https://fromtheheartofeurope.eu/filter-house-by-nisi-shawl-the-knife-of-never-le...

I think this may be the only collection of stories to have won the Tiptree / Otherwise Award. Perhaps I was just in a tired mood, after an exceptionally busy period at work, but none of these especially grabbed me. I guess the two that lingered most are “The Pragmatical Princess”, whose title character cuts a deal with the monster that was supposed to eat her, and “The Water Museum”, about a society where water is scarce and its guardian is an assassination target. I slightly bounced off Shawl’s Everfair as well, and perhaps this is just one of those authors who is not for me. ( )

I don't generally read short stories for a petty reason: I'm a fast reader, so I end up going through multiple short stories in one sitting, and then they get muddled in my head and it's no fun. However, I've had less time to read recently anyway. And reading multiple stories in one sitting is not a problem with "Filter House" - each one is unique, and I find myself still thinking about them about a week after I finished the book. I hear she's writing a steampunk novel in colonial Congo. I cannot wait to read it. ( )

A fun collection of short stories.
Very eclectic. ( )

This was a great collection of stories which varied from light fantasy that bordered on the realistic to science fiction and everything in between. Despite the variation in worlds, these stories shared the theme of focusing on the African American experience, which is something that I feel is seen far too little in speculative fiction.

I always try to give short story collections the most representative rating that I can, and a lot of these stories were 5-star reads for me. The only complaint I really had with any of them was that some could be a bit vague or unclear about what was going on with the fantastical or sci-fi elements. ( )

good enough that I'm looking for her novel ( )