Silk & Steel is a truly exceptional anthology about sapphic relationships and characters that I enjoyed immensely from start to finish.Not all stories were my type, and there are those that I liked more than others but, generally speaking, I don't think there was a story I found badly written or just bad.There are a lot of sapphic fantasy and scifi subversions of the princess/bodyguard trope, but also a lot of stories that took this idea of a pairing with a "fighter" and "lady" types and just ga...

Despite taking a while to read this (nearly a month, which is a WOEFULLY long time for a speedy reader like me, curse you academic reading overload) but this was absolutely DELIGHTFUL. There were two or three stories I didn't vibe with but I liked nearly all of them and I especially loved Margo Lai's Guide to Dueling Unprepared by Alison Tam, Princess, Shieldmaiden, Wolf, and Witch by Neon Yang, and The Parnassian Courante by Claire Barlett. Overall just a really great theme for an anthology and...

(3.5)the ones i liked most were mostly shoved in at the start, so i guess it felt a little like it petered out, but still a solid anthology. * = faveRep: wlw mcs*margo lai's guide for duelling unprepared by alison tam - 4☆Rep: Chinese mc, Indonesian mcprincess, shieldmaiden, witch, and wolf by neon yang - 3☆Rep: trans mcsCWs: transphobiaelinor jones vs the ruritanian multiverse by freya marske - 3☆*plan z by django wexler - 4☆little birds by cara patterson - 3☆Rep: Turkish cast & settingpositive...

Usually, anthologies have at least a few stories I find really really bad. On the plus side: this isn't the case this time. On the negative side: I also barely found any stories really good. I loved Elinor Jones vs. the Ruritanian Multiverse by Freya Marske and Little Bird by Cara Patterson. The Sweet Tooth of Angwar Bec (Ellen Kushner), In the Salt Crypts of Ghiarelle (Jennifer Mace) and The Commander and the Mirage Master’s Mate (Elaine McIonyn) and Yoon Ha Lee's The City Unbreachable could ha...

My favs were Princess Shieldmaiden Witch and Wolf, Plan Z, and the Parnassian Courante. Probably more that I liked but I can't remember lolI think I felt a bit of a lull in the middle but all the stories were really fun. Short stories aren't usually my thing bc I like a ridiculous amount of world building. Still, the whole thing was really easy to get through and a nice mental break from academic readings!PS Forgot to mention that reading in the Nook app, there were some character names that had...

The premise for this kickstarter-based anthology was so solidly in my sweet spot that I not only backed the kickstarter immediately, but I was inspired to write a story to submit for it. (Alas, they didn’t take my story, but perhaps it will see the light of day at some point.) The basic premise, inspired by a piece of art, was “two women, one with weapon skills, one with more social/courtly skills, plunge into adventure and romance.” The settings range from classical fantasy worlds to space pira...

'Silk & Steel' is a really fun anthology, themed around themed around pairs of warrior women and society ladies, and they've got a bunch of fun stories around them discovering each other, falling in love, having adventures, or any combination of the three. Of special note, I particularly enjoyed 'Book and Hammer, Blade and Bone' by Ann LeBlanc (featuring an afterlife library); 'Margo Lai's Guide to Dueling Unprepared' by Alison Tam (just delightful friendship turning into something more); 'Elino...

Lesbian sff short story collection. A bit of a mixed bag, which is how anthologies always are, haha. Probably something for everyone. I had a lot of trouble maintaining any reading momentum, which I guess makes sense. Stories I recall enjoying:-the one about the trans princess+knight-the one about the multiverses. Fun and felt well constructed-the one about the troll, which really just felt extremely relevant to our present pandemic times-danger noodle, which was also fun. Could see a larger sto...

