Beneath Ceaseless Skies #425, February 6, 2025

“Into Duty, Into Longing, Into Sparrows” by Nne Ukwu and Somto Ihezue

“Nine Births on the Wheel” by Maya Chhabra

Reviewed by Victoria Silverwolf

Two stories in which women attempt to escape the fates intended for them appear in this issue.

The main character in “Into Duty, Into Longing, Into Sparrows” by Nne Ukwu and Somto Ihezue is prepared for marriage by being forced to eat as much as possible, so she will be attractively fat. She is also expected to act in all ways as a wife for the leader of her people before marrying her intended bridegroom. She discovers a way to avoid yielding to the leader’s lust.

The fantastic content of this story is very minimal. I presume the setting, clearly based on African cultures, is imaginary. However, nothing supernatural occurs until the protagonist’s transformation at the very end. This seems out of place in an otherwise realistic tale. The use of second person narration adds little, but perhaps it is intended to increase the reader’s sympathy for the protagonist’s plight.

“Nine Births on the Wheel” by Maya Chhabra takes place in a fantasy version of a Hindu culture. A prophecy states that the ruler of the land will be destroyed by his sister’s eighth child. In an attempt to prevent this, he kills each of her children as soon as it is born. The sister’s desperate plan to save the life of her final child plays out in an unexpected way.

Without giving too much away, it should be noted that the heart of the story is the sister’s moral dilemma when she chooses a manner to spare her child that will harm someone else. This ethical crisis and the fates of her previous children provide a great deal of emotional appeal. Inevitably, however, the murder of seven children in a row renders the story repetitious, despite the author’s best attempt to supply variety.

Victoria Silverwolf notes that the first-named author of the first story is said to be 107 years old.