Fantasy Novella Review: Burning Roses by S.L. Huang

Burning Roses by S.L. Huang


Burning Roses is the most recent novella by author S.L. Huang, author of the Cas Russell series (Zero Sum Game) and the most recent winner of the Hugo Award for Best Short Story.  Given how great all those works are, I'd reserved Burning Roses from the library well before its release, and the hype it was getting from authors I trust only made me more excited to finally get my hands on it. 

And yep, it's as good as I'd hoped.  This is a story combining western fairy tales like Red Riding Hood (one of our protagonists), Goldilocks and the Chinese myth of Hou Yi - except Hou Yi is a trans woman here and both she and Rosa (Red Riding Hood) are older queer women with seemingly tragic pasts.  It's a story about love and recognizing one's own sins and the effort it takes to make atonement and to face up for what one has done.  And it's oh so good.




Quick Plot Summary:  Rosa has grown old in exile, with only her friend Hou Yi as company.  Rosa is haunted by her past, by the sins she has committed, and only helping Hou Yi hunt down monsters and magical beings gives her a purpose to keep on living....as long as they only hunt beings that lack intelligence.  But when Hou Yi's past comes back to haunt her - and poses a danger to innocent people, Rosa is unable to leave her friend to face the threat alone...even when that threat will likely kill both of them.  And to make a journey towards Hou Yi's own past sins, Rosa knows she must at last reveal her own past to her friend and hope that she won't judge her too harshly....even if it's what she deserves....

Thoughts:  Burning Roses combines a bunch of myths and fairy tales - so Rosa is Red Riding Hood, her "friend" from her flashbacks is Goldilocks, etc. - and Hou Yi is well...Hou Yi, just as a trans woman.  Rosa comes from a land that seems more equivalent to a Western land while Hou Yi comes from an East Asian-esque land, and it is that second land where the present story takes place.  The retelling of fairy tales as such is hardly unique, but Burning Roses twists them in such a way - and combines them in the same world with the Chinese Myth - to make them incredibly fresh and original - you recognize them quite clearly and yet the twisted versions never feel stale and fit together well with the original present story.

And the present story, with its two characters of Rosa and Hou Yi, is wonderful.  Rosa is a woman who fell victim to her own prejudice after one childhood encounter led her into it and then it was encouraged by a "friend" who was simply using her and drove her to further and further bad decisions, even as she found a love that made it clear to her how wrong she was.  The result is a woman who considers herself unforgivable and without purpose and who left all that she cared about - for reasons that become clear as time goes on.  Hou Yi is a woman with her own tragic past, but she uses it to drive herself forward, and the combination of her and Rosa just works so tremendously well.  And the story is short but poignant and impactful, with an ending that is just absolutely sweet and lovely. 

Highly recommended - I can't really say more without spoiling so I'll leave it at that.