It’s my turn to share a round of thoughts about the books I’ve read for SFINCS 2. I’m part of Team Booked Solid, but what I’m sharing here represents only my own opinions. My thoughts may very well differ from those of the rest of my team.
I originally had the ambition of reading all of my team’s assigned books, but unfortunately, life got in the way, and while there’s still time, I must confess I won’t be able to get through all twenty (I’m only halfway so far). Not to worry, though, we’re a team, and each book in our batch will be read by at least two judges.
Adding to that, I decided to focus on identifying books I wanted to see in the semi-finals. This means that if I feel like a book isn’t good enough to qualify, and if I’m confident it’s not just because I don’t enjoy it, I won’t finish it. I’m very much a mood reader, and forcing myself to finish a book that’s not for me usually ends up with me disliking it even more.
This doesn’t mean that all the books I finished are potential semi-finalists, but it means they’re worth reading. Today, I’ll share my thoughts on some of them – in no particular order:
Spaces of Silence
By Niranjan
I’m having a hard time deciding what to say and think about this novella. On the one hand, there are plenty of issues I could point out and complain about, but on the other hand, I still enjoyed it. Despite everything, there’s an atmosphere between the words that pulled me along and kept me reading, and there’s a world outside the story that kept me curious.
Spaces of Silence is a complex and ambitious tale. It’s about facing an unwanted past, coming to terms with how life changes us, and, perhaps most of all, about trust, or the lack of trust. Like I said, it’s complex.
Our main character, Sky, needs to return to his hometown and face the darkness of what his most cherished childhood friend has become. The setting is equivalent to modern-day earth, but with magic, and in a different reality, but one where earth still exists.
The focus of the story is on the relationships between the Sky and the people he used to know and love, and while there’s a little bit of action, it’s secondary to the main plot.
What I didn’t like
There are too many side characters in the story, and I had a hard time telling everyone apart.
For a very long time, it’s unclear what the story really is about, and I was quite far into it before I felt like I had a good grasp of what was going on, what was important, and what to expect.
What I liked
The atmosphere. It’s all quite calm in a “late-autumn” kind of way, even if perhaps that’s not when the story plays out. There’s a life to the story that hides under the surface, and even if it doesn’t come out, you know it’s there.
The world building. The story doesn’t take place on earth, but the world where it plays out knows of earth, and it imports fantasy books from earth. There were a few comments, barely more than a paragraph, the expanded the world in an almost explosive way. Suddenly, there was an entire universe behind what had earlier been the life of just a few people.
Final Words
Spaces of Silence is a complex story, and despite its flaws, it’s got a big heart.
Find Spaces of Silence on Goodreads.
Dreaming of Hope
By Justin Doyle
Dreaming of Hope is a prequel novella. Like so many others of its kind, it’s less of a story, and more of a showcase of what the author wants to do with the main series. Unlike so many others, this one works.
Here, we get a glimpse of the characters the author has created and the kind of stories they want to tell, but only a glimpse. This isn’t about showing off the coolest world building or the awesomest action.
What we get instead is a story where each chapter is akin to a piece of flash fiction. Events in the life of fifteen year old Pavlar Solia as he tries to make life a little bit easier for the people around him in the slums where he lives. The chapters are connected, and they tie into each other, but they could also stand on their own. Even then, on the whole, it feels like Pavlar’s story begins and ends long before and after this book does. What we get is a piece in the middle.
The story plays out against the backdrop of an interstellar conflict that has seen Pavlar’s planet put under a blockade. Food, medicine, and kindness are scarce, and the slum is ruled by those willing to step on others. It’s bleak and grim, but Pavlar’s keeps on struggling to help those he can.
I’m aware Pavlar is a side character in the main series, but with how the author has chosen to tell this story, I’m still intrigued enough to check it out.
What I didn’t like
As I mentioned above, Dreaming of Hope feels like it’s the middle part of a longer story, and I’d very much have liked it if there were a resolution to Pavlar’s struggles here.
What I liked
There’s a bleakness over the world so heavy as to be nearly suffocating, and it’s really well done. The sky is always grey, and the ground is always wet from rain. Everything’s on the verge of collapse, and there’s no food. Pavlar keeps hope alive, but it’s a constant fight against an overwhelming and cruel reality.
Final Words
Dreaming of Hope is a bleak tale of survival and of trying to help others survive.
Find Dreaming of Hope on Goodreads.
The Nameless Restaurant
By Tao Wong
Here we have something that’s probably best described as Cozy Urban Fantasy. The story relates the events of an evening at an unnamed, magically hidden restaurant in Toronto. We meet the chef and owner, the restaurant’s one waitress, and a few of the guests. Some of these people are ordinary humans, but most of them are not.
Throughout the night, the chef prepares the meals, the waitress delivers them, and the guests enjoy them. There is talk of events relevant to the hidden, magical world, and from time to time, it gets a bit tense.
It’s a pleasant story delivered at a leisurely pace.
The Nameless Restaurant is a teaser for a series called Hidden Wishes, featuring two of the guests visiting the restaurant during the night the story takes place. The book stands well enough on its own, and I wouldn’t mind reading more, but I found the waitress a far more interesting character than the two guests in question.
What I didn’t like
The preparation of the dishes served at the restaurant are a big part of the story, and it’s described in detail. Unfortunately, cooking is something I have all too limited an understanding of. Someone with more knowledge than me may find these parts intriguing, but for me they dragged a bit.
What I did like
There’s a discussion of a complicated issue among several of the restaurant’s guests, and I found following along with it to be fascinating and intriguing. The outcome of the discussion is not quite what one might have expected in most other stories.
Final Words
The Nameless Restaurant is a cozy urban fantasy novella about food and about saving the world over dinner.
Find The Nameless Restaurant on Goodreads.
Only Three Reviews?
Yes, for now. I’ll have another three reviews for you next week.
