I didn't get it. Also, precious little description to distinguish the characters, and every voice sounded the same. Otoh, some cinematic fight scenes I didn't get it. Also, precious little description to distinguish the characters, and every voice sounded the same. Otoh, some cinematic fight scenes and settings, so that was something.
On the third hand, nice to see African settings in fantasy....more
In What Moves the Dead, T. Kingfisher (aka Ursula Vernon) remixes Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" and it is delightfully creepy, woIn What Moves the Dead, T. Kingfisher (aka Ursula Vernon) remixes Edgar Allan Poe's "The Fall of the House of Usher" and it is delightfully creepy, wonderful gothic horror. I read it, immediately went and reread "The Fall of the House of Usher" (which I hadn't read since jr high or high school and now is available online in several places for free because it's out of copyright), and then I read What Moves the Dead all over again to savor the depth and texture of Kingfisher's work.
I've loved her writing since Summer in Orcus with few exceptions, and I open each one of her new works with an open heart, ready to love. This one brings together the best of her naturalist sensibilities, the richness of actual Gothic & Southern Gothic lit, the entertaining spark of European multiculturalism (including an improbable American transplant), and a core conceit rooted in Poe's imagination into something greater than its parts. I almost wish it were a full novel, although that would take it far beyond Poe's short story and possibly make it unrecognizable.
I loved the original characters, especially Miss Potter, and Easton's culture is one I would love to know more about/see again. I loved the the linguistics asides and how deftly drawn were Easton's core assumptions about her tiny country and the world. The elements of nature were vividly detailed and, not to spoil, but I had visceral reactions where appropriate. :g:
I find novellas hard to rate because I nearly always want to take off a star for wishing it were longer, which isn't really fair to the form. So I'm going to call it 4 1/2 stars.
CW for animal harm.
ARC
[edited to add] My arc didn't include the cover art, so I only saw it after posting. WOW! That is some appropriately creepy imagery. Kudos to the artist....more
**spoiler alert** Abigail is one of my favorite characters in the RoL series and so I was really looking forward to this. And now I'm frustrated that **spoiler alert** Abigail is one of my favorite characters in the RoL series and so I was really looking forward to this. And now I'm frustrated that this novella didn't quite do her justice.
Aaronovitch often has terrible pacing problems, and this suffers badly on that score, but worse is that Abigail's voice feels off. Depressed. Flat. Lacking the bright spark of curiosity and relentless 13yo charm that makes her so great in the other books. Granted, we only have a couple other stories from her pov, rather than Peter's, but the point holds.
3 1/2 stars? The verse is interesting but I couldn't distinguish between the two narrative voices.3 1/2 stars? The verse is interesting but I couldn't distinguish between the two narrative voices....more
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