Scan barcode
Reviews tagging 'Antisemitism'
Nordic Visions: The Best of Nordic Speculative Fiction by Karin Tidbeck, Maria Haskins, John Ajvide Lindqvist
1 review
sproutedpages's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Thank you to NetGalley and Rebellion Publishing for providing me with an eARC of this anthology! All opinions expressed in this review are willingly given and entirely my own.
Nordic Visions is an interesting and eclectic anthology of Nordic speculative fiction, though unfortunately many of the stories ended too abruptly and were too short to contain the intended impact of their themes and narratives. The formatting of the eARC did not benefit this either, as there was no obvious delineation of the short stories, and the titles were absent (although this may not be an issue in the published version). The stories themselves, however, were incredibly diverse in both their narrative scopes and in their respective placements within the speculative fiction genre. While not every story was suited to my taste (as will likely be the case with other readers, and with anthologies more generally), Nordic Visions was written and translated quite well, and is an excellent introduction to Nordic contributions to the speculative fiction genre.
My favorite short stories from this anthology are:
✶ Lost and Found by Maria Haskins, which follows the sole survivor of a spacecraft that crashes while on a mission to scout planets for terraforming and colonization potential.
✶ Sing by Karin Tidbeck, which follows Aino, a tailor from a planet called Kiruna— considered an abandoned planet after mining companies drained it of its resources and left— and Petr, a visiting biologist from another world who is in need of her services.
✶ The Wings that Slice the Sky by Emmi Itäranta, which retells/reimagines the Kalevala, a Finnish Epic Poem rich in folklore.
Nordic Visions is an interesting and eclectic anthology of Nordic speculative fiction, though unfortunately many of the stories ended too abruptly and were too short to contain the intended impact of their themes and narratives. The formatting of the eARC did not benefit this either, as there was no obvious delineation of the short stories, and the titles were absent (although this may not be an issue in the published version). The stories themselves, however, were incredibly diverse in both their narrative scopes and in their respective placements within the speculative fiction genre. While not every story was suited to my taste (as will likely be the case with other readers, and with anthologies more generally), Nordic Visions was written and translated quite well, and is an excellent introduction to Nordic contributions to the speculative fiction genre.
My favorite short stories from this anthology are:
✶ Lost and Found by Maria Haskins, which follows the sole survivor of a spacecraft that crashes while on a mission to scout planets for terraforming and colonization potential.
✶ Sing by Karin Tidbeck, which follows Aino, a tailor from a planet called Kiruna— considered an abandoned planet after mining companies drained it of its resources and left— and Petr, a visiting biologist from another world who is in need of her services.
✶ The Wings that Slice the Sky by Emmi Itäranta, which retells/reimagines the Kalevala, a Finnish Epic Poem rich in folklore.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Ableism, Suicide, Antisemitism, and Gun violence
Moderate: Child death, Infertility, Animal death, and Murder
Graphic depiction of violent antisemitism (not endorsed)
More...