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Under the Pendulum Sun

Jeannette Ng (Goodreads Author)

3.49 · Rating details · 2,168 ratings · 572 reviews

Catherine Helstone's brother, Laon, has disappeared in Arcadia, legendary land of the magical fae. Desperate for news of him, she makes the perilous journey, but once there, she finds herself alone and isolated in the sinister house of Gethsemane. At last there comes news: her beloved brother is riding to be reunited with her soon - but the Queen of the Fae and her insane ...more

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Paperback, 409 pages

Published October 3rd 2017 by Angry Robot

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· 2,168 ratings · 572 reviews

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Nov 25, 2017 Hannah rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, arc

I am conflicted. And as is customary in such cases here are my thoughts, first in listform and then more elaborated.

Pro:
Wonderfully atmospheric
Convincingly gothic
Interesting world building

Con:
Pacing
Characters
That super gross twist (mostly this).

I found the premise to be absolutely wonderful: Catherine Helstone is on her way to visit her brother Laon - a Reverend and missionary. When she arrives nothing it quite what it seems - the housekeeper is elusive, her brother is gone, and the place she fi ...more

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May 02, 2018 Stephen Robert Collins rated it it was amazing

Six weeks ago I meet young woman in Darlington Waterstones I started talking as you do about books & she said you must try this young author From Durham City if like fantasy she said it was her best friend she wrote the He titled down,I ordered at the local Libuary & forgot all about till it came in
This is that book. The lesson here speak to strangers in book shops if they are buying books you have read.
This is a what if book.......
In 1843 Loan Helstone a missionary instead of going to deepes Six weeks ago I meet young woman in Darlington Waterstones I started talking as you do about books & she said you must try this young author From Durham City if like fantasy she said it was her best friend she wrote the He titled down,I ordered at the local Libuary & forgot all about till it came in
This is that book. The lesson here speak to strangers in book shops if they are buying books you have read.
This is a what if book.......
In 1843 Loan Helstone a missionary instead of going to deepest darkest Africa goes to Areadia the land of Fae a evil Godless world he hopes to convert the Fae to The Gospels good luck on that.
A Mirror of what missionary life was to the black men who got Christianity shoved down there throat in the 18th & 19th century the 'heathens' weather want it or not. The Fae do not. When Catherine his loving sister who tells the story arrives to Gethsemane a Rebecca style house in sister setting but Rev .Laon Helstone is missing.
This Ghotic Victorian style dark Magical Fantasy with evil Queen of the Fae who is Insane & gess who she is out hunting ?
Well I am very glad I went to Waterstones that day.
With poetry & Biblical quits about the use of salt upon meat & ghostly shadows, changelings, Mr Benjamin the gnome who is only convention to God this has an echo of "I wish I was in Manderley" that I keep hearing whispering in my head as I read it this corker of a creepy horror fantasy
Miss Davenport is lot like Mrs Danvers in Rebecca odd dark vile & then there is the Salamander the invisible house keeper who is in the shadows out of sight but there yet not. Hidden but not .
Then there is use of salt Which makes me feel sick as use little or no salt on food but here before eating you must salt food but not just meat ,fish, chicken but everything even wine , cakes,tarts or strawberries ugh ! Or you be turned or dead or both.
Two dark hidden secrets surprises you later in book ,Mab is The Fairy Queen from Milton 's Paradise Lost .
Ng has made a mistake when she says 'The Jewish Demon' The one in Faust but Jews have no hell they do not believe in the devil or Demons '. This was book I enjoyed for its Religions secrets & the sins with in. ...more

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Jun 21, 2017 Hiba rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, the-holy-shelf-of-beauty, adult, 2017, urban-fantasy, author-to-look-out-for, reviewed

“Saints have further to fall. This place breaks saints. But you and I,” I gave a grim smile, “we have nothing to fear.”

Ummm I'm not if I want to run around the streets with this book in my hand screaming 'UNDERRATED' and thrusting this book in hands of any willing person or buy every other copy of this novel which is ever printed and then steal Jeannette Ng's mind and then run away to a forest. Because damn this book is very very very underrated but it's not for everyone.

Under the Pendulum Sun is a dark, gruesome and eerie historical fantasy set up in Victorian Era. The author created a faeland known as Arcadia but kept us truly immersed in the mindset of victorian missionary. Some may find the thoughts of these missionaries appalling and some devoutees may agree with the missionaries' thoughts and perceptions. but they are not represented anything like that. Theological discussions between faes and missionaries is the main part of this book. For someone to truly enjoy this book, one had to keep aside their own views on Christian theology, whether negative or positive, and truly submerge themselves into the mind of Catherine Helstone.

Catherine Helstone's brother is a missionary who had gone to the land of fae, Arcadia. After recieving no news of his, Catherine decided to venture into this perilious land herself where only those who can truly get lost can go. Once she reaches Arcadia, she's met with Mrs Davenport who is changelling and is host of Laon, Catherine's brother, appointed by the ever cunning The Pale Queen. Miss Davenport take Catherine to Gethsemane, a strange and eerie castle in which her brother is residing. Upon reaching this strange place, she discovers her brother is not here and no one allows her to leave. So now Catherine is left to herself in an alien world to look into the mysterious castle with its many secret. Each day she discovers that Arcadia, with its pendulum sun and fish moon, is even stranger then anyone could ever imagine. As she discovers the diary of Reverand Roche, the former missionary toArcadia who died due to reasons unknown, Cathy realizes that truth is something that will truly break her apart.

