"Blackfish City" Discuss Everything *Spoilers*

[SFFBC, Ancillary Mod]

Come share all your thoughts on our SF book!

Some questions to get us started:

1. What did you think of the characters?
2. What did you think of the world?
3. What did you think of the plot?
4. What worked or didn't for you?

Non-spoiler thread here: First impressions
Buddy read thread here

[J.W.]

I read this one for my Nebula Award reading back when it first got nominated. I found it nearly impenetrable then. It came up on an Audible deal some time ago for like 3 or 4 bucks so I grabbed it then, thinking I might be able to figure it out a bit more.

Listening to it didn't help all that much with it being impenetrable, though I found many aspects of it I liked more the second go-round. I kinda wish we had the whole story told from just one POV. The jumping around made it difficult to follow--more than most with multi-POVs in my opinion. I think maybe that's because of all the new terms and the kind of throw you in the water/see if you drown world-building going on. (I picked that metaphor on purpose.)

My favorite character is (I'm bad at names) the fighter who knows its best to lose and make money that way, unable to become the hero. I honestly think a whole story centered around someone's career in this futuristic city like that would have been totally awesome.

The concept of an orcamancer/nanobots helping bond with animals was cool, and the development it got was interesting... but it felt kind of like a weird part of the narrative. None of the pieces of the narrative seemed to fit together very well. It's just all over the place.

Overall, it remains a frustratingly difficult read to me. It's like there's something there, but I can't quite get my hands on it.

[Jill]

I liked the differing POV chapters. It was a bit jumpy at first, but I felt it evened out quickly as I was more familiar with the characters. The nano bonding was interesting and creative, especially how it was a government project gone awry- accidentally giving the people “super powers”. Interesting how the breaks was the intended outcome to quell and distract the populace. My biggest problem, and it’s a small one, is the idea a group of people had someone bond with chickens. I’m pretty sure regular autonomous chickens would have served just as well. And if you loose your mind or at least suffer great pain when your animal dies, it’s a bit cruel to bond a child with a short lived chicken. Other than that I loved it!

[Rebecca]

I agree with J.W., I'm about half way through and this is a slog. The POVs finally started colliding and I'm getting a bit more interested in the storyline, but frankly I'm skimming at this point. I think this started out on the wrong foot for me and I'm struggling to get over that and enjoy the book.

I'm really glad you like it Jill!

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

I really really liked this book. the meandering, loving look at all these lives in this huge, post apocalyptic world just really resonated for me. it's not a high octane story, but the slow start with the frenetic end worked for me

[Anna]

Ugh I'm so annoyed with myself now. I was on complete autopilot when I did all the 1st of month mod stuff, and a certain vampire bunny may have distracted me. And so I forgot that this book already has a buddy read, which should've been converted into a spoiler thread. It's too late now, but here it is, go check it out:

https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

(If everyone who already posted here wants to copy their comment over to the other thread, then I can do the conversion, but maybe it's also a good opportunity for me to learn to live with the fact that things aren't always perfect.)

[Gavin]

I have very mixed feeling about the book.

Even though the first half was a little slow it felt authentic. Getting to know the characters and there place in Qaanaaq. It was gritty, grungy and a bit punk.

I found the writing style to be wonderfully expressive. The setting felt real and was populated with diverse characters. As the story progressed there was always a better and deeper understanding of Qaanaaq. It was as if Qaanaaq was another character in the story.

Sounds fascinating... right? It truly was, but unfortunately, at about halfway in, the writing style changed and it came off a bit preachy. Some quasi-ideology had been thrown into the mix, with too many tedious descriptions of fictional economic and societal sufferings.
I prefer seeing the setting up-close and personal through character experiences. What I'm saying is: I didn't feel the desperation and upset come through in the story. It was mostly academic rather than experiential.

Eventually, Miller forced all the characters into his plot; the family all came together; making it feel overly contrived. All the characters accepted it way too easily.

Ultimately the ending fell flat.
Endorsing bloody vengeance.

*** *** ***

In the end, Qaanaaq's existence felt preposterous. Particularly since (near the end of the book it is revealed) there are many places on land where they could live. Huh?
Why would they live on a glorified overgrown and overcrowded oil rig? It was a big letdown.

Miller's writing style and character development is top-notch. Although being tricky with writing short chapters can make the writing tighter, it was always distracting because Miller was making the reader switch between character POV all the time. I like to sink my teeth into a character for more than 5 pages at a time.

The story ideas, particularly 'the breaks', were fascinating. But I lost interest when Miller forced the characters into his plot about violent retribution.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Well dissected, Gavin!

