This is a collection of short stories. I just couldn't get into this one at all. The writing is good, don't get me wrong. This just wasn't for me.

This was an excellent collection of stories and one novella from de Bodard. Exploring the Xuya universe is a delight, and the stories are a variety of fascinating and thought-provoking and emotional. I very much enjoyed this.

Stars: 4 out of 5

It is rare to encounter a culture and characters that are other than the usual European / Anglo-Saxon variation in science fiction or fantasy, at least  the ones written in English. I treat every book written from a different perspective as a little treasure. Heck, being Russian myself, I was really excited when I discovered the Grishaverse which is (very loosely) based on Slavic mythology.

And with this collection of short stories, we have a wealth of wonderful new world that are so unlike the usual scifi and fantasy fare. Each story is unique, and all of them touch on different topics, but the main message of the collection is very dear to my heart as well. How do you reconcile an ancient culture of your parents and a usually rigid social hierarchy of your community with the modern age? As an immigrant who lives in two words by necessity, how do you decide which world you belong to the most? Can you reconcile them and belong to both at the same time or will there be often deadly conflict? Do you assimilate into the culture of your new home or try to keep to the traditions of your ancestors? What if your aspirations for your future and your happiness go against everything your family wants from you? 

Those are questions that a lot of immigrants have to face, especially children who grow up between two words so to say. That's probably why I found these stories so relatable, even if the culture they described was very foreign to me.

This is also one of the draws of these stories - not only are they set up in a scifi world, but the culture and the sociological structure of that world is very foreign to most readers of European and American descent. Some might find that intimidating, but I absolutely loved it. Earth is populated by numerous unique cultures, so it only stands to reason that when humanity disseminates amongst the stars, it will bring all these cultures with it, not just the Anglo-Saxon one. 

I will definitely be checking this author out and trying more of her work. 

PS: I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

A great collection of short stories from a fantastic author. I especially loved the Xuya universe stories (it's one of my favourite settings) and the "Three Cups" story.

I’m a huge fan of the author so of course I loved this one. She always has a way of building so many stories. It’s impressive.

Beautiful writing, and a breadth and depth of theme that's really astonishing. I also love the blend of tradition and technology that crops up, often in disturbing ways. De Bodard has such an amazing gift for for both cathartic rage and ambivalent, poignant endings.

Unfortunately, a lot of these stories have multiple timelines going on and are designed as a bit of a puzzle for the reader to put together. I find I just don't have the brainpower for it at the moment, so I'm setting aside.

The nice thing about this collection is that you can pick it up without knowing about the universes the stories are set and have an incredible read waiting for you. There is one new novella set in her Dominion of the Fallen series, but you don’t need to know the backstory to enjoy it. After reading a story set in Obsidian and Blood series, I now want to track down those books and read them. A great collection of short fiction and I can’t wait to read more from this writer.

Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley

Of Wars, and Memories, and Starlight is a short story collection written by Aliette de Bodard. She’s an up and comer in the science fiction and fantasy world, and she deserves all of the attention she can get.
Aliette de Bodard writes science fiction and fantasy in such a way as to feel utterly human. And that fact becomes very notable in this collection, as it is full of women, mothers, and daughters, people of all ages and colors. It’s a beautiful variety to be found, while also showing us that all humans have a place in her fantastical settings.
There are thirteen short stories and one novella to be found within these pages. The short stories include: The Shipmaker; The Jaguar House, in Shadow; Scattered Along the River of Heaven; Immersion; The Waiting Stars; Memorials; The Breath of War; The Days of War, as Red as Blood, as Dark as Bile; The Dust Queen; Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight; Salvaging of Ghosts; Pearl; and finally, Children of Thorns, Children of Water. You can find my mini-reviews of all of these below.
Then there’s the novella, Of Birthdays, and Fungus, and Kindness. Of Birthdays, and Fungus, and Kindness is the only piece in this collection not to be found anywhere else. And thus it’s a highly notable piece – and one Aliette de Bodard’s fans are not going to want to miss out on.

