Two Fic Tuesday

Welcome!

I hope you're doing well this week. Today I've brought you two stories that I happened to read on the same day, which was lovely. They have very different vibes to them, but some of the themes echo between them, and it was nice to have encountered them during the same reading period.

If you need a little hope and rebellion in your life, these two stories might help give you some of that fire.

Oh, and I also want to shout out Omenana in particular. I hadn't encountered this publication before, but I'm so excited to dive into more work featured here. African speculative fiction is something I'm excited to explore more of and I want to encourage others to do the same.

If you have other suggestions for places to check out that focus on stories from different regions from around the world, please throw them at me. I'd love to read more stories from all over.

Also, I just wnat to mention that if you happen to run into a story you think is great, please send it my way. I want to read and shout about so many stories, and I'd love to see what else you're reading too.

Recs

Who Could Feel Haunted with Luck in Their Pocket? - Allison Mulder - Trollbreath
First off, I'm such a sucker for a good title, and this one was super compelling to me. Then I read the story itself, and I just adored it. There's something so fascinating about stories where the dead are currency of some kind. I've even done one myself. It's this thing that I love seeing explored. The way it's done here is great. I loved who we followed and her pushback against the exploitative nature of what her family is doing. It's just a great thing to follow all around. Also, extra points for such casual, unremarkable queerness that's dropped in.

Dust and Echoes - Amani Mosi - Omenana
This was stunning. The themes and language were both gorgeous, and I loved every moment of it. I sometimes have complicated feelings about blindness featured in stories, but this wasn't something that bothered me. Instead, I was swept up in the power of the story itself, enjoying the way it had quiet rebellion that grew as you kept reading. And, of course we all know how much of a fan I am of memory themes, and this used that kind of thing beautifully.

Be well, take care, and I hope you read something lovely this week.

• Vale

PS: If you want to find me elsewhere, I'm on Bluesky at @howsweetthewords and I have a Ko-fi and Patreon where I post prompts, more personal/writing updates, micro-fiction, and miscellany. Tiers start at $1, but there is the occasional free post as well.