Reviews – Page 5 – Marked for Plot

Novella Readathon #11: The Lathe of Heaven

As one of the Greats of the genre, I don’t know that I’ll have anything to say about The Lathe of Heaven that hasn’t been said before. I haven’t read a ton of her longform writing, and that’s a crying shame. Honestly, I don’t even think I would have picked this up had 1970s not been on the bingo card this year; it’s been a good kick in the pants that I really need to continue reading older works.

The Premise:
George Orr lives in a world with many problems. War in the Middle East, relentless climate change, and his fear of dreaming. You see, Orr’s dreams have the potential to change reality, rewriting history in radical and extreme ways. He gets caught stealing medications to prevent himself from dreaming, only to find himself in a Sleep Therapist’s office. Dr. William Haber begins to use Orr’s abilities to reshape the world, to improve it and ‘fix’ society’s problems. Orr just wants to find a way to never dream like that again.

Read If You Like: philosophical science fiction, the ethics of omnipotence, classics in the genre

Avoid If You Dislike: extended explanations of fictional science, abusive therapists, the feeling of hopelessness and lack of control in your life

Novella Readathon #10: North Continent Ribbon by Ursula Witcher

North Continent Ribbon went on my reading list after it got shortlisted for the Ursula Le Guin prize. Those books tend to be hit or miss, but always have a strong sense of identity and something new to bring to the genre. Ribbon was no exception; I’m sure the structure of this novella has been done before, but I haven’t read one like it. It lives in an in-between space between a short fiction/mosaic novel and a more cohesive novella, which was a really cool experience. This story isn’t the densest thing I’ve read, nor the most profound. It has lingered with me, however, and I think that’s the sign of something really special. I think I’d have picked it to win over Rakesfall, which won that year.

The Premise:
North Continent Ribbon covers ~450 years of a far flung planet, initially settled as a location to build faster-than-light ships. Each story is a discrete piece of short fiction, focusing on its own characters and conflicts. However, they layer on top of each other to tell a larger story of cultural formation and change.

Read If Looking For: unique worldbuilding that doesn’t feel gimmicky, nuanced anticapitalist themes, interpersonal conflicts framed through systemic pressures, collective bargaining

Avoid If Looking For: the protagonists always winning, traditional story structures, conflict resolution via combat, romance-free books

Novella Readathon #9: Psychopomp and Circumstance

Eden Royce has one of my favorite Middle Grade books of all time (shout out to Root Magic!), and I’d been excited to pick up one of her adult works. Unfortunately, I didn’t find Psychopomp and Circumstance nearly as compelling as I hoped. There are a lot of individual pieces that worked, and certainly it’s exploring an uncommon time period for genre fiction (The Reconstruction Era of the US). There’s enough appeal here for me to recommend it when relevant, but not enough that I’ll be launching any campaigns for other people to pick it up for more general recommendation requests.

The Premise:
Phee is 21, navigating a mother trying to marry her off and a father who doesn’t trust her with any real work at the distillery. When she learns of her Aunt passing away, she agrees to Pomp for her Homecoming. Aunt Cleo was cast out from the family at her own mother’s Homecoming. Phee has fond memories of her, and she kept up a correspondence with Cleo despite her mother’s wishes for distance. Grieving and regretting her choice not to spend more time with he Aunt, Phee visits the odd community her Aunt founded, a home that isn’t hers, and the knowledge that she needs to prepare a proper send-off to honor her Aunt Cleo’s memory and spirit.

Read If Looking For: Historical Fantasy with Gaslamp aesthetics, the fog of light amnesia after a nap, doors without handles, themes of family and community

Avoid If Looking For: good parents, focused narratives

Comparable Media: Witchmark, The Gilded Age (Peggy only)

Novella Readathon #8: Party of Fools

When I saw that one of the bingo squares for this year’s bingo focused on food, I knew that I would be reading Party of Fools for this readathon. What a better choice for the Feast Your Eyes on This than a series called Empire of Eats? This book is marketed as a comedy, but come expecting silly rather than a full-on comedy. It had a surprising amount of anti-imperialist content than I was expecting. This is not a farce with food; it’s something more akin to how Discworld uses comedy to explore real issues – though stylistically the two are different styles of comedic fantasy. The blurb says ‘Make sure you have some good food on hand, because you’re bound to get hungry along the way‘ and truer words have never been written.

I came looking for a light read after Autobiography of Red, and I left with some of the most fun I’ve had in ages.

