Made of Stardust and Stubbornness – Page 4 – a blog of book reviews and the occasional essay on disability

“Watermyth” Review

Posted on September 24, 2024October 8, 2024 by Jen

“Watermyth” (Cantata of the Fourfold Realm, No. 1) by Anita Harris Satkunananthan

Plucked out of her pod by the Queen Mother of her merkingdom, Regya has been set a task: to take the potentially deadly Mermaid Storytelling Exam. She has been placed in Yrejveree, the mythical island of exiles to which many Amors have brought their Psyches. Regya narrates and weaves together the stories of the island’s most famous watermaidens: a ferahian Mer-princess who drowned an alternate Venice, an itinerant Malaysian mermaid with the magical power of song, and Aila da Silva, the current active Psyche.

In that telling Regya will also discover the reason behind the war that threatens to engulf the merkingdoms of the Fourfold Realms, a reason that will undermine her own understanding of who she is. The truth is that these Amors are the Fjekres from a fifth Realm. Within the Fjekres society lies an old faction called the Amber Centipedes who are intent on claiming dominion over all of the Fourfold Realms by controlling all of the apertures between worlds. These actions by the Amber Centipedes lead to war in their world. It is a war that creeps into the Fourfold Realms, disrupting life and decimating ecosystems.

Can a mermaid armed with the powers bestowed by her storytelling craft, her Javanese engineer housemate, and her mermaid landlady defeat these beings intent on conquest? Can they change the script of the island they love and claim emancipation from the seductive, powerful and eerie Fjekres?

Review

I enjoyed reading this book and getting to know the characters. It takes a while and some effort to get through because of the way it’s set up. Each chapter is part of the overall story of one of the watermaidens. It’s written as though it’s third person point of view but it helps to remember that it’s Regya narrating the story as she learns it. I feel that towards the end the story comes together and the narrative becomes clearer as Regya learns more and regains some of her memories. The world building is in progress because Regya needs to figure everything out after being memory wiped. I look forward to reading the next book and learning more about the characters and their world.

Warnings and additional reviews are available on the StoryGraph page for “Watermyth”.

Book Details

Watermyth cover which shows a woman in shadow standing behind a railing with open slates looking across a river or bay towards a cliffside with a castle with three towers under a sky filled with stars. On the right next to the castle is a bridge across a waterfall. The title of the book is on the top of the cover and the author's name is at the bottom.

Author’s Website: Anita Harris Satkunananthan
Publisher / Date: Watermaidens Press, January 2024
Genre: Fantasy
Page Count: 510
Completion Date: September 23, 2024

“Fiyah Issue No. 31 – Disability” Review

Posted on September 20, 2024October 8, 2024 by Jen

“Fiyah Issue No. 31 – Disability” edited by Emmalia Harrington

CONTENTS

Prose –

DEMON SLAYER // Terna Abu – 3665 words

Tse-Abiem village badly needs help, but the Demon Slayer is not at all who they expected. Surely you need muscles and might to defeat something so fearsome… right?

WORMS FILL MY MOUTH // F. Kirk – 4338 words

Isaac is supposed to have a mild illness. The worms in his mouth, teeth in his body, and the Meat stalking him are anything but minor.

THE TOMB OF THE FORGOTTEN SOLDIER // Mwanabibi Sikamo – 5258 words

After Mum died, they have been experiencing vivid dreams and visions. Perhaps these experiences are related to the letter and audio recordings Mum left behind.

WAY UP IN DE MIDDLE OF DE AIR // Jamie Roballo – 2005 words

Papa Ezekiel has had cataracts for as long as June can remember. Tonight, he tells her the story of what he saw, and what he still sees.

Poetry –

Giant Robot and His Person by Akua Lezli Hope

we stim to the moment by Camille Hernandez

Go Body Go! by Taylor Mckinnon

Review

Fiyah is a magazine of Black Speculative Fiction and the them for this issue was disability. I really liked the “Letter from the Editor”, introduction for this one. There’s some good context given in it for everything and a reminder of how many not so great tropes there often is in fiction with disability representations.

Demon Slayer by Terna Abu – Tse-Abiem village badly needs help, but the Demon Slayer is not at all who they expected. Surely you need muscles and might to defeat something so fearsome… right?