The world woven here by author is truly a wonderful one. Each and every detail of the castle, of faes, of these strange animals and flowers everything was so vividly imagined. Arcadia has a pendulum sun that moves to one part of the land and then to another to complete one year cycle. The moon of this land is a giant fush that floats in the cloud.

The moon was a fish. Or rather, the moon dangled from a pole in front of a wide-jawed piscine. As it swam closer, I saw the light gleaming off its long, long teeth that curved from its lips. Its eyes bulged from its face, white, lidless and staring. Tail whipping back and forth, its scales shimmered, iridescent.

These are only two of many wonderful and strange things that Jeannette Ng introduced to us in this book. I wish I could explain each and every little detail of this world to you but I don't want to quote the whole book. But if you take a look on my reading updates, I've mentioned few of my favourite descriptions from this book. I hope they are enough to make anyone reading them pick this book up.

Under the Pendulum Sun, despise having rich world building, is not the fantasy of war and swords. It is rather a game of mental fuck played by the cunning Pale Queen. The whole story is concentrated in the castle of Gethsemane where our main character and her brother try to unfold the secrets and origin of Fae and Arcadia, about God and about soul. Sins of various sort is the main part of this book. It is the story of many twists and turns and the end result is satisfyingly mundane. Yes, mundane. But it was good kind of mundane and once you've read the whole book and then sit down for ten minutes thinking about the book, you would realize how perfect the conclusion was.

I've said it before, this book is creepy and explores various sort of sins explored so there is one thing I should give heads-up for and that is:(view spoiler)

It's cruel, it's creepy, it's disturbing and it's very very interesting. Kind of the book you want to read again and again to truly appreciate its creepiness.

I have one tiny miny complain with the author. In her acknowledgements she said her next story would be slightly less creepy and I just want to say nooooo. Please Jeannette Ng, please don't write any less creepy stories. Write more creepy and haunting stories. More. Please. ...more

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Oct 08, 2017 K.J. Charles added it

Shelves: fairytale, alt-victorian, fantasy

In which a pair of Victorian missionary siblings set out to convert the Fae to Christianity. This is a genius idea, colliding Victorian evangelical-colonial smugness with a world too strange and powerful for them to comprehend.

It's an odd book in some ways. The pacing is slow in the first half, as the location and characters are pretty static, and there's a lot of theology, in which it's very true to the earnest Victorian novels it riffs on. There's a great sense of creeping menace though, and ...more

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Jan 15, 2019 Gabrielle rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, historical, reviewed, own-a-copy, mystery, gothic, read-in-2019, cover-art

Stylish, richly imagined and lush with beautiful details… This might just be my favorite historical fantasy novel since “Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell”, which is saying something. Also, that cover art is straight up amazing and I can’t stop looking at it.

The celebrated Captain Cook filled in many blanks on the world map during his perilous expeditions. But his final and most mysterious voyage took him to Arcadia, the land of the Fae; a continent that can only be accessed in the trickiest ways Stylish, richly imagined and lush with beautiful details… This might just be my favorite historical fantasy novel since “Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell”, which is saying something. Also, that cover art is straight up amazing and I can’t stop looking at it.

The celebrated Captain Cook filled in many blanks on the world map during his perilous expeditions. But his final and most mysterious voyage took him to Arcadia, the land of the Fae; a continent that can only be accessed in the trickiest ways, and that is as similar to the world we are familiar with as it is different. And, naturally, the same way the Church sent brave missionaries all over the most exotic corners of the world in order to save the natives’ souls, a missionary has also been sent to bring the Gospels to the Fae. I mean, how can that possibly go wrong?... Laon Helstone is the latest missionary sent to Arcadia; when his very determined sister Catherine stops hearing from him, she decides to go find out what happened to him – while also being tasked to retrieve the precedent missionary’s journals and bring them back to England. When she gets to the strange manor house of Gethsemane, she realizes things are even more mysterious than they seemed at first. She is locked in a strange house with even stranger servants, none of whom will tell her where her brother is, or what fate his predecessor met. And when Laon finally joins her, it is only to announce the imminent visit of the Pale Queen of the Fae, Mab herself.

I love a good Gothic novel, and the surreal settings (I just love the idea of the titular pendulum sun - and fish moon!) and menacing characters truly begged for the full Victorian treatment; I think Jeannette Ng definitely did the genre justice in her own weird way. The classic tropes of creepy houses, dark secrets and shifty people are just perfect for a story about the Fae: I’ve always preferred the dark, uncensored fairy tales, where the mystical creatures are as clever and cruel as they are beautiful and fascinating, and this is exactly how they are portrayed here. Seen through Catherine’s eyes, this world is so alien, with its bizarre customs, duplicitous inhabitants and illogical architecture.

The idea of throwing theology in there was a really unique element that I was pleasantly surprised by. I grew up in a Catholic household, so I was very familiar with a lot of the names and concepts discussed, and I enjoyed the characters’ questions and debates. The Fae have a very interesting interpretation of some of the stories in the Gospels, and human attempts to explain those stories to creatures who look at the world is such a different way is a great way of framing the arguments. Ng has really done her homework there, and uses the idea of missionary work to explore the nature of human and Fae souls, the concept of sin, the cultural clash between the Puritanism of Victorian England vs. the wild laws of Arcadia.

