The stories in Seven Sides of Self explore the various sides of one’s personality: the storyteller, the skeptic, the survivor, the saint (or the sinner), the scholar, the seeker, and the savior. Through the lives of central characters such as Zarce Sun De’oggo, Sister Othrosa Vella, Jarka Moosha, and Old Mims—Nancy Joie Wilkie explores themes of battling strong emotions, the lengths we might go to for self-preservation and self sacrifice, the inability to accept things different, and taking responsibility for what we create in pieces that inhabit the worlds of both sci-fi and fantasy. Original and thought provoking, these are stories that will stimulate the intellect and engage the imagination.
The way Nancy Joie Wilkie executed the overarching theme of Seven Sides of Self is one of the strongest I've read. Short story collections don't always have a sense of cohesiveness, but everything about this one, from how it generally fits together into a greater work, all the way down to the tiny threads that connect the stories to each other, was just superb.
"Of the Green and Of the Gold" stood out most for me. I loved the use of color and an alien society to explore coded transphobia (and briefly, homophobia). I felt like it stripped away everything superfluous, so that all we are left with is a clear sense of how we should treat one another.
"Perhaps mankind will learn something about itself by studying Aurillia. Maybe looking in this extraterrestrial mirror will show the stupidity of the artificial boundaries mankind has erected throughout the fiber of its societies."
Seven Sides of Self is social sci-fi and gentle fantasy. These stories are allegories that everyone can relate to in their own way. It's the kind of book you can read over and over again, always having a new experience.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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31 August, 2019:
Finished reading
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31 August, 2019:
Reviewed