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sigelphoenix at 01:04pm on 27/08/2009 under books
sigelphoenix at 01:04pm on 27/08/2009 under booksI was a big fan of Jacqueline Carey's original Kushiel's Legacy trilogy, and have started her new Kushiel trilogy, but I completely missed that she had a standalone* book coming out. Luckily I ran across Oyceter's review of Santa Olivia and picked it up. I finished it awhile ago, but haven't gotten around to posting a review until now.
At first glance, I was tempted to think that Santa Olivia was Carey's attempt to throw her hat in the paranormal romance/urban fantasy ring, what with the cover that features a shadowed, tough-looking young woman. But that's a shallow reading - for one, we follow Loup, the main character, from childhood through her teenage years over the course of the book, so she's not your typical paranormal romance heroine. Santa Olivia also feels less ... slick? ... than the types of paranormal romances that are currently popular - there is no leather, no gunfights or swordfights, no snazzy magic or epic destinies. It's just Loup, a girl trying to make things a little better in her town. Despite the "urban" of "urban fantasy," you don't see a lot of books that deal with contemporary urban issues (though one exception I've found is L.A. Banks' Vampire Huntress Legends). While Santa Olivia's premise is fantastical, I liked the verisimilitude of Outpost No. 12.
You can find a summary of the book here, so I won't go into the plot. Instead, I'll say that I really enjoyed the book, despite it being quite different from what I've come to expect from Carey. No flowery prose, no intensely convoluted political intrigue, and relatively little sex. There is some sex, and some mystery, but both the writing and the world feel more spare than the lush setting of the Kushiel books. The story is on a much smaller scale, and it worked well.
One point that made me squee is that Loup is POC - more than that, she's multiracial! Granted, Carey doesn't spend much time developing Loup's ethnic identity; rather, any meditations on race and ethnicity are subsumed into the Outpost in general, and its relationship with the U.S. Still, this is worlds better than the exotification and Othering of the non-white analogue nations in the Kushiel books (I loved those books, but ... man).
( mild spoilers )
( really spoilery )
Overall, I definitely recommend this book. A little post-apocalyptic, a little urban fantasy and/or sci-fi, a little coming-of-age, all blended together into an enjoyable book.
At first glance, I was tempted to think that Santa Olivia was Carey's attempt to throw her hat in the paranormal romance/urban fantasy ring, what with the cover that features a shadowed, tough-looking young woman. But that's a shallow reading - for one, we follow Loup, the main character, from childhood through her teenage years over the course of the book, so she's not your typical paranormal romance heroine. Santa Olivia also feels less ... slick? ... than the types of paranormal romances that are currently popular - there is no leather, no gunfights or swordfights, no snazzy magic or epic destinies. It's just Loup, a girl trying to make things a little better in her town. Despite the "urban" of "urban fantasy," you don't see a lot of books that deal with contemporary urban issues (though one exception I've found is L.A. Banks' Vampire Huntress Legends). While Santa Olivia's premise is fantastical, I liked the verisimilitude of Outpost No. 12.
You can find a summary of the book here, so I won't go into the plot. Instead, I'll say that I really enjoyed the book, despite it being quite different from what I've come to expect from Carey. No flowery prose, no intensely convoluted political intrigue, and relatively little sex. There is some sex, and some mystery, but both the writing and the world feel more spare than the lush setting of the Kushiel books. The story is on a much smaller scale, and it worked well.
One point that made me squee is that Loup is POC - more than that, she's multiracial! Granted, Carey doesn't spend much time developing Loup's ethnic identity; rather, any meditations on race and ethnicity are subsumed into the Outpost in general, and its relationship with the U.S. Still, this is worlds better than the exotification and Othering of the non-white analogue nations in the Kushiel books (I loved those books, but ... man).
( mild spoilers )
( really spoilery )
Overall, I definitely recommend this book. A little post-apocalyptic, a little urban fantasy and/or sci-fi, a little coming-of-age, all blended together into an enjoyable book.
hungry
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