The Monster Baru Cormorant - Seth Dickinson
For starters, yes, to all of this: we get characters actually living the consequences of their actions, being vulnerable and being brutal and being utterly, completely human. We get breathtaking worldbuilding - culture-building, especially, which is of course Dickinson's real strength. We get such a complex and many-layered plot where, again, it's uncertain who we're rooting for, who is in the right, and if Baru herself is still the protagonist (a question she shares, which is, good grief). We get the simultaneous self-contained plot and second-act piece that is so hard to do in a trilogy (even though Masquerade is no longer strictly a trilogy). It's almost impossible to keep up, and yet it is so thrilling to see the payoff for setup that had seemed valuable in itself, to the extent where I couldn't see it was setup. Yes to this entire book.
For starters, yes, to all of this: we get characters actually living the consequences of their actions, being vulnerable and being brutal and being utterly, completely human. We get breathtaking worldbuilding - culture-building, especially, which is of course Dickinson's real strength. We get such a complex and many-layered plot where, again, it's uncertain who we're rooting for, who is in the right, and if Baru herself is still the protagonist (a question she shares, which is, good grief). We get the simultaneous self-contained plot and second-act piece that is so hard to do in a trilogy (even though Masquerade is no longer strictly a trilogy). It's almost impossible to keep up, and yet it is so thrilling to see the payoff for setup that had seemed valuable in itself, to the extent where I couldn't see it was setup. Yes to this entire book.
Freshwater - Akwaeke Emezi
This was a difficult book to read; I described it to one of my sisters as almost triggering in the parts of it that felt familiar. It was also rich, and ugly in the best possible way. The changes in narrative voice, the growth and change, the skipping around in timescales, the careful balance between raw and polished…Emezi has written something powerful, a sturdy-ephemeral story that's maybe one of the best books I've ever read.
This was a difficult book to read; I described it to one of my sisters as almost triggering in the parts of it that felt familiar. It was also rich, and ugly in the best possible way. The changes in narrative voice, the growth and change, the skipping around in timescales, the careful balance between raw and polished…Emezi has written something powerful, a sturdy-ephemeral story that's maybe one of the best books I've ever read.
Woven in Moonlight - Isabel Ibañez
I'm just going to say it: YA romcoms are great. I love the comfort of their structure, I love the themes of growing to know oneself and coming to find love in the midst of seemingly uncrossable distances, and I love the way the stakes are simultaneously impossibly high and really rather manageable. And all of those things are present in this book, for sure - they just happen at weird times, such that the book as a whole feels kind of underwhelming. The high-stakes plot is stuck in middle gear for like 95% of the book. The low-stakes plot only intersects with the high-stakes one too late for real, juicy conflict to develop. The coming to find love bit is somehow both very abrupt and drawn out for way too long? The coming to know oneself happens…within the first chapter, but we still have to go through a whole book for the protagonist to realise what she has already realised? I loved the world of this book, but its story had pacing issues that really undermined every aspect.
I'm just going to say it: YA romcoms are great. I love the comfort of their structure, I love the themes of growing to know oneself and coming to find love in the midst of seemingly uncrossable distances, and I love the way the stakes are simultaneously impossibly high and really rather manageable. And all of those things are present in this book, for sure - they just happen at weird times, such that the book as a whole feels kind of underwhelming. The high-stakes plot is stuck in middle gear for like 95% of the book. The low-stakes plot only intersects with the high-stakes one too late for real, juicy conflict to develop. The coming to find love bit is somehow both very abrupt and drawn out for way too long? The coming to know oneself happens…within the first chapter, but we still have to go through a whole book for the protagonist to realise what she has already realised? I loved the world of this book, but its story had pacing issues that really undermined every aspect.
The Fifth Season - N.K. Jemisin
When I read this book for the first time, I got caught up in the worldbuilding of each individual part and I didn't fully appreciate the storybuilding of all the parts together, but, oh my goodness, this second time through. Jemisin is a master of making the setting a character, and a master of making societies that feel recogniseable and alien all at once. I had also not realised how quickly everything happened, but, seriously, this is a very fast-paced book, and one whose mysteries set up the trilogy very effectively without ever feeling like the immediate narrative is being neglected. Honestly, everything about the trilogy's ultimate end is here in this book, and yet the book is a full and complete story in itself (three full and complete stories that fill and complete each other), and I cannot get over the absolute mastery of style and structure.
When I read this book for the first time, I got caught up in the worldbuilding of each individual part and I didn't fully appreciate the storybuilding of all the parts together, but, oh my goodness, this second time through. Jemisin is a master of making the setting a character, and a master of making societies that feel recogniseable and alien all at once. I had also not realised how quickly everything happened, but, seriously, this is a very fast-paced book, and one whose mysteries set up the trilogy very effectively without ever feeling like the immediate narrative is being neglected. Honestly, everything about the trilogy's ultimate end is here in this book, and yet the book is a full and complete story in itself (three full and complete stories that fill and complete each other), and I cannot get over the absolute mastery of style and structure.
The Obelisk Gate - N.K. Jemisin
There are almost too many characters to like, in this second installment, where the first book really did not give us many at all. Here we get the deep relational work that is one of my favourite parts of Jemisin's writing, the way she really understands how people work together and beside and against each other. And, of course, we also get absolutely sensational explosions of the world - literal, but also figurative, in the sense of zooming out to see that our main character's focus has been much too narrow, and that really we should be looking much more broadly if we want to understand what's going on. Having our main characters (plural, now, which is oooh) be our audience stand-ins as well, and without the use of the first-person, is just masterful. I'm not going to lie, I'm very angry about Alabaster, but I also really appreciate how Jemisin isn't afraid, in an apocalyptic novel, to continually ratchet the stakes higher and higher and higher.
There are almost too many characters to like, in this second installment, where the first book really did not give us many at all. Here we get the deep relational work that is one of my favourite parts of Jemisin's writing, the way she really understands how people work together and beside and against each other. And, of course, we also get absolutely sensational explosions of the world - literal, but also figurative, in the sense of zooming out to see that our main character's focus has been much too narrow, and that really we should be looking much more broadly if we want to understand what's going on. Having our main characters (plural, now, which is oooh) be our audience stand-ins as well, and without the use of the first-person, is just masterful. I'm not going to lie, I'm very angry about Alabaster, but I also really appreciate how Jemisin isn't afraid, in an apocalyptic novel, to continually ratchet the stakes higher and higher and higher.
The Stone Sky - N.K. Jemisin
Nora, honestly. HONESTLY. I burned through this last book in the series because I just needed to know, and oh man did it deliver. The pacing of all these revelations feels very natural, I think in part because what Jemisin is doing in this third book is simply turning the image she has already given us, so that, with a little shift in perspective, we can actually see what she's been building all along. As through the rest of the trilogy, the characters and the plot and the worldbuilding are fantastic, but the way Jemisin uses story structure and narrative pacing with absolutely clinical precision is just impossibly good. I feel a little unsatisfied with the way the Nassun storyline ends? But that may be because our narrative voice has a hard time understanding her.
Nora, honestly. HONESTLY. I burned through this last book in the series because I just needed to know, and oh man did it deliver. The pacing of all these revelations feels very natural, I think in part because what Jemisin is doing in this third book is simply turning the image she has already given us, so that, with a little shift in perspective, we can actually see what she's been building all along. As through the rest of the trilogy, the characters and the plot and the worldbuilding are fantastic, but the way Jemisin uses story structure and narrative pacing with absolutely clinical precision is just impossibly good. I feel a little unsatisfied with the way the Nassun storyline ends? But that may be because our narrative voice has a hard time understanding her.
The Salt Roads - Nalo Hopkinson
I've enjoyed Hopkinson's work in the past, but I loved this book. I will admit that going into it I was not sure I would: I have a hard time with stories told over multiple centuries/lifetimes. But the way Hopkinson handled it? Everyone who wants to tell a sweeping, epic story, take notes. Every chapter felt so personal, so intimate, in a way that really speaks to Hopkinson's skill in writing characters who jump off the page. The technical prowess of knitting everything together (the way Hopkinson plays with language so that the style of dialogue reveals character qualities!! Ah!!) is just so great, I am having just the best year for books so far and, honestly? I'm very happy about this one.