“Most books had silent women, or women who used their looks as a weapon. There were no female friendships. There were no mothers, no families. People drank coffee and spoke English, and most of them were blond and pale-skinned.”

The Shipmaker
As you might have guessed from the title of this short story, The Shipmaker is about well…a shipmaker. But the tale is so much more complex than that. This is the story of how one civilization creates its ships. And how love and loss affect us all – and why one should always take the risk, regardless.
The Shipmaker was a beautiful and ethereal story. And it is the perfect short story for setting the tone in this collection. There’s this ephemeral sense to this story, and the way it ties love and loss, risks and rewards, so tightly to one another.

The Jaguar House, in Shadow
The Jaguar House, in Shadow blends several themes together in a remarkably short amount of time. The political setting enhances what is at its core a story about how far one is willing to go in order to get back those we love. And how far one can fall when given in towards temptation.
I’ll confess that I found The Jaguar House, in Shadow to be an interesting follow up to The Shipmaker. At first, the two don’t seem at all alike. But upon a closer look, I can see how they’re tied together.
The Jaguar House, in Shadow was a dark and interesting read. It was foreboding in many ways. And yet it was also oddly uplifting, thanks to the determination of our main character.

Scattered Along the River of Heaven
Scattered Along the River of Heaven is the tale of Xu Anshi, a poet ahead of her generation. And it is also the tale of Xu Wen, the grand-daughter of a poet who shaped the politics for years to come. The two stories are one in the same, but told from different perspectives, allowing us to see the full breadth of what truly happened here.
Scattered Along the River of Heaven is another beautifully tragic tale in this collection. I loved the comparisons created between Xu Anshi and Xu Wen. There was something so profound about it, and yet so human at the very same time.

Immersion
Immersion is a fascinating story about what technology can do to and for our appearances. Or more accurately, what it can do for our outside facing avatars. It’s easy to see how a society could come to expect them. And likewise, to see how some people would become hopelessly addicted to them, as well as the virtual world they’re granted access to.
This was a thrilling yet depressing short story. On the one hand, the setting and writing is absolutely splendid. On the other hand, it’s not afraid to dive into theories about what could happen to people more vulnerable to this sort of addiction, and how lost they might become.

The Waiting Stars
Memories, deception, and kindness. Those are all dominant themes in The Waiting Stars. Catherine was one of several girls rescued and placed in an orphanage together. They were told that they were gifted wit this – while always being looked down upon. And yet something never felt right to Catherine. Then one day, it all became crystal clear in her mind.
The Waiting Stars was an intensely interesting and captivating story. It has a lot of similar concepts and elements as seen in other short stories in this collection, and thus doesn’t need quite as much of an introduction. And yet it’s one of my favorites. It’s a heartbreaking story at points, but it’s also deeply moving and marvelously written.

Memorials
Memorials is a fascinating short story, in which Aliette de Bodard explores concepts of the self, life after death, and so much more. This is the story of what we leave behind – and how some people in a society will always find a way to take advantage of even that.
Wow. This story was something else. It’s a compelling read, and I loved reading every minute of it. For a short story it had a shocking amount of twists and turns, all of which perfectly supported this thought-provoking tale.

The Breath of War
The Breath of War introduces us to a world in which every person has a natural counter. There’s the human, and then there’s the stoneman/woman. Without this partnership, no child would ever survive past their birth. And that is why Rechan is desperately seeking out her counterpart, before it’s too late.
This short story was nothing like what I expected, thanks to the name. And yet it was so incredibly fascinating. This is one of those stories that feels like there’s so much more to it. In fact, I’m going to make a point of checking and seeing if Aliette de Bodard has written anything else in this world, because I want to read it.

The Days of War, as Red as Blood, as Dark as Bile
The Days of War, as Red as Blood, as Dark as Bile is an accurate title for this short story. And it’s likely at least partially the inspiration for this collection name as well. This short dives into war and the societal cost paid on something so harrowing.
This was another fascinating read. It was uplifting at times, and somber at others. It made for the right balance, all things considered. And it left me wanting more, which is always an excellent sign in a short story.

