Liz Williams, Winterstrike
Nov. 14th, 2009 06:37 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ellarienFar-future SF (or maybe fantasy? It's a bit hard to tell) set mostly on the wintry, woman-dominated world of Mars, where men were genetically engineered out of existence centuries ago, and the only males around are engineered mutants living a shadowy existence on the fringes of civilization. The daughter of an upper-class family has disgraced herself by a fleeting contact with one such, and been locked in her room for a year; when she's briefly let out for the midwinter festival she disappears soon afterwards, and her sister is forced to go searching for her. Meanwhile, a cousin spying on a hostile city is haunted by the ghost of a library. War breaks out, and things get stranger from there.
It's very atmospheric, whether in the frigid cities and wastes of Mars or the steamy, drowned marshes of Earth, and full of nifty weirdness, but I found it rather confusing -- all the three pov characters being rather similar. Also it ends frustratingly in a place which suggests it isn't a standalone, but I've no idea when or if the sequel will be available.
It's very atmospheric, whether in the frigid cities and wastes of Mars or the steamy, drowned marshes of Earth, and full of nifty weirdness, but I found it rather confusing -- all the three pov characters being rather similar. Also it ends frustratingly in a place which suggests it isn't a standalone, but I've no idea when or if the sequel will be available.
(no subject)
Date: 2009-11-15 06:24 am (UTC)(no subject)
Date: 2009-11-15 06:32 am (UTC)