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350th out of 763 books
—
660 voters
Winterlong (Winterlong #1)
Elizabeth Hand's darkly sensual debut novel took the science fiction and general reading public by storm and now, seven years later, it is available again in a handsome trade paperback edition. Heralded as a considerable stylistic and imaginative accomplishment, as noteworthy in its way as Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale, by "People" magazine, Winterlong explores the...more
Paperback, 349 pages
Published
July 1st 1997
by Eos
(first published October 1990)
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dense, poetic, sensual, at times almost dizzyingly arty in its depiction of a post-apocalyptic washington d.c. i much prefer elizabeth hand's trippy trilogy (of which Winterlong is the first, and the best) to her later attempts at stylish modern gothic, which came across as half-baked to me. written at the dawn of her career, her voice reminded me of tanith lee's, except she ups the sadean stakes quite a few notches. the novel is fascinating - mutated plague children, vicious dog-creatures (aard...more
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My impression of this book is not so much about the story as it is of the time and the place where it was written. Liz was working at the National Air and Space Museum in the mid-80s when this book was written, and the Washington DC setting, however transformed by her dystopian future, acts as a major character in its own right. I was living in Washington throughout most of 1986-87, and the places she describes - the Cathedral, the ruins of Metro Center, the wasted environs across the river - we...more
I really, really wanted desperately to love this book. The bones for a phenomenal story were there. They were right there waiting to be used. The characters had the potential for much depth. The society set up did as well. To me, the downfall of this book was too much emphasis on minute setting/environment description and not enough on storytelling and character development. I felt like I had just started to get to know and understand the two main characters at the end of the book.I mean the ver...more
Stylistically, Hand is a good writer. Yes, her characters are a bit lacking in dimension and her much of the book is unnecessary to the plot. But what really disturbed me was the gratuitous suffering she puts her characters (and walk-ons) through. It's more sadistic voyeurism than drama. Seriously, don't read this book if you have PTSD and written depictions of torture are triggering.
Also, like Waking the Moon, the plot revolved around the perceived dichotomy between the Masculine Principle an...more
Also, like Waking the Moon, the plot revolved around the perceived dichotomy between the Masculine Principle an...more
A beautifully crafted novel, Elizabeth Hand's "Winterlong" is nevertheless a challenge to read, as it employs biblical references, Greek myths, and even Disney's "Pinocchio" to tell a haunting post-post-apocalyptic tale. The story follows two young children---twins separated at birth, actually---as they travel the former U.S., ravaged by viral epidemics and bio-genetic experiments run amok. This is an excellent thought-provoking science fiction novel. Hand's writing is poetic, even as her ideas...more
This is the first book I read by Elizabeth Hand. I was totally blindsided by it. Her vision of the end of the world as we know it and what takes its place reads like a waking dream. All sorts of strange things inhibit these pages. Intelligent Chimps, autustic prophets, decadent, intellectual societies. There are also feral children, augmented killer dogs and scattered deadly war zones. What a trip. it has been many years since I read this and I still remember my sympathy for Miss Scarlett, the S...more
Jan 01, 2010
Broodingferret
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
science-fiction,
fantasy
This is another used bookstore impulse buy that turned out to be a good idea. Set in a post-Apocalyptic world (you get the impression that there have been several Apocalypses, actually), Winterlong is a surreal tale of magic and old gods reawakening into a world torn and warped by science used badly. The story contains some truly unique ideas and characters and makes creative use of many concepts from various world religions and myths, all of which is made more impressive by the fact that Winter...more
Hand has a powerful command of prose, but her characters, plot, and underdeveloped setting leave much to be desired. For me, this was a classic case of "good idea executed poorly." I picked Winterlong up at a used bookstore because of a combination of three things: a cool cover, a cool title, and an interesting back blurb.
It's books like these that I wish I didn't feel compelled to finish reading everything I start. About 100 pages through I knew it wasn't for me, but I kept pushing through. It...more
It's books like these that I wish I didn't feel compelled to finish reading everything I start. About 100 pages through I knew it wasn't for me, but I kept pushing through. It...more
I was so freaked out by this book that I refused to read any of Elizabeth Hand's other books for years. Fortunately someone eventually made me read Waking the Moon, and I got over my Handiphobia, but I don't think I'll be revisiting this one.
Cold, cruel, manipulative, sadistic - yeah, the real world is enough of those that I don't need to have my nose rubbed in it. I'll admit that portions are beautifully written, but it seriously put me off.
Cold, cruel, manipulative, sadistic - yeah, the real world is enough of those that I don't need to have my nose rubbed in it. I'll admit that portions are beautifully written, but it seriously put me off.