I've enjoyed Hopkinson's work in the past, but I loved this book. I will admit that going into it I was not sure I would: I have a hard time with stories told over multiple centuries/lifetimes. But the way Hopkinson handled it? Everyone who wants to tell a sweeping, epic story, take notes. Every chapter felt so personal, so intimate, in a way that really speaks to Hopkinson's skill in writing characters who jump off the page. The technical prowess of knitting everything together (the way Hopkinson plays with language so that the style of dialogue reveals character qualities!! Ah!!) is just so great, I am having just the best year for books so far and, honestly? I'm very happy about this one.
Felix Ever After - Kacen Callendar
I was enjoying this book a heck of a lot until the love triangle resolution, which I think happened with insufficient buildup or explanation and just felt like the story had gotten away from Callendar and they had to swerve hard to get the ending they wanted? I don't know, I think if I read it again, knowing how it ended up, I might not have the same problem, but the pacing? Or foreshadowing? Or just the way it was handled? Felt…off. But otherwise, oh my goodness. These characters, the plot, the way the ephemerality of teenagehood was expressed! It was a good enough reading experience that the resolution problem only gave me minor trouble, and I would definitely read this book again.
I was enjoying this book a heck of a lot until the love triangle resolution, which I think happened with insufficient buildup or explanation and just felt like the story had gotten away from Callendar and they had to swerve hard to get the ending they wanted? I don't know, I think if I read it again, knowing how it ended up, I might not have the same problem, but the pacing? Or foreshadowing? Or just the way it was handled? Felt…off. But otherwise, oh my goodness. These characters, the plot, the way the ephemerality of teenagehood was expressed! It was a good enough reading experience that the resolution problem only gave me minor trouble, and I would definitely read this book again.
White Teeth - Zadie Smith
This is not the kind of book I normally enjoy - multi-generational, multi-decade, bildungsroman-y, but, oh man. Smith's writing is biting and compassionate all in one, insightful and clever and hilarious both in narration and in each character's individual voice. The metaphor of the root canal! The brilliant interweaving of all the threads! The subversion by characters of their own desires! The matter-of-fact-ness! The ENDING! I have rarely enjoyed a book as much as this one, rarely savoured so many masterfully executed elements. There wasn't a punctuation mark out of place.
This is not the kind of book I normally enjoy - multi-generational, multi-decade, bildungsroman-y, but, oh man. Smith's writing is biting and compassionate all in one, insightful and clever and hilarious both in narration and in each character's individual voice. The metaphor of the root canal! The brilliant interweaving of all the threads! The subversion by characters of their own desires! The matter-of-fact-ness! The ENDING! I have rarely enjoyed a book as much as this one, rarely savoured so many masterfully executed elements. There wasn't a punctuation mark out of place.
The Last Wish - Andrzej Sapkowski
I really liked the translation choices here, the foreignising tone of it despite its recogniseability as Medieval European Fantasy. I also really enjoyed the non-linear storytelling (gets me every time!) and the very real sense that all these stories are connected to even more, even deeper stories, the lines of which we are only able to glimpse at. Somehow, Sapkowski manages to be playful and deadly serious at once, and has genuinely given us a real trash man who is nevertheless trying his best, and there's something refreshing about that, that the narrative doesn't just reward our fantasy hero for doing his kind of sketchy things, but also that our hero knows his own sketchiness without being a martyr about it. I don't know that the characters grabbed me all that much, but the worldbuilding! Definitely worth reading more of the series to get more of that.
I really liked the translation choices here, the foreignising tone of it despite its recogniseability as Medieval European Fantasy. I also really enjoyed the non-linear storytelling (gets me every time!) and the very real sense that all these stories are connected to even more, even deeper stories, the lines of which we are only able to glimpse at. Somehow, Sapkowski manages to be playful and deadly serious at once, and has genuinely given us a real trash man who is nevertheless trying his best, and there's something refreshing about that, that the narrative doesn't just reward our fantasy hero for doing his kind of sketchy things, but also that our hero knows his own sketchiness without being a martyr about it. I don't know that the characters grabbed me all that much, but the worldbuilding! Definitely worth reading more of the series to get more of that.
The Watchmaker of Filigree Street - Natasha Pulley
SCREAM. I was loaned this book by someone whose taste I trust so I knew next to nothing about it before I dove in, but. BUT. This is somehow simultaneously the softest story and something brutal, simultaneously devastating and heartwarming, simultaneously a spinning up the dust clouds of race, gender, sexuality, and nationalism and a close-to-home story about what we'll do not to be alone. And it does all of these things in perfect balance; this is not a book that made me sit and ponder while I was devouring it, but it's still preoccupying me, days after finishing, and I suspect it will for some time. I'll probably read it again before the year is out.
SCREAM. I was loaned this book by someone whose taste I trust so I knew next to nothing about it before I dove in, but. BUT. This is somehow simultaneously the softest story and something brutal, simultaneously devastating and heartwarming, simultaneously a spinning up the dust clouds of race, gender, sexuality, and nationalism and a close-to-home story about what we'll do not to be alone. And it does all of these things in perfect balance; this is not a book that made me sit and ponder while I was devouring it, but it's still preoccupying me, days after finishing, and I suspect it will for some time. I'll probably read it again before the year is out.
The Poisonwood Bible - Barbara Kingsolver
I don't even know how to describe the lushness of Kingsolver's prose; I was resistant to reading her for so long on the grounds that nobody could be AS good a writer as my friends who loved her said she was. It took two and a half years of a book club with someone to trust enough that everyone was right…and, boy howdy, were they. The layers here speak to a deep understanding of charismatic Christianity, of sisters, of language, of whiteness. It reads like a postcolonial novel, without truly being one: it is still a story about whiteness, in which a wide variety of expressions of that whiteness and the structures that support its harm are laid bare. There's a lot in this novel. Most of it is unsettling. All of it is heartbreakingly, perfectly phrased.
I don't even know how to describe the lushness of Kingsolver's prose; I was resistant to reading her for so long on the grounds that nobody could be AS good a writer as my friends who loved her said she was. It took two and a half years of a book club with someone to trust enough that everyone was right…and, boy howdy, were they. The layers here speak to a deep understanding of charismatic Christianity, of sisters, of language, of whiteness. It reads like a postcolonial novel, without truly being one: it is still a story about whiteness, in which a wide variety of expressions of that whiteness and the structures that support its harm are laid bare. There's a lot in this novel. Most of it is unsettling. All of it is heartbreakingly, perfectly phrased.
Akata Witch - Nnedi Okorafor
I think this novel suffered for my reading it after Kingsolver, whose very adult prose is diametrically opposed to the tone of a YA novel, so it took me a while to get into it. I wish there wasn't such a steep learning curve into the worldbuilding? Our main character spends much of the book bewildered, and it's hard to avoid feeling bewildered as a reader, too. I loved the characters, and the worldbuilding (when finally understandable) is excellent, but maybe it's a pacing thing? I feel like the best thing about it was the way that Okorafor completely undoes the Chosen One trope: it's not so much that these characters are the most important as they are in the right place, together, at the right time. This concept that they don't matter as individuals so much as they matter for what they can do? More of this, in the genre as a whole. More of this.
I think this novel suffered for my reading it after Kingsolver, whose very adult prose is diametrically opposed to the tone of a YA novel, so it took me a while to get into it. I wish there wasn't such a steep learning curve into the worldbuilding? Our main character spends much of the book bewildered, and it's hard to avoid feeling bewildered as a reader, too. I loved the characters, and the worldbuilding (when finally understandable) is excellent, but maybe it's a pacing thing? I feel like the best thing about it was the way that Okorafor completely undoes the Chosen One trope: it's not so much that these characters are the most important as they are in the right place, together, at the right time. This concept that they don't matter as individuals so much as they matter for what they can do? More of this, in the genre as a whole. More of this.
