I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Sun-Daughters, Sea Daughters by Aimee Ogden Published by Tor.com on February 23 2021
Genres: Adult, Fantasy
Pages: 112
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: A beautifully written space opera/fairy tale mash-up with a touch of romance and an emotionally satisfying ending.
What a strange and lovely story this was! Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters is a LIttle Mermaid retelling set on a distant planet called Maraven, where sea dwellers and land dwellers are currently involved in a clan war. Atuale was born to the Sea-Clan, but she fell in love with a land dweller and went through a body modification process in order to be with him. But now the cliff village of Keita Vo has been struck with a deadly plague, and many of Atuale’s friends and relatives are sick and dying, including her husband Saareval. She herself seems immune to the disease, maybe because of her origins, and so she decides to visit the World-Witch in the sea far below to ask for help.
Ogden’s world was beautifully described and imagined, and despite the very short length of this novella, I had no trouble visualizing her unique world, set both in space, on land and under water. Atuale ventures back to her home under the sea when her village falls under a plague, which as you can imagine is uncomfortable for both sides. Once there, she hopes to find the World-Witch, an old lover of hers before she left, but imagine her surprise when the World-Witch, a female, has become a male named Yanja. Yanja agrees to help her, for a price, and they set out for a distant world to find a cure in Yanja’s spaceship, the Unfortunate Wanderer. I loved the odd adventure the two went on together, and Atuale’s reactions to seeing a different world for the first time were wonderful.
Atuale and Yanja reminded me of animals more than anything else, from their physical appearance—body coverings of scales or fur—to the way they procreate. Atuale’s babies (from when she was part of the Sea-Clan) are described as “spawn” and do not stay with their mother after birth. Now living on land, Atuale and her husband aren’t having much luck having children, due to the heavy, dense atmosphere of land compared to the buoyancy of the ocean, but I loved the idea that water births and land births are quite different, both physically and emotionally.
But the best part of this story is the complex relationship between Atuale and Yanja, complicated not only because Yanja’s sex has changed, but because they used to love each other and now Atuale loves someone else. I was not expecting this story to punch me in the gut, and yet it did. The emotional ending brought tears to my eyes, but also put a smile on my face.
Short but powerful, Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters is a sparkling gem of a story, and I very much look forward to reading more of Aimee Ogden’s fiction.
Big thanks to the publisher for supplying a review copy.
I love it when stories prove surprisingly gut-wrenching, because I am not easily moved, so when that happens it means the author is one to pay attention to… Intriguing review, thank you so much for sharing! 🙂
Maddalena@spaceandsorcery recently posted…FIREFLY: THE MAGNFICENT NINE (Firefly #2), by James Lovegrove
I’m the same, the emotional bits have to work just right for me. This one did!
I remember being interested in this book before but for some reason I did not request it. Your great review is making me regret that, though, Tammy. Nice job.
Thanks, it’s definitely worth picking up:-)
Tears to your eyes and a smile on your face. That just about says it all, doesn’t it? This really has me wanting to try this one.
Yeah, I wasn’t expecting the emotional impact, it just came out of nowhere:-)
Oh that’s cool! It’s the first I’ve heard of a little mermaid retelling set in space.
It was so unusual but a very original retelling:-)
Ah… this sounds magical. Tor really are nailing it with their output – thank you for sharing this gem, Tammy:). I’ll keep an eye out for this author, too.
Tor.com definitely pushes the boundaries of what you expect with SFF, and I really thought this was a winner.
I’m curious about this one! A bit worried about the strangeness, but I like the space opera meets fairy tale idea, and the romance even intrigues me!
For a novella I thought it was really well done. I could have read a longer novel in this world for sure:-)
I have been so interested in this novella, glad to see you enjoyed it! The world and character descriptions sound so interesting, I will need to bump this one up.
It was so unusual! I love that you just never know what you’re getting when you pick up a Tor.com title:-)
Well this one sounds RIGHT up my alley. Fairytale space opera romance *and* pubbed by Tor.com? Say no more, I’m sold, lol. I’m glad you liked this one, Tammy–that bodes well. I’m definitely going to be picking this one up.
It’s a very quick read and it was just not what I expected, but in a good way:-)
This sounds like amazing world building, really unique.
It really was unique, very different but well done.
The Little Mermaid in space? This just sounds like such a cool read and you know how I’m a sucker for a good retelling. 🙂
I was surprised how cool and unusual it was:-)
This sounds so unusual yet so original! Definitely worth a read based on just the premise of this story!
Hasini @ Bibliosini recently posted…Book Review: Witchy grandmothers and politics clash in ‘The Bone Fire’
I was keen to read your thoughts on this one. Happy to see you enjoyed it. I’m still not sure it’s for me – space opera plus fairly short story – maybe not.
Lynn 😀