[On May 10, 2021 Strange Horizons officially expressed its political support for Palestinian solidarity. The views of Tangent Online reviewers are not necessarily those of Strange Horizons. Fiction critiqued at Tangent Online is, as much as is humanly possible, without prejudice and based solely on artistic merit.]

Strange Horizons, December 22, 2025

“Morning Shed” by Namita Krishnamurthy

Reviewed by David Wesley Hill

In 2024 I reviewed an issue of Grimdark magazine that consisted entirely of the work of South Asian writers. To quote myself:

“[This] intrigued me straight away, since I am unfamiliar with fiction from that part of the world. Right up front let me say several of the stories are recommended. They’re well-crafted and entertaining, and as a plus, provide intriguing tastes of other cultures. That’s the rub, though. This reviewer found himself constantly Googling unfamiliar words and references in order to understand the stories. I wonder how many readers would make the same effort if it wasn’t their job to soldier on, as it is mine. So let me offer this advice to any editor considering a similar worthy project: Annotate the stories. Footnote liberally. Your audience will thank you.”

Unfortunately, the editors of Strange Horizons either did not read my review of Grimdark or else chose to ignore my advice.

From internal clues, and a lot of Googling, I was able to figure out that “Morning Shed,” by Namita Krishnamurthy is set in India, in Kerala. It’s beyond me why the editors thought an English-speaking audience would be familiar with such words as homam, poojas, and Ithokkeyoru viswasamalle, to name a very few, but the text is littered with similar undefined phrases, forcing this reviewer to put down the magazine, go on-line, and do a search before I could continue reading. This resulted in a fractured, spasmodic, and unenjoyable experience, a disservice both to the reader and to the author and their tale.

As for the story itself, well, the plot of “Morning Shed” is straightforward—the protagonist is afflicted with terrible acne, seeks various medical solutions, which fail, and finally decides to undergo a healing ritual at Mannarasala temple—a real place, I learned (you may book rooms on-line for your visit at Mandaram Guest House). However, the meaning of the story is dependent, I believe, on an understanding of the religion of “the serpent Gods,” which I entirely lack. Nor did I wish to allot any more time to researching the particulars of snake worship. Honestly, I suspect “Morning Shed” is a decent story, but it needed a lot more context to be appreciated by a Western audience. A profound editorial failure.