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The Explosionist
by Jenny Davidson
by Jenny Davidson
Aaaaaaah this was awesome. It does some things that are technically Not Allowed in alternate history (such as having real-world historical figures who were born decades after the point of divergence), but I find that easy to forgive, because one of the main points of alternate history is to comment on Actualfax History, and any truly rigorous hard AH would a) be pretty much impossible to create, given that all reference materials refer to Actualfax History and b) end up so different as to be useless for commenting purposes.
The world is fascinating - it's built with the sure hand of someone who knows her way around SF, but it also feels fresh and unlike anything else I've read. Partly it's that the heroine spends most of the book in a boarding school, but mostly it's just that original. It's a kind of dystopia that I really like - at first everything seems pretty ordinary, if allohistorical, but gradually you realise, along with the heroine, that you're in a subtle but hideous dystopia, a self-consciously modern and liberal Enlightenment society that takes Rousseau as its founding document rather than Mill. Any political setup, in order to be stable, has to have a significant class of people who get along all right and don't categorise their society as a dystopia -- *we* live in a horrible dystopia without thinking much about it unless it's forced on our notice -- and characters who have enough freedom of action to make suitable protagonists tend to come from the Getting Along Classes, all of which makes the world of The Explosionist that much more convincing.
But what gets it five stars (I wavered between four and five based on one or two awkward sentences, and would probably give it 4.5 if I could) is the main character and her delightfully matter-of-fact narrative voice. Sophie's brave, smart and determined, but not at all the usual YA heroine: she's serious, academic, introverted and desperately unsporty. I have never felt so represented. (I also love that I have absolutely no idea what she looks like, except for a vague notion that she probably looks like the -- also excellent -- cover art. Refreshing!)
The world is fascinating - it's built with the sure hand of someone who knows her way around SF, but it also feels fresh and unlike anything else I've read. Partly it's that the heroine spends most of the book in a boarding school, but mostly it's just that original. It's a kind of dystopia that I really like - at first everything seems pretty ordinary, if allohistorical, but gradually you realise, along with the heroine, that you're in a subtle but hideous dystopia, a self-consciously modern and liberal Enlightenment society that takes Rousseau as its founding document rather than Mill. Any political setup, in order to be stable, has to have a significant class of people who get along all right and don't categorise their society as a dystopia -- *we* live in a horrible dystopia without thinking much about it unless it's forced on our notice -- and characters who have enough freedom of action to make suitable protagonists tend to come from the Getting Along Classes, all of which makes the world of The Explosionist that much more convincing.
But what gets it five stars (I wavered between four and five based on one or two awkward sentences, and would probably give it 4.5 if I could) is the main character and her delightfully matter-of-fact narrative voice. Sophie's brave, smart and determined, but not at all the usual YA heroine: she's serious, academic, introverted and desperately unsporty. I have never felt so represented. (I also love that I have absolutely no idea what she looks like, except for a vague notion that she probably looks like the -- also excellent -- cover art. Refreshing!)
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Jun 03, 2011 03:13am
Terrific review. Would never have picked this as a YA.
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Moss wrote: "Terrific review. Would never have picked this as a YA."Thanks! It definitely stands up for adult readers.
It looks interesting, but I'm actually wondering what the story itself is about, since the only thing I seem to get info on is the AH
Jan wrote: "It looks interesting, but I'm actually wondering what the story itself is about, since the only thing I seem to get info on is the AH"I concentrated on the AH setting in my review because that was what I enjoyed the book for most, but the plot is pretty good too, if less original in its broad strokes. It starts off with Sophie at boarding school (my favourite part; I love a good boarding school) coping with friends, school conflicts and crushes; she gets drawn into investigating a death, and gradually comes to realise that things in the Scottish government are Not What They Seem. Meanwhile, bombs are going off all over the place, facts are coming to light regarding Sophie's parents' mysterious deaths, and Alternate World War II is about to break out, so things get complicated. Hope this helps - it's sort of hard to describe without getting overly complicated and spoilery.
