Found this collection of short stories while I was desperately hunting the internet for news of Monstress Book 2*; turns out Marjorie Liu also writes books sometimes!

It's 6 short stories and a novella, all in the varying realms of speculative fiction (a couple fairy tale retellings, some alt history, one that's interested in superhero comics).

I thought they were all really quite good! They deal with the consequences of cruelty but are all quite kind in the end; lots of fae bargains, bold lady protagonists, found families, and love triumphant. The sapphic retelling of - I guess it's sleeping beauty? It's a fairy tale, for certain- Briar & Rose - was a bit of a standout for me, but I found I enjoyed them all.

*There isn't any news of Monstress Book 2..yet. As of October 2021.

So there are short story collections where some feel just like slice of life, and some end too abruptly, and some feel shallow due to lack of space to flesh out the world details.

Not here. Not Marjorie Liu. Each story is its own world, fully fleshed out, full of the scene-setting lush prose I expect from Liu. And for Dirk & Steele fans, there are two nuggets of awesomeness as two of the stories here are a prequel and a far, far sequel.

And for someone like me, who is well versed in fantasy and fairy-tale tropes, things don't always play out as I'd expect.

Take the titular story, Tangleroot Palace, wherein a princess we encounter mucking out rosebushes is promised to a Warlord in marriage-- and she runs off into an enchanted forest to find some way out of the marriage. My literary sense leads me to expect her to find magic power/helper in the forest...but not all as it seems. This story also showcases two of the reasons i love Liu stories: a lovely romance without super-unhealthy stockholm syndrome or stalkery tendencies and whimsical fighting powers such as a juggler who slips in throwing stars.

It took me a while to read this because each story held such gravitas in my imagination. My only complaint, as always, is that each of these stories could easily have been an entire novel. Each one is a novel I'd eagerly read.

4.3 stars

sympathy for the bones: five stars
the briar and the rose: four stars
the light and the fury: five stars
the last dignity of man: five stars
where the heart lives: four stars
after the blood: three stars
tangleroot palace: four stars

found tangleroot palace a bit underwhelming, especially considering it was the titular story. it read more young adult that the other six did. it’s always very impressive when an author can write comfortably in several different genres, and i do genuinely like liu’s characters. i did not under what after the blood was going for, or what was actually happening in it. it’s still not clear to me what the message or plot line of that story was.

The thing with anthologies is that their variety is their greatest strength, but it can also just as equally be their greatest weakness. I never go into anthology expecting to love every single story. I hope I do, but usually it's inevitable that there are a couple of duds mixed in.

Not with this book.


Every moment reading this was absolutely fantastic. If you like sci-fi and fantasy short fiction, snatch this up!!!