Wonders of the Invisible World - Patricia McKillip
I love McKillip's writing, I really do. I love the thought she puts into worldbuilding, I love the ephemeral quality of her writing, I love the way everything feels a little bit like a fairytale. My big complaint about her work is always that she seems to have a very hard time writing endings, and in a collection of short stories, that's getting hammered home over and over again. All of these little conceptual things - great, love them. The beginnings? Stellar. The middles? Spectacular. The characters? Can't get enough of them. But then, every time, the ending is always…flat. Still worth the read, but I'll probably stick to her novels moving forward, since the good to disappointing ratio skews better.
I love McKillip's writing, I really do. I love the thought she puts into worldbuilding, I love the ephemeral quality of her writing, I love the way everything feels a little bit like a fairytale. My big complaint about her work is always that she seems to have a very hard time writing endings, and in a collection of short stories, that's getting hammered home over and over again. All of these little conceptual things - great, love them. The beginnings? Stellar. The middles? Spectacular. The characters? Can't get enough of them. But then, every time, the ending is always…flat. Still worth the read, but I'll probably stick to her novels moving forward, since the good to disappointing ratio skews better.
Hood Feminism - Mikki Kendall
This was a good read! I think I was expecting something a little less entry-level, but I think I would recommend it to just about anyone as an accessible entrypoint into conversations around intersectionality. Kendall does a great job of articulating a wide variety of issues (poverty, access to medical care, education, food insecurity, the prison industrial complex, etc.) and how they come together, particularly in the bodies of black women. I loved her meditations on food as a feminist issue in particular (shocking no one), but the humming throughline of the work, that all problems of marginalisation and oppression are problems with which feminism is concerned by necessity, is what stuck with me most. There are a lot of possible responses to the insular navel-gazing of white feminism, and this is a very hopeful one.
This was a good read! I think I was expecting something a little less entry-level, but I think I would recommend it to just about anyone as an accessible entrypoint into conversations around intersectionality. Kendall does a great job of articulating a wide variety of issues (poverty, access to medical care, education, food insecurity, the prison industrial complex, etc.) and how they come together, particularly in the bodies of black women. I loved her meditations on food as a feminist issue in particular (shocking no one), but the humming throughline of the work, that all problems of marginalisation and oppression are problems with which feminism is concerned by necessity, is what stuck with me most. There are a lot of possible responses to the insular navel-gazing of white feminism, and this is a very hopeful one.
Parable of the Sower - Octavia Butler
I'm very glad I didn't read this book years ago when I first started thinking about the scifi canon and the need to read all of it. This is a beautiful, horrible book, a book that doesn't flinch from the horrors of the world-as-it-is, but also doesn't flinch from the hero that world has created. Lauren is immediately recogniseable (eldest daughters unite!), but she is also profoundly Other: she is, as she herself says, the product of her world, of her upbringing, and the belief system she creates is also incredibly contextual. Butler beautifully handles the moral ambiguity of Earthseed's concepts, and also tells a story of such love and brutality, inseparable and yet distinct from each other, that it's impossible to look away. People say things like "prescient" about this book and good grief, but they are right.
I'm very glad I didn't read this book years ago when I first started thinking about the scifi canon and the need to read all of it. This is a beautiful, horrible book, a book that doesn't flinch from the horrors of the world-as-it-is, but also doesn't flinch from the hero that world has created. Lauren is immediately recogniseable (eldest daughters unite!), but she is also profoundly Other: she is, as she herself says, the product of her world, of her upbringing, and the belief system she creates is also incredibly contextual. Butler beautifully handles the moral ambiguity of Earthseed's concepts, and also tells a story of such love and brutality, inseparable and yet distinct from each other, that it's impossible to look away. People say things like "prescient" about this book and good grief, but they are right.
Islands of Decolonial Love - Leanne Betasamosake Simpson
I listened to these short stories during planting season! The narrator, first of all, deserves all the awards - Simpson's writing often goes on at length with dialogue attributed to no one, but the narrator made that very easy to follow, even for someone like me who has a hard time with aural concentration. These love songs to the land and to the people of the land (banal love songs, sublime love songs, bizarre love songs, love songs that are hard to identify) were wonderful companions to my time in the dirt. Simpson's sense of place is unerring, and it was so easy to viscerally engage with the landscapes she describes!
I listened to these short stories during planting season! The narrator, first of all, deserves all the awards - Simpson's writing often goes on at length with dialogue attributed to no one, but the narrator made that very easy to follow, even for someone like me who has a hard time with aural concentration. These love songs to the land and to the people of the land (banal love songs, sublime love songs, bizarre love songs, love songs that are hard to identify) were wonderful companions to my time in the dirt. Simpson's sense of place is unerring, and it was so easy to viscerally engage with the landscapes she describes!
Gideon the Ninth - Tamsyn Muir
The audiobook production is second to none, good GRIEF. I continue to absolutely love this book, how Muir tosses us into a completely ridiculous world with absolutely no life preserver, how Muir gives us so many different layers of love and pain and misery and the small, human joys that are a side-effect of being alive. This book is a masterwork of emotional storytelling. I continue to love Gideon Nav, utter disaster lesbian with more muscles than brains but still a good amount of brains, okay, more than is perhaps reasonable.
The audiobook production is second to none, good GRIEF. I continue to absolutely love this book, how Muir tosses us into a completely ridiculous world with absolutely no life preserver, how Muir gives us so many different layers of love and pain and misery and the small, human joys that are a side-effect of being alive. This book is a masterwork of emotional storytelling. I continue to love Gideon Nav, utter disaster lesbian with more muscles than brains but still a good amount of brains, okay, more than is perhaps reasonable.
Harrow the Ninth - Tamsyn Muir
The gaslighting of this book is much less on the second read-through, and I found myself blown away by the sheer level of foreshadowing and detail work that goes into the first two-thirds of the book. I can't imagine the wall graphs that Muir's editor was working with, to make sure the reader technically had all the ingredients to figure out what was up but had no way of knowing they had those ingredients. What a masterpiece of deception! I'm glad I decided to re-read (well, listen), because the book is SO much better on the second go-round - and it was brilliant and heart-rending on the first. I also appreciate how Muir understands the importance of levity, of breaking up the serious with a little humour - this is a book with ebbs and flows, with a careful balance that makes the lows devastatingly lower than they might have been if the intensity had been kept at a single level throughout. Thanks, Tamsyn!
The gaslighting of this book is much less on the second read-through, and I found myself blown away by the sheer level of foreshadowing and detail work that goes into the first two-thirds of the book. I can't imagine the wall graphs that Muir's editor was working with, to make sure the reader technically had all the ingredients to figure out what was up but had no way of knowing they had those ingredients. What a masterpiece of deception! I'm glad I decided to re-read (well, listen), because the book is SO much better on the second go-round - and it was brilliant and heart-rending on the first. I also appreciate how Muir understands the importance of levity, of breaking up the serious with a little humour - this is a book with ebbs and flows, with a careful balance that makes the lows devastatingly lower than they might have been if the intensity had been kept at a single level throughout. Thanks, Tamsyn!
A Trick of the Light - Louise Penny
As this series continues, I find that Penny is getting better and better at articulating pain. She's always been good at it, but here there is so much pain, layered over and over in so many ways, so much utter desolation, and betrayal, and hopelessness. It's…I barely even remember the mystery, but vivid images of moments in which there is a brief respite from the pain stick out to me, particularly because every single one of those moments is later revealed to have been lying in its seeming painlessness. Ugh! Utterly exquisite, even with the banalities of a murder mystery thrown in.
As this series continues, I find that Penny is getting better and better at articulating pain. She's always been good at it, but here there is so much pain, layered over and over in so many ways, so much utter desolation, and betrayal, and hopelessness. It's…I barely even remember the mystery, but vivid images of moments in which there is a brief respite from the pain stick out to me, particularly because every single one of those moments is later revealed to have been lying in its seeming painlessness. Ugh! Utterly exquisite, even with the banalities of a murder mystery thrown in.
