Don't get me wrong, I do intend to have more than one done by the time July 1 is here. However, in taking my time with these particular flights of fancy, I think that it allows me to appreciate the effort taken to make such creative works come to vivid life on the page as well as the imagination.
Take the book that I have been able to place on the Read section at Goodreads due to this challenge; Gods of Jade and Shadow is not the first novel that I've read by Silvia Moreno-Garcia and certainly won't be the last yet it does feel like a true epic brought to glorious life, a definite turning point in her literary career.
The story is set in 1920s Mexico, where Cassiopea Tun and her mother live as servants in her cruel grandfather's house due to his disapproval of her late father's occupation as a teacher and poet. One day while the rest of the family is on a outing and she is left home as a punishment for a perceived slight against her horrible cousin Martin, Cassiopea opens a locked box in her grandfather's bedroom and unintentionally releases a Mayan death god.
Hun-Kame' was imprisoned by his twin brother Vucub-Kame'(with the aid of Cassiopea's grandfather, who was rewarded with wealth) for decades and now seeks to reclaim his throne in Xibalba, the land of the dead. To do that successfully, he must find certain body parts, plus a jade necklace, that have been hidden among his treacherous brother's allies. Cassiopea has no choice but to help him as a piece of bone binds the two of them together, for better and worse.
While the details of the time period and the mythology are expertly woven, it's the character development elements that truly spin this story telling cloth into literary gold. Moreno-Gracia shows the gradual progress of each of the players in this game, from Hun-Kame' slowly engaging with the humanity that comes from being bound to Cassiopea, who in turn finds her forceful personality being put to the test again and again in ways she never imagined.
Even the villains of the story, Vucub-Kame'(who betrayed his brother over what he felt was best for their kingdom) and Martin, who finds himself a somewhat willing pawn against the cousin he always envied and despised, are given real depth and nuance. This book may have the trappings of a fairy tale but it's so much more than that. Gods of Jade and Shadow redefines the quest story with lyrical style indeed:
I say scary because the futuristic setting is very close to what we're going through right now. One of our main heroines is singer Luce Cannon, a rock singer in the time Before who's starting to make a name for herself with a hit song and tour that is being derailed by massive terrorist threats that shut down society, along with a nasty new virus.
Luce is used to being an outsider, having left her ultra-raditional family to pursue her musical dreams, but what drives her sound is being able to perform in front of an audience, something that is rapidly becoming an illegal activity:
Rosemary Laws has grown up in the society After, where people use technically enhanced hoodies to work,attend school and hang out with friends while staying at home. Her parents moved to the country to avoid the hazards of city living when she was still a child and at age 24, Rosemary has not interacted with anyone in person for most of her life.
Her customer service job at Superwallys leads her to an opportunity to attend a rock concert via StageHoloLive that awakens Rosemary to what live music is like, even in a virtual setting. She is then inspired to apply for a position at SHL and is hired as a new music recruiter, an exciting yet daunting challenge.
Despite having little contact with the underground music scene, Rosemary is determined to explore this brave new world and when given a hint as to where to find the next new sound, she takes off into what is the unknown for her; a major city, which frightens Rosemary and her protective parents for very different reasons:
I'm up to the part where Luce and Rosemary have met up and I can't wait to find out what happens next. While many features of this book do mirror some of our present day situations, that doesn't make this story off-putting at all. Instead, it showcases the need to persevere during such trying times and keeping something like music as a way to push forward towards a better world.
When someone can write a book about the terror of changing times that makes you long to read it all the more while in the midst of said times, it's no wonder that Pinsker has won a major award already. Even without a prize, you know this is an amazing author to watch out for.
While Genly has trouble picking up the social cues of Gethen's residents, partly due to the people being of one gender(except for procreation periods and even then folks do not take up the same sexual identity each time), he runs into political intrigue that affects the course of his mission.
A potential ally of his,Estraven, becomes exiled upon displeasing the king of Karhide and that departure leads to Genly striking out on his own, seeking a possible answer to the question of the success of his assignment. Meanwhile, Estraven is in search of answers as well as to who orchestrated this exile and for what ultimate purpose:
It's an interesting book but not a fast moving one(at least to me) so taking my time with it feels like a good move here. You wouldn't want to rush through a five course meal just to get to dessert , after all.
Well, I hope to have at least three or more books completed for this readathon and hope that everyone else taking part is enjoying all of their reads as well. Once this challenge is over, my summer reading will be a little less structured yet still smart and fun. Science fiction is tricky to get into sometimes , yet when well done, is always worth the page turning journey:
1 comment:
Interesting reads all, by the sounds of it. I have The Left Hand of Darkness in my home library. I love her writing. Her novel, Lavinia was SO good.
Thanks for joining in again. Hope to see you in September/October for our two month FrightFall.
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