Kiini Ibura Salaam

In Ancient, Ancient, Kiini Ibura Salaam presents one of the most inventive and creative collection of science fiction and fantasy stories that I’ve read in a long time. I hardly even know how to describe some of these stories without giving everything away, the worlds and universes presented are so unique. Salaam’s writing often has a sensuality to it, which is quite lovely.

While I didn’t connect with all of the stories, here are the ones I loved.

"Pod Rendezvous" was my favorite story show more in the collection. Laki feels trapped by her fate of having to join a mother-unit and decides to throw a last hurrah party in the Velvet Stretch, while her sister Se-Se works feverishly to help Laki find an escape. It’s a smart and moving coming of age story in set a strange future (or maybe an alternate world altogether). I resonated quite a bit with both Laki and Se-Se.

“Desire" is the story of a woman named Sené who has an encounter with the god of desire, Faru. As with any encounter with the gods, it has wonderful and dangerous results. This is a poetically written and superbly sensual tale.

I also loved "Debris," in which a family skeletal beings take a visit to the earth during Día de Los Muertos celebrations. I can’t say more without giving the entire story away, so I’ll just say that I loved it.

The titular story, "Ancient, Ancient," is one of the shortest in the collection. It tells the story of an ancient being awakening through the body of a young woman. Though short, it is packed with layers of imagery in a rather poetic fashion, making it just as fulfilling as many a longer tale.

"Battle Royale" is the story of a young man who is punished by his grandfather for taking part in a semi-dangerous set of games involving dancing through a mock battle. The punishment involves the young man being forced to experience the lives and deaths of several people faced with subservience and slavery in history, each one stranger and more brutal than the last. This was so strange, powerful, moving, and I wanted so much more. I found myself both loving the story and being unsatisfied with the ending. All I can say is that I hope she continues the story elsewhere. show less

I wanted to love this book so much more than I did! The premise is fantastic and it had so much potential, but I felt like the execution was lacking in a few areas. These areas might not be bothersome for other readers, however.

Tempest felt younger than YA to me, almost more like a middle grade book. I noticed this especially with the protagonist Veronique, and her cousin Zaza. Both of them felt like they were several years younger than they were supposed to be.

The writing has realistic show more dialogue, good atmosphere, and solid descriptions. Ibura tackles some heavy subjects, with grief and identity at the forefront of the story. The pacing, though, felt uneven throughout. The first part of the book is super slow to unfold, so you’ll have to be able to stick with books that have a slower pace and are primarily dialogue in order to appreciate this one.

Towards the ending, it feels like it almost morphs into a completely different book, with breakneck pacing, which was jarring. Many of the characters introduced in the first two thirds of the story that you assume will be present and involved for the final climax aren’t involved at all, which doesn’t make sense from a storytelling perspective.

The contemporary and fantasy elements didn’t always feel fully integrated into the storyline, so we waffle back and forth between the two. The fantasy parts felt almost like they were pasted on top of the contemporary plotline. I’m sure that plenty of YA readers won’t mind this waffling as much as I did.

I think Tempest would be most likely to be enjoyed by YA readers on the younger side who are transitioning from middle grade to YA, and who are looking for a dialogue-heavy book featuring superheroes.

Thanks to HarperCollins for sending me a physical copy of Tempest to review! show less

I was completely inspired and thrilled by “Ancient, Ancient” a short story collection by Kiini Ibura Salaam that covers science-fiction, fantasy and horror in the most unique ways. Her storytelling is original, organic and mesmerizing. The opening story, “Desire” is like magical poetry, telling the fable of a woman dried out by life and what happens when she is caught in a conflict between deities.
I loved the stories (the first is “Of Wings, Nectar & Ancestors”) involving the show more aliens (whose language was body movement) that gather human nectar and transform the human at the same time.
“Bio-Anger” was raw science-fiction and written in a style that is so unique its almost another language.
I was sad when the last story ended. I didn’t want to leave the multi-faceted universe spun from Salaam’s fantastic and exceptional imagination. You have to read this book! show less

Novel!! I loved this very realistic fiction story, It represented the Black, COVID BLM perspective well during this time period, and I think many students might feel connected to these characters' experiences. It was also helpful to read other kinds of things that were happeing for many children during the pandemic.