The Beautiful Mystery - Louise Penny
Many years ago, my late grandmother, knowing that I'm only meh on murder mysteries but am very !!! On medieval music, loaned me this book and said "you don't have to worry about any of the characters, I just know you'll like the setting." I started reading the rest of this series after she died and her copies of the books came to me, because I knew she loved it, and so to come to this one again is an interesting reading experience. She was right, of course; I did like it, when I first read it, and I like it now - I enjoy seeing Gamache et al outside of Three Pines, and I LOVE the whole premise of the book. But the power of silence, here, the difference between forgiveness and simply setting something aside, the opposing pressures of different kinds of preservation - these are things my grandmother knew and understood, and taught to me (although both of us were and are bad at the silence bit), and so while I enjoyed the book, I more enjoyed meeting her again in its pages.
Many years ago, my late grandmother, knowing that I'm only meh on murder mysteries but am very !!! On medieval music, loaned me this book and said "you don't have to worry about any of the characters, I just know you'll like the setting." I started reading the rest of this series after she died and her copies of the books came to me, because I knew she loved it, and so to come to this one again is an interesting reading experience. She was right, of course; I did like it, when I first read it, and I like it now - I enjoy seeing Gamache et al outside of Three Pines, and I LOVE the whole premise of the book. But the power of silence, here, the difference between forgiveness and simply setting something aside, the opposing pressures of different kinds of preservation - these are things my grandmother knew and understood, and taught to me (although both of us were and are bad at the silence bit), and so while I enjoyed the book, I more enjoyed meeting her again in its pages.
What is Not Yours is Not Yours - Helen Oyeyemi
STOP, HELEN. I haven't read anyone else doing what Oyeyemi is doing with folklore and fairy-tale, and I want to. I wanted to listen to this collection of short stories - of connected short stories, of short stories that flowed in and out of each other, confusing timelines and settings and ultimately creating a very particular kind of enchantment - even after they were finished. I wanted more of every story, more of every character, more of every setting. More of the 1000 Nights & A Night-style narration, where stories tapered off without necessarily being finished, but reappeared in another guise later on, barely recogniseable. What genre are you writing in, Helen?? Never stop, please.
STOP, HELEN. I haven't read anyone else doing what Oyeyemi is doing with folklore and fairy-tale, and I want to. I wanted to listen to this collection of short stories - of connected short stories, of short stories that flowed in and out of each other, confusing timelines and settings and ultimately creating a very particular kind of enchantment - even after they were finished. I wanted more of every story, more of every character, more of every setting. More of the 1000 Nights & A Night-style narration, where stories tapered off without necessarily being finished, but reappeared in another guise later on, barely recogniseable. What genre are you writing in, Helen?? Never stop, please.
How the Light Gets In - Louise Penny
Ah, yes, corruption in the construction industry in Quebec. Language-based class divides resulting in major consequences for whole families. Some people on the internet apparently think this plot is too far-fetched, but the reality is that Penny is a Montreal Anglo writing for Montreal Anglos, and holy crap, but this book is For Us. There is something really fascinating about the way in which the modern and historical issues this book explores keep linking up, but, honestly, I think the book is trying to do too much, and the murder mystery part really, really suffers for it. Penny's normally excellent pacing is off, and the book kind of never ends? Theoretically, conceptually, I loved it. The execution? A big "meh" from me.
Ah, yes, corruption in the construction industry in Quebec. Language-based class divides resulting in major consequences for whole families. Some people on the internet apparently think this plot is too far-fetched, but the reality is that Penny is a Montreal Anglo writing for Montreal Anglos, and holy crap, but this book is For Us. There is something really fascinating about the way in which the modern and historical issues this book explores keep linking up, but, honestly, I think the book is trying to do too much, and the murder mystery part really, really suffers for it. Penny's normally excellent pacing is off, and the book kind of never ends? Theoretically, conceptually, I loved it. The execution? A big "meh" from me.
This is How You Lose the Time War - Amal El-Mohtar and Max Gladstone
FIRST OF ALL HOW DARE YOU. Non-linear narratives? Queer love stories? Machines vs. plants? Epistolary fiction? Enemies-to-friends-to-lovers? Moral ambiguity? This novella literally has so many of the things that I love, and is executed so flawlessly, I read it twice back to back. I cannot get over how beautifully every single line is written. I cannot get over how just EXQUISITE the prose is, over and above the narrative elements that just Did It for me. What a beautiful, gorgeous book.
FIRST OF ALL HOW DARE YOU. Non-linear narratives? Queer love stories? Machines vs. plants? Epistolary fiction? Enemies-to-friends-to-lovers? Moral ambiguity? This novella literally has so many of the things that I love, and is executed so flawlessly, I read it twice back to back. I cannot get over how beautifully every single line is written. I cannot get over how just EXQUISITE the prose is, over and above the narrative elements that just Did It for me. What a beautiful, gorgeous book.
The Long Way Home - Louise Penny
I had a ten-day vacation in July and wanted to read as many books as possible, which meant going to the library and pulling out a stack of Gamache. This one, while obviously devastating for character reasons, is probably my least favourite of the ones I've read so far? I guess I was just not terribly caught up in the mystery of it, and I felt like the repetition of the theme that Penny normally handles so deftly was maybe over-applied here. But as a quick summer read, it was great; Penny is never formulaic, and her characters are deeply human, so even a mediocre book is still nice to engage in.
I had a ten-day vacation in July and wanted to read as many books as possible, which meant going to the library and pulling out a stack of Gamache. This one, while obviously devastating for character reasons, is probably my least favourite of the ones I've read so far? I guess I was just not terribly caught up in the mystery of it, and I felt like the repetition of the theme that Penny normally handles so deftly was maybe over-applied here. But as a quick summer read, it was great; Penny is never formulaic, and her characters are deeply human, so even a mediocre book is still nice to engage in.
The Six-Gun Tarot - R.S. Belcher
This book has been on my reading list for…maybe a decade now? It should have stayed on my reading list. I finished it. I don't know why - I guess there was a part of me that was too fascinated to look away? Like a car-wreck. Think of all the things that can be wrong with a work of speculative fiction, and with a novel, and they're here. I was also utterly betrayed by the fact that the title has very little to do with the actual content. When you have a title that kickass and you don't DO anything with it, you shouldn't get published.
This book has been on my reading list for…maybe a decade now? It should have stayed on my reading list. I finished it. I don't know why - I guess there was a part of me that was too fascinated to look away? Like a car-wreck. Think of all the things that can be wrong with a work of speculative fiction, and with a novel, and they're here. I was also utterly betrayed by the fact that the title has very little to do with the actual content. When you have a title that kickass and you don't DO anything with it, you shouldn't get published.
Parable of the Talents - Octavia Butler
I didn't like this one as much as Parable of the Sower, I think because the narrative style is a little different, but I LOVE the way this book flays Lauren open and shows the ways in which power and love have an uneasy time sitting together. I love the way Butler gives us hope and simultaneously warns us that pinning hope on any one person, any one way of life, is at the very least dangerous. I cried a lot, reading this book. Especially as the time I was reading it was in the middle of a summer of mass graves being uncovered at residential schools, the ways in which Butler talks about the devastation of family separation "for the good of the child" were particularly, well, devastating.
I didn't like this one as much as Parable of the Sower, I think because the narrative style is a little different, but I LOVE the way this book flays Lauren open and shows the ways in which power and love have an uneasy time sitting together. I love the way Butler gives us hope and simultaneously warns us that pinning hope on any one person, any one way of life, is at the very least dangerous. I cried a lot, reading this book. Especially as the time I was reading it was in the middle of a summer of mass graves being uncovered at residential schools, the ways in which Butler talks about the devastation of family separation "for the good of the child" were particularly, well, devastating.
The Tiger Flu - Larissa Lai
Biological hard SF is hard to find! Lai does the first 80% of this book SO well - a pandemic, biology and technology interfacing, the dissolution of science into magic and folklore, poverty's physical impacts - and sets it so perfectly between Vancouver and China, with a wonderful cast and absolutely stunning worldbuilding, that the last 20%'s spiral into something approaching incoherence is just the worst. I just wanted to take her aside and say "all you need to do is add one clarifying sentence HERE, and then do a LOT more foreshadowing, and then this book will be perfect," because I so want it to be perfect. I haven't read anything this original, this brilliantly conceived, in a long time! I want it to end as well as it begins!