The baroque world building is stunningly creative, but I must say that the cleverest part of it is the absolutely claustrophobic way Ng sets the story in the mysterious and labyrinthine house of Gethsemane. Indeed, like Catherine, we never really leave the house, except for the occasional walk in its gardens or strange chapels. This creates a great atmosphere of eerie paranoia and suffocation, especially as the strange nature of the Helstone siblings’ relationship comes to light, and as we untangle what happened to Laon’s predecessor, Reverend Roche. The infamous Queen of the Fae is as cruel and manipulative as one can hope just a grand character to be, and the game she plays with Catherine’s mind is simply perverse.

This book is a haunting and yet whimsical ride through a carefully imagined fairyland; and while the pacing can be a little uneven at times, and Laon suffers from a case of “I don’t get what the big deal is about you, guy”, this is a great read that should interest anyone who likes dark fairy tales and Brontë-style Gothic melodrama. 4 stars! ...more

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May 22, 2018 Chris rated it liked it

Shelves: fantasy, horror

"Two-thirds of the way through Shirley Caroline Helstone's eyes change from brown to blue. This is not an unparalleled phenomenon in a novel. In Shirley however it is unexpected, for here Charlotte Brontë is much occupied with the looks of her characters."
-- from the abstract to J M S Tompkins, 'Caroline Helstone's Eyes' Brontë Society Transactions Volume 14, 1961, Issue 1

I very much wanted to like this novel. Described as a 'gothic fantasy with a theological twist' Under a Pendulum Sun ...more

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Sep 05, 2017 A.M. Steiner rated it it was ok · review of another edition

This gothic tale is stylishly told; imaginative and full of wondrous imagery. In rich prose, it details the adventures of a young lady who enters the land of the fae in search of her brother, a missionary who has gone missing. The premise is great, and the language is lovely, but unfortunately, after a strong first three chapters, the story turns slight and painfully slow. It's also curiously devoid of any sense of conflict. The book seems to assume that in-depth theological conversations and an ...more

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Feb 23, 2018 Samantha Shannon rated it it was amazing

Shelves: fantasy, irish-and-uk-adult, female-antagonist

A fresh and clever take on the ever-popular Fae, Under the Pendulum Sun is a twisted Gothic nightmare that has shot up there to become one of my favourite books of all time, and I do not say that lightly. The pitch – two Victorian missionaries attempting to convert Queen Mab and her Fae to Christianity – sounds almost too good to be true, but trust me, it more than lives up to it. You can tell Jeannette Ng has done meticulous research into this time period. Set in the eerie realm of Arcadia, her ...more

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Mar 07, 2019 Lady H rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-in-2019, favorites, pretty-covers, cool-title-bro

When I first finished this book, I commented here that I felt like I required an academic article in order to properly understand everything referenced. I am still convinced of that; this Kafkaesque novel is one of the most dense, erudite stories I've ever come across. The summary is, I think, a tad misleading, as it seems to hint at some sort of chase, but there is little to no movement at all in Under the Pendulum Sun. The novel takes place entirely in Gethsemane, a classic Gothic castle that When I first finished this book, I commented here that I felt like I required an academic article in order to properly understand everything referenced. I am still convinced of that; this Kafkaesque novel is one of the most dense, erudite stories I've ever come across. The summary is, I think, a tad misleading, as it seems to hint at some sort of chase, but there is little to no movement at all in Under the Pendulum Sun. The novel takes place entirely in Gethsemane, a classic Gothic castle that perfectly captures the claustrophobia of traditional Gothic settings. And indeed, the influence of the Gothic literary tradition is blatant: from the Brontes to Udolpho, this book delights in paying homage to Gothic classics. Even the writing feels properly Victorian; the amount of research Jeannette Ng put into this book is evident in how realistic the writing and dialogue feel for the time period.

So, what does happen in this book? Well, not very much, which is part of the problem. We follow Catherine Helstone, who embarks on a voyage to Arcadia, the world of the fairies, in search of her brother Laon, who has gone to be a missionary. Upon her arrival in Gethsemane, however, she is surprised to find that Loan is not there, and as she waits for him, her frustration and tedium grow. These feelings are inevitably shared by the reader, as the meandering and slow pace of this Gothic novel unfolds. Eventually, Laon does arrive, and things become much more intriguing from then on, as I, personally, found Cathy and Laon's relationship fascinating. However, it's still very, very slow-paced, which, as interviews with Jeannette Ng reveal, was absolutely intentional in order to recreate an "aggressively Victorian" Gothic tone, complete with secrets, heavy mists, claustrophobia, confusion, and general weirdness.

Perhaps that's just as well, because the plot, such as it is, is not really the point here at all. Under the Pendulum Sun is a novel replete with theological underpinnings that touches heavily on colonialism, imperialism, and the morality of missionary work. As someone completely unfamiliar with Judeo-Christian mythology, many of the references flew completely over my head. I do think one can still enjoy the novel without this knowledge, but the experience will be much less rich. After all, our two main characters are a Victorian missionary and his sister, and unlike many neo-Victorian novels that seem to have simply inserted 21st-century characters into past settings, Cathy and Laon feel like actual Victorians, with their English decorum and religious sensibilities.

In addition to the various theological references and allusions there are also plenty of theological debates discussed, such as the meaning of souls, the actuality of transubstantiation, the parentage of Jesus, the question of Othering, and more. There is also, towards the end of the book when the reality of Arcadia is revealed, musings on the origin of God Himself. These musings wonder at the loneliness of God before his Creation and ponder whether God may have Himself been the last remnant of some inestimable race of beings, defined by mankind only by his one act of Creation. And why has God never again created? These particular musings had chills running down my spine.

