I knew about this novella, that it was a tordotcom publication, but never did add it to my tbr. But the end of the year is near and it’s pretty cold out there, so my mood is all over the place and I tend to pick up books randomly . That’s how I ended up reading this little gem. I went into it knowing pretty much nothing and it sucked me into the world immediately. A world full of sea, land and star dwellers, alien species, gene eaters and so much more - this was captivating right from the get go, aided very aptly by the author’s stunningly beautiful prose. The author deftly handles the grief of possibly losing a loved one, the regrets of unfulfilled love and doors not taken, the wonders of exploration and discovering the vast world, and finally choosing between sacrificing love or sacrificing deeply held dreams. There is a steady melancholic tone throughout but the author also manages to infuse it with hope and goodness, which makes for a very impactful read despite its criminally short length. How I wish this was longer or atleast the author decides to write more stories in this world.

Brief review (June 5th 2021): Just want to quickly say that I thought Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters is a pretty interesting mermaid mythology retelling in a futuristic Sci-Fi backdrop. As a character-driven novel, the primary focus of the novella is on fleshing out Atulae's headspace. I thought Atulae as a character is well fleshed out as she navigates through the complex politics, grief, and her romantic interest. On the flipside, I wasn't completely sold into the novella because of the sluggish pacing and the fictional plague happening in the background (for some reason I've been having a pretty mixed experience reading this kind of thing during a pandemic). My concerns aside, this is nevertheless a pretty condensed character-driven novella that has most of the stuff I enjoy in speculative fiction: political intrigue, interesting magical systems, and how to cope with disasters / loss. N.B. This book contains following content warnings: illnesses, loss of loved ones, + this list