Biological hard SF is hard to find! Lai does the first 80% of this book SO well - a pandemic, biology and technology interfacing, the dissolution of science into magic and folklore, poverty's physical impacts - and sets it so perfectly between Vancouver and China, with a wonderful cast and absolutely stunning worldbuilding, that the last 20%'s spiral into something approaching incoherence is just the worst. I just wanted to take her aside and say "all you need to do is add one clarifying sentence HERE, and then do a LOT more foreshadowing, and then this book will be perfect," because I so want it to be perfect. I haven't read anything this original, this brilliantly conceived, in a long time! I want it to end as well as it begins!
The Angel of the Crows - Katherine Addison
Okay, so, for starters: genderqueer asexual characters healing from trauma and caring for/finding belonging in each other and undermining oppressive social structures together? Yeah, this book was written for me. I cannot say enough good things about this book, as someone who enjoyed Holmes stories as a young teen and who is, now, the kind of person that read "supernatural Sherlock Holmes interwoven story collection" on a blurb and picked up the book on the strength of that line alone. Katherine, do you hear me? You are amazing, and I want to read more of these characters. It's one of the very few books that has made me immediately want more of the same - not a continuation of the story (I want that all the time!), but just to live in the world a little longer.
Okay, so, for starters: genderqueer asexual characters healing from trauma and caring for/finding belonging in each other and undermining oppressive social structures together? Yeah, this book was written for me. I cannot say enough good things about this book, as someone who enjoyed Holmes stories as a young teen and who is, now, the kind of person that read "supernatural Sherlock Holmes interwoven story collection" on a blurb and picked up the book on the strength of that line alone. Katherine, do you hear me? You are amazing, and I want to read more of these characters. It's one of the very few books that has made me immediately want more of the same - not a continuation of the story (I want that all the time!), but just to live in the world a little longer.
A Memory Called Empire - Arkady Matine
Reviewing these reviews at the end of the year, I can say without a doubt: this was the best book I read this year. It had stiff competition (I read a lot of amazing work in 2021), but, oh my dear sweet heaven, this book has it all. I don't want to list all the things I loved because we would be here forever, but I think I've recommended it to everyone I know, multiple times. My one complaint is that there isn't enough gender diversity, aside from a frankly insulting throw-away line, but that's? it? That's the only problem with this book. Everyone should read it. We should only allow Byzantinists to write imperial specfic (one of my favourite sub-genres, it turns out) from now on.
Reviewing these reviews at the end of the year, I can say without a doubt: this was the best book I read this year. It had stiff competition (I read a lot of amazing work in 2021), but, oh my dear sweet heaven, this book has it all. I don't want to list all the things I loved because we would be here forever, but I think I've recommended it to everyone I know, multiple times. My one complaint is that there isn't enough gender diversity, aside from a frankly insulting throw-away line, but that's? it? That's the only problem with this book. Everyone should read it. We should only allow Byzantinists to write imperial specfic (one of my favourite sub-genres, it turns out) from now on.
The Raven Tower - Ann Leckie
I wanted to like this book more than I did - and I think I would have, if I hadn't read like five incredible novels that I lived a lot in the previous week (my July vacation was spent in transit between my couch and the library). It was conceptually very strong, and the characters were great, and the big reveal was excellent and well-timed, but I think it suffered for being read after, like, A Memory Called Empire. I think it's a solid secondary-world fantasy! I think people should read it! I wish I had read it with a little bit more space around it.
I wanted to like this book more than I did - and I think I would have, if I hadn't read like five incredible novels that I lived a lot in the previous week (my July vacation was spent in transit between my couch and the library). It was conceptually very strong, and the characters were great, and the big reveal was excellent and well-timed, but I think it suffered for being read after, like, A Memory Called Empire. I think it's a solid secondary-world fantasy! I think people should read it! I wish I had read it with a little bit more space around it.
The Ruin of Kings - Jenn Lyons
I did not finish this book. I think it probably had a lot going for it, in terms of worldbuilding, but I think I am just not in a place to read grimdark fantasy that uses gratuitous violence against women to embellish its setting. I've been reading a lot of very good speculative fiction the past few years, and I guess I had kind of thought we had left this particular subgenre behind in the late 90s? But apparently we have not! It's disappointing, too, because the narrative style is fresh, and it feels like Lyons is doing something interesting with the reliability (or not) of her narrators!
I did not finish this book. I think it probably had a lot going for it, in terms of worldbuilding, but I think I am just not in a place to read grimdark fantasy that uses gratuitous violence against women to embellish its setting. I've been reading a lot of very good speculative fiction the past few years, and I guess I had kind of thought we had left this particular subgenre behind in the late 90s? But apparently we have not! It's disappointing, too, because the narrative style is fresh, and it feels like Lyons is doing something interesting with the reliability (or not) of her narrators!
The Midnight Bargain - C.L. Polk
Man, Polk really just understands what all of us who grew up with Jane Austen and now like speculative fiction want. Their debut series has the same vibe - although a very different setting, plot, etc. - of just KNOWING how to bridge these two things. Do I wish they had delved a bit more into the question of reproductive futurity and the linkage of uterus to "destiny" for characters with uteruses? Maybe, but honestly I think that would have changed the tone of the book significantly, and I actually think Polk does a stellar job of keeping the story fairly light for all its substance. As always, healthy relationships save the day! Who would have guessed! I loved everything about this novel and would read a hundred more like it.
Man, Polk really just understands what all of us who grew up with Jane Austen and now like speculative fiction want. Their debut series has the same vibe - although a very different setting, plot, etc. - of just KNOWING how to bridge these two things. Do I wish they had delved a bit more into the question of reproductive futurity and the linkage of uterus to "destiny" for characters with uteruses? Maybe, but honestly I think that would have changed the tone of the book significantly, and I actually think Polk does a stellar job of keeping the story fairly light for all its substance. As always, healthy relationships save the day! Who would have guessed! I loved everything about this novel and would read a hundred more like it.
The Lions of al-Rassan - Guy Gavriel Kay
I loaned this book to a friend, and when she gave it back to me (and we talked about what she hadn't liked, and learned that the two of us want very different things from books) I settled in to re-read it myself. I don't know what I can say about it that I haven't already said, because this is one of those books that lies unsettlingly close to my heart! It's probably Kay's best, for how it makes the relationships between people into a metonym for the larger relationships between powers, for how it so clearly articulates the nature of loss, of grief, of choosing to keep waking up into a world in which both of those things dominate. My continued devotion to Jehane as a character probably says way more about me, at this point, than it does about Jehane.
I loaned this book to a friend, and when she gave it back to me (and we talked about what she hadn't liked, and learned that the two of us want very different things from books) I settled in to re-read it myself. I don't know what I can say about it that I haven't already said, because this is one of those books that lies unsettlingly close to my heart! It's probably Kay's best, for how it makes the relationships between people into a metonym for the larger relationships between powers, for how it so clearly articulates the nature of loss, of grief, of choosing to keep waking up into a world in which both of those things dominate. My continued devotion to Jehane as a character probably says way more about me, at this point, than it does about Jehane.
The Nature of the Beast - Louise Penny
I really wasn't sure I wanted to read more Gamache-after-retiring books, but I'm glad that I decided to read this one! The mystery itself, as usual, kind of fades into the background (and the repetition problem I noticed a few books ago is back); the struggle Gamache has to move on with his life is really central here, and really beautifully executed. I think there's something to be said for a book that really delves into his particular struggles; there isn't a lot of everybody else in the book, which I miss, but the way Gamache gets to do some quality navel-gazing about his own beliefs and his place in the world is actually pretty nice.
I really wasn't sure I wanted to read more Gamache-after-retiring books, but I'm glad that I decided to read this one! The mystery itself, as usual, kind of fades into the background (and the repetition problem I noticed a few books ago is back); the struggle Gamache has to move on with his life is really central here, and really beautifully executed. I think there's something to be said for a book that really delves into his particular struggles; there isn't a lot of everybody else in the book, which I miss, but the way Gamache gets to do some quality navel-gazing about his own beliefs and his place in the world is actually pretty nice.
