Review: Amatka, by Karin Tidbeck, 2012

Amatka by Karin Tidbeck
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Amatka, by Karin Tidbeck, 2012 

Name it! Mark it! Do not deviate!

Originally written in Swedish and translated to English in 2017, Amatka is a "soft" sci-fi novel that is "quiet," strange and has no clear ending. The story follows Vanya, who works for her city government of Essre.  While on assignment to study hygiene products used in the city of Amatka, she falls in love with Nina and moves in with her. 

Set in a world shaped by language, we quickly learn that things are not what they seem when Vanya's luggage melts into gloop when Vanya neglects it for too long, reciting the suitcase's name and physically inscribing it with the word "suitcase" to describe what it is. It's apparent the inhabitants of this world speak the names of things around them, calling on them to remain what they are and marking them for what they are.

Tidbeck's prose is easy to ingest and engenders the slow horror of a quiet atmosphere of slow decay, not much unlike the current state of society.

I rate this novel a 4.95 out of 5 stars.

#Amatka #KarinTidbeck #QueerLiterature #LGBTLiterature #Swedish #ScienceFiction

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Review: The Peripheral (The Jackpot Trilogy #1), by William Gibson, 2014

The Peripheral by William Gibson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The Peripheral (The Jackpot Trilogy #1), by William Gibson, 2014

Elaborately detailed, incredibly creative, and full of ingenious ideas. In this fast-paced hard sci-fi novel, we sort of get two stories in one, with each taking place in a separate timeline. Events and decisions from each timeline manifest as outcomes in each other's, well, sort of.

In the 22nd-century timeline the author has created, there are three pillars of society which consist of The Kleptocracy (The Klept), The Metropolitan Police, which keeps the former in check, and The Research Institute, which provides technical assistance to the general population through research and technology but compromised by The Klept.

Flynn, our heroine in the 21st-century timeline, witnesses something she shouldn't have while piloting a Peripheral in the 22nd-century timeline. Peripherals are a type of physical avatar in the 22nd century that users from either timeline can control. This sets off a chain of events in the 22nd century that reverberates to Flynn's timeline.

The Peripheral is one of those books where one must focus and pay attention and sometimes reread chapters. There are so many characters, technologies, and moving parts, all fitting with each other eventually, that taking notes might be helpful. I enjoyed this book very much, so despite the effort required to get through it, I might read the second installment.  

I want to note that Amazon Prime's adaptation of this novel to an 8-part tv series prompted me to read the book. After seeing two episodes, I was hooked and decided to race through the book. While the tv show diverges from the book, they are different enough that not only can both be enjoyed, but enhances each other.

I rate this book 5 stars out of 5 stars.

#ThePeriphal #WilliamGibson #FlynnFisher #TheResearchInstitute #Kleptocracy #JackpotTrilogy #AelitaWest #Nuland #Lowbeer #Zubov

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Review: Paradise Rot: A Novel, by Jenny Hval, 2018

Paradise Rot by Jenny Hval
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Paradise Rot: A Novel, by Jenny Hval, 2018

Right off the bat, if bodily fluids, particularly urine, gross you out, this book isn't for you. The author is clearly obsessed with urine and intricately details activities involved in the act of pissing.

The story is a sexual self-discovery of a young Norwegian college girl, Jo, who is studying biology abroad in Britain. There she meets a girl, Carral, slightly older than her, who she becomes obsessed with. She shares an apartment in a converted brewery with Carral and starts a peculiar three-way affair with a studly male neighbor named Pym.

The writing is surreal and exquisitely detailed with the grotesque banalities of human existence: mold, decay, and urine. The prose evokes striking images, from rotting slimy apples to a man exposing himself on a train. 

I rate this book 4.75 out of 5 stars.

#MagicalRealism #LGBTliterature #LGBT

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Review: Yellow Jessamine, by Caitlin Starling, 2020

Yellow Jessamine by Caitlin Starling
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Yellow Jessamine, by Caitlin Starling, 2020

Yellow Jessamine is a fantasy horror novella with sapphic undertones that started strong. The atmospheric details, creepy vibes, and strong plot teased for a fantastic ending but ended up venturing into the "left field."

I enjoyed this intense novella-- filled with fierce lesbians, poisonous herbal gardens, and a mysterious creepy sickness; it's a have-to-read book.

I rate this novella 4.25 out of 5 stars.

"Evelyn Perdanu is a shipping magnate, the only living survivor of her family. She walks the city veiled and hidden away from the eyes of those around her. Her country is slowly dying, rotting away like food left out to spoil. Arriving from her last voyage, she discovers that a plague has visited her city, which is traced back to her crew. They act erratically and slip into catatonia. She begins to investigate the plague as much for the city's sake and those in it as for her own company and family name. What she finds is complicated and horrific." -- from the book jacket

#YellowJessamine #CaitlinStarling #LGBTQ

 

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