Santa Olivia by Jacqueline Carey
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing 2009
Genre: Fantasy/Science fiction
Sub-genre: Urban fantasy; Post-apocalyptic science fiction
Rating: 4 pints of blood
If I could marry a book cover, I'd carry this one off in a heartbeat. This is the kind of cover I simply can't resist. The gorgeous blue tones, the shadows, the flare of the coat like that great shot in that John Woo movie Face/Off, where Nicolas Cage gets out of the car and there's silence except for the sound of his coat snapping in the wind: very dramatic, loved it.
She's even got the sexy knee-high boots on. With her face in shadow, the woman's a mystery but with a great deal of intriguing promise. It's simple, it draws the eye, the author's name and book title are placed just right, everything's in great proportion and with those electric-blue highlights, you feel like you've been zapped just a bit. In my experience with Carey, she does have that effect.
My summary here is a little long, because the premise and set-up is a tad complicated, but really I haven't shared much more than the blurb itself does. I did want to explain the situation though, because I found it confusing at first. If you're leery of even mild spoilers (can't blame you), feel free to skip the review and know that I really enjoyed it.
At some point in the near future, a devastating influenza epidemic sweeps over North America. To keep the sick Mexicans from swarming American hospitals, the army builds a new wall fifty miles north of the wall between the US and Mexico, to create a cordon, a corridor and buffer zone along the border. Threats of attacks by "el Segundo", a general leading rebels who set bombs and, so it is said, wants to overrun America, keep everyone in fear and justify the presence of the walls and the soldiers. The soldiers, all male, work a three-year term at the base, patrolling the southern wall as they "chase the ghost", el Segundo.
Most of the people of the small Texan town of Santa Olivia, now called Outpost No. 12, opt to stay, too sick to move. After the new wall is built, no one's allowed to leave. As far as the rest of the country is concerned, no one lives in the cordon. They've all been forgotten, and they feel it.
But they struggle on. With limited supplies, modern luxuries fade away. There's very little work, and many of the women opt for being "kept" by a soldier. Carmen Garron is no different. She dates three soldiers, and the third one, Tom, she falls in love with. When she becomes pregnant, he tries to convince his commanding officer to let him stay and marry her. But no soldier is allowed to stay, to marry within the Outpost, and Tom is killed in a bomb blast.
Years later, while working at a diner, Carmen meets a new man, Martin. He's different, in a subtle way. He moves differently, and feels differently. The muscles under his black skin are denser and heavier. He seems to be on the run, and Carmen offers him a place to stay. Her son Tommy loves him. Drawn to him, it turns into a relationship and she learns that he was part of a Chinese science experiment conducted in Haiti, manipulating genes to create a kind of super human. When the US government came and rescued the "lost boys", or "Wolf Men", they created a unit within the army for them. When they found out that they were going to be separated, they deserted and ran for the Mexican border.
These experimental humans are stronger and faster, but a main difference is their lack of fear. With an inability to feel scared, they're prone to doing stupid things and endangering their lives. Carmen discovers she's pregnant but with a reward out for Martin, he can't stay. He makes her promise to name the child Loup ("Lou"), the French word for "wolf". Loup is like her father, strong and fearless, and it's Tommy who teaches her to be careful.
As she grows older, Tommy learns to be a boxer and, when Carmen dies of pneumonia, Loup is sent to the church as an orphan. It is there, with the other orphans who learn about her secret, that Loup and her friends start finding ways to fight back, to have a voice - by capturing the spirit of Santa Olivia herself, the little girl who once went out to a battlefield to bring food to her father and the other men, bringing the battle to a complete standstill.
But such a symbol of hope for the repressed townspeople doesn't go unnoticed or unpunished by the army, and more people than herself are at risk of retaliation if she continues. When a terrible incident takes the choice from her hands, Loup embarks on the ultimate revenge, knowing full well she could lose everything and everyone she holds dear as the price.
Aside from being a bit confused about the whole Outpost thing, which wasn't clearly explained in the beginning, for me; I also found the book's blurb (and cover) to be misleading - enough that I found myself a bit disappointed. That's why I've gone to the trouble of giving as much detail about the story as I could without completely spoiling it.