This question of how far we understand our reality is a prominent thread running throughout the book. Cathy and Laon wonder if the fae are liars or selective truth-tellers, but the question is never truly answered. The fae queen Mab, after "revealing" the reality of the fae at the end of a masquerade, later tells Cathy that she hadn't revealed the truth at all, but only revealed another reality, another version of truth. It forces you, as the reader, to question every seeming truth that is revealed to you, which makes this a bit of a frustrating read.

I have to touch on the aspect of this novel that polarized readers, and I suppose this where this review heads a little into spoiler territory. So: Cathy and Laon's relationship descends into incest. This was probably the most compelling part of the book for me; I'm hugely drawn to consensual brother/sister incest (I already know I'm trash, don't @ me). Ng mentions that V.C. Andrews' Flowers in the Attic, a Gothic family saga featuring incest, was a huge influence for her, and I have the same experience. I first read Flowers in the Attic when I was twelve or thirteen, at a largely turbulent and formative period of my life, and its effect on me was indelible. So almost immediately, from the sensual way Cathy described her brother, I could tell where this was heading, and I was delighted.

This revelation shed some light on Laon's character as the tortured Gothic hero with a drinking problem, as it becomes clear that Laon fled England in an attempt to escape his sister and his sin in desiring her. One of the reasons I'm so fascinated by the taboo of consensual incest is that, despite the horror it evokes in most people, it is ultimately an act that hurts no one at all, and so the question of why it is so taboo becomes a complex one. It's no less fascinating here, whereupon in the wake of murder, Laon's main concern is still his sinful desire for his sister. Watching him then attempt to reconcile his own sins with his identity as a missionary, a paragon of moral goodness, is incredibly satisfying. I really enjoyed his character, as I did Cathy's; they are both compelling and realistic, and any time they were together the scene was absolutely electric.

There is so much more I could say about this novel, which I found both maddeningly frustrating and achingly atmospheric. It's a complex, multilayered story that really deserves to be featured in some sort of academic publication for the sheer complexity and density of its intellectual underpinnings. It's also an utterly strange but masterful blending of neo-Victorian and secondary world fantasy, culminating in a book that is just plain odd; there is so much weirdness inherent in the story that at some point it becomes futile to try to understand it all. I haven't stopped thinking about it since I finished it, and I've been seeking out reviews and interviews in an attempt to break down its meanings. Though I only rated it four stars because I was frustrated by the (intentional) slow pace, length, and weirdness for the sake of weirdness, this is definitely a book that will stay with me for a long, long time. In fact, I don't think I will ever forget it, and I can only hope to one day write something this strange and sinister. ...more

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Sep 27, 2017 Rod Duncan rated it it was amazing

Some stories sell themselves in a sentence. I mean, Snakes on a Plane, right? You hear the title and you think, I’ve got to see that. I may hate myself afterwards. I probably will. But I need to know.

I had the same experience when I heard Marc Gascoigne last year describing a new acquisition by Angry Robot. “Nineteenth Century Christian missionaries travel to Arcadia to convert the Fae.”

A brilliant idea. Marc said he almost bought it on the strength of the pitch. But would the story live up to Some stories sell themselves in a sentence. I mean, Snakes on a Plane, right? You hear the title and you think, I’ve got to see that. I may hate myself afterwards. I probably will. But I need to know.

I had the same experience when I heard Marc Gascoigne last year describing a new acquisition by Angry Robot. “Nineteenth Century Christian missionaries travel to Arcadia to convert the Fae.”

A brilliant idea. Marc said he almost bought it on the strength of the pitch. But would the story live up to the promise? I got hold of an advance review copy to find out. Here’s what the publisher says about it:

Catherine Helstone’s brother, Laon, has disappeared in Arcadia, legendary land of the magical fae. Desperate for news of him, she makes the perilous journey, but once there, she finds herself alone and isolated in the sinister house of Gethsemane. At last there comes news: her beloved brother is riding to be reunited with her soon – but the Queen of the Fae and her insane court are hard on his heels.

There is a great imagination at work here. Jeannette layers her writing, ratcheting up the oppressive, Gothic atmosphere. Catherine is snared in half truths and lost in a maze of impossible architecture. But never completely. In spite of the constrictions, she finds ways to exert her own volition, her own personality. And because of that we find ourselves entirely on her side.

One of the things I really like about this story is the way the author balances fairy lore and Biblical beliefs. We may see the missionaries as naive and we will certainly think their colonial views are appalling. But they are not presented as ridiculous. That is a real achievement. Because of it, theological discussions between missionary and fae end up having a genuine dramatic heft.

Under the Pendulum Sun does live up to its fabulous pitch. A richly woven fantasy from a brilliant imagination. Definitely one for readers interested in fairy lore and Gothic fantasy.

Full disclosure: I received my copy of the book free. My own novels are put out by the same publisher, Angry Robot.
...more

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Oct 29, 2020 Allison Hurd rated it did not like it

Shelves: authors-of-color, fantasy, fem-author

Time of death: 52%

So, nothing has happened, despite some great scenery and what I thought might be hints of things about to happen, and the twist is full on squicky and predictable. Let's also not forget the literal preaching and endless prattle about different theologians. Bleh.

...more

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May 30, 2017 imyril rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: review-copies, subjective-chaos-2018

I've taken my time reading this because I've been sick and because the festive season can be more distracting than enabling. But I don't think this has done the book any harm - it's a bit like reading a snow globe, a magical, distracting, half-seen whirl of ideas and promises as its protagonist ventures into Faerie to find her brother the missionary and save the souls of the Fae. Needless to say, what she finds is not what she expects, but the book does wonders in giving you glimpses of the nigh ...more

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Jan 06, 2019 Edward Rathke rated it did not like it

Shelves: fantasy

Sort of an odd book. I loved the first 100 pages, was still on board for the next hundred, but became less and less interested in the novel as it went. I probably should have quit during a big reveal towards the middle, but I kept going, only to find that reveal even dumber in retrospect.

