in Chinelo Onwualu's The Fine Print.
Longer review forthcoming at www.rhianbowley.com.

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New Suns is an anthology of speculative edited by Nisi Shawl featuring stories written by people of color. It opens up with this quote from Octavia E. Butler : “There’s nothing new under the sun, but there are new suns,” and it suits the anthology very well. I was already familiar with some of the authors like Tobias S. Buckell, Rebecca Roanhorse, E. Lily Yu, Indrapramit Das and Silvia Moreno Garcia but I was happy to see a lot of unfamiliar names on the list since I always love discovering new authors – or should I say “new suns”? 😉

The anthology doesn’t have a particular theme so the seventeen works offer a wide range of stories and genres. Because of how different the stories are from one another, I’m sure every reader will find something to love in New Suns. However, it also means that some stories probably won’t be as enjoyable as the others (except if you have the exact same reading preferences as Nisi Shawl, the editor).

Here are some of my favorites stories in the anthology.

MY PICKS
Galactic Tourist Industrial Complex by Tobias S. Buckell – 5/5

Set in a future where intergalactic tourism is the main source of income for humans, the story follows the repercussion of the death of a stoned alien caused by a taxi accident on intergalactic siplomatic relationships.

I really love Buckell’s short stories and this one was another hit for me. It was funny and perfectly-paced. It’s the kind of story that I wish I had written. Brilliant.

The Virtue of Unfaithful Translations by Minsoo Kang – 4,5/5

It follows two translators working on opposite sides during a negotiation between two nations. Both narrators decide to completely change what their rulers are saying in order to prevent a war.

I really loved the writing and the atmosphere of the story. It was my first encounter with Kang’s work but I definitely want to read more of their works!

The Fine Print by Chinelo Onwualu – 5/5

I have a fondness for djinn stories and The Fine Print is everything I want in one. It’s about wishes granted and the catch hidden in contracts. It’s also about family and human desires.

The writing is excellent, the story is emotional and engaging. I loved it and I need to read more stories by Onwualu!

Three Variations on a Theme of Imperial Attire by E. Lily Yu – 4,5/5

This story is E. Lily Yu’s reinterpretation of Hans Christian Anderson’s tale of The Emperor’s New Clothes. I don’t have a lot to say about it except that it is quite bloody but also hilarious!

OVERALL THOUGHTS
If you want to discover new speculative fiction authors of color, it’s a good place to start. Even if not all the stories worked for me, I enjoyed most of them and some stories are so good that I would recommend New Suns just for them.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I received a copy of this book from the publisher Rebellion in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Netgalley. All thoughts are my own.

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This is one of the first books I requested from NetGalley and I've been so remiss in getting reviews done for the books I've requested that I thought I best start now and get on with it.

New Suns is a collection of "Original Speculative Fiction by People of Colour" and examines the speculative fiction short story format from a non-Eurocentric perspective and is well worth a read if you enjoy the short story format.

Seventeen completely different stories examine everything from what feels like space opera to far more mystical themes, with a lot in-between.

One of my favourites is 'Blood and Bells' by Karin Lowachee, set in a post-something city of tribal affiliations being stretched by family needs, the language is strong and pulls you through a desolate setting to a great ending.

The story of an alternative Aztec world and revolt, Burn the Ships by Alberto Yáñez, is fascinating and exciting, bringing in ancient gods, blood and magic.

Harvest by Rebecca Roanhorse is wondrous and horrific love story warning you to 'never fall in love with a deer woman', enticing and telling a story of hate and revenge.

This is a great collection without a weak story in it, coming from different countries and cultures it opens the genre of speculative short fiction beyond its usual tropes and ideas

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This is a really good anthology. It highlights speculative fiction of all sorts from people of color. Here's a list of the authors included: Kathleen Alcala, Minsoo Kang, Anil Menon, Silvia Moreno-Garcia, Alex Jennings, Alberto Yanez, Steven Barnes, Jaymee Goh, Karin Lowachee, E. Lily Yu, Andrea Hairston, Tobias Buckell, Hiromi Goto, Rebecca Roanhorse, Indrapramit Das, Chinelo Onwualu and Darcie Little Badger.

