It took me almost four years to get through this book by N. K. Jemisin. Part of that is because I tend to have to force myself to read short stories. Part of it is because I really struggled with the first story in this collection and had to read it a few times to decide how I felt about it.
It’s one of those stories that starts off describing a supposed utopia, but ends with someone getting murdered Minority-Report style. That made me think the story was meant to be dystopian, but that’s not how Jemisin presented it. She presents it as the reasonable cost of utopia.
It’s an understandable way for her to work out her frustrations against the horrible things people say and do online, but a world where people get murdered for finding ways to discuss ideas you don’t agree with is not the answer. That leads to a world without freedom of speech and I think Jemisin has forgotten that that shit goes both ways. Take away one group’s freedom of speech and you have to wonder, who’s next? It took me a while to come to terms with the idea that I could disagree with the Great N. K. Jemisin, but once I reminded myself that she’s only human like the rest of us, I realized that just because she’s a great writer doesn’t mean I have to agree with her on everything. Unlike her supposed utopia, she can’t kill me for disagreeing with her.
Once I got over that, I really enjoyed the rest of the stories in this collection.
I heard Jemisin say in an interview somewhere that she writes short stories to experiment with different ideas and find out which one she wants to spend a whole novel (or series of novels) on. Personally, I would not have chosen the short story about the birth of New York City as the story to focus on, even though I really enjoyed that book.
I want a whole novel (or series of novels) about the two women working to end slavery in the U.S. because that is a story I wanted to spend more time in.
My other favorite was the woman who cooked using an ingredient that extends youth, but that one felt complete on its own. I don’t need more time in that story, it just stood out to me as a story that stuck with me.
Reading this book during the pandemic was interesting. There was at least one short story that I could have sworn was written during the pandemic because it was about a few people surviving some sort of disaster. They’re all stuck in their homes and can only communicate over the internet. I had to remind myself that the story was written prepandemic.
The last short story was about a hurricane and I happened to be reading it as Hurricane Ian was pummeling Florida, which made it feel very prescient, even though you don’t have to be able to see the future to know that hurricanes regularly hit Florida. I’m not sure, but I think the story actually took place in Louisiana, in which case it was probably more of a commentary on Katrina.
On the whole, this was a great book to remind me of how much I love Jemisin’s writing while I wait for her next novel to come out.