Hell and Earth by Elizabeth Bear
I have very little to add about the plot that I didn’t cover in my post on Ink and Steel. While you can read Ink and Steel without reading Hell and Earth, I’d still recommend reading them together. I still don’t like the Stratfrord Man duology as much as I do the first Promethen Age duology or New Amsterdam, but it’s quite good. I think, though, that I’ve pinpointed why I’m not quite as crazy about them.
In her other books, conventional narrative tropes are thrown out the window altogether. There are no clear villains or heroes, no definite right and wrong, and the threat is arguably a threat only from one perspective. Relationships come in all shapes and sizes, and those that are romantic aren’t important because they’re romantic. Here, we have good guys and bad guys-and, yes, still those in between-the threat is something that must be stopped for the good of all, and the central romantic relationship (though more prominent in the first book than here) is important because it’s romantic. Compared to most books, it’s still throwing all the tropes out the window, just not as much so as her other books. I suspect, though, that that may makes the books more accessible on some levels.
A couple spoilery comments:
1. I had Fears regarding Annie and Kit meeting, but in the end, I was very happy with the scene. Neither was villified or portrayed as being the interferer, and I liked Kit’s basically saying that Will was a loser for cheating on her, with him or with anyone else.
2. I have to wonder what someone who hadn’t read the first duology would think of Murchaud’s parentage here. There’s no hint of his father’s identity, and I’m not sure you’d think of it if you didn’t know.
In her other books, conventional narrative tropes are thrown out the window altogether. There are no clear villains or heroes, no definite right and wrong, and the threat is arguably a threat only from one perspective. Relationships come in all shapes and sizes, and those that are romantic aren’t important because they’re romantic. Here, we have good guys and bad guys-and, yes, still those in between-the threat is something that must be stopped for the good of all, and the central romantic relationship (though more prominent in the first book than here) is important because it’s romantic. Compared to most books, it’s still throwing all the tropes out the window, just not as much so as her other books. I suspect, though, that that may makes the books more accessible on some levels.
A couple spoilery comments:
1. I had Fears regarding Annie and Kit meeting, but in the end, I was very happy with the scene. Neither was villified or portrayed as being the interferer, and I liked Kit’s basically saying that Will was a loser for cheating on her, with him or with anyone else.
2. I have to wonder what someone who hadn’t read the first duology would think of Murchaud’s parentage here. There’s no hint of his father’s identity, and I’m not sure you’d think of it if you didn’t know.