Blown away. The holy trinity of great characterization, unique world-building, and well-written prose. In that sense I'm reminded of the4.75ish stars.
Blown away. The holy trinity of great characterization, unique world-building, and well-written prose. In that sense I'm reminded of the Broken Earth series (starting with The Fifth Season), which is the only recent series I can think of that has reached the same distinction. I'm one of the nerds that has to read each of the novels nominated for the Nebula award even if I probably wouldn’t have otherwise. Glad I did in this case, because I would have been missing out!
Initially I got similar vibes to Ken Liu's The Grace of Kings which is a book I struggled with, especially in the thin characterizations, but I soon got such a good sense of each member of the Kaul family and how distinct each one is from the others. They're fascinating on their own, but also in the context of their interfamilial relationships. I definitely have my favorites, but each of them is a real person with relatable traits and minds, sometimes frustratingly so (because I want to kidney punch them for the doing the same stupid things I know I'd do in their situations).
It's cool how this is basically Urban Fantasy and High Fantasy in one. It takes place in an alternate world, similar to ours in age/technology, etc. but while Kekon, where the story takes place, is increasingly becoming a metropolis, more modern and relevant in society, it also has an ancient, timeless feel. And while it's beginning to integrate itself into a world from which it has traditionally been isolated, it is also decidedly set apart (and not only because it's an island). There are a lot of elements of wuxia fiction, which is cool when it's combined with such modern sentiments.
Lee delivers the dialogue very well and provides good descriptions as well as tidy, efficient prose. I'm impressed with this book and hope it gains the attention it deserves.
An appropriately perfect (or at least near-perfect) conclusion to a spectacular trilogy, one that I'm sad to say goodbye to. This has a4.75ish stars.
An appropriately perfect (or at least near-perfect) conclusion to a spectacular trilogy, one that I'm sad to say goodbye to. This has a little bit of everything. Mystery, character building, some insanely cool set pieces (the aerotram!), and all of the emotion one could expect from the climax and eventual denouement.
Bennett has such a talent for getting to the heart of his characters. I never cared much for Mulaghesh until she took the spotlight in City of Blades and I thought Sigrud was overrated until this book. And as devastated as I was at the end of City of Blades, I was much more quietly but no less powerfully so here. Despite being named after The Divine Cities, the series is really all about its three Divine (if not literally) protagonists. The worldbuilding is awesome, but it would be nothing without the Big 3.
Ironic that my initial reaction upon finishing the first two books was that another book was unnecessary and now that the series is finally finished I can't help but wish we could see where things go from here. It ends just right; things aren't perfect, but there are endless possibilities...
Hamid somehow manages to make this intimate and universal; it's magical but also so grounded in reality; it's melancholy but hopeful. It'4.5ish stars.
Hamid somehow manages to make this intimate and universal; it's magical but also so grounded in reality; it's melancholy but hopeful. It's about freedom, connection, struggle and discovery. And it just hit home for me.
I was engaged from the beginning when I was first introduced to the heroes of the book, Nadia and Saeed. The magic of the doors and the speculation they provide took it further and made me ponder without feeling like I was being compelled to pick sides or consider a specific view. What would happen if thousands of migrants from various countries suddenly appeared in various other countries all over the globe, crossing borders with little possibility of resistance? How would the rest of the world react? How would the migrants proceed? How would it change the face of the world moving forward? The doors themselves don't need to be explained as anything more than metaphor and as devices to make the transport possible, that's not the point. In this story it doesn't matter as much how it happened as it does that it happened and what happens next?
The characterizations made me sympathize without feeling like the characters were written specifically to elicit sympathy. The choice to tell the story through the experiences of only two people, effectively denying anyone else substance, is an indulgent one, and one that I'm sure is frustrating to a lot of readers. To me, it demonstrates Hamid's understanding of human nature. The connection between pious Saeed and prickly Nadia in the face of such unstable circumstances is beautiful but unidealized- optimistic but tenuous.
There are obvious political inferences if you look for them, but I'll leave everyone else to interpret them how they will because they didn't affect my reading experience one way or the other. If nothing else, I'll say this novel humanizes immigration in both positive and negative ways, which I think is important regardless of your feelings on the subject.