The Dust Queen
The Dust Queen is another short story that focuses on loss and memories. What would you give, in order to be free of your memories and pain? Would it be worth the price? This entire piece is set in an intricate world full of lore and history. And it feels all the more real for it.
The Dust Queen is another favorite of mine from this collection. It’s easy to read this piece and find yourself in the position of either the protagonist or the Dust Queen herself. And that is slightly unnerving. But it serves to make a powerful point.

Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight
In a universe in which family politics have gotten infinitely more complicated, how does one handle the loss of a loved one? And what if you were kept away from your family’s greatest treasure; the collected memories of your past generations? That and more is explored within Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight.
Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight is an emotional gut-punch if ever I’ve read one. But I also think it’s vital to read, especially for anybody going through this process themselves (trust me on this one). It’s affecting and influential all in one.

Salvaging of Ghosts
Set in the depth of space, Salvaging of Ghosts is all about a scavenging crew. They’re the ones who go about collecting scraps from crashed or abandoned spaceships. And they do so despite the risks. And those risks are made very clear from the recent loss that Thuy – the protagonist of this story – is dealing with.
Salvaging of Ghosts is perhaps one of my favorites from this collection. Thuy’s journey is powerful, being both emotional and full of so much determination and acceptance. I’m not going to say more than that though, because I don’t want to spoil it.

Pearl
Pearl is a brilliant and endearing story about a young man and his faithful little drone. Both were overlooked until one day they proved just how useful they were – as long as they worked together. But will it be enough to stop what’s coming? It’s also worth noting, this is the sole retelling to be found in this collection.
Pearl was a fascinating read. In some ways, it had the most endearing elements in it. In others, it was fun trying to puzzle together what was really happening. I enjoyed reading the story itself, while also trying to pick up on all of the subtexts.

Children of Thorns, Children of Water
Children of Thorns, Children of Water combines science fiction and fantasy into one. It is the story of something other taking over a body (which seems to be the opposite of many of the themes in this collection). And all the changes that can bring with it.
This short story probably took me the most effort to get into, perhaps because in many ways it felt the most different of the lot. I’m not entirely sure. I did end up enjoying it in the end though, for which I’m grateful for.

Of Birthdays, and Fungus, and Kindness
Of Birthdays, and Fungus, and Kindness is the exclusive novella included in Of War, and Memories, and Starlight. And it’s honestly both the perfect addition and conclusion to this collection. Set in Aliette de Bodard’s dark alternative version of Paris, this is one that is sure to give thrills and chills. I haven’t read any of her other works set in this world, so I’m having a bit of trouble summing up its connection. Or knowing how much to say without spoiling everything.
So instead, I’m just going to say that I loved Of Birthdays, and Fungus, and Kindness, and that I now really want to read the rest of her take on this dark Paris. Adding it to my list!

2.8 stars. Wow. This is a really difficult book for me to review, because artistically, it was wonderful (outside of the introduction, which had a cloying emphasis on identity politics). The style was fantastic; easy to slip into, while not falling into artificial stylistic simplicity. The author described and created rich worlds, both magical and futuristic, with many details drawn from Vietnamese culture and folklore (a new one for me!)

But from a Catholic perspective, I found quite a few problematic elements (mostly thematic elements; the stories tended to be reasonably clean, if somewhat violent) in the books. Especially in the earlier stories, the issues mostly had to do with sex and procreation: the normalization of homosexual relationships (and just plain fornication), artificial insemination, and surrogate motherhood (although the latter was far-fetched enough for me to look at it a little bit differently). In the last two stories, I would like to give the author the benefit of the doubt - something strange is going on, indeed, with fallen angels praying to God regularly! I would be interested in seeing what themes she has developed in that story world (I believe it’s a series). Nonetheless, it appears to present an attractive and more-or-less sympathetic portrayal of demons, including Lucifer. The book also includes an instance of assisted suicide.