See, this is a really difficult book to talk about without spoiling something, so I'm just going to use the spoiler tag and crack into it.

(view spoiler) Sort of an odd book. I loved the first 100 pages, was still on board for the next hundred, but became less and less interested in the novel as it went. I probably should have quit during a big reveal towards the middle, but I kept going, only to find that reveal even dumber in retrospect.

See, this is a really difficult book to talk about without spoiling something, so I'm just going to use the spoiler tag and crack into it.

(view spoiler)[
My biggest problem has to do with this whole changeling aspect. For a book that is ostensibly about incest, I found it cowardly to reveal that Catherine is not, in fact, related to her brother. More than that, she's not even the same species. More than that! She's not even real at all!

This is a stupid reveal for a few reasons. The first being that it actually uncomplicates the novel. There are a lot of little mysteries running about and around Catherine, but the real driving force in the novel is her love and sexual attraction to her brother. This is an interesting conflict! Her brother literally ran away from reality to enter the world of the fae as a missionary in order to avoid his sister, who he has an intense sexual attraction to.

I mean, your interest will vary here because incest is pretty taboo.

But that's what makes it exciting and fascinating! Ng leans into their incestuous love for one another. This is something few authors really have ever attempted, I think. To center a book on incest and make us sympathize with people hovering on the edge of this taboo. Both Laon and Catherine are repulsed by their attraction to one another, but they're also unable to separate themselves. They want one another but are afraid to give in. They need this love but know it's wrong.

So to reveal that Catherine is a changeling and not even human is kind of a cowardly way out, I think. It devalues what Ng was doing here.

But the biggest problem with this reveal is how easily Catherine buys it. Now, part of this is, no doubt, so that she can excuse her own incestuous love for her brother. But this was an earth shattering reveal for her and she just accepts it without any pushback. Like, that's genuinely insane to me. To live your whole life believing you're human and then you just give up that belief because literally one single person who you barely know and don't even particularly like tells you that, no, you're not actually human seems to stretch the limits of believability to ridiculous lengths.

It's the opening she needs to give into her incestuous relationship with her brother, but it's also weak as hell and completely dumb. It makes Catherine immediately into a very weak and silly character. Someone with the determination to sail into the fae lands in search of her lost brother seems like someone with a lot of self assurance. Someone with plenty of internal strength. And yet, she gives up on her life and her humanity because one person told her she's actually a construct of a real woman.

Then, too, just because you're not biologically related doesn't mean that you're not siblings. That's the other problematic aspect here. That only biology matters.

Anyrate, this is where the book became less interesting to me. Mostly because Catherine became hard to buy as a character.

What makes this reveal that Catherine's a changeling even stupider is that, much later, it's revealed that, no, she actually is human, and Laon actually is her biological brother. Like...come on. I found it hard enough to believe that Catherine would believe that she's secretly been a changeling her whole life, but then to discover that the whole thing was a very poorly devised trick by one of the fae was just silly.
(hide spoiler)]

The other issues with the book are the mysteries that are meant to drive you onward, or at least drive the characters onward. It's all sort of interesting, but it felt underdeveloped, and the reveals that come at the end of unraveling this knot are ultimately kind of silly. Or, not silly, but not really worth the effort, I think.

The writing is, in general, very good here. Ng creates an atmosphere that breathes off the page. The utter strangeness of the fae lands is fascinating and definitely good enough to keep you pushing through even when much of the book begins to fall flat. And then there's Mr Benjamin, who is one of my favorite types of character.

But, yeah, had higher expectations for this novel given how much buzz it's received.

Would not recommend this, unfortunately. There is a lot of good writing in here, but the book as a whole is very, very dumb. Which is especially a shame because it was so close to being very brave, albeit icky. ...more

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Nov 24, 2020 Jenna rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction, speculative-fiction, as-am-or-asian-british-writers

Its closest antecedents are Jane Eyre and Wuthering Heights, especially the former, to whose narrative beats it holds up a twisted funhouse mirror and which it sometimes quotes almost-verbatim in its lampshading way; elements of Goblin Market and Tam Lin are also mixed in, together with some impressively original world-building drawn from Ng's own imagination. I would contend that Matthew Lewis's The Monk is also a direct ancestor, though. Not a book for kids or the faint of heart (it takes a th ...more

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Nov 19, 2017 Lata rated it really liked it

Shelves: scifi-fantasy, bipoc-author, auth-f, x2017-read

Beautifully written story of a pair of missionaries to Arcadia, with a (misguided, smug, arrogant) desire to convert the fae to Christianity. Reverend Laon Helstone has been in Arcadia for months, and his sister Catherine arrives in the land because she hasn't heard from him for a long time.
She's met by a changeling, Ariel Davenport, and taken to the home/castle where Loan has been staying. Catherine arrives and is then kept practically captive there, waiting for Laon. Catherine occupies herself ...more

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Jul 26, 2018 Maša rated it liked it

Shelves: 2018, sf-fantasy, rfantasy-bingo-2018

Missionaries in a fairyland. Just reading this sentence gave me goosebumps. A brother and sister with an incestous vibe, in an omnious castle in the middle of the changing fog. Theological discussions with gnomes. Interesting, no? Eeh..

