Papersky is an amazing writer. But y'all knew that.

[xiphias]

Lis picked up an advance uncorrected proof copy of Farthing by Jo Walton, aka papersky, at the Public Library Association conference.

I just finished reading it.

I couldn't put it down. I mean, like, I was standing in front of my locker at the gym for ten minutes reading it, 'cause I started reading it when I was changing back into my street clothes.

I just finished it, and feel like I was kicked in the stomach, 'cause that's what it's like.

It's an AMAZING book. Lis said it's got "award winner" written all over it, and it probably does.

Comments

[xiphias.livejournal.com]

I like everything she's written so far -- and they're all in different genres, or at least, subgenres.

The King's Peace and The King's Name, and the inquel (not a prequel, not a sequel; it takes place during the same time) Prize in the Game are Arthurian fantasies, except good. You know the trope where Arthur is raised to unite the Celts and the Romans after the fall of the Roman empire? It's like that, except it's a fantasy world, the gods are active, all the names are changed, it's much, much more egalitarian than our world, and it's just generally cool.

Tooth and Claw was what happened when Jo started thinking about the Victorian novel, e.g., the novels by Trollope. She loves them, but was just annoyed by the conventions, since people in those novels just don't act like any humans she knows. So she postulated that they acted that way because they were actually dragons, and all the weirdnesses of the Victorian novel were actually quite natural consequenses of draconian biology. So it's an Anthony Trollope novel where everybody is a dragon. It's also really cool.

She also co-wrote a GURPS suppliment on Celtic mythology, which I have and like.

And, um, that's about it, really. She's got short stories and poems and stuff like that, but she's really only just started as A Real Live Professional Author a few years ago.

So, good first books of hers to read are Tooth and Claw, which is standalone, and The King's Peace, which is the first part of a trilogy.

Did I miss anything signifiant, papersky?