I really enjoyed the way this play out with assumptions being made and how fear can create problems and how those problems can be solved. It’s a fun read and I liked that it wasn’t all about the demon slayer slaying the demons but him teaching the villagers something about themselves as well.

Worms Fill My Mouth by F. Kirk – Isaac is supposed to have a mild illness. The worms in his mouth, teeth in his body, and the Meat stalking him are anything but minor.

This was great – It seems like it’s both a story about the ways people have denied COVID and how serious it actually is, along with the problems people face having a chronic illness. Using something that comes across as seemingly a lot worse (actual worms) but still with the “it’s not so bad” reactions from outsiders. Which makes it even more disturbing.

The Tomb Of The Forgotten Soldier by Mwanabibi Sikamo – After Mum died, they have been experiencing vivid dreams and visions. Perhaps these experiences are related to the letter and audio recordings Mum left behind.

I’m not sure I fully understand this one but I like it anyway. It has an interesting plot with interesting characters.

Way Up In De Middle Of De Air by Jamie Roballo – Papa Ezekiel has had cataracts for as long as June can remember. Tonight, he tells her the story of what he saw, and what he still sees.

An interesting story – I really liked the way this was told with a grandfather telling his granddaughter the story of what he saw that night. And how he saw it. There’s a few things going on in the story.

I also enjoyed the poems included in the magazine.

Magazine Details

A black person is depicted on the cover looking down and to the right. She as wearing her hair tied up tightly in two braids on top of her head flowing in the air and earrings as well as a hearing aid in her ears and a necklace. Behind her ar various plants and flying butterflies in bright yellow.

Magazine Website: “Fiyah Issue No. 31 – Disability”
Cover Artwork: Kaitlin Edwards
Date Published: June 2024
Completion Date: September 20, 2024

“Inner Worlds Issue 4” Review

Posted on September 20, 2024October 8, 2024 by Jen

“Inner Worlds Issue 4” edited by Sara Jackson

CONTENTS

A Prototype of Yourself, by Albert Chu

Colossus, by Samir Sirk Morató

The Flame In You, by L. Nabang

Two Times I Looked Through The Eye Of The Universe, And The One Time I Became It, by Yasmeen Amro

Review

I really enjoyed the stories in this issue. It’s my first time reading this magazine and I’m looking forward to reading the other issues. I’ve written more thoughts for each story below.

“A Prototype of Yourself” by Albert Chu
“offers a nuanced exploration of therapy and technology” – I really liked how this one showed while while some things are well intended they can still do more harm than good.

“Colossus” by Samir Sirk Morató
“is a visceral dream of obliteration in a wild landscape” – this one go a bit dark in the end but it was still an interesting read.

“The Flame In You” by L. Nabang
“traces the damage caused by gender norms” – I thought this one was interesting and I liked the way everything was done. I ended up feeling sad for everyone involved

“Two Times I Looked Through The Eye Of The Universe, And The One Time I Became It” by Yasmeen Amro
“takes us on a journey across space and beyond reality” – I thought this one as a really interesting concept.

Magazine Details

Magazine Website: “Inner Worlds Issue 4”
Cover Art: “Polymorphic Portrait II” by Oladosu Michael Emerald
Date Published: August 31, 2024
Completion Date: September 20, 2024

“We Came to Welcome You” Review

Posted on September 16, 2024October 8, 2024 by Jen

“We Came to Welcome You” by Vincent Tirado

Sol Reyes has had a rough year. After a series of workplace incidents at her university lab culminates in a plagiarism accusation, Sol is put on probation. Dutiful visits to her homophobic father aren’t helping her mental health, and she finds her nightly glass of wine becoming more of an all-day—and all-bottle—event. Her wife, Alice Song, is far more optimistic. After all, the two finally managed to buy a house in the beautiful, gated community of Maneless Grove.

However, the neighbors are a little too friendly in Sol’s opinion. She has no interest in the pushy Homeowners Association, their bizarrely detailed contract, or their never-ending microaggressions. But Alice simply attributes their pursuit to the community motto: “Invest in a neighborly spirit” …which only serves to irritate Sol more.

