I enjoyed the writing and the world-building is beyond phenomenal. I love the mystery in the story, hidden secrets slowly unveiled but still so much tI enjoyed the writing and the world-building is beyond phenomenal. I love the mystery in the story, hidden secrets slowly unveiled but still so much to learn and understand (which is why I will continue the series). But, the plot was slow (for me), and while the world-building and emotionally complex characters offsets this problem to a degree, it made it hard for me to build momentum in reading the book.
Things do start coming together at the end, a twist I did not see coming and superbly executed. I will def continue because I love this world Jemisin has created, and am curious to see where the story goes. And obelisks… damn curious about those things. I’ve always had an odd curiosity about obelisks ever since I played Command and Conquer as a kid and they were just awesome for blowing #@$ up. That’s my main understanding of obelisks, fit for fire-beaming one’s enemies to kingdom come. I did see an obelisk in real life once but it didn’t blow stuff up so suffice to say disappointing as hell. Nice to see them regain some magical qualities in this book, help me forget the mundanity of their real-world counterparts....more
Phenomenal. I was surprised at how much I loved this.
Initially I thought the narrative framework of the novel would be off-putting, 6 characters on aPhenomenal. I was surprised at how much I loved this.
Initially I thought the narrative framework of the novel would be off-putting, 6 characters on a pilgrimage, each in turn recounting background stories about themselves. Their stories helped explain how and why they were on this pilgrimage to this mysterious and frightening thing called the Shrike. This kind of narrative breakdown, patterned like the Canterbury Tales, is easy to screw up and is usually hard to get into (IMO), but this book did a great job with it.
Each pilgrim’s story was unique, interesting, wonderfully written. Simmons’ brings each character to life, draws you in so effortlessly. My favorite was probably the Poet’s story (the audiobook narration for this character is sublime). He has a stroke as a young child and is reduced to a 9 word vocabulary. Of course these 9 words are all offensive silly words, and his use of them within the story is quite funny (kind of reminded me of George Carlin’s comedy bit about the 7 words you can’t say on the radio).
The whole story is over-layed with a magical sense of mystery, wonder, and tension. Fear and horror also at work, helping fuel the deep dark undertones (which I loved!). At the book's core is the mystery of the Shrike and the Time Tombs (structures that move backwards through time). Lots of weirdness. Lots of questions. And lots of literary and mythical allusions, many of which went over my head but whatever.
Also, I was talking with a good friend about this book, and in mentioning the Shrike, she dropped some huge knowledge on me. She is a bird watcher, and so I learned that the shrike is a bird. A bird that impales insects on thorns and barbed-wire fences. That is super neat. Learning about this bird kindled new hopes and dreams for me, namely that I shall be reincarnated as a shrike. But sadly, with my luck I shall probably be reincarnated as a woodpecker (a creature that has to bash its head all day long against trees to get its food. God has to hate you if you get reincarnated as a woodpecker. I am convinced Hitler is flying out there somewhere, in the form of a woodpecker).
The book ends with a total cliffhanger without a lot of answers, which is fine.
Simmons is a damn good storyteller and a wonderful writer, my first read of his, looking forward to more, can’t wait to read the next one in the series....more
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