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wardenred 's review for:
Silk & Steel: A Queer Speculative Adventure Anthology
by Claire Bartlett, Elizabeth Davis, Jennifer Mace, Alison Tam, Django Wexler, Cara Patterson, Chris Wolfgang, Ann LeBlanc, Ellen Kushner, K.A. Doore, Neon Yang, Aliette de Bodard, Yoon Ha Lee, S.K. Terentiev, Freya Marske
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
This book has been on my TBR since it was in the open submission call stage, and I'm so happy to finally get my hands on it. It's full of some absolutely delightful short stories in a variety of genres, most leaning toward fantasy, but with all sorts of twists and approaches. It's amazing how many different things can be done with the same core trope.
My favorite story was one close to the beginning, the one about the trans princess and her trans shieldmaiden ( Princess, Shieldmaiden, Witch, and Wolf by Neon Yang). It had a beautiful fairytale vibe to it. Others I found particularly memorable were Positively Medieval by Kaitlyn Zivanovich (a troll coming to study law among humans as the damsel in a bit of distress, a bike courier trying to survive the gig economy as her knight, plenty of humorous moments), Danger Noodle by S. K. Terentiev (the story of a lovely couple of insurance investigators in an urban fantasy verse with no masquerade), and Chicago Iron by Chris Wolfgan (urban fantasy again, a compelling take on Prohibition era with awesome characters). But really, those are just the ones that stuck with me the most. The entire anthology is full of other beautiful tales with scarcely a weak spot.