Her world contains demons, mind-altering spores, and hagtowers-living structures made from the bodies of the dead. The story is told from the perspective of Surya, a descendent of human colonists. “The Shadow We Cast Through Time” by Indrapramit Das is one of the most original combinations of dark fairytale and sci-fi I’ve read. My two favorite stories in this one were by writers I had never read before. One of the best things about anthologies is their ability to help us discover new writers. The title refers to a quote from the inimitable Octavia Butler, which is included in the frontmatter of the anthology: “There’s nothing new under the sun, but there are new suns.” As promised, each piece in New Suns glows with its own inner radiance. New Suns: Original Speculative Fiction by People of Color, edited by writer Nisi Shawl, is one of the anthologies that’s come out of this growing demand for diverse speculative fiction. The rise of speculative fiction has coincided with an increased demand for diversity in writing, leading to an explosion of creative new stories.

Within the last decade, speculative fiction has become increasingly popular among both literary and mainstream readers and writers. These alternate worlds can be set in the past, the future, or a world that seems like our current one-until it doesn’t. Speculative fiction is hard to define, but this umbrella term generally refers to any fiction about a world different from our own. I’ve started reading more speculative fiction recently, and I’m not alone.

New suns nisi shawl