All in all, my feelings toward this book are bittersweet. Ms. de Bodard is one of the most talented authors I have read recently, and I hope I can enjoy some of her other work even more.

Thanks to NetGalley (and Subterranean Press @SubPress) for a free ARC.

[Excerpted from the full article.]

Many of Aliette de Bodard's stories featured in the collection will be familiar to readers, as several won, were finalists, or received nominations for a suite of awards, including the Locus Award, the British Science Fiction Association Award, and the Hugo. Her Xuya universe is based on the premise that China discovered the Americas before the West, which led to a space age dominated by Asian powers.

And, yet, despite years of living outside of the confines of Earth, those old tensions are still there. The Galactics, a Western-based culture, has its own corners where it dominates the galaxy and residents expect everyone to think like they do. They provide tools for the "betterment" of others: immersers, which allow non-Galactics to better perform and anticipate the cultural cues Galactics expect.

They also try to save the minds of Mind Ships. These sentient ships developed in the non-Galactic cultures of the universe are part organic and part machine, and have minds that are literally birthed by human mothers. Some mothers view this as an honor, others as a way to advance in society. Some cultural insiders view the Mind Ships as siblings or aunts, members of their families. She ships live for generations, acting as a connection to ancestors for the humans that inhabit them. The Galactics view the births of the Mind Ships as a horror.

In "The Waiting Stars," a group of Dai Viet girls are raised by a group of missionaries who believe they are benevolent, who try to train the girls to be proper Galactics, to fit into society. It's absolutely reminiscent of the American Indian Boarding Schools, where children were deliberately taken out of their culture to assimilate them into proper society. In the case of "The Waiting Stars," however, the minds inside of those Dai Viet girls are the minds of captured Mind Ships, transmitted across the stars to the core of Galactic space.

The spin begs many questions: why would the Galactics try to assimilate the minds of Mind Ships? Why give them human bodies? What do they hope to accomplish? But while it's almost incomprehensible, it's also achingly, historically familiar. Such a thing could happen, if well-meaning but blind colonists only wanted to help those poor lost ships.

The initial description I read for this book talked about fairytales from another culture's perspective, which immediately fascinated me. There are 14 short stories, all dealing with war, and it's aftermath, and cultural differences.

I still have yet to decide exactly how I feel about these stories. I very much enjoyed the cultural perspective, and reading about the characters' varying responses to the attempts to integrate or destroy their world, depending on the story. I absolutely loved the creation of the mind ships. Immersion (not a mindship story) was terrific, too. In many cases, I was left wanting to know more or wanting to know what happened next.

However, quite a few were confusing to read and hard to get into. I'm not sure whether that was deliberate or simply because I have not read anything else by this author and had no background to which I could refer.

On the whole, I enjoyed this book, but I might recommend first reading some of the author's other works for context. I would give it three and a half stars

I received an ARC via Netgalley though all thoughts are my own.

This was such a wonderful mix of short stories set in the Xuya universe and I'm so happy to have read it.

I can't wait to read more by Aliette who has a way of pulling you in and struggling to go back to the real world.

If you've enjoyed her other books or enjoy interpretations of Chinese as well as Vietnamese myths with futuristic aspects, you'll enjoy this book of short stories.

There was also some LGBTQ+ rep throughout several stories.

Full of adventures, myths, a touch of magic, space and so much more, it was such a wonderful reading journey!

My introduction to Aliette de Bodard's work was initially her Nebula Award-winning Xuya Universe novella The Tea-Master and the Detective, a clever take on Sherlock Holmes and Watson, then her luminous novella, In the Vanishers' Palace, both gorgeous editions from SubPress. After finding so much to love, I snapped up the opportunity to read this first anthology of her shorter works (short story to novella length). Giving us stories set in the Xuya Universe, along with that of the Dominion of the Fallen world, the collection also includes de Bodard's award-winning 2012 story "Immersion," and a story that's been haunting me since I read it, "The Dust Queen." (What is an artist without her memories?)