Tobias Buckell kicks off the collection with a tongue-in-cheek piece about a gig-economy driver just trying to get by ferrying Galactics (beings from alien worlds) around New York City. There's a dark, dark humor piece by Steven Barnes inviting people interested in dying to come to a beautiful tropical island country to perish (although their death might not be quite as peaceful as the ads portray). There's a piece on gang life and family love by Karin Lowachee that was quite touching. There is a story by Indrapramit Das that combines colony ships, alien "demons" and ecology along with a colonizing culture that has come to a disturbing accommodation with the planet's ecology. Hiromi Goto has a hilarious and yet sweet story about a woman whose belly fat jumps off of her during a hike in the woods and runs off like a cute little anime character, refusing to come back because the main character has never really come to terms with her belly fat.

The stories are all high quality and Nisi Shawl, the editor, has done an amazing job with assembling them. There were quite a few authors I'd been interested in reading but hadn't got to, and more that I'm now interested in seeking out. That means the collection did a great job of bringing authors to the readers' attention.

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Great anthology, really heterogeneous in the best sense: there is a story for everyone.

The best SFF is, in my opinion, the one that extrapolates from a real world issue. There is a lot of that here, from exploitative tourism to the erasure of women in History, along some stories purely for fun.

I loved Darcie Little Badger's story: "Kelsey and the Burdened Breath". Great idea and worldbuilding, wonderful writing. "Come Home to Atropos", by Steven Barnes, was BRUTAL, absolutely amazing. But my favourite was "The Virtue of Unfaithful Translations", by Minsoo Kang. As a translator, it was real fun reading two colleagues doing the outrageous for the greater good.

Not all stories connected with me, but it all in all, it was a great read.

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Loved this! The sci-fi element from BIPOC authors was amazing! i love reading anthologies to find new authors and discover their other, new works. Overall, some great stories in here that were eye-opening and enjoyable! Recommend!

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This collection definitely belongs on many a bookshelf because of its cultural importance and the important work that still needs to be done in welcoming authors of color into the publishing industry (and specifically the community of science fiction authors and publishers). Occasionally it comes off as something I would use to teach a class on science fiction more than a collection intended for everyday consumption--there's just a hint of scholarly distance there--which is not necessarily a bad thing at all, just not quite as easy for non-scholarly me to inhale.

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This was a very original and interesting anthology and I'm happy that it won the Locus Award 2020!

My favorite stories were: The Galactic Tourist Industrial Complex - Tobias Buckell, The Fine Print by Chinelo Onwualu, Burn the Ships by Alberto Yáñez, The Freedom of the Shifting Sea by Jaymee Goh, Blood and Bells by Karin Lowachee and The Robots of Eden by Anil Menon.


The Galactic Tourist Industrial Complex - Tobias Buckell- A very entertaining short-story.

Deer Dancer by Kathleen Alcala - Very interesting world, but the short story seemed quite rushed up and in need of fleshing out to reach its full potential.

The Virtue of Unfaithful Translations by Minsoo Kang- Interesting, but the fact that its was mainly 'told' made it seem too long.

Come Home to Atropos by Steven Barnes - <spoiler>A strange and satirical take on euthanasia tourism(?)</spoiler>

The Fine Print by Chinelo Onwualu- Awesome story with Djinni.

unkind mercy by Alex Jennings- intriguing, but I didn't understand the story enough.

Burn the Ships by Alberto Yáñez- Awesome story world weaved with mythology, with a great resolution.

The Freedom of the Shifting Sea by Jaymee Goh
The water half human/half creature was quite well constructed in this short story, <spoiler>at the same time seductive and horrifying.</spoiler>

Three Variations on a Theme of Imperial Attire by E. Lily Yu -
The structure of this story was very different.

