Book Review: Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente
Title: Radiance
Author: Catherynne M. Valente
Published: New York: Tor, 2015
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 432
Total Page Count: 168,756
Text Number: 494
Read Because: fan of the author, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Severin steps out from the shadow of her father, a director of gothic melodrama, to make a name for herself as a documentary directorculminating in the doomed investigation of a colony that vanished on Venus. Radiance has precisely the flaws one would expect from a found manuscript-style story by an author with a distinctive, powerful style: one, everyone sounds the same, further confusing the intentionally disjointed narrative and destroying some immersion; two, the style runs away with itself, and both the noir and the Hollywood glam aspects grow over-indulgent. Otherwise, this is phenomenal. It's thoughtful, profound, and playfulI imagine that even the over-indulgent style is a delight if the aesthetic appeals. Those aspects on which success hinges work when they need to, especially in the enda thematically-justified, satisfying deus ex machina. This isn't my favorite Valente, largely on account of aesthetics, but it has the qualities I expect from her work and I certainly enjoyed and recommend it.
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Author: Catherynne M. Valente
Published: New York: Tor, 2015
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 432
Total Page Count: 168,756
Text Number: 494
Read Because: fan of the author, ebook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Severin steps out from the shadow of her father, a director of gothic melodrama, to make a name for herself as a documentary directorculminating in the doomed investigation of a colony that vanished on Venus. Radiance has precisely the flaws one would expect from a found manuscript-style story by an author with a distinctive, powerful style: one, everyone sounds the same, further confusing the intentionally disjointed narrative and destroying some immersion; two, the style runs away with itself, and both the noir and the Hollywood glam aspects grow over-indulgent. Otherwise, this is phenomenal. It's thoughtful, profound, and playfulI imagine that even the over-indulgent style is a delight if the aesthetic appeals. Those aspects on which success hinges work when they need to, especially in the enda thematically-justified, satisfying deus ex machina. This isn't my favorite Valente, largely on account of aesthetics, but it has the qualities I expect from her work and I certainly enjoyed and recommend it.
Dreamwidth entry mirror. Comment count:
.