Space Opera - Catherine Valente
Cat Valente can do no wrong. There, I said it. I don't understand how her mind comes up with such bizarre, wildly different things. Each of her works that I've read has been utterly unique - even this mashup of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Eurovision is unlike even its inspirations. There is dark comedy, and then there's this. There is humans-relish-the-weird, and then there's this. There is "the music will save us!" and then, unexpectedly, there's this. I laughed. I cried. Ten stars.
Cat Valente can do no wrong. There, I said it. I don't understand how her mind comes up with such bizarre, wildly different things. Each of her works that I've read has been utterly unique - even this mashup of Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and Eurovision is unlike even its inspirations. There is dark comedy, and then there's this. There is humans-relish-the-weird, and then there's this. There is "the music will save us!" and then, unexpectedly, there's this. I laughed. I cried. Ten stars.
Raybearer - Jordan Ifueko
I'm definitely reading less than I usually do this year, but hoo boy is the quality incredible. Yet another impossibly well-written fantasy novel for Jessica! This one with a really surprisingly high set of stakes, and a compellingly layered backstory, and the worldbuilding! The characters! The PACING! Honestly, it's hard to believe that this is Ifueko's first book. I love the interrogations of imperialism (although, as always, I wish there were more!), and of gender, and of the nature of the stories we tell about ourselves, their power to shape reality. I love that this book is about young people, but I don't think it's necessarily for them (although who knows what the shape of YA is like these days) - I love that an adult book can take seriously teenagers/young adults as protagonists. There's a rawness and a vulnerability there that is so refreshing to see in a genre that is often full of jaded adults and their trauma. Apparently there is a sequel, which I will 100% be reading, but I actually liked where this one ended. Ifueko knows how to pace a story.
I'm definitely reading less than I usually do this year, but hoo boy is the quality incredible. Yet another impossibly well-written fantasy novel for Jessica! This one with a really surprisingly high set of stakes, and a compellingly layered backstory, and the worldbuilding! The characters! The PACING! Honestly, it's hard to believe that this is Ifueko's first book. I love the interrogations of imperialism (although, as always, I wish there were more!), and of gender, and of the nature of the stories we tell about ourselves, their power to shape reality. I love that this book is about young people, but I don't think it's necessarily for them (although who knows what the shape of YA is like these days) - I love that an adult book can take seriously teenagers/young adults as protagonists. There's a rawness and a vulnerability there that is so refreshing to see in a genre that is often full of jaded adults and their trauma. Apparently there is a sequel, which I will 100% be reading, but I actually liked where this one ended. Ifueko knows how to pace a story.
The Templars - Dan Jones
I…gotta say, pop historians leave me cold a lot of the time. I wish he had used footnotes! It would have made everything better! When I shifted myself into reading this as a novel/creative nonfiction, it was a lot easier to enjoy. And the Templars as a historical entity are very interesting! Jones, unfortunately, picked a very broad span of time and quite a large geography and was only reading sources in English, so there's a lot that doesn't show up - obviously, no one can do everything, but I would have made each of the temporal sections of this book into a book in their own right, in order to actually give a cohesive picture. The narrative Jones tells is at times painfully, obviously Anglo-centric in a way that does a disservice to his topic.
I…gotta say, pop historians leave me cold a lot of the time. I wish he had used footnotes! It would have made everything better! When I shifted myself into reading this as a novel/creative nonfiction, it was a lot easier to enjoy. And the Templars as a historical entity are very interesting! Jones, unfortunately, picked a very broad span of time and quite a large geography and was only reading sources in English, so there's a lot that doesn't show up - obviously, no one can do everything, but I would have made each of the temporal sections of this book into a book in their own right, in order to actually give a cohesive picture. The narrative Jones tells is at times painfully, obviously Anglo-centric in a way that does a disservice to his topic.
The Devil's Queen - Jessica Kalogridis
This book has been on my reading list since, like, CEGEP, and I don't think I would have enjoyed it then. As it was, I enjoyed it now for the same reason I enjoy Harlequin romance novels and Hallmark movies: sometimes, you just need to disengage your brain and consume some trash. And what trash this was! Sorcery! Unrequited love (on multiple axes)! Politics and murder! Sex, lies, and power! I had a rough fall and this was exactly what I needed.
This book has been on my reading list since, like, CEGEP, and I don't think I would have enjoyed it then. As it was, I enjoyed it now for the same reason I enjoy Harlequin romance novels and Hallmark movies: sometimes, you just need to disengage your brain and consume some trash. And what trash this was! Sorcery! Unrequited love (on multiple axes)! Politics and murder! Sex, lies, and power! I had a rough fall and this was exactly what I needed.
A Desolation Called Peace - Arkady Martine
Obviously, this book was not as good as its predecessor, but it was still solid. I love the way Martine thinks about language - about the ways language influences so much, about the ways language exists as a metonym for a whole way of being, about the promise and the limits of language. I love the way Martine thinks about what it means to come home. About what it means to call something home. About collectivity and individuality and pain and care and just DOING things when push comes to shove. I love the way Martine leverages her understanding of empire to devastating effect. What a sequel! What a series! What a novel in and of itself!
Obviously, this book was not as good as its predecessor, but it was still solid. I love the way Martine thinks about language - about the ways language influences so much, about the ways language exists as a metonym for a whole way of being, about the promise and the limits of language. I love the way Martine thinks about what it means to come home. About what it means to call something home. About collectivity and individuality and pain and care and just DOING things when push comes to shove. I love the way Martine leverages her understanding of empire to devastating effect. What a sequel! What a series! What a novel in and of itself!
Stormsong - C.L. Polk
I have to say, I liked the first book in this series a LOT, but this one is…only okay. I guess I'm not super invested in Grace's story? Or her character? Or her redemption arc? I think one of the things that's missing here, for me, is a deeper, more direct sense of connection to the previous novel; a lot of second books in a trilogy make the mistake of not being distinct-enough stories to stand on their own, but I think Polk has had the opposite problem here. I also think that, in trying to differentiate Grace and her brother (and the two books!), we end up with a pretty weak romance angle here that frankly could have been dropped and the book would have been better. It would have stepped out of the vibe of these political-romance-novels, but I wouldn't have missed it!
I have to say, I liked the first book in this series a LOT, but this one is…only okay. I guess I'm not super invested in Grace's story? Or her character? Or her redemption arc? I think one of the things that's missing here, for me, is a deeper, more direct sense of connection to the previous novel; a lot of second books in a trilogy make the mistake of not being distinct-enough stories to stand on their own, but I think Polk has had the opposite problem here. I also think that, in trying to differentiate Grace and her brother (and the two books!), we end up with a pretty weak romance angle here that frankly could have been dropped and the book would have been better. It would have stepped out of the vibe of these political-romance-novels, but I wouldn't have missed it!
Soulstar - C.L. Polk
Honestly, this is probably the best book of the series. I'm so glad I kept reading! The dynamism of the worldbuilding here, the hard-hitting storytelling, the way the consequences of larger political action are mirrored in the small actions of everyday people! The finding-how-to-be-together-after-we've-been-apart plotline was wonderful in and of itself AND as a metonym for a larger social revolution! The fact that Robin is allowed to be BOTH a real, major agent of change AND lonely and weak and tired and needy! I kind of miss the gentle if-you-loved-Jane-Austen-now-read-this of the first book, but this third one is so powerful, so wonderfully rendered, so much an author who has really found their voice, that it's easy to say that I also wish this book's tone was the tone of the whole series.
Honestly, this is probably the best book of the series. I'm so glad I kept reading! The dynamism of the worldbuilding here, the hard-hitting storytelling, the way the consequences of larger political action are mirrored in the small actions of everyday people! The finding-how-to-be-together-after-we've-been-apart plotline was wonderful in and of itself AND as a metonym for a larger social revolution! The fact that Robin is allowed to be BOTH a real, major agent of change AND lonely and weak and tired and needy! I kind of miss the gentle if-you-loved-Jane-Austen-now-read-this of the first book, but this third one is so powerful, so wonderfully rendered, so much an author who has really found their voice, that it's easy to say that I also wish this book's tone was the tone of the whole series.
