DIVERSE ENERGIES is like a Halloween trick-or-treat bag: you get some real good uns, but you also get some duds that you always kind of throw back into the bag and hope that you dont pull out again in your next swipe. Its definitely a worthwhile read for those interested in the intersection of SFF with POC (hah, so many acronyms), particularly if you enjoy or dont mind short stories. However, Im not sure it had the comprehensive punch required for it to break out of its niche for the time being.
Here are some thoughts for most (though unfortunately not all) the short stories:
Last Day by Ellen Oh - I felt like this story didn't add anything new to the category of "tales about Japanese people in wartime." The "shocking reveal" towards the end was too sudden to actually move me. 3/5
"Freshee's Frogurt" by Daniel Wilson - Rebellious, murderous robots! Quick, intense, eerily believable. 4/5
"Uncertainty Principle" by K. Tempest Bradford - Attention-holding storytelling. The science aspect felt a little underexplained, though. 4/5
"Pattern Recognition" by Ken Liu So thats how one can write about modern China's characteristics. The timeline jumped around a little too abruptly for me, but I felt the idea of this was quite realistic. 3.5/5
"Gods of Dimming Light" by Greg van Eekhout - Bad. Ass. Viking legends? Genomics? Short and fast, but fun! 3.5/5
"Next Door" by Rahul Kanakia - I liked the characters and the world but the pacing was uneven, especially towards the end, when it felt like things rushed to a premature conclusion. 3/5
"Good Girl" by Malinda Lo - Good, controlled balance between emotion, plot, and world-building. Little actually happened and questions were left unanswered at the end, but in a way that felt natural to the MC's understanding of things. 4/5
"A Pocket Full of Dharma" by Paolo Bacigalupi - Great worldbuilding; recognized a lot of elements of the modern China I know in here. The concept of having a person's consciousness in a datacube was fascinating, and the villains were scary. 4/5
"Blue Skies" by Cindy Pon - It's cool to read about a future version of Taipei. Unfortunately, the kidnapping plot felt a bit contrived, which lessened the impact the story's setup could've had for me. 3/5
"What Arms to Hold" by Rajan Khanna - Really wished the story had been slightly more specific as to its setting. 'Twas okay, but forgettable. 3.5/5
"Solitude" by Ursula K. LeGuin This is the best of the bunch, even though its a reprint. But Im glad the editors decided to include this, because I dont know if I wouldve heard of this short story otherwise, and its brilliant. This is spot-on, a chilling yet fully understandable depiction of communication problems ("CP") between different cultures. 5/5
Here are some thoughts for most (though unfortunately not all) the short stories:
Last Day by Ellen Oh - I felt like this story didn't add anything new to the category of "tales about Japanese people in wartime." The "shocking reveal" towards the end was too sudden to actually move me. 3/5
"Freshee's Frogurt" by Daniel Wilson - Rebellious, murderous robots! Quick, intense, eerily believable. 4/5
"Uncertainty Principle" by K. Tempest Bradford - Attention-holding storytelling. The science aspect felt a little underexplained, though. 4/5
"Pattern Recognition" by Ken Liu So thats how one can write about modern China's characteristics. The timeline jumped around a little too abruptly for me, but I felt the idea of this was quite realistic. 3.5/5
"Gods of Dimming Light" by Greg van Eekhout - Bad. Ass. Viking legends? Genomics? Short and fast, but fun! 3.5/5
"Next Door" by Rahul Kanakia - I liked the characters and the world but the pacing was uneven, especially towards the end, when it felt like things rushed to a premature conclusion. 3/5
"Good Girl" by Malinda Lo - Good, controlled balance between emotion, plot, and world-building. Little actually happened and questions were left unanswered at the end, but in a way that felt natural to the MC's understanding of things. 4/5
"A Pocket Full of Dharma" by Paolo Bacigalupi - Great worldbuilding; recognized a lot of elements of the modern China I know in here. The concept of having a person's consciousness in a datacube was fascinating, and the villains were scary. 4/5
"Blue Skies" by Cindy Pon - It's cool to read about a future version of Taipei. Unfortunately, the kidnapping plot felt a bit contrived, which lessened the impact the story's setup could've had for me. 3/5
"What Arms to Hold" by Rajan Khanna - Really wished the story had been slightly more specific as to its setting. 'Twas okay, but forgettable. 3.5/5
"Solitude" by Ursula K. LeGuin This is the best of the bunch, even though its a reprint. But Im glad the editors decided to include this, because I dont know if I wouldve heard of this short story otherwise, and its brilliant. This is spot-on, a chilling yet fully understandable depiction of communication problems ("CP") between different cultures. 5/5
