Lake of Souls by Ann Leckie is a fantastic collection of works that showcase the author's innovative and deeply creative approach to fantasy and science fiction writing. This was a wonderful and extensive variety of stories from her Imperial Radch Universe, her Raven Tower Universe, and stand alone works as well. I couldn't get enough of these and, to varying degrees, found myself enjoying each and every one. So much so, that I actually wanted to take the effort to individually rate each one very briefly!
First up, we have her stories that are independent, unassociated with either of her existing universes.
Lake of Souls - 5 stars, love it. Love the mix between a short, sweet coming of age story and the almost shocking body horror for such a short story.
Footprints - 2 stars, just too short. Brief introduction to something uncanny, but not long enough to actually find engaging.
Hesperia and Glory - 3 stars, quite interesting. A bit of historical fiction, magical realism, and science fiction bundled into one. Self contained and brief.
The Endangered Camp - 5 stars, dinosaurs go to space just as the meteor strikes. Filled with emotion and mythology, tragedy and hope. Loved it.
Another Word for World - 4 stars, very enjoyable! Interesting setting where two figurehead leaders of two different peoples, one native to a planet, the others recent refugees, are forced to work together to survive while their respective societies clash over settlement rights. Pacing dipped from time to time, but overall very good.
The Justified - 5 stars, righteous white hot revenge on a corrupt and class divided world. This was such a satisfying read, if a bit violent.
Bury the Dead - 3 stars, cute little quirky story of a family having Thanksgiving dinner, involving the recently deceased grandfather who apparently is a zombie. I liked it.
The Sad History of the Tearless Onion - 3 stars, itty bitty one page story of a man who tried to create onions that don't make you cry, but almost caused the collapse of society. Humorous.
These next three occur in the Imperial Radch Universe which I was excited to revisit after reading Translation State earlier this year. Each did its part in expanding this already fascinating universe, and while I found that I prefer the longer works in this universe, each of these were quite enjoyable.
Night's Slow Poison - 3 stars, returning to the Radch empire, we get to learn about an idyllic, isolated system plagued by spies for the Radch empire, protected only by a unique barrier to their system. Espionage, cultural exchange, and a brief dive into what it means to be human.
She Commands Me and I Obey - 5 stars, wow what a ride! A tale of intense politicking mixed with an election, a sports event, and extreme religious piety. I loved this, even if it was hard to follow at times with the long ass names.
The Creation and Destruction of the World - 2 stars, enjoyable mythological story about the wrath of a storm god and the pleas of a desperate mother to save her child and humanity. Felt out of place here, but it was fine.
The rest of these all occur in the universe of The Raven Tower, which I absolutely adore. I was most excited for these stories, and I think they really paid off. While the themes could be repetitive, each story was so captivating that I didn't mind diving into them over and over.
The God of Au - 2 stars. Ah getting into the Raven Tower world! This was interesting, but there was a lot of background setup for not a lot of payoff. It felt both slow and rushed at times and I wish it could have been tightened up a bit.
The Nalendar - 3 stars, very cute little story about a helpless god, a woman in need of an escape, and shady deals made along the way. Something that Leckie does often is move the story along through dialogue, reserving non-dialogues text to serve as information, but not forward progression. This is a case where I found that stylistic choice to be a bit weak, the dialogue was just obscure enough to be a bit confused as to where the story was going, but not in an intentional way.
The Snake's Wife - 4 stars, wow this really packed a punch. Some trigger warnings here for dysmorphia, castration, and sexual assault. This is a complicated story that I think others might try to dig to find fault within regarding "good representation" but I think it was handled well and I liked the story overall.
Marsh Gods - 5 stars, I really liked this one. A straightforward story about deals between humans and gods, and the ancient rivalries between gods.
The Unknown God - 5 stars, this was a great story, exploring the limitations of what gods can do, the uniqueness of humans in this world, and learning to think before you speak.
Saving Bacon - 3 stars, not much to say about this one. It was lighthearted and cute, but not wholly memorable.
Beloved of the Sun - 4 stars, what a way to end the book. A cultivation of all of the things that had been explored in this world up to this point. Scheming between gods, using humans, and an ultimate battle. This was great.
I really can't recommend this collection enough. If you enjoy science fiction or fantasy, there's something here that you'll fall in love with.
