Reviews of my story Sammarynda deep from Paper Cities:

Post Weird Thoughts:

Cat Sparks offers another love tale in her Sammarynda Deep. Mariyam is disguised in a foreign city, seeking her loved one which has abandoned her some time ago. And through the customs of the people of this very city she will discover the reason of her former lover's abandon. Sammarynda's citizens' custom of self mutilation as a means to have honor is the high point of this story. And one with lots of meanings both inside and outside of this nice piece of fiction.

The SF Site

In "Sammarinda Deep" by Cat Sparks, the characters are credible and well carved, the imaginary world is quite plausible and the story is solid and well written.

Fantasy Book critic

07) “Sammarynda Deep” by Cat Sparks. This one was interesting. The backdrop is an Egyptian-influenced port that features such strange customs as sacrificing something of great value—an eye, love, etc—in return for honour, water jousting, the forbidden Glass Rock and the Sammarynda Deep, a Lovecraftian chasm that can change a person in unnatural ways while the story concerns a man, a woman and the tragic past that they share… Considering the way the short was narrated and its ending, I wouldn’t be surprised to see “Sammarynda Deep” expanded into a novel and personally, I hope that’s exactly what happens :)

Green man Review

Then, there are the crown jewels: those stories of the collection that blew me away, either with brutal majesty, sorrowful beauty, surprising whimsy, or sheer genius. Jay Lake's "Promises: A Tale of the City Imperishable" is simply brilliant: the decadence of his city is intoxicating and the matter-of-fact plunge he takes into the depths of a brutal-to-be-compassionate Sisterhood is wholly absorbing. These words sting and sober. "Sammarynda Deep" by Cat Sparks is a uniquely told love tragedy, a bold interweaving of philosophy and culture that end in the creation of something forbidden and new. Vylar Kaftan's "Godivy" is laugh-out-loud enjoyable satire and there's nothing else I'll tell you! "Palimpsest," now. Catherynne M. Valente's "Palimpsest" is sheer intoxication: a city both viral and literal that infects and changes the bodies of its inhabitants even as its inhabitants affect it. It is full of the whimsically delightful and blood-deep wonder and fascinating curiosity. "Palimpsest" leaves you hungry and satiated all at once.

The Fix

Cat Sparks tells a powerful tale on another world in “Sammarynda Deep.” Miriyam arrives in Sammarynda looking for her old lover, Orias. In this city, denizens achieve their “honour” in odd ways, some by self-mutilation—one woman named Jahira has hideously torn her right eye from its socket to achieve hers. It’s the time of the great water joust and the atmosphere is festive. The title refers to the Glass Rock in the ocean which devours any light that touches it. Divers once leaped from the rock into the ocean and surfaced forever Changed.

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