Reviews:

Honorable Mention

The Year's Best Science Fiction, Twenty-Fourth Annual Collection

Gardener Dozois, Editor

***

Lisa Mantchev's piece, "'Interfaith," uses... the juxtaposition of modern society with a fantastic element, but does it in a way which is, if anything, even more personal...

Done wrong, this could have split into the worst excesses of religious extremism or whimsy, but Mantchev refuses to bow to either.  Instead, again, the focus here is on the relationship between the three main characters and the choices they make.  Mantchev does a wonderful job of combining the need for self-assertiveness with religious worship, and there are several wryly funny moments...  Crucially, these moments are as honest as they are funny, Mantchev's keen ear for dialogue giving the interaction between all three characters a real pace and energy.

This is further emphasised by the wonderful interaction between the mother and daughter figures.  There's an easy, familiar quality to their scenes together, which drives home how close these people are.  The final sequence in particular is a moment which combines the familial affection and irritation of the earlier scenes with the divine nature of the characters to wonderful and moving effect.  Modern fantasy is undergoing something of a renaissance at the moment, and when looking at stories of this calibre, it's easy to see why.

Alasdair Stuart for Tangent Online

*

Mantchev's story is both amusing and warm. Anyone who has ever raised a mortal teenaged girl will sympathize with Hestia.

Lois Tilton for the Internet Review of Science Fiction