Civilizations

Laurent Binet

I had heard about this awhile back and had been looking forward to it. The basic premise -- if the "new world" civilizations had come across the Atlantic to colonize the "old world". And I love alternate histories, so it is right up my alley. The specifics: Two Inca brothers are ruling the empire and a civil war results from their disagreements. When one brother is on the brink of decimation, he utilizes some of the ships from the Columbus expedition to escape and seek out new land to rule. He and his 200 or so followers end up in Portugal, where a land devastated by plague and internal conflict is easily conquered. We then see play out the development of how a new power integrates to the French/English/Spanish/Rome/etc. machinations. 

Observations that I enjoyed: Machiavelli becomes a sort of strategist for this new ruler, the Inca are ultimately interested in egalitarian society (farming, freedom of religion, shared resources) and not a power acquisition society, Luther/Rome don't come of looking so good (which is probably true to history), the colonial desires of European countries is not erased.

Unfortunately, the novel didn't end strong. I could have done with a more detailed vision about how things worked well, or went of the rails, or ended up the same anyway. But instead, Binet ended without a real vision, opting instead for a vignette of life for one particular character involved in all the plot lines from the periphery. But overall, fun to imagine...

3 stars (out of 4)

Happy-Go-Lucky

David Sedaris

Continuing his m.o. of memoir style collections of stories (a la Calypso), Sedaris provides as series of vignettes ranging from Covid stories to family relationships. His observations are astute, funny, personal, occasionally revealing his generational point of view and insightful snippets of the American condition. 

4 stars (out of 4)

The Mask Falling

Samantha Shannon

Book 4 of The Bone Season series

Having defeated the poltergeist that powered SenShield, Paige, Scion's most wanted voyant, is whisked off to Paris. She is connected with Domino, an international intelligence operation working to destabilize Scion, and she is working on her own to connect with the French voyant society. Warden has traveled with her as her bodyguard / fellow revolutionary. And the twists keep coming. Paige begins to fully embrace her role as Black Moth, Underqueen the London. She is learning about international politics, and reliving the french version of her experience in Sheol. Shannon does a great job of keeping this story interesting and new, with each reveal feeling necessary and natural. In hindsight, this does feel like a filler book in the story arc. But you have to have that at some point in a 7 book series. Now just to wait until the end of the decade for the remaining volumes to be written. 

4 stars (out of 4)

Raybearer

Jordan Ifueko

Sort of an afro-futurism or afro-fantasy feel, but in my mind evolves into a more globalist fantasy world created by Ifueko. The protagonist, Tarisai is a young woman who is working out her identity throughout this novel. She is raised by servants of an absent mother, finds she is the daughter of a Genie father, and is part of an entourage of children in the harem of the global heir who are "trying out" to be part of the inner council. There is political intrigue, personal betrayal, relationship building and internal doubt - all presented in the mostly traditional fantasy style. The created world is fascinating, and the implications for power and conflict with the magical elements of the realm are new and interesting. An excellent and enjoyable story, even if not a "read in one night page-turner". 

3 stars (out of 4)

The Song Rising

Samantha Shannon

Book 3 of The Bone Season series

The Pale Dreamer, aka Paige Mahoney, is now the Black Moth. She has defeated everyone (including her own mime-lord The White Binder) in the battle for control of the voyant syndicate of London. Her whole reason for wanting to lead the syndicate is to rally them to war against Scion and the Rephaim. But as you can guess, a crime based organization built on living in the shadows is not easy to convince. The big problem is that Scion is developing and deploying SenShield, a technology that can identify voyants (making them easy to arrest/disappear). So the prime thrust of this installment is to find and disable SenShield. Paige and her commanders travel to Manchester and then to Edinburgh, matching wits with Scion General Vance along the way. I like the new elements brought in here as we are traveling and learning about other voyant cultures, developing maturity of voyant gifts, and it seems like a whole new world for the Book 4. 

4 stars (out of 4)

The Mime Order

Samantha Shannon

Book 2 of The Bone Season series

The Pale Dreamer has been rescued from Sheol, and returned to the Seven Dials in London. But she is ready to start a revolution, to fight back against the Rephaim and their control of Scion and subjugation of clairvoyants. But she is basically alone in this. "Hey, you're back, you're safe now, don't rock the boat". But Nashira (blood-heir to the Rephaim throne) has different ideas as she hunts the Dreamer and sets in motion a coming out party. Meanwhile, Paige has her own coming out story to tell and has a love of London and life as her foundation. I love how this story is clearly about the Mime world where the previous was clearly about the Rephaim world. In many ways, the plot elements stand alone which is why, IMO, it is such a strong story. 

4 stars (out of 4)

The Bone Season

Samantha Shannon

Set in the mid 21st century London, with a history that dates back to mid-19th century, Shannon has created a world unlike any I have encountered. This London is known as a Scion, a protectorate city where the government keeps citizens safe from clairvoyants. The underworld of clairvoyance is organized and regulated by a hierarchical structure based on the type of access a voyant has to the netherworld (Mediums, Binders, Seers, etc). Our protagonist is Paige, aka Pale Dreamer, who is a dreamwalker. She can sense and enter the dreamscape of others. The prime storyline here begins when Paige is kidnapped and taken to Sheol, which is a voyant prison colony near Oxford. It is here that she has her eyes opened to the real power structures of the world, with Rephiam (non-human netherworld immortals) masters, scary monsters and human corruption. Paige is a product of Bone Season XX, a once in a decade harvesting of human voyants for use by the Rephiam. But the Pale Dreamer is not a typical voyant, either in gifting or in spirit. And she will fight to get back home.

4 stars (out of 4)