Book Report: Hammered by Elizabeth Bear
This is the first book in a series about a dystopian near-future, in which the US has fallen to theocratic political interests, global warming has permanently altered weather patterns and sea levels around the world, and Canada is an ascendant military power in the grips of war profiteers. It's written by
matociquala, the author of Blood and Iron, an urban-faerie fantasy novel that somehow manages to be completely distinct from the others in the genre, and which I enjoyed rather more than this book.
The main character in Hammered is Jenny (Genevieve) Casey, a Canadian former special forces operative who sustained some terrible damage in the wars. Plus there's her physical damage. She's been saddled with primitive cyborg prosthetic arm and nanites that are holding her spine together, which are going a fair way towards killing her. The main thrust of the story is about Jenny accepting the (emotional) redemption she's been given a chance at, as well as the (physical) reconstruction that will save her life. Surprisingly-- at least for this author-- there's a happy ending. (At least in this book; I haven't read the other two in the series). It was fairly well written, and certainly gripping and enjoyable (especially at a hockey game). But at the end, it seemed somewhat...less than the sum of its parts.
What I felt detracted from the book was my feeling that Jenny was a bit of a wish-fulfillment character, in the sense that everybody loves her immediately in a way that strained my willing suspension of disbelief. In part it's a show-don't-tell issue: there's one line-- I don't have it in front of me so I can't quote exactly, but it's something like: "She was loyal, and inspired a similar loyalty in those around her." Which in itself doesn't strain credulity-- nor does the notion of sergeant as mother-hen, which I enjoyed when Terry Pratchett addressed in Monstrous Regiment-- but there are a lot of instances where Jenny's friends/acquaintences are loyal and loving and so on, whereas we only hear about what she has done for them. What we see is her holding everybody at arms length, and while I can believe that there are some folks who might have seen through her armor and to her good points, it seems that every "good" character in the book is loyal to Jenny.
But more, there's just a few too many instances-- from the supposedly highly-situationally moral gangster who takes in her cat, to the cop 20 years younger than she is who still finds her the hottness, to the doctor who abandons his practice to come help rescue her, to finally her best friend for whom she has had an unrequited passion since he saved her life 25 years ago who suddenly returns her feelings...it's too much. For a crusty old ex-soldier, Jenny has too many friends.
(PS: and can I just say how weird it is to review an author on one's friendlist? I mean, I've never written a book, or even a published short story, so who am I to criticize the author's characterization).
matociquala, the author of Blood and Iron, an urban-faerie fantasy novel that somehow manages to be completely distinct from the others in the genre, and which I enjoyed rather more than this book.
The main character in Hammered is Jenny (Genevieve) Casey, a Canadian former special forces operative who sustained some terrible damage in the wars. Plus there's her physical damage. She's been saddled with primitive cyborg prosthetic arm and nanites that are holding her spine together, which are going a fair way towards killing her. The main thrust of the story is about Jenny accepting the (emotional) redemption she's been given a chance at, as well as the (physical) reconstruction that will save her life. Surprisingly-- at least for this author-- there's a happy ending. (At least in this book; I haven't read the other two in the series). It was fairly well written, and certainly gripping and enjoyable (especially at a hockey game). But at the end, it seemed somewhat...less than the sum of its parts.
What I felt detracted from the book was my feeling that Jenny was a bit of a wish-fulfillment character, in the sense that everybody loves her immediately in a way that strained my willing suspension of disbelief. In part it's a show-don't-tell issue: there's one line-- I don't have it in front of me so I can't quote exactly, but it's something like: "She was loyal, and inspired a similar loyalty in those around her." Which in itself doesn't strain credulity-- nor does the notion of sergeant as mother-hen, which I enjoyed when Terry Pratchett addressed in Monstrous Regiment-- but there are a lot of instances where Jenny's friends/acquaintences are loyal and loving and so on, whereas we only hear about what she has done for them. What we see is her holding everybody at arms length, and while I can believe that there are some folks who might have seen through her armor and to her good points, it seems that every "good" character in the book is loyal to Jenny.
But more, there's just a few too many instances-- from the supposedly highly-situationally moral gangster who takes in her cat, to the cop 20 years younger than she is who still finds her the hottness, to the doctor who abandons his practice to come help rescue her, to finally her best friend for whom she has had an unrequited passion since he saved her life 25 years ago who suddenly returns her feelings...it's too much. For a crusty old ex-soldier, Jenny has too many friends.
(PS: and can I just say how weird it is to review an author on one's friendlist? I mean, I've never written a book, or even a published short story, so who am I to criticize the author's characterization).