New Book Discoveries

Apocryphal

In the spirit of sharing more ‘discoveries’ with one another, This short review on Black Gate caught my eye as a potentially interesting fantasy series.
The big thing I look for in fantasy is a well-drawn, creative setting (and here most contemporary fantasies let me down, being either historio-fantasy or Tolkien pastiches). I also want a riveting plot, endearing characters, and great writing - so not asking too much. I can’t tell how much of that is in this novel, but it seems to at least have the setting, and a lot of bloggers like it fwiw.

https://www.blackgate.com/2023/10/19/the-burnished-city-by-davinia-evans/

RichardAbbott

I'll ask my bookseller friend in the village if he came across this last year and if so if he has any opinions about it

RichardAbbott

> @RichardAbbott said:
> I'll ask my bookseller friend in the village if he came across this last year and if so if he has any opinions about it

I chatted with him yesterday and he had heard of it but not seen it so didn't have anything insightful to say... but if any of us read it he'd be happy to hear what we thought

RichardAbbott

A recent read of mine was Julia (https://amzn.eu/d/97NsHvM) - a retelling of 1984 from the perspective of Julia, the woman who Winston from the original book has a fling with. The book is billed as a feminist retelling - I wasn't altogether sure about this, but it's certainly a female retelling. The women find their own ways to group together and be mildly subversive of Big Brother's system, but are equally active in watching each bother and denouncing others in order to achieve their own goals - and in the end submit to and collaborate with the regime in pretty much the same way as the men.
There are certainly some insightful and poignant points as Julia interacts with the system (as well as some fairly horrible ones where things go wrong for her) - most people seem to rate it a fairly solid 4 out of 5, which would be my view as well.
It made me wonder how one could combine a feminist perspective with a dystopian setting, where pretty much everything you do or strive for is going to be distorted and twisted anyway.