Blood and Bells Karin Lowachee. Interesting and original writing style, I wonder which dialect this would be, I would gladly read a longer story based on this world and characters.

Give Me Your Black Wings Oh Sister by Silvia Moreno-Garcia - A cringing, leading towards horror story with the human side of scary winged monsters.

The Shadow We Cast Through Time by Indrapramit Das - An interesting story and world but a bit confusing. Quite eerie tough.

The Robots of Eden by Anil Menon - I think this was a very intriguing story with a lot of undercurrents. I think this was one of the stories I mostly thought about afterwards.

Dumb House by Andrea Hairston - This felt like a spin-off piece of another story.

One Easy Trick, Hiromi Goto - A funny story about a woman and her, at the same time loved and hated, bellyfat.

Harvest by Rebecca Roanhorse - An interesting story with characters that I would gladly read more about.

Kelsey and the Burdened Breath, Darcie Little Badger - I considered the story world here quite interesting even if I missed a bit more context to understand it fully.


I would like to thank NetGalley and Rebellion Publishing for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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As with most anthologies there were stories I enjoyed as well as stories I wasn't as keen on. I enjoyed most of these, and I am always in favour of more published work by people of colour.

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La primera breveseña la estrena la antología New Suns, editada por Nisi Shawl y con relatos de Rebecca Roanhorse o Silvia Moreno García entre los nombres más destacados. La antología que luce una llamativa cubierta de Yoshi Yoshitani da paso a una selección de lo más variada para representar culturas minoritarias dentro del género, en este caso hay autores de origen afroamericano, indios y de Asia oriental. La idea en común es que sean relatos de ciencia ficción o fantásticos escritos por autores e color.

En general me interesan las antologías temáticas (viajes en el tiempo, ciencia ficción hard, robots, etc). También disfruto las antologías por países, historias chinas, cuentos cubanos, o lo que se os ocurra. ¿Por qué no una racial/cultural? Pero obviando la agrupación racial de la antología nos encontramos con un volumen irregular que agrupa relatos interesantes y otros que olvidas un segundo después de haberlos terminado. A destacar "The Shadow We Cast Through Time", de Indrapramit "Come Home to Atropos" de Steven Barnes. Una antología interesante, a la que vale la pena echarle un vistaszo sobre todo para conocer autores que quizá en el futuro veamos con más frecuencia. A mí me queda un sabor agridulce, pues de sus 17 relatos me habrán gustado 6 o 7, pero el resto no dejan de tener cierto interés.

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I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was suggested for the 2020 list. It was not nominated for the award. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2020/01/2020-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

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My Rating : 4
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Thank you so much Netgalley for the review copy. All opinions are my own and are not influenced in any way.
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When I read the blurb and requested this book from the request list, it was mainly because the authors list, genre differences and the fact that it was an anthology. And now that I have read it, I can confidently say this book has made me realize it was so much more than what I thought it would be.
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First of all, the fact that we have a collection of sci-fi, fantasy, horror and mystery combined in an anthology is an amazing thing! Story after story it gave me a fresh perspective on the story and it was quite refreshing to read different genre but with a collective idea in mind.
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The second was the fact that most of the stories in this book were a 4 or 5 stars for me! I am a huge fan of fantasy and horror and anything to do with mystery, so it definitely made me super happy. Though the sci-fi stories were equally good, I couldn't savour and enjoy the plot lines more than my favourite genres. I was gripping my kindle so much while reading some of them and that is the level of attention grabbing points this book gets!
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Overall, I must say I was really impressed by the collection this anthology had. If you are new to reading anthologies, I definitely recommend checking this book out! Even if you are not a fan of any of the genres mentioned, it still has so much to offer and I am pretty sure the book will make you fall in love with it's stories without you meaning to!

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A rare anthology where none of the story fell fla t.The Fine Print’ by Chinelo Onwualu excellantly describes the office environment of 21st century. Robots of Eden was refreshing as deal with the downside of deleting negative emotions from beings.

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