The Goblin Emperor, Katherine Addison

Again? Yes, again. Technically, my wife was supposed to reread it too, but I don’t think she get round to it… Still, I reread it, and I’m very happy I did, because it really doesn’t lose anything with multiple reads. If anything, it’s easier to get into, easier to remember who is who and what motivates them, and especially easier to get along with the invented language and be attuned to the way formality works.

I don’t think there’s anything new I’ve got to say about this, so I’ll just appreciate all over again the cleverness of the language and world-building; the fact that this feels like a lived in world with history and a future, with science and innovation and politics all moving under the surface. It’s also such a human (ironically, I suppose) approach, because there’s so many people with feelings and conflicting loyalties and differing views of how Maia should rule.

And the thing I appreciate most of all is the way that Maia is a good person, but it takes effort: he has to remind himself that baiting Setheris, even now he can, is a poisonous pleasure — that revenge isn’t something an ethical ruler can indulge in. He struggles with the burden he’s taken up, but he never honestly considers giving it to someone else, at least not someone unprepared. He tries to be polite, he tries to make even the smallest person in the court feel wanted — in fact, does better with those people than the people who have an inflated sense of their own importance.

I just love the way Maia gathers affection and loyalty by being himself and not compromising, and the way he’s so tired and strained but he makes himself keep learning and keep trying.

Rating: 5/5

Planetfall, Emma Newman

I was somewhat hesitant to read Planetfall after all the reviews I read talking about the anxiety issues the main character has, and the effect it had on some readers — it sounded like it might well be something that would make me uncomfortable too, and it’s true it does hit exactly those buttons. There’s one point where Renata is afraid she might have bugs on her, and, ugh, yes, I remember that skin-crawling feeling all too well. Luckily, for me it wasn’t uncomfortable, as such: I certainly recognised the emotions, the way Renata had to grapple with her feelings to get what seems like anything done.

The only thing I didn’t really feel was the motivation behind the big secret which Mack and Renata keep. Their reactions in the present, the way they both grapple with the decision they made, works really well, but I didn’t really believe in their initial decision — or rather, Mack’s: Renata’s choice to keep silent about what Mack has done does ring true. And it’s not that what Mack does makes no sense, but it feels like it’s just… not quite a whole story.

In the end, Planetfall is a colonisation story with a mystery at its heart: it takes a long time to figure out exactly what happened (though the bare bones were apparent early on), and then everything starts coming together with a series of very definite clicks. Motivations make sense, small details come together, everything works… except that one decision which so much of the story hinges on. It’s kind of disappointing, when the rest of it works so well.

I know a few people didn’t like the exploration of God’s city as much, or the way that thread of the plot ended. For me, it reminded me of books like Roadside Picnic, and to me the ending fit beautifully with that kind of story.

There is a companion book for Planetfall, called After Atlas, which I have for review. It doesn’t follow the same characters and threads at all, though, from what I’ve read; I’m definitely interested to see how much it does tie in and illuminate Planetfall.

Rating: 4/5

The Wolf in the Attic, Paul Kearney

Received to review via Netgalley

The Wolf in the Attic is a bit of an odd one. I have quite a few reservations about it: firstly, I’m not sure about the narrative voice. It took ages for me to pin down how old Anna was supposed to be, based on the words and phrases she used, and the general tone. I know she’s actually a refugee whose first language was Greek, but instead she comes across as slangy (saying things like “what rot!”). I also wasn’t sure about the inclusion of Tolkien and C.S. Lewis — it’s a cute cameo in one way, but it also gives one of Tolkien’s original ideas to a fictional character, and the inclusion of the two shook my suspension of disbelief. Especially when Kearney manipulated real events to fit his story better, re: the date of C.S. Lewis’ conversion to Christianity. They really aren’t necessary to the plot at all, and not really to the themes.

More worryingly, though, I didn’t really buy in to the relationship between Anna and Luca. That is, there’s nothing wrong with it as a concept, but in execution I didn’t see why they were drawn together. It just needed a little more flesh on the bones, and it probably would have worked.

I’m also not 100% sure about the stuff about the Romani people. I know that the skinchangers/witches say that they’re not Romani, but have dealings with them, but it’s a slim difference and at other times the book doesn’t seem to make a distinction. The stuff about King Arthur and the Roadmen felt a little confused, and I thought it needed a little more explanation — just a little. I’m not sure I agree with another reviewer who felt it came across as racist, because Luca is a good person and there are definite shades of grey, but it is a bit borderline in some ways.

Nonetheless, it’s an interesting read, and Kearney’s style is certainly readable. The book is a little slow-paced, but that’s fine for me; it actually feels a little odd how quickly the second half is covered, given there’s a lot more going on. I enjoyed the process of reading the book; it’s just thinking about it too much that seems to spoil things.

Rating: 3/5

A Maze of Death, Philip K. Dick

My main reaction to this is “…bwuh?” The basic plot idea — the mysterious assignment to a mysterious planet, the mismatched and out of touch group of people who assemble there, the weirdness of the world they have to explore, all of that’s pretty cool. The problem is, the religion stuff was, at best, uninteresting to me, and at worst totally baffling. I’ve had this feeling with Dick’s novels before: people just seem to stumble around, pinging off each other, with no meeting of minds, no communion being made. That’s part of the point in this book, I think, and it’s portrayed effectively if that’s the case… but I don’t get the appeal of reading about it.

The plot around the plot is also interesting; I shouldn’t say too much about it, but the last chapter or so make a different sort of sense out of events. All in all, that aspect too is interesting, and yet gets so little time spent on it that it just feels like cleverness for the sake of cleverness. Which I have got the impression is a Philip K. Dick thing, so to each their own.

Character-wise, there is no one here you want to spend time with, so if you’re looking for character studies or sympathetic characters, etc, this isn’t really your game. There isn’t even all the information you need to judge the characters for over 90% of the book. If you’re looking for philosophical, even theological stuff that plays with reality, it might be more your thing!

Rating: 2/5