“Power to Yield and Other Stories” by Bogi Takács
Power to Yield is a collection of speculative tales exploring gender identity, neurodivergence, and religion from author Bogi Takács, who deftly blends sci-fi, fantasy, and weird fiction.
An AI child discovers Jewish mysticism. A student can give no more blood to their semi-sentient apartment and plans their escape. A candidate is rigorously evaluated for their ability to be a liaison to alien newcomers. A young magician gains perspective from her time as a plant. A neurodivergent woman tries to survive on a planetoid where thoughts shape reality . . .
These are stories about the depth and breadth of the human condition—and beyond—identifying future possibilities of conflict and cooperation, identity and community.
Review
All of the stories in the collection are interesting and I enjoyed reading them a lot. There are multiple concepts explored in each of the stories with a lot of focus on communication and conflict resolution. I really liked the blending of themes (gender identity, neurodivergence, and religion) in the stories and how things fit together in different ways.
I do think it’s important for readers to read the Forward, written by Ada Hoffmann, for additional context about the stories and the author. There are also additional notes from the author about each story at the end.
“FOUR-POINT AFFECTIVE CALIBRATION” – This one is interesting because the narrator is teaching aliens about human emotions through a machine learning system, but they are multiply marginalized. As a result the narrator is concerned about assumptions others have made and will make about them. A the same time though it’s clear the narrator has a good handle on their own thoughts and emotions as they process everything and would just like to meet the aliens.
“AN ERRANT HOLLY SPARK” – The framing device for this story is that the narrator, an AI child, has been kidnapped and is talking to their kidnapper. However it goes much deeper than that as we learn how the narrator was “created” by their mother and all that it means. There’s a lot of Jewish concepts in this story as well. It makes for an interesting story about what it means to be a person. The ending has a good twist because of how things played out with the things the child learned as they grew.
“AND I ENTREATED” – In this story a Jewish woman was transformed into a houseplant for a spy mission but there is a delay in returning her to human form. A translator is provided but there are a lot of complicating factors involved. There’s actually a lot of different things going on in this story but mostly it’s about failure to communicate (even when you should be able to) and figuring out how to fit gender stuff in Jewish tradition.
“FOLDED INTO TENDRIL AND LEAF” – There are two mage students in love, while one is away at war the other is turned into a plant as punishment. Unfortunately their teacher is captured and the first student returns unaware of what has happened. Interesting story told from each student’s point of view.
“THE THIRD EXTENSION” – This one is very short and from the point of view of sapient plants. A story about living on the outskirts of society and trying to blend in and not be noticed. I liked it but would liked to have seen things explored in more depth (but it works as it is).
“ON GOOD FRIDAY THE RAVEN WASHES ITS YOUNG” – An interesting story about someone who is a intersex newcomer, to another colony and ends up finding kinship in an unexpected place. I’m not entirely certain about the ending but I did like the ideas in it.
“VOLATILE PATTERNS” – a group of people try to use magical designs in their clothing not realizing the meaning of the designs. It goes about as well as you’d expect… Good story with interesting concepts. There’s some language barriers involved and things get a little chaotic. I liked how it played out though.
“THE LADYBUG, IN FLIGHT” – a member of a space hive mind speaks with the only survivor of a spaceship disaster. Since it’s entirely from the hive minds point of view they don’t entirely understand what has happened or what it means for the other people that were on the ship. Interesting read though about the hive mind appreciating the contact they have with the survivor and are helping the individual get home.
“THE 1ST INTERSPECIES SOLIDARITY FAIR AND PARADE” – in a post-apocalyptic world where Earth has been invaded by two different alien species and the visited by a third. Trying to get different groups of people to participate in a collaborative proves to be as complicated as it always is even without the need to trust this third set of aliens. Good ending for this one. This story is also a sequel to “Given Sufficient Desperation” which appeared in “Defying Doomsday”.
“A TECHNICAL TERM, LIKE PRIVILEGE” – A person is living in a a blood-sucking sentient housebeast and is struggling provide the needed offerings. Trying to get help from others proves impossible because of perceived privilege. Interesting concepts and I liked how it worked out.
“POWER TO YIELD” – This one is a novella-length story about an individual’s research project turning into a life-long vocation. There’s a few ways to interpret this one because of who the characters are but it makes for an interesting and complex story that speaks to what it means to be able to make your own choices even if others think you shouldn’t. I really enjoyed this one and thought it was a good story to end the collection with.
The author has included warnings for each of the stories at the end of the book. Additional reviews can also be found at the StoryGraph page for “Power to Yield”
Book Details
- Author’s Website
- Bogi Takács
- Publisher / Date
- Broken Eye Books, November 2023
- Page Coumt
- 190 pages
- Genre
- Science Fiction, Short Stories
- Completion Date
- December 15, 2024