An empathetic, complex, and offbeat tale.
King and Swanson’s debut SF/fantasy novel uses dazzling worldbuilding and a hodgepodge of characters, cultures, and fantastic species to tell a powerful, human story.
Aliara and Sylandair had gotten out, or at least they thought they had. They were once slaves, but after their master, Kluuta Orono, apparently died in a catastrophic explosion, they escaped and never looked back. Now, in 2084, they’ve built a life for themselves, trading on their wit, skill, and clout in the atoll of Dockhaven. When rumors of the survival of their former owner reach their ears, they have little choice but to investigate for themselves. Meanwhile, in the ramshackle port city, there’s a constant buzz of tragedy; in particular, children have been disappearing. After the pair’s investigation turns up evidence of the cause of these disappearances, it soon becomes clear that something far darker is afoot. In this novel, the city of Dockhaven and the world of Ismae are nearly characters themselves, and the authors introduce a variety of unfamiliar humanoid species, such as the scaly draas and the imposing karju, as part of the complex setting as well as a nuanced mix of magic and science. The worldbuilding is nearly flawless in its execution, which will entice readers to immerse themselves in the story and acclimate themselves to its strangeness as they go. The novel also strikes a chord with its characterization; Aliara and Sylandair are shown to be very much in love, but they’re unscrupulous toward most anyone else and willing to lie to, steal from, or sacrifice others when necessary. They’re extremely confident and skilled but also deeply scarred by their trauma at Orono’s hands, and they remember those experiences as they go about their daily lives. Meanwhile, Schmalch, a not-so-trustworthy thief for hire, offers an outsider’s perspective on the main pair as well as welcome comic relief. The intriguing plot makes excellent use of its primary characters, resulting in a breathtaking, harmonious read.
An empathetic, complex, and offbeat tale.Pub Date: Feb. 14, 2019
ISBN: 978-1-73357-830-1
Page Count: 504
Publisher: Ismae Books
Review Posted Online: Sept. 24, 2019
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 2019
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.
Four men who meet as college roommates move to New York and spend the next three decades gaining renown in their professions—as an architect, painter, actor and lawyer—and struggling with demons in their intertwined personal lives.
Yanagihara (The People in the Trees, 2013) takes the still-bold leap of writing about characters who don’t share her background; in addition to being male, JB is African-American, Malcolm has a black father and white mother, Willem is white, and “Jude’s race was undetermined”—deserted at birth, he was raised in a monastery and had an unspeakably traumatic childhood that’s revealed slowly over the course of the book. Two of them are gay, one straight and one bisexual. There isn’t a single significant female character, and for a long novel, there isn’t much plot. There aren’t even many markers of what’s happening in the outside world; Jude moves to a loft in SoHo as a young man, but we don’t see the neighborhood change from gritty artists’ enclave to glitzy tourist destination. What we get instead is an intensely interior look at the friends’ psyches and relationships, and it’s utterly enthralling. The four men think about work and creativity and success and failure; they cook for each other, compete with each other and jostle for each other’s affection. JB bases his entire artistic career on painting portraits of his friends, while Malcolm takes care of them by designing their apartments and houses. When Jude, as an adult, is adopted by his favorite Harvard law professor, his friends join him for Thanksgiving in Cambridge every year. And when Willem becomes a movie star, they all bask in his glow. Eventually, the tone darkens and the story narrows to focus on Jude as the pain of his past cuts deep into his carefully constructed life.
The phrase “tour de force” could have been invented for this audacious novel.Pub Date: March 10, 2015
ISBN: 978-0-385-53925-8
Page Count: 720
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: Dec. 21, 2014
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 1, 2015
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
PROFILES
PERSPECTIVES
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.
Life lessons.
Angie Malone, the youngest of a big, warm Italian-American family, returns to her Pacific Northwest hometown to wrestle with various midlife disappointments: her divorce, Papa’s death, a downturn in business at the family restaurant, and, above all, her childlessness. After several miscarriages, she, a successful ad exec, and husband Conlan, a reporter, befriended a pregnant young girl and planned to adopt her baby—and then the birth mother changed her mind. Angie and Conlan drifted apart and soon found they just didn’t love each other anymore. Metaphorically speaking, “her need for a child had been a high tide, an overwhelming force that drowned them. A year ago, she could have kicked to the surface but not now.” Sadder but wiser, Angie goes to work in the struggling family restaurant, bickering with Mama over updating the menu and replacing the ancient waitress. Soon, Angie befriends another young girl, Lauren Ribido, who’s eager to learn and desperately needs a job. Lauren’s family lives on the wrong side of the tracks, and her mother is a promiscuous alcoholic, but Angie knows nothing of this sad story and welcomes Lauren into the DeSaria family circle. The girl listens in, wide-eyed, as the sisters argue and make wisecracks and—gee-whiz—are actually nice to each other. Nothing at all like her relationship with her sluttish mother, who throws Lauren out when boyfriend David, en route to Stanford, gets her pregnant. Will Lauren, who’s just been accepted to USC, let Angie adopt her baby? Well, a bit of a twist at the end keeps things from becoming too predictable.
Heartfelt, yes, but pretty routine.Pub Date: July 1, 2004
ISBN: 0-345-46750-7
Page Count: 400
Publisher: Ballantine
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2004
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