This is a book with a really interesting premise, dragging plot, and characters so mysterious you stop caring what happens to them.

The plot twists were surprising only to the characters, and the way some of the themes were handled was just... off. The emotions we ...more

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Aug 05, 2018 nat. added it

with a combination of Christian theology and fairy themes, here you find a world that feels more like a dream. almost claustrophobic with its strange creatures and fae politics. hauntingly beautiful and gothically atmospheric.

I honestly crave more

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Oct 14, 2017 kari rated it really liked it

Eerie, frightening, and cleverly written. Starts with a slow narrative of a Victorian novel to surprise and dazzle with plot twists. I've been yelling about the book on Twitter and telling my friends to read it - I want to discuss it all, the hints and references, the disturbing imagery and emotional impact, and just collectively squee about HOW GOOD it is. ...more

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Apr 15, 2020 Andi C Buchanan rated it it was amazing

As someone with pet snails named Laon and Cythna I was predisposed to like this book. It surpassed my hopes. Nothing has affected my sleeping and waking worlds - and my inability to distinguish between the two - since that one Doctor Who story with neanderthals from Java. Under the Pendulum Sun is smart, rich, fantastically referential, and gloriously messed up. I would give it more than five stars if I could.

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Apr 24, 2018 Julie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: owned

Umm, wow.

This might be the strangest book I've ever read.

I wasn't sure I even liked it until about pg 342. Up until then, I'd been reveling in the world-building, but put off by the plot and MC. Not the whole plot, just the spoilery part that gave me the ewws. Not the whole MC, but the droopy and oh woe is me bits required for gothic drama.

But, the spoilery ick turned out to be necessary, as I hoped it would, and all was well under heaven and hell. I am a convert.

Super points to the author for ...more

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Aug 22, 2017 Rachel Noel rated it it was amazing

*Free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Let me start out by saying: Holy wah. Holy wah! Holy WAH! This book was an amazing read! I can't remember the last time I was tempted to take a day off work just to finish a book! There were so many things to think about and work through! I generally highlight parts of a book that make me think, or to look up later, or that might be clues for the overall story. Usually I highlight just a few things overall. I swear I highlighted almost half the book ju *Free copy in exchange for an honest review.

Let me start out by saying: Holy wah. Holy wah! Holy WAH! This book was an amazing read! I can't remember the last time I was tempted to take a day off work just to finish a book! There were so many things to think about and work through! I generally highlight parts of a book that make me think, or to look up later, or that might be clues for the overall story. Usually I highlight just a few things overall. I swear I highlighted almost half the book just because there was so much that struck me!

You can tell Jeannette Ng has done the research on this. Not just because she has her Master's in Medieval and Renaissance studies (by the way this book takes place in 1800's) but also because of her mastery of the language. She uses the terminology these characters would have used in their time, in their place. My favorite part was that the Fae tell how long it takes to get somewhere, not with time or distance, but stories. For example, the Pale Queen commented to the Salamander that it had been too long since they'd last seen each other.
The Salamander bowed deep, her wet-seeming scales glistening. "It has been as long as it takes to tell a tale, neither long nor short."
And this really gives you an insight into the Fae mindset. If one doesn't measure time by seconds and minutes or distance in feet or meters, it really affects your interpretation of the world around you.

The best part, for me, is that everything ended up making perfect sense. When I got to the end of the book and saw the full scope of this story my jaw dropped in awe. I don't want to give any spoilers, but I will say that the Mastermind of it all has much more power, influence and insight than I had EVER thought to give them credit for! I was floored by how little I had comprehended! Don't get me wrong, the story's only told from Catherine's perspective, but still! I ended up falling into the same thought trap that she did and I almost never do that! I was so caught up in this story that I was unable to predict, unable to see, except as hindsight. IT WAS AWESOME!

I'll admit, the dark, gothic fantasy genre isn't for everyone. If you are interested in true fairy tales, like the original dark Brother's Grimm stuff, you'll probably like this. There's a lot of theology mixed with mythology that does such a wonderful job of tickling one's curiosity.

I am so in love with this book that I'm pre-ordering it (click the picture above to go to the book's page). I happily give this book 5 hoots and look forward to more books from Jeannette Ng! ...more

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Aug 11, 2019 Kari Rhiannon (Moon Magister Reviews) rated it really liked it

Content Warnings: Incest and body horror.

This is such a strange book. The basic premise is that the Sister of one of the first missionaries to the fae land of Arcadia goes to find her absent brother. She finds a delightfully dark and bizarre world with an ancient crumbling house and a inhuman queen. It has an incredible and rich gothic religious atmosphere.

However, and don’t read on if you don’t like spoilers...

A large part of the plot revolves around incest. It’s a common plot device in these k ...more

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Aug 02, 2018 Megan Baxter rated it really liked it

I haven't written all the reviews for Hugo-nominated works and authors yet, but I have now read them all and put my ballot together, which was very exciting. It's going to take me a few days to catch up on writing about the books I pushed to finish on time, and here was one of the late entries. It was also one I like a whole heck of a lot. Jeannette Ng was nominated for the Campbell Award this year, and I think this is a very strong contender in that category.

