nisi shawl

A love letter to Arthurian legend told through inclusive re-imaginings

Sword Stone Table: Old Legends, New Voices by Edited by: Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington

September 5, 2022 by Dome'Loki 6 Comments

Thank you, llamareadsbooks for gifting this book to me in the CBR Book Exchange! CBR14 Bingo: “Time” – This anthology moves through time, from the ancient past to the far future. Sword Stone Table first came to my awareness through emmalita’s review. When narfna reviewed it a few weeks ago, it prompted me to move it to the top of the read pile. I have a deep affection for stories about King Arthur and Camelot that probably started with the Disney animated version, was strengthened by […]

Finishing the Black Stars series

These Alien Skies by C. T. Rwizi

We Travel the Spaceways by Victor LaValle

2043...(A Merman I Should Turn to Be) by Nisi Shawl

July 25, 2022 by teresaelectro 1 Comment

Getting back on my reviews with Cannonball Read 14 Bingo! I liked all three of the remaining stories from the Black Stars anthology. I highly recommend you check them out on audiobook. Bingo Square: Star “These Alien Skies” was my favorite story from this round. Two human space explorers are sent through a wormhole on a mission to find habitable worlds. Before we can really get to know Msizi and Tariro, an accidental explosion (or was it) sends their ship crash landing on a planet […]

If you ever wanted to hear LeVar Burton say the phrase “sweet and salty love”, then this is the collection for YOU!

The Visit by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The Black Pages by Nnedi Okorafor

2043...A Merman I Should Turn to Be by Nisi Shawl

These Alien Skies by C.T. Rwizi

Clap Back by Nalo Hopkinson

We Travel the Spaceways by Victor LaValle

March 2, 2022 by andtheIToldYouSos Leave a Comment

You can hear LeVar say lots of other things, if you like! You can also hear Nyambi Nyambi, Naomi Ackie, Indya Moore, Adenrele Ojo, and Brian Tyree Henry! The six-entry Black Stars collection is another new(ish) group of short stories available from Amazon Originals. They are available on both kindle and through audible, and if you are interested in diving into this collection then I highly recommend taking the audio route! Every story is enhanced by the audio performances, and I am sure that I rated […]

Sprawling, impressive, and oddly hollow

Everfair by Nisi Shawl

January 13, 2022 by auntadadoom Leave a Comment

Oh man, I was so excited to read Everfair. It won or was nominated for basically every major speculative fiction award. And the premise is just awesome — a reimagining of the history of the Belgian colonization of the Congo, where Afrofuturistic steampunk technology turns the region’s history away from the atrocities committed by King Leopold. Buttttt … well, let me pull out a couple of threads from this — and I mean this earnestly — this incredibly idea-rich, epic work. The book is told […]

There was a game he could see and another he couldn’t, and he would play them both.

Sword Stone Table: Old Legends, New Voices by Swapna Krishna and Jenn Northington

July 3, 2021 by Emmalita 7 Comments

My formative King Arthur works were the 1963 Disney movie The Sword in the Stone, and 1975’s Monty Python and the Holy Grail. When I discovered Mary Stewart’s The Crystal Cave, as a preteen, my life as a reader of fantasy and romance was set. I’m a King Arthur enthusiast, but not a purist (except for Antoine Fuqua’s 2004 King Arthur – great cast, beautiful visuals, terrible movie that should never have been marketed as “historically accurate”). Hearing that a work is a retelling of […]

I don’t want to review this book, Part 2: The Remix

July 11, 2018 by Dusty Highway 4 Comments

My appetite for Nisi Shawl’s Everfair has gone up and down since I first heard of it. It came highly recommended by multiple sources and ticked off so many intriguing boxes: a speculative, steampunk alternative history of an African nation by a woman of color. Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes. After I bought it earlier this spring, I noticed the Goodreads collective rating was on the low-ish side, and I’m not always as immune to popular opinion as I like to think I am. It […]

ElCicco on “How easy it is to leave things undone until they are too late.”I’d never heard of this series until your review. It sounds interesting - I do love historical fiction and an added mystery makes it all...
Malin on “Last week I considered going jogging in flip-flops just to remind myself how sex sounds.”It made me guffaw when I read the book, so I highlighted it to make sure I didn't forget about it. It seemed like the...
wicherwill on I Mean Sure, But Also NoWhen I listen to IBCK I do it at 1x speed and do nothing else, unlike normal podcasts that are 1.3-1.5x and for passing cardio...
esmemoria on “Last week I considered going jogging in flip-flops just to remind myself how sex sounds.”omg, that quote in the title is hilarious.
faintingviolet on I Mean Sure, But Also NoI was only able to listen to the first 15 minutes this morning, but its already shaping up to be an excellent episode.

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