This is an old favorite of mine (the "date finished" is for my current read-through, I first came to this book in the late '80s). The author herself describes it as, essentially, a big sprawling earnest mess with the best of intentions (it was her first book), and I suppose that would be fair, but only if you can imagine a big sprawling earnest mess of vividly realized characters, emotions sharp as knives, completely unique concepts on the border between science fiction and urban fantasy, and dr...more
A nice enough book that gets worse as it goes. The ending felt quite forced and silly, as trying to force otherwise normal and sympathetic characters into being Evil (in the 'BWAHAHAHAHA I kill for shits and giggles' sense of things) is nearly impossible to do in a sensible way.
Some nice ideas here though, and the characters are otherwise quite good.
Some nice ideas here though, and the characters are otherwise quite good.
Initially I found this story to be fascinating and intriguing, but ultimately the characters failed to capture my sympathy and the plot remained too dark. I started to not care before I was even half done, and in the end I was impatient for it to finish. I also found it a bit too metaphysical.
I enjoyed the basic idea of this book and the ending was pretty satisfying, but getting there felt like a slog through half-formed ideas mixed with some really horrible acts and vague descriptions of creatures I wanted to hear about more. If I had read this for a class I may have rated it higher because the author definitely had an agenda in writing this but for a pleasure read it fell flat for me.
For the style of writing, the creation of the mood, the setting, the eeriness, and bleak to the point of a spike in your head, I'd give it 5 stars.
However, for the same bleak spike in your head, I'd give it a one. I'm just not the audience for dystopian fiction, unless there's a whole lot of payoff, and I didn't get that from this novel. I'll definitely read more by Hand, though.
However, for the same bleak spike in your head, I'd give it a one. I'm just not the audience for dystopian fiction, unless there's a whole lot of payoff, and I didn't get that from this novel. I'll definitely read more by Hand, though.
Mythical fantasy/horror clad in science fiction. In a weird post-apocalyptic world, portions of science survive: such as the Human Engineering Laboratory (HEL) where autistic children tap into patients' brains to cure their nightmares. Outside, an abandoned city is grown over with carnivorous trees and run over by bands of feral cannibalistic mutants (children caught under viral rain) and gene-engineered human-animal hybrids. Amoung them, vestiges of civilization are tended by Houses of Botanist...more
I'm glad this wasn't the first of Elizabeth Hand's books I read, because it's much more hardcore fantasy than I'm used to. And so it took me a while to really get into the book and its world, but I had some familiar Hand elements to help me along. A nice way to broaden my horizons a little bit more! And now I can't wait to read more from this series as well.
Didn't finish, got bored about 2/3 in and wanted things to move more quickly. It just didn't keep me engaged like Waking the Moon or to a lesser extent, Mortal Love (both books also by this author).
This is the possible future in Washington DC... when the people still living there fall into a few small groups... the past has been turned into mythology or forgotten and the world is being changed by biochemical warfare and rampant genetic mutation. There's also a lot of storyline involving some primal mythic concepts and the interplay between the conscious and the subconscious that is interesting and fun. I think this read through I managed to get a lot more out of it than I have in the past,...more
Apr 09, 2013
Mizuki Genshou
marked it as to-read
I have heard about this book since forever, still no chance to read this Sci-Fi book, poor me!
This wonderful dark book of excesses was as enjoyable as the first time I read it twenty years ago.
Her first novel, I think. The others are brilliant, this is merely interesting.
I found this hard to follow, I love dystopia and in parts it fully met my genre, but all in all it was too disturbing with the head smacking and all. Difficult read.
Winterlong by Elizabeth Hand (1990)
Feb 15, 2013
Julie Lepp
added it
Elizabeth Hand is amazing.
Jan 07, 2009
J Simpsonj
is currently reading it
i'll let you know.
A bit of cyberpunk, a bit of mythology and a bit of horror make for a perfect mix in this dystopian novel. I've been a fan of Elizabeth Hand ever since I got my hands on a copy of Black Light and this, her first novel, is probably the most incredible debut I'd ever read. Hand doesn't shy away from uncomfortable subjects and is very upfront with gore and sexuality, yet managing to avoid making it obscene. A gorgeous, unsettling, perfectly-worded and -paced novel.
I enjoyed this much more the second time through.
First read this a few years ago and re-read it recently. It's (very) dystopian, hallucinatory speculative fiction set in a near-future, post-apocalyptic Washington D.C. I liked it the first time around and feel similar now -- it's nothing amazing, but it fit my mood.
Not really worth it. I usually like fantasy novels but this one, right away, starts out with too many unexplained "fantasy" names, places, etc. and it's easy to get lost. A lot of trauma and people dying and kind of gross descriptions of how they die....not my cup of tea.
I like this novel, but because her later novels--Waking the Moon & Mortal Love, for example--are so spectacular, I have to give it three stars, in comparison. If you like sci fi, you will enjoy this one...Hand is an innovative and highly imaginative novelist.
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A New York Times notable and multiple award– winning author, Elizabeth Hand has written seven novels, including the cult classic Waking the Moon, and short-story collections. She is a longtime contributor to numerous publications, including the Washington Post Book World and the Village Voice Literary Supplement. She and her two children divide their time between the coast of Maine and North Londo...more
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