4.5 stars

First things first, this anthology comes out on November 1st 2022, so go pre-order this one right now, I promise you won't regret it!

So, when you start a book and the editor's note already manages to make you tear up, you know you are going to be in for an emotional and impactful read.
The Alchemy of Sorrow is an SFF anthology containing 13 beautiful stories centred around the themes of grief and sorrow. This collection is heavy, it will tug on your heartstrings and punch you in the gut. But, it is also comforting and cathartic, ultimately leaving you with a feeling of hope. These stories are a beautiful example of why the SFF genre is, in my humble opinion, the best way to delicately explore deeper and heavier subjects by looking at them through a fantastical lense. Yes, these stories are raw, honest and vulnerable, but they are honestly also a joy to read as they tickle your imagination and evoke a sense of wonder.

Now, I am fortunate enough to have never experienced the loss and grief that come from losing someone close to you. But that doesn’t mean that these stories didn’t resonate with me, because this anthology explores the many different ways in which grief and sorrow can manifest.
Grief over a past that is lost to you, over a life that was, or a life that never came to be. It shows how you can heal with time, but also how you can learn to live with your sorrows and griefs.
Each author approached these themes in their own authentic way and that made each story a fresh and compelling read.

As with (almost every) anthology, there were some stories that worked better for me than others. However, I enjoyed reading each and every one of them, because they all managed to move me in their own way. The writing was also just beautiful and captivating across the board, perfectly fitting the melancholic yet hopeful tone of this anthology. All of these authors are incredible writers and storytellers, they all managed to hook me within just a couple of pages. I honestly think you can just feel the love and heart that went into these stories, which made them all the more impactful.

If I had to choose my five favourite stories, I would probably say:
- Skies on Fire by Sonya M. Black
- A Matter of Trust by Angela Boord
- Reliquary of the Damned by Rachel Emma Shaw
- The Quiet by Madolyn Rogers
- The Paperweight Watch by Krystle Matar

That said, there wasn’t a single story in here that I would rate lower than 4 stars, so safe to say that this was just an outstanding reading experience on the whole.
I truly want to thank these authors from the bottom of my heart for being brave enough to share these raw and vulnerable stories with the world.
What a stunning collection.

Thank you to NetGalley and Crimson Fox Publishing for the eARC. All opinions are my own.

With the theme of grief caused by a variety of reasons ranging from losing your loved ones to losing your health and identity, this is an anthology bound to elicit strong emotions from readers. For that, I liked that right from the start, there's a listing of warnings for each of the stories, describing what kind of situational trauma it contains that would trigger a reader, so those that are sensitive to certain topics in their fiction and would rather not read stories involving them can skip them and go for those stories they can take in.

Not all stories are handle the kind of grief they purport to address quite convincingly, and some read even breezy and with a sprinkling of cheer that masks the pain lying in-between lines, whilst others are dark and kick you in your sensitive bone with complete naturalness. Some have a contemporary, in-our-world type of setting whilst others are set in made-up worlds, but they all are SFF and magic and the supernatural play a role in varying degrees. With 13 stories by as many authors, styles will vary, as expected, as will quality.

For me, the two stories involving the loss of a parent were supposed to have been the most emotionally powerful, that's the grief I can relate to the most on a personal level, but weren't both work similarly. One worked for me, and the other didn't, which goes to show that, in the end, it's the author's deftness at writing grief what'll make or break a story for readers and not the topic itself. There were stories in which the writing style and choice of POV were counterproductive to its desired impact for me, such as "Lullaby" by K. S. Viloso, that was off-putting because... how exactly am I supposed to relate to a story told by an unborn child that somehow speaks like an all-knowing adult? Suspension of disbelief was impossible, and I ended up disliking it intensely in spite of its topics I'd not have usually disliked.

The diversity is good enough that you're bound to find at least one you like. In my case, my favourite stories were:

SKIES OF FIRE by Sonya M. Black
A story whose underlying grief is that of the loss of identity that comes from disability. It's painful if you have a chronic illness or know someone close who does, it reminds you of what they go through silently as their body degenerates and chronic pain settles in. But it's also bittersweetly hopeful, with a nice plot of a meaningful bond between a character and their animal.