The Premise:
Reed and Gladys are retired from their day jobs. Now the Bard and Barbarian moonlight as members of the Resistance, which makes it quite the coincidence when the Immortal Emperor walks into the bar that Gladys’ son runs. Vallora is looking for a break from the life of nobility and to try good food, her chief guard Andromeda is frantically searching the city for her, and the two rebels see an opportunity to strike a blow against the empire. But first, we must eat!

Read If Looking For: charcuterie boards, autistic viewpoint characters, breezy prose, D&D misadventure vibes

Avoid If Looking For: books that demand attention to understand, trope-free stories, realistic dialogue

Novella Readathon #7: Autobiography of Red

Two weeks ago, if you asked me the novella I was most excited to read, I’d have responded Autobiography of Red. It’s got several ardent supporters whose taste I trust, it tackles an obscure figure from Greek mythology, a creature whom exists only for Herakles to kill, and it deals in thorny and tragic gay relationships. Unfortunately, what should have been catnip for me ended up as a frustrating reminder of why I tend to avoid Literature. While I’ve enjoyed several novellas with a more Literary bent (most recently On the Calculation of Volume), this one ended up feeling more like work than enjoyment. I do plan to eventually reread it, and I’m hopeful that I’ll get more out of it on a second look, because the bits I liked were really quite phenomenal.

The Premise:
While there are some introductory materials and extra bits, most of this story is the autobiography of Geryon: a boy and man in the mid-1900s who is red and has wings. This goes largely unremarked in the story. It traces his troubled childhood and teenage affair with Herakles, his listlessness in adult life, and a chance reunion with Herakles that is perhaps not everything Geryon wanted it to be. This is … a poor description, I will admit. I’m not sure how to give a better one though. Mostly it asks you to crawl inside Geyron’s head as he floats through different portions of his childhood and young adult life.

Read If Looking For: Literature with a capital L, tortured souls, photography motifs, blank verse, books that feel like Indie Films

Avoid If Looking For: straightforward narratives, clear happy endings, adventure and thrills, Romance beats

Novella Readathon #6: Making History

I’m not sure why I haven’t read any KJ Parker yet, despite feeling like I would absolutely adore his books. Certainly, the premises for his stories always seem riveting. There were three strong options for which Parker novella I’d read for this project. I’m very interested in both Pulling the Wings off Angels and Prosper’s Demon, both of which promised something dark and thorny to grapple with. I went with Making History for two reasons: I spent my childhood romping through the backrooms of museums, leaving me with a strong interest in historiography, and I heard the main character of this book was a linguist – another casual interest of mine. I don’t think Making History quite satisfied either of those briefs, at least not in any rigorous way. It was, however, great fun. For those who have read both this and some of Parker’s other work, I’d be interested in how it compares to his other stories.

The Premise:
Our (unnamed) main character is a linguist, one of the best in the world. This is unfortunate; it means that he gets drafted into the new king’s hairbrained scheme to create a fake ruin to justify the invasion of a neighboring territory. He doesn’t see many options once it becomes clear that running away isn’t an option, so he hunkers down and proceeds to try and backwards design a precursor to his country’s modern tongue. Should his work not be satisfactory, his head will roll, and he rather likes his head … and the sound of his own voice.

Read If Looking For: unreliable narrators, competence porn, readable prose, explicit musings on theme from the protagonist

Avoid If Looking For: airtight plots, conventional endings, developed side-characters

Comparable Media: A Conspiracy of Truths, The Bone Swans of Amandale

Novella Readathon #5: If Found Return to Hell

I didn’t know a ton about If Found Return to Hell coming into the first page, but I had assumed it would be a fairly standard horror story featuring a possession. Look at the cover! It’s actually a lot more like Penric’s Demon, though a bit goofier: this book is a big marshmallow with a gooey center. It finds a better balance in tone than a lot of cozy fantasy does, however, which made me like it a lot more than one of the many Legends and Lattes clones. However, I was kind of hoping this would be a nice accompaniment to The Haunting of Hill House, which my partner forced me to watch (though I’m now largely a fan). The second book of this readathon to underdeliver horror yet provide great cozy vibes, which is odd considering this is only the fifth book I’ve read for the challenge.

The Premise:
Wen works for One Wizard, a megacorporation to solve all of your wizarding needs! Unfortunately, they mostly answer phones, listen to complaints, and transfer customers to other departments. When a young man calls in with a massive sigil on his wall and no memories of what happens, Wen gets clearance to investigate. Soon, they end up playing host to a man possessed by a Prince of Hell, and Wen doesn’t know what to do about that.

