New Suns
{5/5} “A country that has reached the age of wisdom would stop building monuments to the warmongers of its history, but rather erect them for its peacemakers, those who saved lives by preventing the course of events from descending into a time of sword and fire.” (from “The Virtue of Unfaithful Translations”)
New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color edited by Nisi Shawl, published in 2019
“The Virtue of Unfaithful Translations” by Minsoo Kang — The Peace of Five Peaks Island was a peace between the Sixth Emperor and the Great Sea Dragon, two leaders bent on war. Their translators, Diviner Supreme and Upright Lotus, had met and decided to intentionally mistranslate their leaders’ words. That’s what they did, and expertly, to result int he unexpected peace.
Even though the story has no dialogue nor action in the present, it’s delightfully engaging.
“The Fine Print” by Chinelo Onwualu — When Nulu gets his final notice, he becomes distressed. He now has to give up his baby boy to the Djinn, because he made a deal. His Grandfather reminds him that the Djinn set them free from slavery, and he should give him what he’s owed. But Nulu will do anything for his son — even going to the Djinn’s house and speaking with him personally.
You may have read other granting-of-wishes stories, but this one has a different feel to it.
Stories range from sly to clever to creepy. One story was bizarre — all of the others were at least interesting and some were astonishing.
Although the stories are short, they pull you into their unique worlds. Who knows — you might find your new favourite author amongst these pages.
Authors include Steven Barnes, Karin Lowachee, Silvia Morena-Garcia, and Rebecca Roanhorse.
This is the 1st book I’ve read from Shawl.