Some of the context of these stories, given in de Bodard's Introduction, is equally mesmerizing. A child of the Vietnam war, feeling alien in the environs in which she grew up, science fiction became a potent outlet for her, though still the lack of Asian characters, the poor roles for women, the lack of female friendships, all were, in fact, too similar to the world that de Bodard sought to escape. She has definitely remedied those defects in her marvelous stories, with rich female characters and Asian influences that are woven so deftly into the worlds she envisions. There are riches of the imagination here.

This compilation was released in a gorgeous limited edition set of 1250 volumes from SubPress but those who cannot afford this can also get the 380 page eBook for $6. Don't miss it. (But have to admit... I just bought it in paper...)

I received a Digital Review Copy of this book from Subterranean Press in exchange for an honest review.

I love Aliette de Bodard's writing, and always recommend her book to fans of Science Fiction and / or Speculative Fiction. This is a great introduction to de Bodard's magnificent storytelling, a lovely collection of short stories.

Thank you Netgalley for providing this ARC in exchange for my unbiased review.

This is the first work by Aliette de Bodard that I've read and I appreciate the genius and world-building presented across this collection of fourteen sci-fi/fantasy short stories. However it's unfortunate that while reading these I also realized that short stories are not for me. With each new tale I felt suddenly dropped into unfamiliar territory and when I finally got my bearings, it was over and I desperately wanted more.

It's interesting to read sci-fi/fantasy that is not generated from Western preconceptions of Asian myths and legends. <i>Of Wars, and Memories, and Starlight</i> is richly painted with the Chinese and Vietnamese history and interpretations of how Earth could have been without European dominance. My favorite short stories included "The Shipmaker", "Scattered Along the River of Heaven", and "Immersion".

I greatly look forward to reading Bodard's other bodies of work.

My rating: 4

Of Wars, and Memories, and Starlight is the first anthology of short fiction by French Vietnamese SciFi/Fantasy author, Aliette de Bodard. de Bodard is a multi-award winning author in the genre, and, more personally, is one of my favorite authors. de Bodard's work is often written in one of her several universes - most notably her Xuya universe based upon a Chinese/Vietnamese-based Empire in space or her Dominions of the Fallen universe featuring a ruined Paris torn apart by fallen angels and Vietnamese dragons - although its nearly always stand alone and pretty much always deep in themes and symbolism.

This anthology is a pretty good representation of de Bodard's work, with many stories based in her Xuya universe, featuring themes of the impact of colonization, of the meanings and duties towards family, of memories and grief, the horrors of war, and more. The final two stories are novellettes, one old and one all new, based in the Dominion of the Fallen universe and are a lot more fun to close things out. Overall, you can't really do wrong with de Bodard's work, and this is a good example of why.

For those new to de Bodard's work, you'll find a pretty good cross section of her interesting concepts here that are based in non-western cultures. For example, her Xuya universe features as regular concepts that of mindships, which are sentient ships whose minds are born inside human wombs, and are treated as long living family members of the families they are born into. The universe, being based in not Western but Vietnamese/Chinese cultures, also frequently features familial duty as a major theme, with characters referred to as "aunts" (by number or simply as "elder") or "cousins" respectfully and again, mindships are also referred to in these ways as part of such families.

de Bodard uses these concepts to tell stories with a wide variety of themes, although for much of this collection, the impacts of colonization and of the inability of fighting back colonization to truly restore what once was is probably the biggest recurring theme - shown best by the stories "Memorials" and "The Waiting Stars". How others imposing their worldviews on others, particularly Westerners on those from Eastern cultures, makes a strong theme in perhaps the anthology's best story, "Immersion." And themes of grief from lost families, of lost cultures, and losses due to war are rampant throughout the collection, to very dark ends ("The Days of the War, as Red as Blood, as Dark as Bile" is a prime example.")

I'm not summarizing any of these stories because to do so will lose their power, so I'm not even going to try. You should read them yourself.

