A Shadow in Summer
#13: A Shadow in Summer
Daniel Abraham
Library book, picked up because it was on SHU's list of proposed books to read for next residency, though I admit to having an interest beyond that since I know several of Abraham's critique partners, and they've recommended his books.
In a city held aloft only by a poet and his captive spirit, Seedless, several people vie for their ideals of right and wrong. Amat, gone from overseer to whorehouse owner, Liat, her apprentice/secretary who falls for two young men, Maati, the poet's apprentice, and Itani, a laborer who is more than what he seems.
This book is actually hard to describe. I can't pinpoint a culture this is derived from, which isn't a bad thing. It feels vaguely Middle-Eastern at times. Some of that is the captive spirit, the "andat" which reminds me a bit of a genie, except their power is limited to one major ability used at the whim of their controller. Seedless does as his name suggests--removes seeds from things like cotton, which the city earns its living on. His ability is the basis for much of the conflict in the book.
One reason I was interested in reading this anyhow was that one of my workshop mentors, and Abraham's crit partner, mentioned that Abraham had the book structure down to a science. I didn't take notes enough to be real specific, but--twenty chapters even. There seems to be a major turning point every five chapters. Everything is very much laid out and evenly spaced, and I'm sure that since this is a quartet of books, the same structural idea will encompass all four.
Overall impression--good, though not something I'd buy. Another interesting thing is the use of body language as, well, a language. The characters are frequently in poses that mean an idea, emotion or phrase. It's kind of nifty. The characters are all well-drawn, but there were enough of them I didn't get the idea that it was any one character's story, and so I didn't get particularly attached to any of them. Well, I liked Seedless. And Amat kept reminding me of one of my mentors, mostly because of the chutz-pah the woman showed. (Though said mentor is not old enough to need a cane like Amat)
As for the SHU list . . . this is a good, solid fantasy with a lot of good, standard fantasy elements. As an example of the genre, it would have been a good choice. As for non-genre people liking it? I'm thinking people would be crying foul like they did with Hyperion, because the story isn't finished. I mean, this does have a complete story arc, but the story itself isn't over. Also, there's enough weirdness with names and places that SF/F writers would be fine with but non-genre folks might have a hard time with. And some of it does get a little tedious; major action and "uh-oh's" only come at certain intervals, and some of the rest of it feels a little "hurry up and wait" with not a lot of payoff (because the story's not done, methinks . . .)
Anyway. Worth the read, though I won't be in a hurry to pick up the next volume.
Daniel Abraham
Library book, picked up because it was on SHU's list of proposed books to read for next residency, though I admit to having an interest beyond that since I know several of Abraham's critique partners, and they've recommended his books.
In a city held aloft only by a poet and his captive spirit, Seedless, several people vie for their ideals of right and wrong. Amat, gone from overseer to whorehouse owner, Liat, her apprentice/secretary who falls for two young men, Maati, the poet's apprentice, and Itani, a laborer who is more than what he seems.
This book is actually hard to describe. I can't pinpoint a culture this is derived from, which isn't a bad thing. It feels vaguely Middle-Eastern at times. Some of that is the captive spirit, the "andat" which reminds me a bit of a genie, except their power is limited to one major ability used at the whim of their controller. Seedless does as his name suggests--removes seeds from things like cotton, which the city earns its living on. His ability is the basis for much of the conflict in the book.
One reason I was interested in reading this anyhow was that one of my workshop mentors, and Abraham's crit partner, mentioned that Abraham had the book structure down to a science. I didn't take notes enough to be real specific, but--twenty chapters even. There seems to be a major turning point every five chapters. Everything is very much laid out and evenly spaced, and I'm sure that since this is a quartet of books, the same structural idea will encompass all four.
Overall impression--good, though not something I'd buy. Another interesting thing is the use of body language as, well, a language. The characters are frequently in poses that mean an idea, emotion or phrase. It's kind of nifty. The characters are all well-drawn, but there were enough of them I didn't get the idea that it was any one character's story, and so I didn't get particularly attached to any of them. Well, I liked Seedless. And Amat kept reminding me of one of my mentors, mostly because of the chutz-pah the woman showed. (Though said mentor is not old enough to need a cane like Amat)
As for the SHU list . . . this is a good, solid fantasy with a lot of good, standard fantasy elements. As an example of the genre, it would have been a good choice. As for non-genre people liking it? I'm thinking people would be crying foul like they did with Hyperion, because the story isn't finished. I mean, this does have a complete story arc, but the story itself isn't over. Also, there's enough weirdness with names and places that SF/F writers would be fine with but non-genre folks might have a hard time with. And some of it does get a little tedious; major action and "uh-oh's" only come at certain intervals, and some of the rest of it feels a little "hurry up and wait" with not a lot of payoff (because the story's not done, methinks . . .)
Anyway. Worth the read, though I won't be in a hurry to pick up the next volume.