As I understand it, this is Magpie (as I was originally introduced to her)'s first full-length novel. I have read and enjoyed a number of her previousAs I understand it, this is Magpie (as I was originally introduced to her)'s first full-length novel. I have read and enjoyed a number of her previous works, and this is a really excellent work of anarchist fantasy fiction.
Well-plotted, well-paced, and a pleasure to read—and the first really interesting, original "fantasy" setting I've seen in a long time. It takes a lot of known tropes that would be otherwise be potentially boring or overdone (knights, witches, etc) and reinvents each in some way. Furthermore, although the anarchist themes are clear (the witches tend to be anarchists in one sense or another, the knights tend to be, you know, knights), they're not simplified. Not all witches are good, not all knights are bad, and no one way of thinking is "correct" (outside, perhaps, of simply not oppressing others).
The Sapling Cage has a simple core hook—the protagonist wants to be a witch, but only girls can be witches—and drives a strong narrative about a young person discovering/inventing herself. If I'm not mistaken, it's the first in an intended trilogy ("Daughters of the Empty Throne") and I look forward to continuing the story, though this book definitely stands on its own.
Edit: oh, and by the way, the cover art is really outstanding!...more
Did not finish. I hate not finishing books, but I just couldn't go on. 25% in and no story. Vague characters with no goals.
What you DO get is a speculDid not finish. I hate not finishing books, but I just couldn't go on. 25% in and no story. Vague characters with no goals.
What you DO get is a speculative techno-utopia in which it's just assumed you can obtain the raw materials to manufacture arbitrarily complex technology such as 3D printers, "wet printers", lasers, ATVs and exoskeletal suits, and mountains of computers. Rare earth metals, anyone? Maybe if he'd just invoked nanotech, I might have been like, "OK, fine, whatever."
But the straw that broke the specfic's back was the sudden shift to a new-old character (who we still don't really know anything about) who is happily invited by a bunch of strangers into their hidden lair to go ahead and directly interact RIGHT AWAY with a fucking uploaded consciousness.
Look: these are all things I find extremely interesting, ok? I am *extremely* sympathetic to the anarchist-syndicalist outlook on mutual aid and so forth. But this book reads like it was tossed off in a half-asleep stupor and never refactored into anything resembling even a mediocre story.
But that's not even what really gets me: it's the overwhelming theme that technology will save us, and the overwhelming assumption that all this extremely sophisticated technology doesn't require prohibitive (read: impossible) amounts of time, energy and myriad other resources to actually build and keep running, no matter how much ADDITIONAL technology you throw in to help you do it.
But again, none of this specifically made me want to throw the book into the garbage. It was the out-of-left-field introduction of full-on brain-in-a-jar uploaded consciousness that made me say "Give me a fucking break" out loud. And it's *not* because I don't believe in the future potential of this idea: it's because I don't believe for a second that a bunch of walkaways scrounging technotrash (however assisted with autonomous drones and whatnot) could build the neuroimaging technology at the resolution required to even come close to doing what's required to upload a mind.
But Tedb0t, you plea, this cool shit is what sci-fi is all about, right? No. Sci-fi is about making you suspend your disbelief, making you believe. This book absolutely and utterly failed at that, and too many other critical factors, to the point that it's actually making me angry how shitty it was. Oh, and the fact that every single fucking character talked in exactly the same way, all transparent author-mouthpieces gushing the same sassy, over-the-top techno-jargon that makes you say OK I GET IT, CORY, YOU'RE A SOFTWARE DEVELOPER didn't help either. I mean, I got every single technology reference and I still hated it. I can't imagine what reading this would be like for someone who has never made a git commit. Boring, pointless garbage-hell?
Maybe the remaining 75% was blissfully amazing—I may never know. I strongly doubt it....more
Margaret Killjoy's second book (both short novellas) continues her mission to explore stories of Anarchist pseudo-utopias and the challenges and conflMargaret Killjoy's second book (both short novellas) continues her mission to explore stories of Anarchist pseudo-utopias and the challenges and conflicts they face, while demonstrating Anarchist ideals and dilemmas.
"The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion" gets off to a compelling start: entering said pseudo-utopia and immediately encountering some disturbing supernatural wildlife. However, after some more introductory events, the pace slackens and stays slackened for longer than I was expecting. In particular is a town meeting designed to demonstrate the idea of communal dispute resolution as well as exposit the story's central conflict. As important as that idea is, I'm not sure it's possible to make it exciting, especially when it's described as taking half an hour with no eventual resolution anyway.
Anyway, it's a very short book, and I found the drooping 2nd act to be moot once we got going into the 3rd act, which noticeably picks up the pace and drives us into a pretty exciting and satisfying conclusion that follows through on the story's metaphysical theme: "The only way out is through."...more
A beautiful, thought-provoking dream of a quasi-19th century anarchist 'country' fighting for its existence against an expansionist empire.
I can stillA beautiful, thought-provoking dream of a quasi-19th century anarchist 'country' fighting for its existence against an expansionist empire.
I can still remember the image of a bunch of crustypunks huddled under a frozen waterfall amidst the vast mountains, playing music and fighting off the stench of death. I remember the protagonist's silent, introspective train ride into his own future, and the love and violence that would follow.
This is an explicitly didactic book, intended to describe and explain the foundational ideologies of an anti-authoritative society based on mutual aid and personal responsibility. It also understands that there are no utopias, and that it is fiction, but that it may nonetheless help us understand our own lives, ideologies, and the potential for better societies in our hearts.
If I have one criticism, it is that that explicit didacticism peeks through the fantasy veil too often in the voices of its characters, who sometimes start espousing these ideologies using exactly the anarchist shibboleth of our world, as though each is bursting at the seams to explain to a novice how the system of no system works. There are absolutely cases in which it's arguably motivated and in-character, but I would have expected many more of them to have not really had the words to explain. To be sure, there are characters who are this way—who just seem confused at the interloper's confusion, and in any case, the book's overall beauty and memorability more than make up for these moments.
I can say with honesty that this book genuinely helped me understand—I think—the core of contemporary anarchist philosophy, which is that it is more just to live in societies that relinquish the use of force over other human beings. I can't say that I don't still have questions or fears—say, of the terrifying potential of vigilante 'justice'—but seeing the world of Hron through the eyes of the main character allowed me to think through the potentials and the caveats.
It was, is, a memorable journey, and one that I expect to continue on, in many ways....more
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