Synopsis
Here be dragons and sorcery, time travel and sorrow.
Vicious garden gnomes. A grounded phoenix rider. A new mother consumed with vengeance. A dying god. Soul magic.
These stories wrestle with the experience of loss—of loved ones, of relationships, of a sense of self, of health—and forge a path to hope as characters fight their way forward.
From bestsellers and SPFBO finalists to rising voices, 13 exceptionally talented authors explore the many facets of grief and healing through the lens of fantasy and sci-fi.
Featuring stories from M.L. Wang, K.S. Villoso, Intisar Khanani, Sonya M. Black, Angela Boord, Levi Jacobs, Krystle Matar, Virginia McClain, Quenby Olson, Carol A. Park, Madolyn Rogers, Rachel Emma Shaw & Clayton Snyder
Review
Sometimes I like to imagine that books are like a fine wine—that they need some time on the shelf to reach their full potential. At least, that’s what I tell myself when I let a book rest too long on my TBR.
I was excited to back The Alchemy of Sorrow when it came out on Kickstarter and was even more excited when I held the beautifully designed hardcover in my hands. It was the first anthology of short fiction from independent authors I’d purchased in hardcover, and it was more than worth it. Unfortunately, it remained unread on my shelves, waiting for that perfect moment, which always seemed to be in the future.
That moment was the summer of 2024, after grieving the loss of a couple of treasured family members. I cracked open The Alchemy of Sorrow, and I’m so glad I did.
The thirteen stories in this collection come from some of the most talented writers working today, all focused on themes of grief, loss, and hope.
The challenge with anthologies is that they showcase a wide variety of writing styles, worlds, and stories, and some are always bound to strike more of a chord with a particular reader than others. Even in a volume like this, so tightly wrapped around shared themes, has a tremendous variety of stories within.
What stuck with me, after finishing the anthology, was that although I certainly had my favorite stories, I genuinely enjoyed every story within, a feat I can’t remember any other anthology duplicating.
I could say good things about every story, but a few, in particular, stood out to me, personally. Angela Boord’s character work is some of the best I’ve ever seen, Clayton Snyder (one of my favorite new-to-me writers) ran with a fascinating concept and then twisted it in ways I didn’t expect, and Krystle Matar’s description of grief is one of the most poignant I’ve ever read.
Also, M.L. Wang is a national treasure who probably deserves secret service protection at this point.
Despite being about grief and loss, there’s a strong undercurrent of hope throughout, and for anyone interested in reading a collection of some of the best writers working in publishing today, I can’t recommend this anthology enough.
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