Book - In Our Own Worlds #2 (2020) [/]
Feb 14 2022
In Our Own Worlds #2 is an LGBTQ+ anthology from Tom Doherty Associates. It contains four novellas:
Miranda in Milan (Katharine Duckett) - A sequel to Shakespeare's The Tempest. Miranda and her father Prospero have returned to Milan where she discovers she is shunned by the people and her father may be returning to the dark arts. With the help of Dorothea, an Arabian maid and also an outsider, Miranda must uncover the secret of what happened to her mother and foil Prospero's plans...
This is the best story mostly because of it's Shakespearean feel.
Every Heart a Doorway (Seanan McGuire) - Teenager Nancy is sent to an unusual home to be cured of her belief that she spent years in another world. Once there she discover's, much like Dr Xavier's School in X-Men, that the home is a place where Eleanor West has gathered children that passed through doors to spend time in other realms. And although a few children make their way back the other realms most don't and so the school is also a way for children to restructure their lives back to "normal" humanity. But murder happens and as the newest student Nancy is the prime suspect...
Not a bad teen murder mystery though the LGBTQ+ is very subtle. The concept brings to mind what might have happened to Dorothy when she came back from Oz.
Sisters of the Vast Black (Lina Rather) - In the far future mankind has somewhat spread amongst the stars and it's been decades since a war between Earth and her colonies ended with independence for the colonies. A group of nuns on an old space ship get wind of a plot by EarthGov to reconquer the colonies using an old viral weapon. Can they buck their new priest sent by a rejuvenated Catholic Church and save the first colony being used as a test bed for EarthGov's plan?
Another nice story. The previous two are told from the protagonist's perspective. This one has several viewpoints and the various nuns have their own secrets.
The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps (Kai Ashante Wilson) - A very far future Earth back down to medieval tech levels except a few "sorcerers", people with advanced scientific knowledge and highly modified genes. One such sorcerer is Demane traveling as a caravan guard because of love for the guard captain who keeps his sorcery more hidden. The two are the only ones capable of saving the caravan when it's attacked by a panther sorcerer (a sorcerer shaped into a savage panther)...
I'm not a fan of this type of setting. Kind of like Gene Wolfe it can be hard to tell what the characters are talking about as their descriptions of items from modern day are quite different.
Overall it's an ok anthology. I'm not sure about the LGBTQ+ aspect as none of the stories made it into a key point.
Miranda in Milan (Katharine Duckett) - A sequel to Shakespeare's The Tempest. Miranda and her father Prospero have returned to Milan where she discovers she is shunned by the people and her father may be returning to the dark arts. With the help of Dorothea, an Arabian maid and also an outsider, Miranda must uncover the secret of what happened to her mother and foil Prospero's plans...
This is the best story mostly because of it's Shakespearean feel.
Every Heart a Doorway (Seanan McGuire) - Teenager Nancy is sent to an unusual home to be cured of her belief that she spent years in another world. Once there she discover's, much like Dr Xavier's School in X-Men, that the home is a place where Eleanor West has gathered children that passed through doors to spend time in other realms. And although a few children make their way back the other realms most don't and so the school is also a way for children to restructure their lives back to "normal" humanity. But murder happens and as the newest student Nancy is the prime suspect...
Not a bad teen murder mystery though the LGBTQ+ is very subtle. The concept brings to mind what might have happened to Dorothy when she came back from Oz.
Sisters of the Vast Black (Lina Rather) - In the far future mankind has somewhat spread amongst the stars and it's been decades since a war between Earth and her colonies ended with independence for the colonies. A group of nuns on an old space ship get wind of a plot by EarthGov to reconquer the colonies using an old viral weapon. Can they buck their new priest sent by a rejuvenated Catholic Church and save the first colony being used as a test bed for EarthGov's plan?
Another nice story. The previous two are told from the protagonist's perspective. This one has several viewpoints and the various nuns have their own secrets.
The Sorcerer of the Wildeeps (Kai Ashante Wilson) - A very far future Earth back down to medieval tech levels except a few "sorcerers", people with advanced scientific knowledge and highly modified genes. One such sorcerer is Demane traveling as a caravan guard because of love for the guard captain who keeps his sorcery more hidden. The two are the only ones capable of saving the caravan when it's attacked by a panther sorcerer (a sorcerer shaped into a savage panther)...
I'm not a fan of this type of setting. Kind of like Gene Wolfe it can be hard to tell what the characters are talking about as their descriptions of items from modern day are quite different.
Overall it's an ok anthology. I'm not sure about the LGBTQ+ aspect as none of the stories made it into a key point.