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Waking the Moon: 08/24/11
Elizabeth Hand's books were recommended on a science fiction / fantasy reading list. I had only read one of her short stories, "The Far Shore" so I set about to read as many of her novels as I could find. The first book I found was Waking the Moon. It starts at a prestigious university. A young woman falls in with the wrong crowd, falls in love and discovers the dark truth behind how the university and much of the world is being run. To keep the truth a secret she is forced to leave the university. The rest of the book deals with the aftermath of those events. The main character is grown up and has been working on a digital archive and doesn't quite have the life she had once hoped for. Meanwhile her ex-roommate has become famous but dangerous. The events way back when unleashed a sleeping goddess who is systematically planning her revenge on the patriarchy. She is blood thirsty and willing sacrifice her son as a means to reaching her goal. Although the book is long by my standards (512 pages) it was a relatively quick read. The first third which has scenes at the university reminded me a bit of the darkest parts of Revolutionary Girl Utena which I was watching around the same time as I was reading the book. Later pieces of the book are more straight up horror and less Gothic fantasy. It was a strange but compelling book to read. Five stars. Comments (2) Comment #1: Wednesday, August, 24, 2011 at 15:09:35 I love Elizabeth Hand. I think I have read all of her books except for Mortal Love, which is sitting on my shelf waiting for me to read it :-) Comment #2: Saturday, August 27, 2011 at 21:05:50 Pussreboots I read Mortal Love and plan to review it. I'm so behind on my reviews! Comment #3: Thursday, August, 25, 2011 at 20:41:54 I read this one when it first came out, and it was kind of odd but definitely compelling. I need to look for more of Hand's work! Glad you enjoyed this. Comment #4: Saturday, August 27, 2011 at 21:06:04 Pussreboots She has a new book coming out called Available Dark. It's due out next year sometime.
1997-2024 Sarah Sammis |
