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Wednesday, July 18, 2018

Blackfish City

Blackfish City

 Blackfish City is a hard book for me to review. I came into this with reasonable expectations but high hopes- I mean, you have a post apocalyptic world, rising sea levels, a city run by artificial intelligence, and an orcamancer. Yes, an orcamancer- someone bonded to a killer whale. Oh, and she has a polar bear too, as if the orca wasn't enough! I mean, what's not to like? And while there are some neat ideas here, and good writing, this book was a slow read for me. I'm not even sure why- I mean, I like dystopias- but there's just something about this that didn't work for me.

The central premise here is that the orcamancer arrives at Qaanaaq, a floating city in the far northern hemisphere, and her arrival sends shockwaves through the city. Mainly because of the novelty of her appearance- again, she has an orca and a bear- but even as everyone wants to know why she's there, we also get insights into Qaanaaq itself. And it's a fascinating place, with spiral arms radiating from a central hub, and aquadrones that protect the central core, greenish methane flares that light up the night (I especially liked those- imagine watching the greenish flares shoot into the sky against a backdrop of stars, or the northern lights). The worldbuilding and sense of imagination are there. But it's almost too much? I felt at times like, okay, this world is a mess, I got it, but I need something to happen.

Part of the problem may be the multiple points of view. We have Ankit, a political worker just trying to make it in the city; Kaev, a beam-fighter who throws fights to lesser contenders because that's his role; Fill, a gay man who gets in way over his head when he gets sucked into events in the city; and Soq- perhaps the most interesting of the bunch- a messenger of indeterminate gender who has plans for Qaanaaq- and they're not beneficial plans. Mixed in with these four POV's are themes of gender, climate change, the evils of real estate, rich/ poor divides, refugee issues- there's a lot going on here. The author has a lot to say about a lot of topics, and while some may feel it really brings this world to life, for me it was an awful lot for one story. Especially a story that takes a long time to go anywhere.

Qaanaaq is fascinating, like I said, not quite like any post apocalyptic setting I've read about, but at the same time there was so much going on that I never really felt like it was alive. The four point of view characters eventually come together, brought into contact with each other through events, and of course the orcamancer question looms over all. When it all does come together the story moves at a pretty good clip, and the climactic action scene was relatively interesting, but if you're looking for action or a fast moving story, I'm not sure this is it.

I have a hard time recommending this because I think for some readers it will absolutely work, and for others it might drag, like it did in my experience. I think the gender explorations were particularly well done, so that may be a bright spot- I had to laugh at one point when one of the characters sees a guy he thinks is hot, then thinks it's a girl, then has no idea what it is. Gender fluidity and the experience people have with that are a focus here. There's also a strong sense of frustration with the evils of capitalism and the way landlords perpetuate suffering among the poor- I mean, depending on your political views you may cheer or roll your eyes. I for one found myself agreeing with much I read, even though I wanted a little more escapism and a little less real world relevance, perhaps.

I'll leave you with this quote, which perhaps sums up much of the novel in terms of tone.

 "They banned political parties, which had- in the view of the artificial intelligences that drafted these rules, anyway- been vehicles of mob rule and mediocrity more often than efficient strategies for decision making."

33 comments:

  1. Your review had me thinking about how I feel about Brandon Sanderson’s books. He gets so obsessed with the world he created he forgets to right a story. Drives me nuts.

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    1. Does he? See I've never read him yet...

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  2. The political aspect of the book sounds pretty fascinating, but it does sound like maybe just too much is going on. I think that would drive me crazy.

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    1. In some ways it was very interesting politically, and more than a little relevant to right now, which is even scarier! I think the biggest thing for me here was the personal touch- some will feel it, some won't, and I definitely didn't.

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  3. It does sound like a lot is going on in the book. Cool premise though.

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    1. It is a cool premise. And there is a LOT going on.

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  4. First off, I'm kind of turned off about the orcamancer thing. xD And normally I can be okay with multiple POVs, but if there's a loooot going on, it'll just confuse and put me off.