My faves: “Margo Lai’s Guide To Dueling Unprepared” by Alison Tam“Elinor Jones vs. the Ruritanian Multiverse” by Freya Marske“Chicago Iron” by Chris Wolfgang“In the Salt Crypts of Ghiarelle” by Jennifer Mace“The City Unbreachable” by Yoon Ha Lee

This anthology featured Sapphic relationships and a lot of...dueling? Really, there were at least three stories where dueling of some sort played a crucial role in the plot. That actually ties into one of my problems with this anthology, and that's the feeling that so many of these stories sounded alike. As always with my anthology reviews, here are my thoughts on the individual stories: #1: “Margo Lai’s Guide To Dueling Unprepared” by Alison Tam. Rep: BIPOC protagonist and love interest, wlw.A

I read this as part of the Shorts and Sorcery Book Club, run by Reija the Book Finch on Booktube, and it was great comparing notes as we worked our way through the collection. I'm new to SFF short stories, and where better to cut my teeth than queer, sapphic adventures in fantastic lands? The anthology averages out to a three - some dealt in tropes I have no patience for (the logical one vs the chaotic one, for example), but others were just the thing. Standout stories for me include Elinor Jone...

Silk and Steel, edited by Janine A. Southard, is an anthology of f/f SFF stories with a focus on pairings between swordswomen (or other warriors) and princesses (or other high femme characters). It was funded by a Kickstarter, which I backed because it sounded very much like my sort of thing, and the authors to be featured included Ellen Kushner and Yoon Ha Lee, both of whom I like very much.Like all anthologies, I liked some of the stories much more than others, but of the seventeen stories in

Heteronormativity and gender roles but make them sound “woke”. Not surprising that some of these authors can only describe their characters as “sword princess” or “diplomat princess”, because multi faceted female characters who are more than gendered stereotypes are unheard of in this day and age (we rarely even use the word “lesbian” anymore!), even in “woke” fandom circles. I did enjoy some of the stories, hence the 2 stars.

Really fun collection of adventurous fantasy stories in a variety of settings.

This anthology contains seventeen stories featuring sapphic relationships in speculative fiction. I loved how diverse it was, both in terms of characters and genre. I have also probably never read a work with so many female characters, which just goes to show that the world needs more Lesbian fiction.Sadly, most of the stories failed to leave a lasting impression on me. For some, the concept didn’t really work in short fiction (unexplained worldbuilding or a lack of narrative arc were a frequent...

You guessed it: another 3-star anthology.Margo Lai's Guide to Dueling Unprepared - 3.5/5This was probably the best story to start this collection since it set the tone and expectation that this was going to be mostly fluffy, rompy stories with some humor and flirting. I'm not a huge fan of the childhood friends-to-lovers trope so that was my only gripe.Princess, Shieldmaiden, Witch, and Wolf - 3/5This one was perfectly fine for me. Story itself was a pretty straightforward fairytale but with the...

Nonstop sapphic and speculative goodness! This was a delight. A shout-out to my three favorite stories:- "Margo Lai's Guide to Dueling Unprepared" (quite fun and shippable, loved the dynamics between the two characters) - "Plan Z" (I'd love a whole book based off these characters and this setting!)- "The Parnassian Courante" (a dash of Norse mythology and such a sweet and clever take on the theme)I read this with my Sapphic SF&F Book Club here on Goodreads, which made it even more fun. On that n...

This is a f/f anthology that I've really been looking forward to for months! I'm a little less into fantasy & science fiction than a few months ago, and I've decided not to push myself, so for now I've only read the more light-hearted stories of the anthology, with a straightforward kind of writing. But I might come back later for the others!Positively Medieval, by Kaitlyn Zivanovich, featuring Troll/Human culture clash, a very intimidating but "pacifist" Troll, a dystopia complete with lockdown...

What I really want is to stop wanting her.DNF at 50%. Silk and Steel is an anthology of fantasy and science fiction short stories centered around romantic relationships between a princess and a female bodyguard/knight (or adjacent character types). I was drawn to Silk and Steel by the gorgeous cover. I was looking for something lighthearted and fluffy to read because I am in a bit of a reading slump. The quality and writing styles of these stories weren’t quite what I expected. A couple of the s...

3 stars, a fun read but has some rough patchesA short story collection full of, as a friend put it, "sword lesbians" sounded like exactly the right kind of lighthearted fun to start 2021 off with and it mostly was. The stories range pretty widely in style but they're all united in combining action with sapphic romance that usually errs on the sweet side. Many of the stories in this collection are by writers who have their first writing credit and while many of them pull their stories off, there