A MATTER OF TRUST by Angela Boord
The tone in this story doesn't let you guess what the "sorrow" is here, and if you hadn't read the warnings at the start of the book, you'd likely not have guessed this was about an alcoholic and cheating ne'er-do-well of a father in search of redemption after hitting rock bottom and being found in said rock bottom sleeping with his wife's bestie. Does he redeem himself? You be the judge.

A RECURRENCE OF JASMINE by Levi Jacobs
I wasn't supposed to relate to this story's topic as it's totally unknown territory to me, but boy, did I love this! It was the best and my absolute favourite from the anthology. In this, a girl is brought before a dying god in hopes she'll be able to wring at least a dejected response from him, apparently playing on the Maiden Sacrifice to Monster trope, but by the end it subverts it as the girl is no maiden but a mother willing to go to any lengths for her baby. Wish this story had a continuation!

TWICE-DOMESTICATED DRAGONS by Intisar Khanani
The idea of a plague of garden gnomes whose natural predators are small domestic dragons made me smile, and brought to mind the stories Intisar was telling in her newsletter about the family of mice that lived in her house. It was easy to think of this as a mice vs cats story for her children but with garden gnomes and mini-dragons; but make no mistake, as silly and cheery as the concept sounds, this story deals with a serious topic: losing your parent and living as a refugee. It's very hopeful, perhaps the most hopeful here.

Looks like, for me, the best stories were placed at the beginning! The rest were harder to get into, but the positive is that with the sole exception above named, I didn't dislike any other, and this also introduced me to new authors I might want to read more of, as all of them were new to me save for Intisar Khanani.

Recommended, but do read the warnings for each story first.

A huge thank you to Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op and NetGalley for the arc of The Alchemy of Sorrow by by M.L. Wang, K.S. Villoso, Intisar Khanani, Quenby Olson, Sonya M. Black, Angela Boord, Levi Jacobs, Krystle Matar, Virginia McClain, Carol A. Park, Madolyn Rogers, Rachel Emma Shaw & Clayton Snyder. Edited by Sarah Chorn & Virginia McClain.

This book is described as “a fantasy and Sci Fi anthology of grief and hope.” It explores a multitude of aspects, experiences and hues of grief, sorrow, recollection and longing that truly touch your heart, as hope and memory and love shine through.

I can truthfully say that this book touched my heart, bringing with it an introduction to authors I’d never read before and work that was truly touching, imaginative and in many ways tender.

I can’t call out a bad story in this anthology, I truly found myself pulled into each and every one, often finding myself emotional and also sad that the story had come to an end, before I wanted to leave.

The stories covered the gamut of emotion, from mourning the past to help build a future in Skies on Fire, to recognising time to move on following the breakdown of a relationship in A Matter of Trust. I’ve not read Year of the Reaper, but it’s on my TBR now.

And yes, I totally adored Twice-Domesticated Dragons, the idea of the being gnome eaters is just the best.

The Quiet truly brought me to tears and will stay with me for a long time to come.

I truly love this book, totally regret not supporting the kick starter, but will be ordering a copy. If you want to read great fantasy and Sci Fi work, you won’t ho wrong with this anthology, and it’s definitely one I will be returning to, again and again.

