Review of "Sun, Moon, Dust" by Ursula Vernon

I am writing this review for Didi’s Book Review Contest for the Hugo Awards 2018. Even though I will probably not win, I have already profited from it by discovering a wonderful short story and an author of whom I definitely want to read more in the future.

“Sun, Moon, Dust” is a fantasy story by Ursula Vernon that has been published in the May/June 2017 edition (issue 16) of the magazine uncanny, “a magazine of science fiction and fantasy”. In short, it tells the story of the farmer Allpa who inherits a sword from his dying grandmother, a sword which bares a secret (to keep it spoiler free).

This could have been the start of an epic fantasy adventure novel, but it decided not to be.

But that’s basically everything I can say without spoiling this at least a little. You have been warned, if you like that premise and want to read it for yourself, do so, it’s short and available to read for free here.

Spoilery part starts here:

This story is full of interesting characters. Allpa is your everyday man that is confronted with the supernatural and involved into something he wouldn’t have dreamed of. This is a trope used in a lot of works of fantasy but Vernon puts a great twist on it by making him more concerned about farming than having a great adventure.
His grandma is snarky even on her deathbed, the way she is described makes it easy to imagine what their relationship must have been like all their life.
I really liked how the sword spirits Sun, Moon and Dust were so distinct from each other and still worked as a group that has been together for a long time.
All characters were understandable in some way and fun to read about.

The humor in this is awesome in a subtle way. It mostly derives from breaking with stereotypes and having characters react in a different way than we are used to from such stories while still being realistic. Allpa being upset about the spirits trampling his potatoes got me every time I read the story. Of course, humor is always a matter of one’s own taste, but if you like comedy based on someone being totally honest, you might like this.

I adore the ending. By having the protagonist decide that he does not want to become a sword master and rather stick to farming, Vernon rebels against the probably most common trope. Stories that have a main character from a humble background overcome his doubts and work hard to become a hero have been done so often that it is really refreshing to have such a story turn out differently.

I think it also creates a nice message:
Not everyone has to be a hero to be worth telling a story about.
I don’t know if it was the author’s intent but this could also be seen as criticism of a society that places a lot of value on needing to achieve something big and considers being average a failure, creating a lot of pressure for especially young people. Maybe I’m reading to much into this, though.

Impact on me

This was the first work of the acclaimed author Ursula Vernon, who is known for her fiction for children and her more adult fairy tale retellings under the pen name T. Kingfisher, I have read so far. The unique story-telling she presents here has put some other works of hers on my want-to-read list and I’m really looking forward to them.

“Sun, Moon, Dust” made me also more open to read more short stories. I often struggle to get into a narration that short because it often not allows me enough time to care for characters, explore the world and experience the stakes. From time to time, though, I discover surprises like this which make me overthink my prejudices.

Clearly, this gets a strong recommendation from me. I have not read enough of the competitors to say if it should win the Hugo Awards or not but it is definitely worth checking out.