Bull, Emma: Bone Dance
Bone Dance (1991)
Written by: Emma Bull
Genre: Science Fantasy
Pages: 315 (Trade Paperback)
Did you believe me when I said I'd read all the books listed in the challenge poll starting with 2011 nominations? No? Do you believe me now? Good! Emma Bull was an easy pick to start with, because so far, I've been quite pleased with her work, and I've heard nothing but good things about Bone Dancer thus far, so I was excited to settle down and start reading.
The premise: ganked from BN.com: Sparrow’s my name. Trader. Deal-maker. Hustler, some call me. I work the Night Fair circuit, buying and selling pre-nuke videos from the world before. I know how to get a high price, especially on Big Bang collectibles. But the hottest ticket of all is information on the Horsemen-the mind-control weapons that tilted the balance in the war between the Americas. That’s the prize I’m after.
But it seems I’m having trouble controlling my own mind.
The Horsemen are coming.
Review style: Did you know that this book, in some ways interstitial? From its narrator to its world-building, this is a book that falls between the cracks of known genre conventions, mixing the familiar together in such a way that you end up with something rather strange. I want to talk about this strangeness, but to do that, I'll be spoiling some of the enjoyable surprises of the book, so if you haven't read the book yet and want to preserve the surprise, please skip down to "My Rating" to continue the review.
The first book of Emma Bull's I ever read was her most recent at the time, the book that I'd gotten no recommendations for. A book that I finally gave into because I loved the cover so darn much: that book was Territory. It's a book I still admire and enjoy, and I'm STILL hoping for the rumored sequel.
The second book I've read was actually our very first selection for the Calico Reaction Book Club back in September 2009: War for the Oaks. With this book, I'd had plenty of recommendations, and of course, my readers voted it in as the selection. I might've been a little worried about reading yet another urban fantasy about fairies, but my fears dissipated pretty quickly in light of Bull's talent, as well my awe at how truly, this book deserves the honor of being one of the first that made the urban fantasy genre what it is today.
But I'd always heard great things about Bone Dance, and I daresay some of my readers claimed it as their favorite. I'd bought it pretty quickly after reading War for the Oaks, but it's been languishing on my shelf until readers thought it'd make a good nomination for the January 2011 A-D challenge. It obviously didn't win (it was close!), but I promised to read (or try to) each nominated book, and it was a no-brainer to start with Bone Dance. Bull's a writer I'm now familiar with, a writer I can trust, and like I said, I'd heard too many good things about this title to simply ignore it.
I had some trouble at the start, I'll admit. Sparrow's misadventures with memory loss weren't such that had me turning the pages, wondering what was causing his blackouts. I also had trouble wondering what the story was driving towards: we certainly are immersed in this unnamed City; we certainly know what Sparrow's role is and how he survives in this world. We know what he loves, we know what he doesn't.
It takes quite a long time for me to get invested in the action of the story. Because while stuff was happening, I wasn't connected to it. I got antsy, wondering if this should be one of those dreaded DNF's, but the thing is, when I've read an author before and said author's proven to be a good one, I'm willing to stick around. And it's not like the prose was bad by any means--I just wasn't sure what I was supposed to be focusing on for the story.
Those of you who've read the book will notice how easy I slip into calling Sparrow a "he." In fact, it was when we learned that Sparrow wasn't a he at all--or a she, for that matter--that my interest perked up one-hundred-fold and I found myself now invested in the story. Partially because it's a cool idea: Sparrow is actually a horse for the fabled Horsemen, and the Horseman go through bodies like normal people go through underwear (okay, maybe it's not THAT bad, but you get the idea). The other reason I perked up was because I'd brainstormed a space opera idea with a similar premise, and now that I know Bull's been there, done that, I wanted to see what she did and how, so that if I ever get around to my idea, I won't be unknowingly treading the same ground.
See, it's good to be well-read in your genre!
At any rate, for the sake of this review, I'm going to continue to refer to Sparrow as a he. I know Sparrow is technically neuter, and is really neither sex (or rather, is both), but thanks to the cover art and the back cover blurb, my brain insists on the character as a he. Granted, I rather enjoyed the mind-bender I had once the discovery of Sparrow's gender was made, because sometimes, I'd stop and re-read a scene again and process it from a female's perspective instead of a male's, and it really was a fascinating experiment, because for me, it changed how the scene read. This was useful when Sparrow's interacting with other characters, particularly that creeptastic scene with Beano.
I promised to talk about interstitiality, not that I'm an expert on the subject or anything. I have read the two anthologies that the Interstitial Foundation has put out, so I like to think I've at least intuited an understanding, and one thing I've learned is that what's interstitial NOW may end up inspiring a new subgenre, so that in two years or five years or ten years or whatever, it's no longer interstitial but mainstream.
Now, I can't say with any sort of confidence that Bone Dance was an interstitial book when it first came out in 1991. Science Fantasy was definitely around as a sub genre, but I don't think it was quite like this. I mean, just look at this thing: it's cyberpunk in tone, but without all the gadgety, internet geekery; it's certainly urban fantasy, as it's urban and contains magical elements; it's science fiction, as Sparrow the Horse (ha) is a kind of genetic construct; and it's also dystopia, in that really, this is a post-apocalyptic world, but instead of motorcycles and leather and stuff, we have a rather functioning society, just oppressed in the way dystopias are. So we could, instead of calling this interstitial, we could simply say it's a melting pot and be done with it, I suppose. But I like looking at this from in between the book ends of FANTASY and SCIENCE FICTION, just like Sparrow is really meant to be looked at from in between the bookends of MALE and FEMALE. The book, like the character, is squarely in the middle, and to refer either as one extreme or the other is to truly do them a disservice (yes, I know, I'm disservicing Sparrow by referring to the character as a he, but what else am I going to use? It?).
At any rate, the space between that this book inhabits is what fascinates me. Sure, my brain could go bonkers try to marry that science that mixes with the magic in this book, and to be honest, I can't say I've got it all figured out either. But I'm happy with my slight confusion. I can see myself curling up with this book once more, able to better grasp the beginning now that I know what the hell's really going on. Sure, I've still got questions about how the cheval works, like how Mick was able to have that interval of time between leaving the first body we'd seen him in and then riding Sparrow, but again, that's the kind of thing that during another read, I'll be happy to put my brain to and figure out. Because now I know what I'm looking for, and the beginning that slowed me down so much the first time will read a lot faster the second time around, methinks.
My Rating
Must Have: I won't say this is my favorite book by Emma Bull, but it's still very good. There's a lot of originality packed in these pages, especially in the way that this is a dystopic vision of a fantastic (as in fantasy, not as in awesome) future, mixing science fiction elements with magic in such a way that it feels organic to the world. Nothing about this book sticks out like a sore thumb, and once the reader knows the truth about Sparrow and knows what's at stake, the book is quite the ride. If you haven't yet read Emma Bull, or if you haven't yet read this particular title, it's a easy one to recommend, particularly if you don't mind spending some time in the beginning getting immersed in the world. Because if Emma Bull can do one thing, she can world-build. She can paint a scene, so that the images and action of the book are quite striking still in my mind's eye. This is a book I definitely look forward to reading again.
Cover Commentary: I like it pretty well, actually. While the image really doesn't take place in the book, it's overall quite colorful and eye-catching. I will say, though, that upon closer inspection of the narrator's face, it looks really weird. I'm not sure where or what the eyes are focused on, and it looks like there's some serious damage to the cheeks. And yes, paying close attention to the narrator's face is worth doing once you've read the book. Trust me. :)