There are three stories that are kind of oddballs out. "The Jaguar House, in Shadow" is the only story in an Aztec-themed SF world (another type of setting de Bodard has written in), but is a very solid story with a twist on the stands and sacrifices one makes for ones people and friends. And then there's the two Dominion of the Fallen novellas, which are both far more fun than the rest of the collection. Which isn't to say there aren't themes of class and culture in these stories (especially Children of Thorns, Children of Water, which was a Hugo finalist a few years back and essentially a prequel to The House of Binding Thorns), but both are featuring more fun and enjoyable moments - I'm pretty sure the brand new story, Of Birthdays, and Fungus, and Kindness, featured de Bodard thinking of the worst thing she could do to one of her characters trying to plan a nice simple birthday party and going from there - that will leave you smiling in the end.

Overall, a pretty great collection and good demonstration of why de Bodard is an author you should be reading, and who deserves a lot more mainstream attention.

Most of this collection consists of stories in Aliette de Bodard's Xuya Universe, in which China colonized North America before Europe got there, which eventually resulted in an Asia-dominated space age, and Chinese (Xuya) and Vietnamese (Đại Việt) galactic empires. Two other stories are in her Dominion of the Fallen world, set in a ruined Paris ruled by houses of fallen angels. There are also a few standalone stories.

The lightest reads are the Dominion of the Fallen ones. One of those stories serves as a short prequel to The House of Binding Thorns (book 2), while the other is a new novella set some time before The House of Sundering Flames (book 3). Yes, I know that ruined Paris may not sound like a light read, but the first story involves a cooking competition and the second involves a disastrous birthday party.

The other stories delve into deeper topics such as grief, communities in diaspora, the effects of war, colonialism, resistance, and sacrifice. I loved the beautifully poetic sensibility of them, as well as the subtlety and emotional nuance with which de Bodard unpacks complicated topics.

It's hard to choose favorites when this whole collection is so excellent, but I particularly loved "Memorials" and "Scattered Along the River of Heaven" for their handling of groups in diaspora and cultural memory. "Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight" offers a poignant series of examples of different characters processing grief. "Immersion" demonstrates how tourists can bring their stereotypes to the cultures they visit, actually changing local cultures through their expectations and attitudes.

This is de Bodard's first collection of stories, and it is a truly excellent one. Most of the stories in this collection have been nominated for major genre awards, and several have (deservedly) won.

[this review will be up on my blog, acquadimore.wordpress.com, on September 2]

Of Wars, and Memories, and Starlight is a short story collection written by one of my favorite authors, Aliette de Bodard.

I knew I needed to read this when I got to know that there was an f/f novella in it – about Emmanuelle and Selene from the Dominion of the Fallen series, and really, the main reason I love them are the scenes of them I saw in various short stories and novellas, this one included – and it didn’t disappoint. I probably would have read this anyway because I always want more Xuya universe (and short stories set in space in general), but the fact that the novella wasn’t the only f/f story was also a nice surprise.

As one can guess from the title, most stories in Of Wars, and Memories, and Starlight have something to do with a war. If you think this could be repetitive, it’s not, because these stories about war aren’t stories about battles, but about the repercussions of it. It’s about how war changes people on a personal level just as much as it can change a country, and about how war and diaspora influence a culture.
What I want the most from collections (and anthologies, too), is that they feel more than the sum of their parts, and that’s definitely true for this book. There’s a value in this multifaceted approach to a theme that one can’t get from reading all these stories individually in different moments.
So yes, this is about war, from many different angles, and yet it’s all but depressing. Some parts of it are definitely dark – I think this hits the darkest points in The Days of the War, as Red as Blood, as Dark as Bile and in The Waiting Stars, though The Jaguar House, In Shadow was also almost there, since it dealt with totalitarianism – but others aren’t, and the collection ends on a lighter note with the novella Of Birthdays, and Fungus, and Kindness, in which the main characters try to make a party work in the aftermath of the fall of House Silverspires. (By the way: all the scenes involving Morningstar were so funny. I’m kind of sorry for Emmanuelle, but… so funny)