Note: The rest of this review has be ...more

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Oct 09, 2017 Kelsey rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2017-releases

I received a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley for review.
Video review here: https://youtu.be/nYU6Q3H_WHM

Under the Pendulum Sun is a dark, psychological fantasy in a gothic vein, paying considerable literary homage to authors such as the Brontës. Impressively, Jeannette Ng manages to keep her debut novel grounded in historical reality despite its taking place entirely in the faelands. She accomplishes this by immersing us entirely in the Victorian missionary mindset of her characters, I received a digital ARC from the publisher via NetGalley for review.
Video review here: https://youtu.be/nYU6Q3H_WHM

Under the Pendulum Sun is a dark, psychological fantasy in a gothic vein, paying considerable literary homage to authors such as the Brontës. Impressively, Jeannette Ng manages to keep her debut novel grounded in historical reality despite its taking place entirely in the faelands. She accomplishes this by immersing us entirely in the Victorian missionary mindset of her characters, a subject that she has clearly researched in great detail. To a modern fantasy reader, the idea of converting the fae to Christianity is obvious and absurd folly, but to Catherine Helstone and her brother Laon it is only the natural course of action. Since childhood they have dreamed of seeing distant lands, and for products of their time and place, such adventure is inexorably tied to the salvation of the "heathens." So what more thrilling country could there be to venture to than fairyland? And what nobler place to spread the word of God? And yes, it does indeed go rather poorly for them... but not necessarily in the ways you might expect given that premise.

In this alternate history, the English have established trade with the fae country known as Arcadia (also referred to at times as Elphane), at whose shores one can only arrive by getting lost. The sun here is a lantern on a pendulum, and the moon a fish that swims through the sky, constant reminders that this place is unlike any other known to humankind. The story begins with Cathy's arrival in Arcadia, anxious for news of her missionary brother and certain that he needs her help. She finds to her dismay that her brother's mission is a remote and near-deserted castle with no access to the local population, that her brother is not there, that no one will tell her where he is, and that she is not allowed to leave. So much for adventure, all Cathy can do is knit and make small talk with her changeling guide Miss Davenport, field theological questions she can't answer from the mission's sole convert, a gnome named Mr. Benjamin, and wonder what happened to cause her brother, once her ally and professed equal in all things, to abandon her to an empty and unfulfilled woman's existence in England. But the castle also holds a mystery that puzzles her. What happened to the previous missionary, Reverend Roche? Is the answer in the papers Cathy discovers, written in a language she cannot decipher, or in Roche's journal, which she has been instructed not to read?

Under the Pendulum Sun is a seeming contradiction of a book, set in a rich fantasy land, but with action contained to a single locale, wherein the characters incapable of questioning the existence of either their God or the fae magic that surrounds them. The first portion of the book is incredibly slow-moving, and while the pace picks up somewhat after Laon's arrival, followed by that of the fae queen Mab (known as the Pale Queen) and her court, it never ceases to be dense going. There's an incredible amount to unpack here, and a lot of it relies heavily on complicated theology. (I did a lot of Googling and re-reading of passages, which is part of why it took me a rather long time to finish.) Everything must hinge on the question of Arcadia's place in God's Creation, outside the bounds of the understood natural world as it is. What is the nature of the fae and their presumed souls? How might a human preach to them? And what point is there to parable in a land where everything is already in some way a story? These are just a few of the many questions posed.

But in addition to being ideologically dense, Under the Pendulum Sun is one of the most genuinely creepy and haunting books I've read in a long time. Mab holds the keys to inner Arcadia and had the power to grant true access to the faelands, but she is playing mind games with her "pet missionary" supplicant and his sister, and frighteningly dark ones at that. Unsurprisingly, sin turns out to be a major theme, as Arcadia contrives to test these mortals' convictions to their breaking points.

Although it is almost certainly a spoiler, there is some content that I don't feel wholly comfortable omitting from a review, since it becomes a huge part of the story, and I can imagine some readers feeling like they should have been given a heads up. (view spoiler)

I'll admit, I went into this book sort of expecting a more pointed modern critique of religious ideology and colonialism, but this isn't a particularly "pointed" book; it's a book that makes you do your own thinking, and having seen the whole story play out, I'm satisfied with what it accomplishes. At times, Under the Pendulum Sun scratched the itch for "literary" fantasy (for lack of a better term) that I've been harboring since finishing Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell. Though Ng's tone is more brooding and less witty than Clarke's, both books share a rich sense of lived-in alternate history and acute understanding of fae folklore.

I still have some questions about things that happened in this book that I've been turning over in my head since I finished it, and I know that there are some arguments that I didn't quite follow. There are a surprising number of twists, reveals, and reversals, given that it's a nearly action-less and essentially idea-driven book. Regardless, it's dark and moody, and was a good reading choice for the month of October. ...more

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Feb 17, 2020 Mohammed Arabey rated it liked it

First quarter (3 ☆)/ The Middle Half (2 ☆)/ The Last quarter (5 ☆)

Claustrophobic atmosphere Under the Pendulum Sun.... a very daring bold mix between theology and fantasy, the fae and souls and salvation... Adam and Eve..the first sin..
A bold re-writing of the Genesis and the creation of the world in the point of view of Faes..and it's shocking..
But alas all that happens only by the last quarter...after prolonged chapters where mostly not much happening or too weird and creepy events to not-tha ...more

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Oct 17, 2018 idiomatic rated it really liked it

Shelves: disco-inferno

the pacing of the last half is fucked (literally cut 100 pages from part 3) but "victorian christian missionaries take their victorian christian missionary hubris to FAIRYLAND" is the best concept i've heard in at least a year and the execution is SO tailored to me, from dante jokes to the heroine running anguished down the halls in a nightgown to her hot priest brother's hot priest crises. and somehow - somewhere between the deeply in-depth backbone of research that informs it and the highly ma ...more

