Apsara Engine – Bishakh Som

Ahandsome young man from a neighboring southern kingdom was introduced to the princess. The two seemed to get along very well, for the prince was quick-witted, gentle, and kind. But when the king and queen asked the princess 1f The princess, unnerved by her parents’ insistence, she should like to wed the young prince, she replied, shared her fear and confusion with Maya. “Why?” asked “Never.” the princess.

“Why do they want to force me into this?” Then a young prince froma northern kingdom was And still when the king and queen confronted their invited to court—he was as strong asa horse, bold asa daughter afterward, her reply was again the same— tiger, and wise as a sage. “Never.” Then a prince from the east was brought to the Still the princess’s reply did not change—“Never,” she court—he was tall, athletic, and full of laughter and gaid, more solemnly than ever before.

merriment. And so 1t went until there were no more princes to be The king and queen entered their twilight years found. The king and queen were frustrated, but the heartbroken that their daughter was unmarried. The princess displayed no interest in any of her surtors, people of the kingdom also longed for stability and preferring as ever the company of Maya. reacted bitterly to the princess’s stubbornness. Oe As | ae They blamed Maya for the princess’s refusal to marry.

These mutterings were carried to the princess’s ears by In the market square, they said Maya and the princess her attendants. The princess, saddened as she was by should have long outgrown their childhood friendship, the people’s disqutet, did not relent. and wasn’t 1t unhealthy for two girls to be unmarried at their age? = . ed sil Si = —_ : Soon the king fell and lay in his bed for months The queen, now doubly heartbroken, retreated into a before he finally lost the strength to live.

: melancholy that laid her so low that she did not move from her bed. She died soon thereafter. The princess was shattered and aggrieved but took The princess ascended the throne. She took on her solace in Maya’s company. queenly duties with strength and grace. | ee a She came to know her subjects more intimately and did Members of the royal court thought that things could everything she could to better their lot in life, much to not goon this way.

the chagrin of the royal court—who thought it beneath a queens dignity tomix with the masses. The people of the kingdom grumbled that they were the But because the queen could not satisfy their hunger only kingdom with an unmarried queen.

—KELLY LINK, author of Get in Trouble “Imaginative and poetic, Avsara Engine ispowered by a fiercely complex heart. Bishakh Som builds a world in whichi queer and trans South Asieiis not only survive but map the very future. Som is lighting the way forward with a stuaning blend of mythotogy, futurity, and courageous tenderness.” —FRANNY CHOI, author of Soft Science “The eight pieces here sprawl far larger than the two-hundred-odd pages that contain them. They slip in and out of time and telling; conversation, seduction, and the fantastic are their method, their object the elusive connections between people.

Apsara Engine opens a new comics universe, one painted in the blood of someone incisive and hilarious and warm and intense and brilliant: say yes to it.” —JEANNE THORNTON, author of The Black Emerald “This remarkable book does something rare and exhilarating: the stories the words tell are individual, familiar, and meaningful, but the images take the reader to situations and worlds that are alien, strange, dark, or numinous. Stories like these reveal the limits of what we consider ‘realism’—and perhaps more, they remind usthat the world is not always what wethink itis.”

—RACHEL POLLACK, author of The Beatrix Gates “Bishakh Som’s comics astonish me with beauty and invention; Apsara Engine opens up the medium to possibilities never before imagined. Luckily, Som has enough imagination for allof us.” —JASON ADAMKATZENSTEIN, illustrator of Camp Midnight “Asweet mix of late nineteenth-century morals upended byearly twenty-first-century juxtapositions, Apsara Engine isa set of uncanny shorts full of uniquely camouflaged and slow- moving yet effective trapdoors.

Wish fulfillment isthe book’s true engine, but—as in ancient tales—wishes are fulfilled inunhappy or muted or at least prickly fashion. Dichotomies— particularly those of gender or of the Global North and South—get less subverted than softly imploded. Awelcome blueprint for a side entrance into an only recently imagined utopia.” —EUGENE LIM,author of Dear Cyborgs x… THE FEMINIST PRESS AT THE CITY UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK NEW YORK CITY = (come Ze) a ie <— = 2) co Sy C7 CONTENTS Pa | | We bought the house two years ago.

This is a short excerpt from the opening of “” by Unknown, quoted for review and introduction purposes. All rights belong to the copyright holders.

Book Information

• Unique ID: edc502a450182d2a
• File Extension: .pdf
• File Size: 91,048,424 bytes (86.831 MB)
• Title: –
• Author: Unknown
• ISBN: 9781936932818
• Pages: 253
• Language: English (en)

Reading & Word Statistics

• Estimated Reading Time: 70.78 minutes
• Total Words: 14,155
• Total Characters: 76,051
• Average Words per Page: 55.95
• Average Characters per Page: 300.6

Most Frequent Words

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