Hi before I can share a review for an amazing Anthology I have to let you know about an amazing black Friday sale. There are over three hundred ebooks listed that are all 99 cents or free. You can find my novel, Runaway Lyrics under fantasy for 99 cents. https://sale.perrykirkpatrick.com/listing-category/fantasy/
A Spoonful of Malaysian Magic: An Anthology
A burong descends from Tansang Kenyalang in the midst of a dire catastrophe. A shapeshifter frees Kedah from the dreaded Raja Bersiong only to uncover a darker secret. A woman learns to channel her family’s food magic. A young huntress of supernatural creatures charts her own path of love.
This anthology of short stories offers fresh takes on Malaysian folklore and fairy tales, adds enchantment to the ordinary, and bursts with new, wonderful flavours. Stir a little spoonful of magic into your tea, whether you’re from these shores or from far away.
Stories by:
Collin Yeoh · Hamizah Adzmi · Ilnaz A. Faizal · Ismim Putera · Joni Chng · Joshua Lim · Julia Alba · Rowan C · Sharmilla Ganesan · Stuart Danker · Syazwani Jefferdin · Zufar Zeid
Anna Tan writes fantasy stories and fairy tales, and helps people publish books at Teaspoon Publishing. She also wrangles writers and deadlines for the Malaysian Writers Society (MYWriters) and Penang Art District.
Anna has an MA in Creative Writing: The Novel under a Chevening scholarship and is the current President of MYWriters. She can be found tweeting as @natzers and forgetting to update annatsp.com.
https://facebook.com/annatansp | https://twitter.com/natzers | https://instagram.com/annatsp
My Dive in Review:
One of my favorite things about Fantasy as a genre is jumping right into a new world without having to have any previous knowledge about it.
So when I saw that this was an anthology written by Malaysian authors I figured it would be fine since it’s fantasy.
I was right. Each story does a great job of painting a picture of its own unique world, as all good stories should. But every once in a while I couldn’t help but wonder if there was some subtext I was missing. Would I somehow get more out of this anthology if I was Malaysian?
I think the answer to that question is no. Even the few times I took to google to translate a phrase, or research a folktale, I never really learned more than I picked up from the context in the story. Another round of applause for these writers.
A Spoonful of Malaysian Magic is a wonderful dive into a culture that western audiences may be unfamiliar with but feels familiar because of its close proximity to both China and India. For that reason, my favorite story was one that showed modern day Malaysia rather than a more ancient setting. The Dalhia of Hutan Kilat, is a modern day urban fantasy story of a monster hunter who learns to love the magical creatures she is charged to destroy. It was sweet, and I enjoyed googling the creature names to learn more about them.
Whatever your tastes this anthology has something for everyone and definitively proves that fantasy is universal.
I received an Advanced reader copy of this book and the above review is my true and honest opinion.
Add the book to Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/168405034-a-spoonful-of-malaysian-magic
Amazon* buy link: https://amzn.to/3STQgtf
Universal buy link to other retailers: https://books2read.com/malaysianmagic
Teaspoon Publishing store: https://teaspoonpublishing.com.my/shop/malaysianmagic
If you liked what you read about Malaysian fantasy Anna Tan has her entire Malaysian fantasy trilogy in the black Friday sale for 99 cents each. That’s her entire series for less than $3. Go check it out. https://sale.perrykirkpatrick.com/
C. O. Bonham 