digitaldiscipline (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
digitaldiscipline) wrote2006-12-04 09:08 am
digitaldiscipline) wrote2006-12-04 09:08 am
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Der Publishen Rassenfrassen
Mine is online at http://www.flashquake.org/.
Finished![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
jaylake's novel, Trial of Flowers, during the weekend's travels [to be detailed and bitched about later]. It falls rather outside my usual area of reading material, so bear in mind that the only things remotely like ToF that have been on my bookshelves are Chia Mieville's Perdido Street Station (this is a common comparison, from seeing previous reviews), and some of Neil Gaiman's work, Neverwhere in particular. Some reviewers say that it imparts a scale of history that is seldom achieved by similar works; I can't say I agree with that assessment overmuch (or maybe my "historical scale" detector is poorly calibrated).
I wander in from a Sci-Fi environment, so it's not second nature to accept magic out of hand; some of it is carried off with a deft touch and is very natural; some less so. The characters themselves are all immediately and vibrantly identifiable and distinct, few falling prey to established tropes or archeypes in any genre. For my money, they're the best facet of an interesting universe hewn from irregular stone.
If you're a fan of weird and twisted things happening to not altogether blameless characters, I can endorse ToF without reservation. I found some aspects of the story maddeningly believable (petty politics in the face of grave threats, and self-centered motivations throughout (which is a pleasant change from characters who always take the long view and work for the good of the many unreservedly), but this was offset by a vaguely gratuitous application of perversion that didn't seem to serve much purpose, or was insufficiently explored to pertain to the story in a complete manner.
I may not be able to say precisely what "the new weird" is as a literary genre, but I know it when I see it. Trial of Flowers is.
Finished
jaylake's novel, Trial of Flowers, during the weekend's travels [to be detailed and bitched about later]. It falls rather outside my usual area of reading material, so bear in mind that the only things remotely like ToF that have been on my bookshelves are Chia Mieville's Perdido Street Station (this is a common comparison, from seeing previous reviews), and some of Neil Gaiman's work, Neverwhere in particular. Some reviewers say that it imparts a scale of history that is seldom achieved by similar works; I can't say I agree with that assessment overmuch (or maybe my "historical scale" detector is poorly calibrated).I wander in from a Sci-Fi environment, so it's not second nature to accept magic out of hand; some of it is carried off with a deft touch and is very natural; some less so. The characters themselves are all immediately and vibrantly identifiable and distinct, few falling prey to established tropes or archeypes in any genre. For my money, they're the best facet of an interesting universe hewn from irregular stone.
If you're a fan of weird and twisted things happening to not altogether blameless characters, I can endorse ToF without reservation. I found some aspects of the story maddeningly believable (petty politics in the face of grave threats, and self-centered motivations throughout (which is a pleasant change from characters who always take the long view and work for the good of the many unreservedly), but this was offset by a vaguely gratuitous application of perversion that didn't seem to serve much purpose, or was insufficiently explored to pertain to the story in a complete manner.
I may not be able to say precisely what "the new weird" is as a literary genre, but I know it when I see it. Trial of Flowers is.
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But, in the main, I enjoyed it, and will be more inclined to hunt down your other stuff now than I was after reading "The Canadian With The Gratuitously Long Short Story Title." :-)
Besides... it's fun to mutter things including the word "Dorgau" - it's an eminently mutterable word, for one thing. (At least in my mind, it rhymes with "hoosegow.")
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*notices shade of Walken scowling*
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Filled with violence and some seriously perverse sex, this grand guignol of a book should appeal to fans of such authors of urban fantasies as China Mi ville and Jeff VanderMeer.
i think i've read jeff vandermeer before, but would need to go check my shelves... anyway. this sounds good.
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