Read If You Like: found family, late stage capitalism + magic, cozy fantasy that doesn’t overplay itself, developed platonic relationships

Avoid If You Dislike: second person narration, asshole parents, stories with relatively low stake

Comparable Media: House on the Cerulean Sea, Penric’s Demon

Novella Readathon #4: A Taste of Honey

There’s a special kind of magic when stories commit to telling the story of a person, following them throughout their lives. It was one of the reasons I enjoyed Sign of the Dragon so much last year! A Taste of Honey is a story that asks you to step back from your own life and settle into the skin of another. It asks you to reflect on your life, on your choices, and whether you can stand by the paths you chose not to take. It is a piece of unvarnished reality, even though it occurs in a setting somewhere between the Sparticus and The Expanse. It eschews grand epics in favor of the life of a man, and not a man who had a particularly large impact on his world. It also has cheetahs, and who doesn’t love a big cat?

Note: this is technically part 2 of a duology. My understanding is that both books share a world, but otherwise do not overlap terribly much. I’ve read the first book (several years ago), and didn’t see any connections; certainly my fuzzy memory about Sorcerer of the Wilddeeps was not a hindrance to enjoying this novella.

The Premise
Aqib is the son of The Master of Beasts, and has an affinity for working with animals. He has a chance encounter with a visiting soldier, whose nation’s gods are negotiating with Aqib’s nation’s gods. The two have an immediate spark, despite Aqib’s culture forbidding men from laying with other men. This story interweaves their ten day affair with the days, years, and decades that follow Aqib’s separation from Lucrio. Is the life Aqib gained, a wife and child and comfortable life amongst the high nobility, worth the loss of the love of his life?

Read If Looking For: the joy of young (and forbidden) love, the pride a parent feels in their child, second guessing the choices which form the fulcrum of your life

Avoid If Looking For: clear and conventional worldbuilding, invisible prose, Genre Romance

Comparable Media: Sign of the Dragon, Call me By Your Name, The Empress of Salt and Fortune

Novella Readathon #3: The Flesh of the Sea

The best book I read last year was How to Survive this Fairytale by SM Hallow. It was by a new indie publishing house, so I decided to pick up a few other of their titles. Unfortunately, Hedone Books has gone under, because I very much would have been interested in more of books they put out. Currently, you can only read The Flesh of the Sea via Audible; I was lucky enough to have purchased my physical copy before the publisher went under. This won’t be my favorite read of the year (or even this project), but it was very enjoyable. It’s a quick read – even in the context of novellas – and I think it would be a fairly good palette cleanser, especially when paired with other weird-nautical series like Tide child.

The Premise:
Wilford is a natural scientist who, after getting rejected by the Royal Society in London, ends up on a really weird pirate ship. He sends letters of his misadventures to a fellow naturalist, Jean Baptiste, whom he had been avoiding after a drunken kiss. On his travels, Wilford encounters all sorts of disturbing and disgusting creatures, befriends his crewmates, and generally tries to prove his worth to himself, Jean Baptiste, and the Society. Meanwhile, Jean Baptiste’s journal shows his life feels empty without Wilford in it, and he gets very upset about an overprotective pirate who has been making moves on Wilford.

Read If Looking For: weird travelogues, disaster academics, yearning and pining, epistolary novels, quirky pirate crews

Avoid If Looking For: intense horror and gore, bespoke prose, Romantasy

Comparable Media: Tide Child, Memoirs of Lady Trent, Someone to Build a Nest In

Novella Readathon #2: On the Calculation of Volume

I’m not a connoisseur of time travel stories, but On the Calculation of Volume is certainly unlike any other I’ve read, and I was impressed with how this story managed to be intense and restrained at the same time. The book isn’t going to be for everyone – a lot of genre fiction fans will bounce off this, I think – but for people who are interested in something more reflective, this is excellent.

The Premise:
Tara does not know why she has repeated the 18th of November a hundred times. There seems to be nothing remarkable about that day – the first one of course – or even the 17th of November. However, she finds herself in an endlessly looping day, with a husband who thinks she is on a trip to France for work. This is her journal, and Tara is not okay.

Read If You Like: psychologically intense stories, existential slice of life, clear and simple prose, literary science fiction

Avoid If You Dislike: books where ‘nothing happens’, inconsistent time travel mechanics, repetitive plot beats

Comparable Media: The Other Valley, Virginia Woolf’s writing, The Bone Harp