My gratitude to NetGaley and the publishers for this free e-copy in exchange for a honest review.
"The Alchemy of Sorrow" is a wonderful anthology of short stories about grief, hurt and hope in dificult times. Seeing each author's unique interpretation on pain and sorrow was profound and inspirational.
I will enumerate the stories and a few brief personal conclusions.
"Lullaby" by K. S. Villoso, one of my favorite because of the unexpected narrator. It expresses sorrow for what it could have been. It is deep, dark and raw.
"Skies on Fire" by Sonya M Black is an emotional exploration of the loss of purpose, caused by chronic illnrss and pain.
Adored the human - animal companion connection and I wanted even more.
"A Matter of Trust" by Anglela Boord is the story of a broken man in need of redemption. Adventure, danger, guns.
"A Recurence of Jasmine" by Levi Jacobs was another favorite. A mother's determination to fight for the safety of her son. I could almost smell the aromas and taste the flavours that harmonised this story.
"Twice Domesticated Dragons" by Intisar Khanani
Don't be fooled by the garden gnomes gone rogue, this story is about children that are forced by their circumstances to grow up too fast and carry heavy responsabilities. Is about resilience and survival.
"The Witch in the Wood" by Quenby Olson uses the second person narative to show a mother's distress at saving her baby girl and surpassing the fear of her heritage, the drastic and painful choice she has to make.
"Thief" by Virginia McClain is about handling grief. I loved how the narator choose to cope with her jurney towards healing. Seeing some humor and fantastic creativity woven in there made the story so much more vivid in the end.
"Thicker than Water" by Carol A. Park is about the unexpected loss of identity. It has some well crafted horror elements that set a grim tone to even darker events. The sorrow of loosing the love you thought was unconditional.
Seeing that "Death in the Uncanny Valley" by M. L. Wang is about healing from grief and reforming family bonds with the help of virtual reality RPG was a bit unfamiliar and way out of my knowledge field, but I still appreciated the author's style.
"Summer Souls" by Clayton Snyder was my "wierd in a good way" story. I enjoyed the concept of souls lingering on and immagined them as fireflyes. There was also a indirect commenrary on how and for what purpose we use technology.
Making the invisible visible was made possible by "Reliquary of the Damned". Rachel Emma Shaw blended the psychology of emotions in a dystopian alternative world with unique magic system. How will it be to be able to actualy see the emotions and traumas one has experienced?
"The Quiet" by Madolyn Rogers reveals the duality of depression and grief. How would our world look if we could remove our pain? Will we be the same? Will it realy serve us? I loved how all these are answered in a Fantasy setting with a relatable heroine.
"The Paperweight Watch" by Krystle Matar was by far the most beautifuly written, devastating story of them all. I had so many conflicting feelings towards the narrator, but I stil cared so much. The grief felt so close to my heart...
This if for sure the most surprising colection of short stories that I read, and by miles my favorite. Now I want to read everithing else by these authors.

I don’t read a lot of anthologies but I loved this one! Especially Intisar Khanani’s short story. This is a fascinating collection with a lot of likable characters.

This was a lovely collection of short stories from some of the great voices in fantasy. I especially enjoyed M. L. Wang and K. S. Villodo's other works so I was quite excited to see them here. They did not disappoint at all. Their stories here were some of the ones I liked best. Of course, it can't be helped that there were stories that missed, but overall, I think it was a great collection of stories. The prose was lovely and being with the characters for a few brief moments in their sorrow was emotional. I also liked that there were trigger warnings in the table of contents. The editor's note was a lovely touch too.

This anthology delves into the various ways that we experience grief and sorrow, and how we process it. Oftentimes, the light at the end of those two particular tunnels is winding and not linear and these stories depicts that. Many of the stories were poignant, heartfelt and melancholy, but they also showed resilience of the human spirit.
Of course, as with all collaborations, there were some stories that didn't hit the mark for me (only two), which made this an excellent read.
Check the trigger warnings before reading.

There is so much sadness and so much beauty in this collection of short stories, each featuring a protagonist experiencing loss and, ultimately, healing. It was a difficult read, due to the subject matter, but a very rewarding one. Going in, I was familiar with the majority of the authors–some well-known names from the independent fantasy scene–but some were new to me.

There is a lot of variety among the stories here. My personal favorites included Intisar Khanani’s Twice Domesticated Dragons, about a young refugee girl forced to grow up too soon, as she takes care of her siblings and her grieving father, and seeks out dragons to protect her home from destructive garden gnomes. (The ending was so perfect and so lovely!) Levi Jacobs’ A Recurrence of Jasmine deals with a world-weary, dying god and a compassionate young mother who brings him hope.

The settings of these stories are varied, from fantasy worlds to cyberspace. In M.L. Wang’s Death in the Uncanny Valley, an online role-playing game serves as the means for a family to come back together after loss divides them. As one who enjoys the support and companionship of several online communities, this story hit particularly close to home.

I could go on – there were some real gems in this collection. I’d recommend reading through this one story at a time. More than that, it’s easy to get overwhelmed by all of the strong emotions.

The pain and anger that the characters feel is no less real for having taken place in a fantasy setting: the worlds inhabited by these people are fictional but their feelings of bereavement, estrangement from loved ones, alienation, and grief are universal.

