Wandering Star and Other Stories by Sarena Ulibarri

Wandering Star and Other Stories by Sarena Ulibarri
Publisher: World Weaver Press
Genre: Sci-Fi/Fantasy, LGBTQ, Historical, Contemporary
Rating: 4 Stars
Reviewed by Astilbe

Twelve stories of mythic fantasy that will transport you to the oceans and mountains of lands where water nymphs long for the touch of a mermaid, a mother’s tears of grief create a river in a desert village, and ancient songs can stop the moon from falling, make a flower bloom, or keep a dark power at bay. A quest to save a princess turns into a mission to escape a cult of giant snails. A selfish older sister seeks the favor of the last magical queen who grants wishes when the two moons align. A refugee journeys to find her lover while a comet hurtles toward their world.

A better world is possible.

“The Riverhead” was a beautiful fable about how a mother’s grief created a nearly endless supply of water for a desert village. I loved the descriptions of how various villagers reacted to her supernatural ability and what happened when the water levels rose so high that nobody knew what to do with them. Not only were they good storytelling, they explored the many faces of grief that not everyone feels comfortable showing in public.

As much as I enjoyed this collection in general, I did find myself wishing that some of the stories in it were given more time to develop. “The Ice Tree,” which followed Mirella as she attempted to kill every lizard in her community, was one such example of this. Her motivation for this and other disturbing changes she attempted to make to her environment was unclear. While I understood the point the author was trying to make, I think this would have been a stronger piece if Mirella had been given more opportunities to explain herself to the audience and convince us that her plan made more sense to her even if others disagreed with it.

I loved the world-building in “A Chorus of Shadows,” particularly as it applied to how a small group of professional singers were responsible for everything from how plants grew to what the future of humanity would look like. The descriptions of their musical abilities and the many years it took for them to perfect their skill made me wish this one could be a full-length novel. It was brimming with beauty and possibility.

The creativity shown in Wandering Star and Other Stories makes me want to read more from Ms. Ulibarri soon.