Suddenly, a number of strange occurrences—doors and stairs disappearing, roots growing inside the house—cause Sol to wonder if her social paranoia isn’t built on something more sinister. Yet Sol’s fears are dismissed as Alice embraces their new home and becomes increasingly worried instead about Sol’s drinking and manic behavior. When Sol finds a journal in the property from a resident that went missing a few years ago, she realizes why they were able to buy the house so easily…

Review

I enjoyed this for the most part – though I think I do prefer the author’s first two books. It’s a complicated read because on the one hand something sinister is in fact going on but on the other hand Sol is dealing with depression and other mental health issues that are exaggerating some of her responses to the various situations she’s dealing with. There is a very slow buildup of everything as things begin to develop in the community. Sometimes it’s a little tedious but never enough that I wanted to stop reading.

I ended up spending a lot of time wondering how Sol and Alice ended up married – they don’t seem like a good couple who actually understand each other. Beyond the fact that Alice was there for Sol when Sol’s family kicked her out. Though I suspect it’s a similar issue to Sol still visiting her father – she doesn’t know how to do anything else and feels like she has no choices. Some other reviewers are very harsh about Sol but honestly I had more problems with Alice and how she talked to Sol or handled Sol’s issues. That said we are really only getting Sol’s perspective on everything.

While we do find out what is going on with the community the ending is actually rather abrupt. It’s never really made clear how much of it was resolved. I’m also not certain of Sol’s actions near the end and what exactly she ended up doing about the community. Though ultimately it feels like she did what she felt like she had to do to survive with Alice.

Warnings and additional reviews are available on the StoryGraph page for “We Came to Welcome You”.

Book Details

Author’s Website: Vincent Tirado
Publisher / Date: William Morrow, September 2024
Genre: Thriller
Page Count: 347
Completion Date: September 16, 2024

“The Windweaver’s Storm” Review

Posted on September 13, 2024October 8, 2024 by Jen

“The Windweaver’s Storm” (TJ Young & The Orishas No. 2) by Antoine Bandele

TJ Young spent last summer fighting to unlock the secrets behind his sister’s mysterious death but found himself battling the magic of the ancient Orishas instead. And some of the answers he sought came with a promise he may not be able to keep: to dismantle new human construction on the coastline of Lagos, Nigeria by the start of spring.

But how does a teenager do away with decades of infrastructure in only half a year?

He’ll need to enlist the help of new allies, mortal and immortal alike. And thankfully, after surviving the grueling magical curriculum of Camp Olosa, he’s now headed to the most prestigious magic school in West Africa: Ifa Academy for Tomorrow’s Diviners.

But will that be enough as he prepares for what can only end in an all-out war between mortals and gods?

Review

This review contains major spoilers for the book and for the previous one in the series, but I don’t feel there’s any other way to explain why I ended up not enjoying the book…

I really wanted to enjoy this book, especially when TJ meets a deaf boy, named Emeka, who uses Yoruba Sign Language (a sign language used in Nigeria), on the way to Ifa Academy. I was excited about the Deaf representation and since TJ knew a little bit of American Sign Language (enough to realize Emeka was deaf and using YSL), I was excited that there might be interesting interactions with them. Unfortunately, their potential friendship was derailed by misunderstandings and lies, resulting in Emeka hating TJ and avoiding him. We find out later on what the lies were and that Emeka has been providing information to the enemy group. Near the end of the book Emeka is killed in a brutal fashion seemingly just for the shock value because he had outlived his usefulness to the enemy. Thought, it’s not even clear who killed Emeka or why. It doesn’t appear to be the people Emeka was providing information to given how one of them reacts but again it’s not clear. Ultimately I felt like this had been a cheap use of the character and since he was the only deaf / disabled character in the book it stood out.

I also feel as though the author has a habit of going out of his way to describe “odd” looking people. TJ meets another teen, named Umar, who apparently has disproportionately sized arms and legs along with some other physical characteristics that are described in detail for no real reason. There’s also a running joke that he’s been trying out for the school sport team but doesn’t make the team each time he tries. Umar does end up having more to do in the end of the book but it doesn’t really make up for him being the butt of jokes about his lack of physical ability.