Even then, not all stories deal primarily with war. The Dust Queen is about the role of pain in art, Pearl is a beautiful retelling of a Vietnamese lengend in space, and there are a few stories that are mostly about grief – Three Cups of Grief, by Starlight, which was a reread for me and my introduction to the Xuya universe, and A Salvaging of Ghosts – and some in which the main theme is colonization, my two favorite stories in here, Memorials and Immersion.
Memorials does talk about the aftermath of a war, and it’s about… pain-based tourism and voyeuristic portrayals of war, but it’s also a story about taking back the ways your culture is misrepresented, and about what you owe to your people. This one was so vivid that the first thing I think of when I think about this book are the food descriptions (especially the scene in which the aunts order chè ba màu).
Immersion is about globalization as a subtler form of colonization. It’s one of the stories that stands better on its own and it’s about how the colonizer’s interpretation of a culture can be prioritized, and about how people who are used to living as a part of the dominant culture assume their own as a default (the usual “I have no culture”) and so they try to reduce others to a few key points, the ones that feel the most different. About how this affects the people who are othered, and their sense of self, because being more similar to the dominant culture is seen as “progress” no matter what, and people end up hurting themselves in the attempt to assimilate. There’s a lot here and it deserves all the awards it got.

(Also, I didn’t mention it before because that’s true for basically everything Aliette de Bodard writes, but I think all the main characters are people of color, mostly but not only Vietnamese, and almost all of them are women.)

Since these stories have been written from 2010 to 2019, there are a few that feel dated. While I really liked The Shipmaker for being a bittersweet f/f story, the way it talked about being queer in a far-future space society and the way it accidentally conflated having an uterus with being a woman really made the fact that it was written in 2011 stand out.
Overall, while not every story worked for me on its own – that’s the way collection and anthologies go – I’m really satisfied with the collection as a whole, and I really appreciated seeing so many sides of the Xuya universe, which I previously mostly knew from the novellas. If I rated every story individually, I would have an average rating of 4.07, but this is worth more than that for me.

Lyrical prose, intriguing characters, and a consistency of themes. I'd rate the individual stories from good, to very good, to excellent. Highly recommended.

Of Wars, and Memories, and Starlight
by Aliette de Bodard (Goodreads Author)
M 50x66
Lou Jacobs's review Aug 14, 2019 · edit
it was amazing

Marvelous collection of 14 tantalizing stories ... either Award Winners or nominees. This is de Bodard's first collection ... a tour de-force sampling of her oeuvre. She proves to be a savant who has mastered the usage of the science fiction platform to express her meaningful commentary on society and culture. Many of these stories are set in the Xuya Universe ... a Chinese colony on the West Coast which later as part of the Galactic empire seeds off into space. In her universe the Chinese have discovered the Americas before the West and Europeans .. which has lead to a space age dominated by the Asian powers. Her richly textured stories are infused with her own Vietnamese culture ... as well as drawing from stories of Ancient India and Ancient China. The marjority of these stories are 5 Star outings with an occasional 4 Star. ... none will disappoint . Woman and family take center stage in her world building. We are treated to one original novella, "Of Birthdays, and Fungus, and Kindness",
to complement the other highly acclaimed stories.
The following passage illustrates her skills... through the eyes of her female charater, Quy: " a sickeningly familiar ballet Quy had been seeing most of her life, a unison of foreigners descending on the station like a plague of centipedes or leeches ... " And, multiple stories center on sentient spaceships - Mindships ... in which the ship is controlled by a being of womb birth ... and we are exposed to the ramifications of this unique condition.
Thanks to NetGalley and Subterranean Press (#SubPress) for providing an Uncorrected Proof of this gem in exchange for an honest review. This volume will prove to be an excellent primer for those unfortunate enough to have never experienced the joy of reading Aliette de Bodard.