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Nov 21, 2020 Elena rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy, gothic, fairy-tale

this book was really well written and atmospheric and great but the main reason it's 4 stars is because i really respect creating an entire complex mythology and going absolutely bonkers with worldbuilding and having your incest kink at the heart of everything. perfect. no notes. like all the horny gays who built enormous fuck-off churches in europe. gay rights ...more

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Jan 30, 2018 Ayunda rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

Whatever it is you expected this book to be, this book is definitely not it. Under the Pendulum Sun is a fantasy novel that is so uniquely written and I have never ever encountered any other books even close to what this book is about. Essentially, this is a story of Catherine Helstone, a Reverend's sister who was sent to Arcadia, a world different from ours in which the sun is a pendulum. With eerie creatures roaming the place, unrealistic weather and seasons due to the movement of the sun, and Whatever it is you expected this book to be, this book is definitely not it. Under the Pendulum Sun is a fantasy novel that is so uniquely written and I have never ever encountered any other books even close to what this book is about. Essentially, this is a story of Catherine Helstone, a Reverend's sister who was sent to Arcadia, a world different from ours in which the sun is a pendulum. With eerie creatures roaming the place, unrealistic weather and seasons due to the movement of the sun, and a cast of different races of creatures living alongside humans, Cathy encounters a conflict between the Fae, her brother, and herself.

There are so many things that I loved about this book. The writing was phenomenal (for proof of the wonderful writing in this book, check out my Bookmarks at the end of this review). It is a combination of imaginative, lyrical, contemplative, and beautiful at the same time. It describes the world beautifully through Cathy's eyes, while also depicting her thoughts and feelings, her mind's dilemmas and confusion.

The worldbuilding was unique - a pendulum sun! That is an amazingly one-of-a-kind premise, added to the fact that there are so many creatures aside from Fae in Arcadia, my favourite including the sea whale, which is slightly different from the earth's whales.

The characters in this book are not that many compared to other fantasy novels or series. The main character and her relationship with the other characters were what's the most important here, and I thoroughly like Cathy. She was a smart, sensible, brave woman and I had a blast reading from her point of view. I wasn't a huge fan of Laon, or basically any of the other characters here. Though I really liked how every character is not just one-dimensional, I feel like some of them lack understanding from the readers because they are a different race, not human, and therefore we don't know how their kind are like (physically, how they act, and their thoughts).

Story-wise, I understand probably 75% of the entire book. The writing and the length of the book itself, the different characters and places and weird instances, they were all a little too confusing. But the thing that made me lose it was probably all the theology, the theories Cathy and her brother threw around, her speculations about everything, all the religious talk, it was all over my head and too difficult to understand.

And of course there is the controversial aspect that occurred about two thirds through the novel that basically divided everyone into hating the book and loving it (view spoiler). Personally, I had sort of sensed it coming. Even from the beginning I could tell from the writing style (view spoiler) that something was going on, so it wasn't a huge surprise when it happened. I didn't love the executive decision that led the story that way. However, I thought it was bold and unique, and though it's not something I necessarily believed in, it added another layer to the story, another dilemma that occurred at least through Laon's mind (apparently Cathy was entirely unfazed by the whole idea until the very end).

But additionally, there were quite a lot of twists and turns in the book that I entirely didn't expect. I liked the little twist at the end, and really brought the story into a climax while for the first 300 pages I sort of felt like the story felt a little too flat with no clear ups and downs. The writing style and plotline of this book was generally quite differently structured from any other book I've ever read.

So overall, words that people have described this book with on their reviews were just correct: eerie, dark, Gothic, trippy, disturbing. This book was all that, and more. It was Victorian combined with innovative, historical and theological, and it deals with a lot of different themes. With exquisite writing and a world no one could've even thought of, this was such a great read.

PS: I had the honour of meeting with Jeannette Ng and hearing her talk on the Dutch Comic Con in 2017 and at first I had never even heard of her. I bought her book a few weeks after that and I didn't really expect much. She was definitely an author I will look out for in the future! :)

Bookmarks:
Mab threw back her head and laughed.
It was a sound that filled every nook and cranny of that tiny chapel and squirmed its way, writhing, under my skin. Reverberating, it shook the foundations of the stone and shivered through my bones, like an ote through a tuning fork. (p. 174) ...more

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Sep 25, 2017 Tanya Tate marked it as to-read

I got approved by Edelweiss but denied by Netgally for this arc.....

Heh Heh...

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Aug 24, 2017 Helen rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: diversity, fantasy, magic, reviewed, arc, horror, fairy-tales, cover-love, good-to-read-in-the-winter

Not what I was expecting! This is a dark and twisted tale of Victorian era missionaries who travel to the Faelands of Arcadia to try to convert the fae.

Catherine Helstone's brother Laon is a missionary who has been sent to the fairy land of Arcadia in an attempt to convert the fae. When he stops replying to her letters she Catherine is so worried about him that she travels to Arcadia in an attempt to find him.

When she arrives her brother is not there at Gethsemane, the manor house Queen Mab of ...more

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About Jeannette Ng

Jeannette Ng

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Jeannette Ng is originally from Hong Kong but now lives in Durham, UK. Her MA in Medieval and Renaissance Studies fed into an interest in medieval and missionary theology. She runs live roleplay games and used to sell costumes for a living.

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“I had been taught to tame my wild impulses and desires that had agitated me to pain. I had folded it with my soul and learnt to drink contentment like you would a poison. Drop by drop, day by day. Until it became tolerable.” — 4 likes

“And it has been a while since I’ve watched my sister read the bloody entrails of the constellations…” — 2 likes

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