Despite the Lovecraftian aspects of this fantasy/mystery/horror novella, I actually really enjoyed it. Read it in full within 3 houFirst-read review:
Despite the Lovecraftian aspects of this fantasy/mystery/horror novella, I actually really enjoyed it. Read it in full within 3 hours of removing it from my mailbox.
The clear derivation knocks it a little, but it is a great novella and for those of us who love mystery as well as fantasy and are voracious YA readers into the bargain, the story matches its housing in the best way.
While Harlowe's name follows Seanan/Mira's established pattern for her leading ladies, she isn't *quite* like Toby, George, Henry, or most of the others. There *are* brief moments when I feel she recalls both Toby and Tory, in her seeming driftlessness and uncertainty, with a similar stubborn and enduring edge, but she's also much younger than most of Seanan's lead characters - in either guise - and, though it's questionable whether the two are related, she's also rather more fragile in some ways. (I also love having a very definitely queer lady as the central protagonist for a book that can stand alone, for once - they're far too often secondary or ensemble cast members with Seanan, with the notable exception of Nancy. [17.5.2022])
Of course, as always, the Subterranean Press print edition is a beauty. I managed to find a copy via Amazon UK for once, which was great for me because I absolutely cannot afford to buy every individual printwork put out through SP by my favourite authors. $40 I could handle once in a while, but when international postage literally doubles the price, I can't - so finding this for a flat 拢33 with free postage was a blessing for me.
For the print edition - because its cover, binding & general physicality tend to be a big part of why SP editions *are* so often so hard to find if you can't preorder (tbh I'd be happier about *that* if they didn't ask for payment AND full postage the same day of the said preorder) - I'll say 4 stars. Possibly 4.25.
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3rd-read addition:
Since I've seen comments about this...
I usually prefer Seanan to Mira, where plots are concerned, but I like a lot of the Mira works too, and loved the Newsflesh trilogy. All that being said, "Spindrift House" seems to have surprised some mainly-Mira readers...
The fact of the matter is that this book is significantly more fantasy than science fiction, and if somebody comes to this who sees the difference in her two main writing identities as SF vs fantasy, I can see why they might not like it. This work is definitely more fantasy than SF. I believe it ended up with Mira because it's much more horror-driven than the fantasy works that usually end up in the Seanan category, which tend to be more crime/mystery fantasy than anything else, and I see the difference in a slightly more nuanced way, as fantasy mystery blend vs mixed-element horror. This is definitely not a Seanan book, but at the same time, it recognisably *is*. It has that strong thread of found family that lives in many of her works under all her names, on one level or another.
Also, it made me cry at least twice, and I'm not really a crier. That says a lot in its favour. Still 4.25*.
Merged review:
First-read review:
Despite the Lovecraftian aspects of this fantasy/mystery/horror novella, I actually really enjoyed it. Read it in full within 3 hours of removing it from my mailbox.
The clear derivation knocks it a little, but it is a great novella and for those of us who love mystery as well as fantasy and are voracious YA readers into the bargain, the story matches its housing in the best way.
While Harlowe's name follows Seanan/Mira's established pattern for her leading ladies, she isn't *quite* like Toby, George, Henry, or most of the others. There *are* brief moments when I feel she recalls both Toby and Tory, in her seeming driftlessness and uncertainty, with a similar stubborn and enduring edge, but she's also much younger than most of Seanan's lead characters - in either guise - and, though it's questionable whether the two are related, she's also rather more fragile in some ways. (I also love having a very definitely queer lady as the central protagonist for a book that can stand alone, for once - they're far too often secondary or ensemble cast members with Seanan, with the notable exception of Nancy. [17.5.2022])
Of course, as always, the Subterranean Press print edition is a beauty. I managed to find a copy via Amazon UK for once, which was great for me because I absolutely cannot afford to buy every individual printwork put out through SP by my favourite authors. $40 I could handle once in a while, but when international postage literally doubles the price, I can't - so finding this for a flat 拢33 with free postage was a blessing for me.
For the print edition - because its cover, binding & general physicality tend to be a big part of why SP editions *are* so often so hard to find if you can't preorder (tbh I'd be happier about *that* if they didn't ask for payment AND full postage the same day of the said preorder) - I'll say 4 stars. Possibly 4.25.
---
3rd-read addition:
Since I've seen comments about this...
I usually prefer Seanan to Mira, where plots are concerned, but I like a lot of the Mira works too, and loved the Newsflesh trilogy. All that being said, "Spindrift House" seems to have surprised some mainly-Mira readers...
The fact of the matter is that this book is significantly more fantasy than science fiction, and if somebody comes to this who sees the difference in her two main writing identities as SF vs fantasy, I can see why they might not like it. This work is definitely more fantasy than SF. I believe it ended up with Mira because it's much more horror-driven than the fantasy works that usually end up in the Seanan category, which tend to be more crime/mystery fantasy than anything else, and I see the difference in a slightly more nuanced way, as fantasy mystery blend vs mixed-element horror. This is definitely not a Seanan book, but at the same time, it recognisably *is*. It has that strong thread of found family that lives in many of her works under all her names, on one level or another.
Also, it made me cry at least twice, and I'm not really a crier. That says a lot in its favour. Still 4.25*....more
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