In the spirit of the Incomparable’s Recently Read podcast, a collection of short, off-the-cuff thoughts about books generally written within a few days of finishing them. I will endeavour to keep these spoiler-light, any story beats I give away will be limited to the first few chapters of the book. These will be collected in reverse chronological order, so the most recent postings will always be at the top.
The Declaration Trilogy by Gemma Malley
I’m a sucker for a good setup and an even bigger sucker for a dystopian young adult novel – this trilogy has both. Set in the United Kingdom 150 years after the discovery of a drug that prolongs human life indefinitely, we are introduced to a world where people must choose between eternal life or having children. To prevent overpopulation and further exasperating the shortages caused by climate change, anyone who wishes to take Longevity must sign the Declaration, saying that they will never have children. Any children born to those who have signed the Declaration are labelled Surplus and are sent to Surplus Halls, where they are raised in a life of abuse and shame while being trained as “valuable assets” so they can atone for the sin of their existence.
Unfortunately, while it starts strong, these books fall into the common trap of YA novels and seemed to forget how old their main characters are. In the first book, we meet Anna, a 14 year old Surplus who’s lived in a Surplus Hall since she was caught at 2. She is completely devoted to being a “valuable asset” and is preparing to be sent to work as a housekeeper for a wealthy family next year, until a 15 year old boy named Peter is brought to the Surplus Hall and tells her he came to rescue her and bring her back to her parents. By book two we have these two 15 year old children living alone in a house together, having just had a child, and Peter has just gotten a job at the company making Longevity training to be a scientist (but actually sent as an undercover agent of the Underground to learn their weaknesses). These books could not live up to the promise of their premise and, while they were a fairly enjoyable read, ultimately the characters are one dimensional and the story is pretty forgettable in the end.
Light from Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki
I have not been able to stop thinking about this book since I finished it. The story heartfelt and touching, the characters felt like fully realized people. This is one of the only books I’ve cried while reading. It was fully deserving of its Hugo nomination and the only reason I’m not mad it didn’t win is that lost to the equally excellent A Desolation Called Peace. In short, read this book.
So, what is it actually about? The story centres on three women, a young trans runaway who happens to be a violin prodigy, the violin teacher who discovers her (and also made a rapidly expiring deal to deliver 7 souls to Hell), and the “donut lady” who is the matriarch of a refugee family trying to rebuild a life and make great pastry. The story is raw and doesn’t shy away the harsh realities of this world, while simultaneously describing violins and their music with incredible beauty. At its core, this is an exploration of the sacrifices these women have made and continue to make for the lives they chose.
Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire
I’m just going to start this by saying I loved this book. The book takes place at Elanor West’s Home for Wayward Children, a boarding school for children who have gone through doorways to other worlds (à la Dorothy or Alice) and are now having difficulties reintegrating into our world. The world building is well-constructed and obviously done with an eye toward creating a playground to tell many stories in (as evidenced by the 5 published books in the series with 2 more on the way). I really enjoyed the stories of the different worlds the students had visited, from the nonsensical Confection, a world where everything is made of candy and baked goods, to the spooky Moors, a world ruled over by a vampire with Frankenstein-style made scientists and sea monsters.
In the end, this story is a great gateway into a much larger universe that McGuire clearly enjoys playing in. To be honest, at the time I’m writing this, I’m already most of the way through book three of the series and they just keep getting better. While Every Heart a Doorway remains firmly grounded in our world and the troubles of those who have returned to it, the other books leave our world behind to explore some of these fantasy lands introduced in the first entry to the series. They’ve been rollicking good fun to read so far, but what makes me want to keep coming back is the humanity she imbues the characters with. They are full characters who you believe existed long before their introduction and will continue to exist long after the story’s conclusion, they aren’t mere paper-doll cutouts used to drive a plot point.
Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty
If I had to give a summary of this story it would be: “A murder mystery where six clones wake up in fresh bodies to find their previous selves murdered. They are the only crew of a generation ship a couple decades from Earth. They must figure out which of them is the killer.”
I was immediately captivated by this story and the world-building to establish the society these people come from. It is the ultimate bottle episode, these six people have been on a ship together for decades, but when their clones awake they have no memories since arriving on the ship. We learn more about the crew and meet each other as they do, approaching everyone as a potential murderer.
I like how constrained the story is, the whole book takes place over the course of only a few days with all the action in a few rooms of the spaceship. But, at the same time, it manages to be expansive. Delving into ideas of the ethics of cloning, what is “the self” when you’ve lived hundreds of years across many bodies, are people be defined by their past or can they move past it (especially when that past might be centuries ago).
The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark
This a really fun novella set in an alt-history/fantasy Cairo in the early 1900s. Set against the backdrop of a technologically advanced city in the midst of the women’s suffrage debate, the story follows two agents from the Ministry of Alchemy, Enchantments, and Supernatural Entities as they investigate the haunting of one of Cairo’s djinn powered tramcars. Over the six short chapters of this story, we meet a number of interesting characters, learn the history of this Egypt thrust into world leadership via technological advances using djinn magic, and solve the mystery of the spirit haunting tram car 015.