Certain Dark Things - Sylvia Moreno-Garcia
You know how when you read a book and really like it, and then you read something else by the author and like it less, you have a hard time thinking positively of the latter? This book is the something else to Moreno-Garcia's Gods of Jade and Shadow, which was one of my top reads last year, and it definitely suffers in comparison. On its own, I really enjoyed the inversion of death and the maiden, and I enjoyed the very classic Seedy Underbelly Vampires vibe, and I enjoyed the cyberpunk dystopia, and I enjoyed the character relationships, but I didn't feel strongly about anything in the novel, not even negatively. For lovers of vampire novels, perhaps there would be a bigger draw - Moreno-Garcia is doing some VERY interesting things with the genre - but for me, the folkloric aspects felt out of place, and not, I think, in an intentional way.
You know how when you read a book and really like it, and then you read something else by the author and like it less, you have a hard time thinking positively of the latter? This book is the something else to Moreno-Garcia's Gods of Jade and Shadow, which was one of my top reads last year, and it definitely suffers in comparison. On its own, I really enjoyed the inversion of death and the maiden, and I enjoyed the very classic Seedy Underbelly Vampires vibe, and I enjoyed the cyberpunk dystopia, and I enjoyed the character relationships, but I didn't feel strongly about anything in the novel, not even negatively. For lovers of vampire novels, perhaps there would be a bigger draw - Moreno-Garcia is doing some VERY interesting things with the genre - but for me, the folkloric aspects felt out of place, and not, I think, in an intentional way.
Riot Baby - Tochi Onyebuchi
This book was…good? Good, and I think intentionally disjointed, but the disjointedness was a problem for me; the story felt unbalanced in a way. Again, I think this was intentional, and I admire the technique, but it wasn't super enjoyable for me. I wanted more of Ella! I loved the real apocalypticism of it, a very the-fire-next-time vibe that thrummed steadily from the riots onward, and built in a really beautiful way. I loved how MUCH story there was, even though the book itself is quite short. I can admire the stylistic choices, even if they didn't really do it for me.
This book was…good? Good, and I think intentionally disjointed, but the disjointedness was a problem for me; the story felt unbalanced in a way. Again, I think this was intentional, and I admire the technique, but it wasn't super enjoyable for me. I wanted more of Ella! I loved the real apocalypticism of it, a very the-fire-next-time vibe that thrummed steadily from the riots onward, and built in a really beautiful way. I loved how MUCH story there was, even though the book itself is quite short. I can admire the stylistic choices, even if they didn't really do it for me.
this census-taker - China Miéville
My previous experience of Miéville's writing was Embassytown, which is one of my favourite works of specfic and one of my handful of "I am always ready to re-read this book" novels, so I was expecting something similar with this book. Instead, I got a haunting half-story of uncertain style and unclear thrust, and while I don't think it will be a perennial re-read I definitely want to read it again, if only to see if I can understand it better. This book was frustrating, because I was less interested by the story itself than by the frame narrative, which is only visible at the edges and in fits and starts, and the novel ends so abruptly that it feels unfinished? The stylistic meanderings are SO good, though, and the claustrophobia of the story is also just amazingly achieved - I'm not sure how I feel, in the end!
My previous experience of Miéville's writing was Embassytown, which is one of my favourite works of specfic and one of my handful of "I am always ready to re-read this book" novels, so I was expecting something similar with this book. Instead, I got a haunting half-story of uncertain style and unclear thrust, and while I don't think it will be a perennial re-read I definitely want to read it again, if only to see if I can understand it better. This book was frustrating, because I was less interested by the story itself than by the frame narrative, which is only visible at the edges and in fits and starts, and the novel ends so abruptly that it feels unfinished? The stylistic meanderings are SO good, though, and the claustrophobia of the story is also just amazingly achieved - I'm not sure how I feel, in the end!
The Night Swim - Megan Goldin
I do love a trashy murder mystery audiobook. I liked this one, too, with the podcast format (which I would not have wanted to read on my own, I don't think), and the many layers of small-town mystery. I liked the ways we were kept guessing, and the many different angles, and the nice, tidy reveals. It was a solid palate-cleanser!
I do love a trashy murder mystery audiobook. I liked this one, too, with the podcast format (which I would not have wanted to read on my own, I don't think), and the many layers of small-town mystery. I liked the ways we were kept guessing, and the many different angles, and the nice, tidy reveals. It was a solid palate-cleanser!
The Essex Serpent - Sarah Perry
What! A! Novel! I haven't read pure historical fiction - and, like, the good kind - in a long time, and I think this book reignited my love for the genre. Perry's prose is absolutely exquisite, and her storytelling is simultaneously grand and very personal. The sense of place is so strongly threaded through the book, and the sense of loss, too, even though it is not strictly a book about loss at all. I am a sucker for impossible romance, and a sucker for bibliosociality, and a sucker for the wide array of human experience being handled with practicality and panache. More than anything, though, I am a sucker for gorgeous, breathtaking writing, and Perry's is it.
What! A! Novel! I haven't read pure historical fiction - and, like, the good kind - in a long time, and I think this book reignited my love for the genre. Perry's prose is absolutely exquisite, and her storytelling is simultaneously grand and very personal. The sense of place is so strongly threaded through the book, and the sense of loss, too, even though it is not strictly a book about loss at all. I am a sucker for impossible romance, and a sucker for bibliosociality, and a sucker for the wide array of human experience being handled with practicality and panache. More than anything, though, I am a sucker for gorgeous, breathtaking writing, and Perry's is it.
Made Things - Adrian Tchaikovsky
I read this book after reading a short-story prequel, and I have to say, I don't know that the book would have made as much sense without the short story? I think, because it's a novella (and a lovely one!), Tchaikovsky kind of skimps on important backstory details, the absence of which opens a lot of questions that might be distracting and confusing. Because I had read the short story, though, I had no such problems, and loved every second of this highly-imaginative romp, its solid dungeon-crawl plot, its delightful cast of characters, its tongue-in-cheek narration, its very real questioning of what it means to be a person. I want to read more in this universe, please!
I read this book after reading a short-story prequel, and I have to say, I don't know that the book would have made as much sense without the short story? I think, because it's a novella (and a lovely one!), Tchaikovsky kind of skimps on important backstory details, the absence of which opens a lot of questions that might be distracting and confusing. Because I had read the short story, though, I had no such problems, and loved every second of this highly-imaginative romp, its solid dungeon-crawl plot, its delightful cast of characters, its tongue-in-cheek narration, its very real questioning of what it means to be a person. I want to read more in this universe, please!
A Great Reckoning - Louise Penny
I think I'm tired of Penny being like "yes, yes, the SQ are a big problem, but here's how we can explain it away!" - I am tired, I guess, of Gamache getting a free pass for somehow being an exception to the SQ's violence problems, their racism problems, their sexism problems. It is nice, I suppose, that a cop novel is actually engaging with police brutality, but I think because Penny loves her characters, she shies away from the opportunity this particular plot presents to actually critique the institution of policing as a whole, to have Gamache question what, if anything, is worth saving about the SQ. This book is such a flaying open of policing and the institutionalisation of violence that it is deeply disappointing that Penny can't make the final leap, even when her characters are in the perfect position to make it with her.
I think I'm tired of Penny being like "yes, yes, the SQ are a big problem, but here's how we can explain it away!" - I am tired, I guess, of Gamache getting a free pass for somehow being an exception to the SQ's violence problems, their racism problems, their sexism problems. It is nice, I suppose, that a cop novel is actually engaging with police brutality, but I think because Penny loves her characters, she shies away from the opportunity this particular plot presents to actually critique the institution of policing as a whole, to have Gamache question what, if anything, is worth saving about the SQ. This book is such a flaying open of policing and the institutionalisation of violence that it is deeply disappointing that Penny can't make the final leap, even when her characters are in the perfect position to make it with her.
