Soul Jar

September 18, 2023
The 31 speculative shorts in this cathartic anthology centered on disabled characters written by disabled authors range from dark and dystopian to colorful and joyous. Raven Oak’s grounded sci-fi tale, “Weightless,” in which a large woman with a knee replacement takes charge after a routine space flight goes awry, explores generosity and community in the wake of disaster. Other defiant, realistic tales use a speculative twist to tackle ableist institutions face-on. In Evergreen Lee’s “The Definition of Professional Attire,” for example, extraterrestrials face discrimination at a majority-human security company (“Employees are only allowed to display two eyes each, and they should be in the traditional locations”), while in Lane Chasek’s “Which Doctor,” a woman looks for medical assistance in a world where therapy is considered the only “real science” and physical remedies are taboo. In Nisi Shawl’s “The Things I Miss the Most,” an epileptic teenager falls in love with the other half of her own brain after brain surgery, while Eirik Gumeny’s “A Balanced Breakfast” leans even further into absurdity, as a breakfast blogger summons an unexpectedly horrifying cereal mascot to feature on her podcast. Fans of space opera, fairy tales, and postapocalyptic stories will revel in the reinvention of beloved tropes and the wealth of eye-opening creativity—and disabled readers will be especially moved.

October 1, 2023
Heavy readers of sf, fantasy, and horror often find themselves asking: where are all the queer people, people of color, and disabled people? Soul Jar addresses this beautifully, and any reader of speculative fiction will enjoy these short stories for their genre leanings and their imaginings of disabled characters in worlds with magic, space ships, or characters who become furry. One standout in the collection is "Ziabetes," by Lily Jurich, about a character with diabetes in a zombie-infested world. Because zombies are sensitive to noise, everyone learns ASL--a small but powerful detail that brings the zombie landscape to life. "The Sorrow Stealer," by A. J. Cunder, is about a changeling girl from a world with no sadness asking a figure who takes memories from people to teach her about that emotion. "The Definitions of Professional Attire," by Evergreen Lee, is a scathing review of differences in the workplace, as Umbria and her coworkers are told repeatedly that they do not fit the office standard because they are alien species working in a majority-human workplace. The stories are all amazing and utterly unique, and even the most seasoned readers of speculative fiction will find something they didn't know they needed here.

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