Post-apocalypse but instead of zombies or raiders or corrupt governments, this is full-on wackiness. Gigantic flying bear, Mord, is Lord4.5ish stars.
Post-apocalypse but instead of zombies or raiders or corrupt governments, this is full-on wackiness. Gigantic flying bear, Mord, is Lord of the city and has a brood of regular terrifying bears that act as proxies for carrying out his royal bearship's horrific rule. Little kids with bee eyes and wings and all sorts of other gruesome "modifications" run around maiming and killing for fun. The city has been wasted of its natural resources and survival is only possible by scavenging through what remains of the Company's cast-off biotech.
And then there's Borne. He's a little bit of everything. Creepy or cute? Who's to say? Some of my favorite parts of the book are the ones when Rachel, the wonderful heroine and narrator of the story, is "raising" Borne- teaching him new words, being goofy and bizarre. It gives a lot of depth and humanity to a being that initially seems very non-human.
VanderMeer isn't exactly subtle in his exploration of how humans abuse "nature" in its different forms and the effects the abuse can take. The Company has destroyed the city with its pursuit of developing newer, ever more dangerous biotech, and the whole world is presumably in a similar situation. What initially may have seemed beneficial to humanity ultimately went too far without anyone realizing in time. What at first seemed unnatural and incredible became commonplace. At what point does our meddling and modifying cross the line?
“There comes a moment when you witness events so epic you don’t know how to place them in the cosmos or in relation to the normal workings of a day. Worse, when these events recur, at an ever greater magnitude, in a cascade of what you have never seen before and do not know how to classify. Troubling because each time you acclimate, you move on, and, if this continues, there is a mundane grandeur to the scale that renders certain events beyond rebuke or judgment, horror or wonder, or even the grasp of history.”
AI is a common theme in science fiction literature and it represents something different in every case. Sometimes it's the nature of humanity and intelligence. Sometimes it symbolizes the "other" and equality. Sometimes it explores our relationship with technology. How is Borne, as a being, meaningful? What does he embody? Maybe the debate of nature vs. nuture? Can Borne, a simple piece of biotech created as a weapon overcome his nature through Rachel's "motherhood?" Does his own self-identity mean anything?
"We all just want to be people, and none of us know what that really means."
Despite the explicit craziness, VanderMeer still manages to be mysterious (or lazily incomplete?). Full details aren't revealed until the very end, and even then, a few cards are kept hidden, letting us guess or decide for ourselves. The writing is eerie, odd and creative, and I strongly connected with it. It challenged me and for that I have to respect it.
This is an incredible series and a huge accomplishment for its author, N.K. Jemisin. It has every element of high quality fiction and, par5ish stars.
This is an incredible series and a huge accomplishment for its author, N.K. Jemisin. It has every element of high quality fiction and, particularly, everything great about SFF. It's decidedly new age, but in a way that I don't doubt will stand the test of time. It's innovative in the way that Ursula K. Le Guin's work was innovative in the '60s and '70s (and continues to be influential today) and, maybe I'm foolish for saying this too soon, but I think it has the same potential to reach classic status.
Admittedly, the first book in the series, The Fifth Season, is my favorite and I actually only rated that 4.5, but the series as a whole is greater than the sum of its individual parts. In this book specifically I found the first half to be slow, but once each of the separate storylines coalesced and the big picture came into view, the payoff was worth the journey. The ending wasn't mind-blowingly pulse-pounding but it was fitting and real and it felt right. It made me feel good.
I respect Jemisin's talent immensely. Her prose is fantastic. She's not afraid to make her characters prickly, even unlikable at times and I love them all the more for it. Even the side characters who only make brief appearances are ones who I liked and would love to learn more about. The real greatness of this series is the world Jemisin has created- not only the "magic system," the blend of fantasy and sci-fi, or the diverse factions of characters, but how the nature of the world is primed to provide such deep commentary on so many grand, topical ideas. The way Jemisin addresses those ideas- duty, exploitation, love, humanity, morality, acceptance, xenophobia, motherhood, justice, mercy- is powerful and soulful and she doesn't take any easy ways out. She allows things to play out how they really do play out in human existence, not necessarily the ways we want them or expect them to in the literature we read.
Congratulations to Jemisin for this achievement and congrats to me for getting to experience it!
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