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    1. I was curious about orcamancer, but I needed more for a hook than just woman shows up with orca and polar bear, and everyone is bamboozled. Like why? There's a ton of other weird stuff going on! It was like a cool city, pretty cool premise, but not enough to GRAB me?

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  5. This does seem to have a whole lot going on. I can sometimes have issues with that many POVs especially when so many things are being addressed. Great review!

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    1. Thanks Carole. This one was tough. I WANTED to like it, and in some wys I did, but it's just not a favorite, you know?

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  6. An orcamancer?? Apparently I knew nothing about this book lol. But from what you said, it does sound like there was just too much for one book. World-building and important themes are great, but you still need a good plot. Add in four POVs, and that just slows things down even more. But the gender exploration does sound great, and I'm glad you found some things you enjoyed about this.

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    1. Right! It needed more plot, or maybe the plot was fine and it was me? I definitely think this will work more for other people, so I'm hesitant to say too much, but... the four POV's were tough, and this is from someone who reads Game of Thrones and has NO problem with multi POV's. But here I was maybe halfway through before I felt like I who these people were????

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  7. I thought this book sounded interesting and I loved that cover and the 'mancer idea but I'm seeing mixed reviews on it now and I think I'll probably give it a miss.

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    1. I love the cover! One of my faves actually! I'm seeing mixed too and I get it.

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  8. Multiple POV's is a format that needs to be JUST right for me to stay on board... I hope your next read is better! :)

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    1. Thanks Erica. And so true. Like I said above, I have no problem with multi POV's (after all Game of Thrones doesn't bother me) but this one... the characters were fine, but they felt kinda thin and it took me half the book to feel like I knew 'em?

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  9. I love the cover of this book but it all sounds too slow for me. Better luck next time :-)

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    1. It was slow, I think I read this on and off over the course of two weeks.

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  10. Hmmm...I love good world building but if there is no plot I am bored. I might just pass on this one. But you are so right it will probably work for other readers

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    1. Absolutely. Gender stuff= great. Nice exploration. Cool worldbuilding. I just needed more STORY.

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  11. it looks good and interesting there but it's too bad that it drags too...

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  12. Man, I hope I like this one because even though it didn't work for you, it's gonna be pretty hard to convince me not to read a book with an orca and a bear!

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  13. Sounds like there is a wee bit too much going on there!

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  14. This does sound really awesome. Sorry it didn't work out.
    Never heard of Orcamancers before. At first I "ogremancer" I've been watching too much Hobbit...

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  15. It does sound like there are maybe a bit too many ideas happening here. That's one of my pet peeves - when an author tries to do too much, and nothing gets explored enough.

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  16. Hard to sy if I would like it or not but omg that premise does sound amazing

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  17. I wonder why they didn't make it a duology? It sounds really good to me. I went to the Goodreads page to see if it was a standalone and in the questions section someone was commenting about there being too much world building, also. 📚

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  18. The premise does sound so promising-- but I struggle with books that have too many POVs/characters.

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  19. Great review! ♥️♥️ I love post apocalyptic worlds, yet I passed on this book. Your review did an awesome job describing my conflicts. At the same time I know some just loved the unique idea.

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  20. I am so on the fence about this- but I will probably read it just cause I bought it so why not? Though I have to say, the orcamancer thing threw me wayyy off because what even IS that? I also hope they explain why a city is called Qaanaaq, because that in itself is curious. Sorry this didn't work out for you and that it took away weeks of your life you'll never get back ;)

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  21. I like to connect emotionally with the characters in any genre and I'm not sure I would get that with this Greg. Thanks for linking #TalkoftheTown

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  22. Sounds like a book with a lot going on! #TalkoftheTown

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  23. I keep thinking that this book sounds interesting, but when I looked at it in the bookstore I wondered how gimmicky the orcamancer thing would feel... I'm still on the fence about whether to try it.

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