akeleven
6/1/2013
So many books can be read at a gallup, even skipping pages without losing the story.
Not this book. Every word is important. Every sentence is a brush stroke in a complex picture. Ms. Lowachee is a master storyteller.
The first two chapters are heavy going - a lot of new labels to be absorbed, but once done the story moves on carrying the reader to surprising places. This is not light reading, nor will the picture fill out to become anything expected. It is not a romance; do not expect happy endings with hugs and kisses. For me, as a female reader, it is refreshing to read a book where female characters are not automatically hit upon.
The stage is the inevitable conflict that comes with the invasion of a continent by new colonists and the original inhabitants are pushed aside. The "melting pot" was originally someone else's home and they are not pleased to be "assimilated" and bow out for these trespassers. Both sides fight with what resources they have. In this novel, the invaders try to use a tool unique to the "abos" and the results are disastrous. When the end is reached, it will feel like it was all inevitable.
Ms. Lowachee has lived in the Arctic and has a feel for this unique land. Her talent is in writing tragic characters; people shaped by the families and worlds they are born into. She tells the stories of how they deal with these forces and their fight to make a world they can live in.
This book is the opening for that drama. This reader wants to continue the ride.