My thanks to NetGalley and to the publisher for a review copy of this anthology.

This was a beautifully written collect of stories that centers around grieve told in sci-fi fantasy. The collection consists of 13 stories that break and heal you all at the same time. These stories are cathartic and highlight how one deals and lives with grief p, it’s not something that just simply goes away. The different story dive into the many faces that grief where’s in relationships, loved ones, health and one’s self. This is a story that resonates deep and lovers of short stories by different authors that have a common thread running through out it, will thoroughly enjoy this story.

Unlike some of the below reviews i received a copy of this book via netgalley not the startup. All of the stories were unique and very good. The artwork was amazing and needs awards just on that alone. However the topic of grief loss of one's may not be for everyone. I would highly recommend in this case viewing a sample before purchasing.

This collection is all about grief in its many varieties and experiences, a way to see experiences reflected in fantasy.

Lullaby

I was very confused in this story. It's written in second person and it took me a very long time to work out who was talking, and to whom. Because it's a short story, by the time I'd worked that out, most of the story was gone and I didn't have enough time to sink into the story with that new knowledge.

Skies on Fire

I really enjoyed this one, a story about the loss of identity and previous normal life after injury. There was so much world building packed into a handful of pages, building a world of phoenix riders and two close relationships. It is a story about mourning a past in order to build a future.

A Matter of Trust

This is the longest of the stories contained within the anthology. It is about the grief of a broken relationship, trying to move on after a marriage fails. It's also a story about mercenaries and traitors and trying to carry the weight of the world on your shoulders. It reminded me of YEAR OF THE REAPER and made me desperate to re-read that book!

A Recurrence of Jasmine

The premise of this story is great - a dying god and a slave woman forced to try and appease him, instead showing him kindness to gain perspective. There is a hint of internal politics (always a win) and history unfolding.

Twice-Domesticated Dragons

The dragons in this story hunt and eat gnomes. It was such a fun idea, a pretty modern-feeling world that happens to have pests that are a little more usual (and dangerous) than your run-of-the-mill rats and foxes.

The Witch in the Woods

This is a story about a dying baby and a mother's attempt to save the baby, even if it costs her future. It was interesting to read a story that wasn't so much about grieving a death but a loss of potential, because I think that's the most common sort of grief we tackle. Each major life decision is a potential future lost. In this story's case, it's wrapped up with grief over a child, the mounting, bracing grief before a seemingly inevitable grief (another form of grief I'm so glad we got to see."

Thief

This is a story about saying goodbye, the power of having that chance. I've been able to say some goodbyes and not others, and it is so valuable, even if you don't realise it until later. That last "I love you", that last moment with them. I loved the mix of "contemporary" and "other worldly" in this book.

Thicker than Water

This short story is about the grief experienced at a family betrayal, when you're turned on for something that isn't your fault.

Death in the Uncanny Valley

This is a sci-fi story about a family broken by grief, historic and present, that find each other again through childhood video games, breaching vast distances between them. I love seeing video games in fiction, that mix of reality and games that shows how virtual reality can connect people in meaningful ways that might not be possible in real life.

Summer Souls

A woman who's lost her mother and sister watches souls on a device brought by a travelling salesman and has to come to terms with it as she watches the lives of others unfold before her. It was interesting to see the thoughts about what the machine did to souls and what that meant for grief and "rightness."

Reliquary of the Damned

I was a bit confused by this one, mainly because I never quite worked out what "relics" were - physical objects? A more metaphorical "relic of an injury" that has some tattoo-like image on the skin? That missing piece made it harder to follow because the character's shame over them and then coming to terms with them was the core of the story.

The Quiet

This is a story about burying grief and pain, particularly when multiple losses follow on each other's heels. It's also a story about hope and finding new purpose. I liked the metaphor of the "quiet" from removing pain by magic for the suffocating fog that can come over you after loss.

The Paperweight Watch

This one is about returning home after parents die, taking up the family business and trying to adjust to the new reality of being alone, of having

This was a great anthology, each story was really well done and convey what the theme of the collection was. Each story was really well done and I enjoyed the artwork with the story it really added to the atmosphere. I appreciated reading this collection and hope there is more from this company.