This isn't the story of a masked hero, a vigilante striking terror into the hearts of the enemy etc. etc. The cover made me think "Dark Angel", the blurb even more so with its focus on genetically manipulated humans and the "Wolf Man". So rather than have this misleading perception continue, I wanted to lead you in the right direction - yet I found myself faring no better, and you're still none the wiser.
The truth is, this is a book about a girl who learns to box. Yes, it's a boxing novel. Surprise! It's a very good one though, if that puts you off. Loup is a great character, completely frank, unable to feel embarrassment or fear yet not apathetic or callous in the slightest. The story of her parents, and her years growing up, is a wonderful tale. When the boxing thing started, I thought - hoped - it was all part of the build-up to her becoming a masked avenger. Seriously. I love super-heroes. And with a cover like that... It doesn't happen, though, so better not to expect it.
What you do get is a great story. The entire town is very much alive, the myriad supporting characters vivid and distinct, all fleshed out in delightful shades of grey. Miguel Garza was one of the surprise favourites - keep your eye on him.
There's a critique of American foreign policy here too - as coach Floyd says, "it was easier to convince people to go along with it [the walls] if they believed there was a vast plot against the nation ... Hordes of desperate brown people clamoring to invade the southwest and take over our hospitals by force."
This is a much shorter, quicker read than Carey's Kushiel books - sit down with it for a few hours and it's like watching a really good, self-contained movie, one where you're not sure what will happen next. It doesn't follow a typical formula, especially when it comes to relationships, and it has such a frank honesty to it that makes it feel very real. If you don't like swearing in books, you won't care for this one, though it wasn't over-done, it was simply capturing these people, their hard lives and their natural way of talking. The pacing is steady and swift, the prose unpretentious and with a different tone to her Kushiel series, with an omnipresent third person narration allowing us to get as close as we possibly can.
An excellent stand-alone novel, read it as fantasy, science fiction, post-apocalyptic fiction or just a good ol' yarn about a compelling woman and her desire for justice and revenge.
Genre: Fantasy/Science fiction
Sub-genre: Urban fantasy; Post-apocalyptic science fiction
Rating: 4 pints of blood
If I could marry a book cover, I'd carry this one off in a heartbeat. This is the kind of cover I simply can't resist. The gorgeous blue tones, the shadows, the flare of the coat like that great shot in that John Woo movie Face/Off, where Nicolas Cage gets out of the car and there's silence except for the sound of his coat snapping in the wind: very dramatic, loved it.
She's even got the sexy knee-high boots on. With her face in shadow, the woman's a mystery but with a great deal of intriguing promise. It's simple, it draws the eye, the author's name and book title are placed just right, everything's in great proportion and with those electric-blue highlights, you feel like you've been zapped just a bit. In my experience with Carey, she does have that effect.
My summary here is a little long, because the premise and set-up is a tad complicated, but really I haven't shared much more than the blurb itself does. I did want to explain the situation though, because I found it confusing at first. If you're leery of even mild spoilers (can't blame you), feel free to skip the review and know that I really enjoyed it.
At some point in the near future, a devastating influenza epidemic sweeps over North America. To keep the sick Mexicans from swarming American hospitals, the army builds a new wall fifty miles north of the wall between the US and Mexico, to create a cordon, a corridor and buffer zone along the border. Threats of attacks by "el Segundo", a general leading rebels who set bombs and, so it is said, wants to overrun America, keep everyone in fear and justify the presence of the walls and the soldiers. The soldiers, all male, work a three-year term at the base, patrolling the southern wall as they "chase the ghost", el Segundo.
Most of the people of the small Texan town of Santa Olivia, now called Outpost No. 12, opt to stay, too sick to move. After the new wall is built, no one's allowed to leave. As far as the rest of the country is concerned, no one lives in the cordon. They've all been forgotten, and they feel it.