The first book had similar issues. TJ meets an overweight character named Joshua who is described as smelly and gross and all he thinks about is eating. Granted TJ and Joshua end up being friends and work well together throughout the book. But in the end it’s revealed that Joshua never existed and is the secretly one of the Orishas hiding inside a body that was created for him. There was another character in the first book with bursting pimples that gets called “juice” … Again the author goes out of his way to describe differences in detail in a way that sticks out. Especially when other characters aren’t described to the same degree. One can argue that it’s teenager point of view but at the same time the author is making a choice to make TJ that kind of a teenager. It also doesn’t entirely fit in with how kind TJ seems to be otherwise.

There’s also a love triangle in the second book, but that ended up being the least annoying part of the book, as it at least made sense in some ways. I did like the family dynamics and friendships in the book along with the world building, all of which I liked from the first book and why I of why I wanted to read this book. I really wish it had turned out better but as it stands I don’t have any interest in reading the next book in the series.

As a side note Emeka is described as “hearing impaired” rather than deaf which stuck out as deaf is usually the preferred term and makes sense for a character who can’t hear at all and uses sign language. But I don’t know for sure if that is more a cultural/regional difference as the setting is in Nigeria and “hearing impaired might actually be preferred there verses what is preferred here. Plus it’s implied that Emeka lost his hearing sometime during his earlier childhood and could also speak with effort and read lips as a result. All of that could lead to more of a preference towards using hearing impaired vs hard of hearing.

Warnings and additional reviews are available on the StoryGraph page for “The Windweaver’s Storm”.

Book Details

There is a large figure standing sideways facing the left in the background of the cover made of white light and has lightning coming out of their hands. Two younger figures are in front of that person facing them with their hands starched up and out as if they're warding them off. Some city buildings are in the background on the right side of the cover and the cover is mostly red and brown.

Author’s Website: Antoine Bandele
Publisher Name / Date: Bandele Books, June 2022
Genre
Page Count: 505
Completion Date: September 10, 2024

“Being Seen” Review

Posted on September 2, 2024October 14, 2024 by Jen

“Being Seen: One Deafblind Woman’s Fight to End Ableism” by Elsa Sjunneson

A Deafblind writer and professor explores how the misrepresentation of disability in books, movies, and TV harms both the disabled community and everyone else.

As a Deafblind woman with partial vision in one eye and bilateral hearing aids, Elsa Sjunneson lives at the crossroads of blindness and sight, hearing and deafness—much to the confusion of the world around her. While she cannot see well enough to operate without a guide dog or cane, she can see enough to know when someone is reacting to the visible signs of her blindness and can hear when they’re whispering behind her back. And she certainly knows how wrong our one-size-fits-all definitions of disability can be.

As a media studies professor, she’s also seen the full range of blind and deaf portrayals on film, and here she deconstructs their impact, following common tropes through horror, romance, and everything in between. Part memoir, part cultural criticism, part history of the Deafblind experience, Being Seen explores how our cultural concept of disability is more myth than fact, and the damage it does to us all.

Review

I really enjoyed this book and the way Elsa mixes personal stories with Deafblind history and criticisms of portrayals of disability in various mediums. The criticisms are all relevant to her life because the lives of disabled people are often shaped by what others assume to be true. Like all of us who are disabled Elsa has had to fight the ableist assumptions people have made in order have a life that she wants. She has a whole chapter on Hellen Keller and how Hellen’s story is often changed to suite ableist ideas of who she was. There’s also a lot to be said for the damage caused by people “not seeing disability” – because when that happens it results in a lot of internalized ableism to unpack while also needing to learn how to actually work with your disabilities instead of ignoring them to pass as non-disabled. There’s also a chapter about disability in science fiction and how we’re often erased.

Book Details

Being Seen book cover - black background with the authors name and the title and subtitle on the book: Elsa Sjunneson Being Seen One DeafBlind Women's Fight to End Ableism. The text is pale gray with a light shining through the I in the word Being in the title - the light is shining to the right of the cover hitting some of the letters in the rest of the title.

Author’s Website: Elsa Sjunneson
Publisher / Date: S&S/Simon Element, October 26, 2021
Genre / Topics: Memoir, Disability
Page Count: 288
Completion Date: September 2, 2024