Embroidered Worlds: Fantastic Fiction from Ukraine and the Diaspora - Edited by Valya Dudycz Lupescu, Olha Brylova & Iryna Pasko - ★★★

EDITORS: Valya Dudycz Lupescu, Olha Brylova and Iryna Pasko

GENRE: SFF Anthology

PUBLICATION DATE: November 19, 2023

RATING: 3 stars.

In a Nutshell: A sci-fi anthology by Ukrainian writers, both citizens and diasporic. Varied in genres and innovative in presentation, but somehow, the content and the approach didn’t click with me. I think this is more of a ME problem, so take this review with a pinch of salt.

This anthology contains thirty stories penned by Ukrainian writers living within the country (with their works being translated to English for the first time) and those living in other nations. The stories come from a variety of SFF genres such as science fiction, space opera, horror, fantasy, dystopian, and even slipstream.

I always lament when anthologies don't come with introductory notes about the theme. This one spoilt me for choice. It had not one but two brilliant introductory notes written by the three editors. These offer a touching tribute to stories and the Ukraine context, and also explain why escapist fiction such as mysteries and fantasies are so common in that country. I love how heartfelt the tone was, especially in the first note. This line will especially stay with me: "Stories reveal something about the people telling them."

The editors describe these tales as “stories of transformation, by luck or achievement, through wit or sacrifice, with the characters experiencing moments of rebirth, reconsideration, renewal.” Most of the tales were thus quite poignant or dramatic, though a couple had a touch of wry humour.

So far, so good. The intent proved itself. But the content… that was a different experience altogether.

I had grabbed this anthology mainly for the ethnicity of the writers. One of my favourite indie sci-fi writers is Anton Eine, who is also Ukrainian. (I was a bit disappointed to see nothing by him in this collection.) I was hoping to experience a somewhat similar high on reading this book, but that wasn’t to happen.

Did I get a sense of Ukrainian culture from these tales? Not really. But SFF writing is not about cultural representation, so I wouldn’t dock off points for this.

While I followed my usual pattern of reading 1-2 stories a day, it took me more than an hour to complete each session. This is partly because of the length. 460 pages is much too long for an anthology. The page count itself will dissuade many readers. Also, 30 stories is way too many for a single collection, and when the stories are not distributed appropriately across the volume, they start generating a feel of déjà vu.

No matter how much I tried, my mind kept drifting away from the tales. I am not sure if it is the writing approach (either too conversational, or hopping across various characters within the same tale, or with multiple scene changes that felt jumpy), the repetitiveness at the start (with all the initial stories being space adventures), the sluggish pace (most tales were too meandering and/or too verbose) or the translation (a tad too literary; unless someone reads the original tales and compares the tones, it's tough to say if the literary feel is the author's intent or the translator's prerogative or simply an awkward turn of phrase from a non-native speaker.) The innovativeness of the tales was clearly visible, but the style of presentation didn’t suit my reading tastes.

As always, I read the stories individually, but most of them fell between the 2 to 3.5 star mark for me, with very few exceptions. There were no standout stories that I would count as memorable.

Maybe this book might work better for those readers who are more attuned to this meandering kind of writing style. It could also be a good fit to more avid SFF fans; I am just a dabbler in this genre. If nothing else, it serves as a great way of showing your support to indie Ukrainian writers, even though there is not much about Ukraine in the stories.

Hitting the midway mark in solidarity with the writers, in the hope that this book might find the right reader. My average rating for all the stories also rounds up to 3 stars, so it is fairly accurate of my feelings about the content as well.

My thanks to Atthis Arts and NetGalley for the DRC of “Embroidered Worlds”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the book.