[NOVEL] A Fistful of Sky
A Fistful of Sky, by Nina Kiriki Hoffman. First reading.
Before I begin, I have a completely irrelevant note: the anime/manga Fullmetal Alchemist has completely stolen the name "Nina" for me, and just writing it gives me creepy, creepy images. Thanks, FMA.
I remember reading one of Hoffman's novels a long time ago. It was The Thread That Binds the Bones, and it made a peculiar impression in that I completely forgot what it was about but never forgot reading it. Years later I came across it again, on another paperback shelf in another library, and had a sense-memory of having really enjoyed it. (Much like an ingrained memory of Anne McCaffrey's Dragonsinger, which was formed when I was about five and my best friend's older sister made me a picture of fire lizards. I didn't actually read a Pern novel until jr. high, but I the memory of it was already in place, waiting.)
I think this is the third Hoffman novel I've read. (Glancing at the books attached to her name by the library, I see she's got quite a varied career, since her titles include at least one YA novel in R. L. Stine's series. I think. I'm not looking too closely at that.) My overall impression of her work is of stories about magic seen and gradually experienced from the outside--of families in "our" world who have magic or supernatural connections of some sort, and how that unfolds for people who either encounter them or who are born within the family but different. This may sound predictable, but she does it very, very well.
A Fistful of Sky is one of the latter type. The main character, Gypsum, is a middle child with no magic in a family where magic is taken for granted, to the extent that using it manipulate others is fairly common. As an adult, she's become resigned to her fate as someone "ordinary". This being a fantasy novel, the obvious next thing happens. (If you guessed, late-developing magic that's different from her family's, good job. My spoiler sensitivity on that plot point is low, since it's pretty much stated on the back cover.) But the exploration of Gyp's gift is really enjoyable and goes in interesting directions. The novel isn't breaking new ground, but it isn't all formulaic, and it pulled me in pretty effectively. I liked and believed in most of the characters, which tends to be what I care about; the fact is that in contemporary fantasy, it's very rare to come across a plot or new writer who really startles you. So the handling of the subtleties is more what makes or breaks a book for me (although any time anyone comes across something that is groundbreaking in the genre, by all means make sure I've heard about it!).
The novel is written in first-person, which I note because it adds a whole set of layers and limitations to the story. First-person has to be done awfully well; there's no shortcut or substitute for making readers believe in the character whose head is where you buckle in for the ride. Nailing a character's voice for that long is no small feat. ^^ Hoffman pulled it off well enough that it gets a bonus mention.
Before I begin, I have a completely irrelevant note: the anime/manga Fullmetal Alchemist has completely stolen the name "Nina" for me, and just writing it gives me creepy, creepy images. Thanks, FMA.
I remember reading one of Hoffman's novels a long time ago. It was The Thread That Binds the Bones, and it made a peculiar impression in that I completely forgot what it was about but never forgot reading it. Years later I came across it again, on another paperback shelf in another library, and had a sense-memory of having really enjoyed it. (Much like an ingrained memory of Anne McCaffrey's Dragonsinger, which was formed when I was about five and my best friend's older sister made me a picture of fire lizards. I didn't actually read a Pern novel until jr. high, but I the memory of it was already in place, waiting.)
I think this is the third Hoffman novel I've read. (Glancing at the books attached to her name by the library, I see she's got quite a varied career, since her titles include at least one YA novel in R. L. Stine's series. I think. I'm not looking too closely at that.) My overall impression of her work is of stories about magic seen and gradually experienced from the outside--of families in "our" world who have magic or supernatural connections of some sort, and how that unfolds for people who either encounter them or who are born within the family but different. This may sound predictable, but she does it very, very well.
A Fistful of Sky is one of the latter type. The main character, Gypsum, is a middle child with no magic in a family where magic is taken for granted, to the extent that using it manipulate others is fairly common. As an adult, she's become resigned to her fate as someone "ordinary". This being a fantasy novel, the obvious next thing happens. (If you guessed, late-developing magic that's different from her family's, good job. My spoiler sensitivity on that plot point is low, since it's pretty much stated on the back cover.) But the exploration of Gyp's gift is really enjoyable and goes in interesting directions. The novel isn't breaking new ground, but it isn't all formulaic, and it pulled me in pretty effectively. I liked and believed in most of the characters, which tends to be what I care about; the fact is that in contemporary fantasy, it's very rare to come across a plot or new writer who really startles you. So the handling of the subtleties is more what makes or breaks a book for me (although any time anyone comes across something that is groundbreaking in the genre, by all means make sure I've heard about it!).
The novel is written in first-person, which I note because it adds a whole set of layers and limitations to the story. First-person has to be done awfully well; there's no shortcut or substitute for making readers believe in the character whose head is where you buckle in for the ride. Nailing a character's voice for that long is no small feat. ^^ Hoffman pulled it off well enough that it gets a bonus mention.