Reviews

Embroidered Worlds by Iryna Pasko, Olha Brylova, Valya Dudycz Lupescu

astropova's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad 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? N/A

4.5

I am so happy to have the chance to support and read a book of Ukrainian SFF stories in translation to English! There are so few Ukrainian works in translation, especially in SFF. This one was excellent and I highly recommend it. I would say the vast majority of the translations were very good; I only had issues with one or two.

The stories contained within are so diverse, vibrant, unique, and powerful. All of them reflect some facet of Ukrainian culture and spirit. Some of them were even fun. Many explored some degree of pain. Some were explicitly related to the invasion, but most were not. Some were particularly dark. I am glad I read all of them.

If I had to pick favorites (in no particular order):

•  "Neptune's Day" by Ostap Ukrainets  (День Нептуна - Остап Українець)
•  "The Last of the Beads" by Halyna Lipatova  (Волшебные Бусины - Галина Ліпатова)
•  "'Kestrel' Travel Agency" by Tetiana Adamenko  ("Турагенція 'Боривітер'" - Тетяна Адаменко)
•  "To the Garden" by Volodymyr Arenev (Туди, Де Буде Сад - Володимир Аренєв)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Violence, and Grief

There are many content warnings because this is a book full of heavy short stories. I have tagged the main/most pervasive content warnings here, but there are a few pages at the back of the book that specify detailed content warnings for each individual story.

spacedlaw's review

adventurous

4.25

ekfmef's review

dark reflective

5.0

It surprises me that this anthology didn't receive more nominations because it's really a great selection of short stories! 

Reading this was a bit bittersweet because I had this tradition of reading short story anthologies when having a night shift block (one story a day before bedtime). It's weird to just read them all after each other. 

The diversity in stories was amazing. From hard sci Fi to mythology. And even a few really cool dark fairy tales. Reading this book was like eating a gourmet menu. 

witchivor's review against another edition

4.0

There’s a little bit of everything in here, folklore, fantasy, science fiction and some humour. Stories of love, resilience and defiance. It’s a great collection showcasing a wide range of speculative fiction from Ukraine and the diaspora, and it’s accessible to readers from outside those communities too. 

The standouts for me (in the publication order) were ‘Svitla’ by A.D. Sui, ‘Geddarien’ by R.B. Lemberg, ‘Three Forest Tales’ by David Demchuk, ‘The Last of the Beads’ by Halyna Lipatova (translated by R.B. Lemberg), and ‘Honey’ by Valya Dudycz Lupescu.

 

emeraldimp's review

challenging dark emotional informative slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

3.25

clara_ward's review

challenging reflective medium-paced

4.5

valodniece's review

dark hopeful sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

If I could rate this anthology higher than a 5, I would. It's excellent. My personal favourites were "Svitla" by A.D. Sui and "To the Garden" by Volodymyr Arenev.

vortacist's review

adventurous emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? N/A
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.5