Winter Rose - Patricia McKillip
Does anyone do contemporary folklore like McKillip? If anyone does, I haven't read them; McKillip is queen, for me. There's something so satisfying about the way she weaves stories that feel simultaneously ancient and new, the way all good folklore does, while drawing very little on actual folkloric tropes and stock images. I love the hazy, liminal feeling of this book, even in all the winter scenes. Could it have used a little more clarity? Maybe. Could it have used a clearer ending? Almost certainly; this is my perennial complaint with McKillip. But the overall sensation? As always, an absolutely beautiful job of creating a feeling, a presence. I barely cared about the story, but I was so wrapped up in the sensory landscape McKillip's gorgeous writing creates.
Does anyone do contemporary folklore like McKillip? If anyone does, I haven't read them; McKillip is queen, for me. There's something so satisfying about the way she weaves stories that feel simultaneously ancient and new, the way all good folklore does, while drawing very little on actual folkloric tropes and stock images. I love the hazy, liminal feeling of this book, even in all the winter scenes. Could it have used a little more clarity? Maybe. Could it have used a clearer ending? Almost certainly; this is my perennial complaint with McKillip. But the overall sensation? As always, an absolutely beautiful job of creating a feeling, a presence. I barely cared about the story, but I was so wrapped up in the sensory landscape McKillip's gorgeous writing creates.
The Feather Thief - Kirk Wallace Johnson
For all that Johnson's work is well-researched and well-written, it is also…over-sensationalised? I struggled to figure out why I should care about the crime the book describes - I found the first half, on the history of 18th- and 19th-century European and North American feather obsession, infinitely more compelling, and the implications of the perpetuation of that obsession in ecological terms were, I think, well laid-out. I guess I just had a hard time with Johnson describing his work on this mystery as somehow on par with his work with refugees and asylum-seekers? Throughout listening to the book, I kept waiting for the connection to become clear, which I think compromised my ability to enjoy what is otherwise a fascinating look into traffic in endangered species!
For all that Johnson's work is well-researched and well-written, it is also…over-sensationalised? I struggled to figure out why I should care about the crime the book describes - I found the first half, on the history of 18th- and 19th-century European and North American feather obsession, infinitely more compelling, and the implications of the perpetuation of that obsession in ecological terms were, I think, well laid-out. I guess I just had a hard time with Johnson describing his work on this mystery as somehow on par with his work with refugees and asylum-seekers? Throughout listening to the book, I kept waiting for the connection to become clear, which I think compromised my ability to enjoy what is otherwise a fascinating look into traffic in endangered species!
The Lost Future of Pepperharrow - Natasha Pulley
I was initially unconvinced that I should read this book, since the first was SO perfect and this one looked like it would have a lot of angst - I had been so pleasantly surprised, with The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, that I was not being queerbaited, and I was worried that this book would pull the rug out from under me. Instead, when I finally read it because my book club partner assured me that my worries were misplaced, I got one of the most delightful, heart-wrenching romances I've read. There is so much sorrow in this book, and yet, somehow, still so much joy. There is anxiety and worry and determination and a love that can overcome even itself. There are so many questions about belonging, about home, about who loves you and how and why - about the limits of power and the tragedy of empire and the utter importance of the smallest things. I loved it. I will read it again.
I was initially unconvinced that I should read this book, since the first was SO perfect and this one looked like it would have a lot of angst - I had been so pleasantly surprised, with The Watchmaker of Filigree Street, that I was not being queerbaited, and I was worried that this book would pull the rug out from under me. Instead, when I finally read it because my book club partner assured me that my worries were misplaced, I got one of the most delightful, heart-wrenching romances I've read. There is so much sorrow in this book, and yet, somehow, still so much joy. There is anxiety and worry and determination and a love that can overcome even itself. There are so many questions about belonging, about home, about who loves you and how and why - about the limits of power and the tragedy of empire and the utter importance of the smallest things. I loved it. I will read it again.
An Unkindness of Ghosts - Rivers Solomon
I think my only complaint about this book is that the central romance is a little forced? But this is after wracking my brains to try to be balanced, because otherwise, this story of a generation ship and political upheaval and the many facets of religiosity and queerness and neurodivergence and what it means to be a family, this story of food and story, of violence and resilience, of fear and pain and an unwillingness to compromise, told in such evocative, personal prose, is probably the best iteration of "the people running our generation ship are bad news" I've read. It's a good sub-genre. Solomon makes it better.
I think my only complaint about this book is that the central romance is a little forced? But this is after wracking my brains to try to be balanced, because otherwise, this story of a generation ship and political upheaval and the many facets of religiosity and queerness and neurodivergence and what it means to be a family, this story of food and story, of violence and resilience, of fear and pain and an unwillingness to compromise, told in such evocative, personal prose, is probably the best iteration of "the people running our generation ship are bad news" I've read. It's a good sub-genre. Solomon makes it better.
The Once and Future Witches - Alix E. Harrow
Harrow can legitimately only write books that I love, apparently. Sisters? Check. Folklore? Check. Intersectional and empancipatory feminism? Check. Consistent and solid worldbuilding? Check. And, on top of that, the story is so good, all the sisters so beautifully realised in all their flaws and particularities, the crescendoes so high and resounding - and just, STRUCTURALLY, what a well-composed work! What a treat! What a fairy-tale. What a perfect book. A contender for book of the year, honestly, even amongst all the very good books I've read in 2021.
Harrow can legitimately only write books that I love, apparently. Sisters? Check. Folklore? Check. Intersectional and empancipatory feminism? Check. Consistent and solid worldbuilding? Check. And, on top of that, the story is so good, all the sisters so beautifully realised in all their flaws and particularities, the crescendoes so high and resounding - and just, STRUCTURALLY, what a well-composed work! What a treat! What a fairy-tale. What a perfect book. A contender for book of the year, honestly, even amongst all the very good books I've read in 2021.
Witchshadow - Susan Dennard
As I remarked to my book club partner, with whom I have been discussing every book in this series, the ending here feels earned in content but not in pacing. It really feels like Dennard decided, abruptly, that she was done with this series and ready to move on to something else, and dumped all the salient plot for at least two books into this one, cut out a lot of the charming character interactions that make her other books so enjoyable, and called it a day. The main storyline wraps up in a really satisfying way, and a lot of different pieces of foreshadowing come together quite effectively. But the storylines of the individual characters just kind of…end. And none of the relationships - platonic or romantic - between characters are given any kind of closure. I can only hold out hope for some spin-off novellas to answer all the un-answered questions!
As I remarked to my book club partner, with whom I have been discussing every book in this series, the ending here feels earned in content but not in pacing. It really feels like Dennard decided, abruptly, that she was done with this series and ready to move on to something else, and dumped all the salient plot for at least two books into this one, cut out a lot of the charming character interactions that make her other books so enjoyable, and called it a day. The main storyline wraps up in a really satisfying way, and a lot of different pieces of foreshadowing come together quite effectively. But the storylines of the individual characters just kind of…end. And none of the relationships - platonic or romantic - between characters are given any kind of closure. I can only hold out hope for some spin-off novellas to answer all the un-answered questions!
Black Sun - Rebecca Roanhorse
FIRST OF ALL, I am loving this trend in contemporary speculative fiction to give us teenage/young adult protagonists, but still be a book for adults. There's a lot of subtlety here - religious, philosophical, class- and gender- and race-based difference - and a lot of really beautiful themes echoing around. There's also a lot of violence - all of which feels earned - and a wide array of different characters, all of whom feel like they are given adequate attention, even in this comparatively short book. Roanhorse's writing is powerful, and in some places achingly beautiful. I loved the narration choices for the audiobook almost as much as the writing choices, and I am now waiting with bated breath to read the sequel as soon as it is available! What a high point to end the year!
FIRST OF ALL, I am loving this trend in contemporary speculative fiction to give us teenage/young adult protagonists, but still be a book for adults. There's a lot of subtlety here - religious, philosophical, class- and gender- and race-based difference - and a lot of really beautiful themes echoing around. There's also a lot of violence - all of which feels earned - and a wide array of different characters, all of whom feel like they are given adequate attention, even in this comparatively short book. Roanhorse's writing is powerful, and in some places achingly beautiful. I loved the narration choices for the audiobook almost as much as the writing choices, and I am now waiting with bated breath to read the sequel as soon as it is available! What a high point to end the year!