But they struggle on. With limited supplies, modern luxuries fade away. There's very little work, and many of the women opt for being "kept" by a soldier. Carmen Garron is no different. She dates three soldiers, and the third one, Tom, she falls in love with. When she becomes pregnant, he tries to convince his commanding officer to let him stay and marry her. But no soldier is allowed to stay, to marry within the Outpost, and Tom is killed in a bomb blast.
Years later, while working at a diner, Carmen meets a new man, Martin. He's different, in a subtle way. He moves differently, and feels differently. The muscles under his black skin are denser and heavier. He seems to be on the run, and Carmen offers him a place to stay. Her son Tommy loves him. Drawn to him, it turns into a relationship and she learns that he was part of a Chinese science experiment conducted in Haiti, manipulating genes to create a kind of super human. When the US government came and rescued the "lost boys", or "Wolf Men", they created a unit within the army for them. When they found out that they were going to be separated, they deserted and ran for the Mexican border.
These experimental humans are stronger and faster, but a main difference is their lack of fear. With an inability to feel scared, they're prone to doing stupid things and endangering their lives. Carmen discovers she's pregnant but with a reward out for Martin, he can't stay. He makes her promise to name the child Loup ("Lou"), the French word for "wolf". Loup is like her father, strong and fearless, and it's Tommy who teaches her to be careful.
As she grows older, Tommy learns to be a boxer and, when Carmen dies of pneumonia, Loup is sent to the church as an orphan. It is there, with the other orphans who learn about her secret, that Loup and her friends start finding ways to fight back, to have a voice - by capturing the spirit of Santa Olivia herself, the little girl who once went out to a battlefield to bring food to her father and the other men, bringing the battle to a complete standstill.
But such a symbol of hope for the repressed townspeople doesn't go unnoticed or unpunished by the army, and more people than herself are at risk of retaliation if she continues. When a terrible incident takes the choice from her hands, Loup embarks on the ultimate revenge, knowing full well she could lose everything and everyone she holds dear as the price.
Aside from being a bit confused about the whole Outpost thing, which wasn't clearly explained in the beginning, for me; I also found the book's blurb (and cover) to be misleading - enough that I found myself a bit disappointed. That's why I've gone to the trouble of giving as much detail about the story as I could without completely spoiling it.
This isn't the story of a masked hero, a vigilante striking terror into the hearts of the enemy etc. etc. The cover made me think "Dark Angel", the blurb even more so with its focus on genetically manipulated humans and the "Wolf Man". So rather than have this misleading perception continue, I wanted to lead you in the right direction - yet I found myself faring no better, and you're still none the wiser.
The truth is, this is a book about a girl who learns to box. Yes, it's a boxing novel. Surprise! It's a very good one though, if that puts you off. Loup is a great character, completely frank, unable to feel embarrassment or fear yet not apathetic or callous in the slightest. The story of her parents, and her years growing up, is a wonderful tale. When the boxing thing started, I thought - hoped - it was all part of the build-up to her becoming a masked avenger. Seriously. I love super-heroes. And with a cover like that... It doesn't happen, though, so better not to expect it.
What you do get is a great story. The entire town is very much alive, the myriad supporting characters vivid and distinct, all fleshed out in delightful shades of grey. Miguel Garza was one of the surprise favourites - keep your eye on him.
There's a critique of American foreign policy here too - as coach Floyd says, "it was easier to convince people to go along with it [the walls] if they believed there was a vast plot against the nation ... Hordes of desperate brown people clamoring to invade the southwest and take over our hospitals by force."
This is a much shorter, quicker read than Carey's Kushiel books - sit down with it for a few hours and it's like watching a really good, self-contained movie, one where you're not sure what will happen next. It doesn't follow a typical formula, especially when it comes to relationships, and it has such a frank honesty to it that makes it feel very real. If you don't like swearing in books, you won't care for this one, though it wasn't over-done, it was simply capturing these people, their hard lives and their natural way of talking. The pacing is steady and swift, the prose unpretentious and with a different tone to her Kushiel series, with an omnipresent third person narration allowing us to get as close as we possibly can.
An excellent stand-alone novel, read it as fantasy, science fiction, post-apocalyptic fiction or just a good ol' yarn about a compelling woman and her desire for justice and revenge.