[Mel]

I am afraid sadly this one is going to be a dnf for me. I just cannot get into it or care about the characters after getting through about 40%. I think the different POV has just led to the characters for me feeling underdeveloped and the plot not really getting going. I rarely ever dnf and this book sounded like it would be one I would like. Just didn’t suit me.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

that's fair!

[Rebecca]

Same boat as Mel, I couldn’t get into the story and dnf-ed at around 50%.

[Jacqie]

I thought the setting was the strongest part of the book. The city had personality and culture that varied by district. It reminded me a little of New York, Paris, Tokyo or other great cities that feel almost like living things.

[Alex]

I found Blackfish City to be a really easy read - the chapters are short, there aren't that many POV characters, and when you return to each character, especially at the beginning, not much has happened since you last checked in with them.

Miller's world-building is interesting and I think there are some well-developed ideas about the existence of Qaanaaq amid a future society that attempts to be post-Capitalist, but doesn't really know how to do that. Even in a world where different lifestyles are more accepted, we would still fall into our natural inclination to segment ourselves and ostracize the "other."

What didn't work for me, however, was the lack of stakes. I don't think I ever really understood the importance of Ora and why it was so critical to risk everything to free her - other than the fact that she's related to several of the main characters. After she is freed we sort of understand what impact she can have, but even then it's pretty glossed over. It just felt that since society was on the precipice, literally and figuratively, the characters would have more important things to do.

[Bonnie]

I enjoyed it.
I missed something though, why did Fill's grandfather originally have Ora locked up in the Cabinet, 30 years ago?

[Chris]

1. What did you think of the characters?

I thought the cast was really interesting overall. Aside from maintaining a cast of distinct personalities and individuals, I thought the author did a great job of giving some thought/insight into why people might think and feel they way they do about important topics.

2. What did you think of the world?

I'm not sure I understood everything about it (nor am I sure that one was supposed to), but it was engaging. If you look only at Qaanaaq itself it seems to be very consistent, but I do agree with the thought that with what little we know about the whole world, it feels less necessary to stay on a place like Qaanaaq. Perhaps leaving is difficult or dangerous in some way.

3. What did you think of the plot?

It's an interesting approach to plot. It feels like the characters are far more important than the plot in this story, or even just the overall message. Each character has their own little internal story going on, and while they certainly cross over or crash into each other frequently, I think it's hard to argue that the story as a whole has a single great plot to it. It's almost like reading a series of journal excerpts in order to learn about some historical period. I found it pleasant overall, personally.

4. What worked or didn't for you?

I found the quick scene changes worked surprisingly well after the first quarter of the book or so (once they were switching back to characters instead of just introducing more and more new ones). The characters themselves worked very well.

I think Fill's rape of Soq (because frankly that's what it is when you don't disclose an STI) actually made me angrier than recent reads with more physical assault. Maybe because he didn't really ever seem to grasp what wrong he'd done. His internal monologue addressed it but... almost like it was some academic point, like he hadn't consigned someone to death by STI (so far as any character knew at that point in the story at least). It's a great story element, mind, and an interesting take on the mindset of such a person... just also such an awful thing to do. As memory serves Soq even asked directly about it and it was dismissed as some minor condition/illness.

[Dixie]

Gavin wrote: "I have very mixed feeling about the book.

Even though the first half was a little slow it felt authentic. Getting to know the characters and there place in Qaanaaq. It was gritty, grungy and a bi..."

You've said almost exactly what I came here to say, Gavin. I'm disappointed, I found the first half of the book very interesting and engaging. But I had the same issues you did with the second half, particularly the ending, which really felt forced to me. Sigh.

[Leslie]

I really enjoyed the book. I did feel Fill's POV was a bit more than what was needed (given his limited albeit important role in the story) but Maasaraaq's POV was too small/glossed over (most of her POV is just explained to other characters). I do think Barron's death was unnecessary. I do think this could have been a pleasantly longer book if the end had not been as rushed and maybe explored what had happened with Ora before, during and after the primary story.
With those negatives aside, I did enjoy the world building and the characters and the animal bonding subplot. I feel like this could be a real potential future (minus the animal bonding which while realistic sounding does not seem probable) given climate change and the political climate.
I did also think the different POVs were well done - at least better done than some other books (the POVs in The Actual Star have been very confusing for instance, which is why I have not yet finished that book).
I do agree with Chris' assessment of the Fill/Soq rape situation and was surprised that Soq was not more angry and did not see it as rape even after realizing that they were given the breaks by him. Though what did work out is that the breaks at least turned out to be not necessarily fatal at the end.
I would give it 4 1/2 stars but Goodreads doesn't seem to have 1/2 star ability.

[Jen]

This gave me a Mieville vibe right from the beginning, and it seemed like the city was the main character. I enjoyed the different POVs as a way to explore the world, and the City Without a Map interludes. I found a lot of aspects of this story really cool - the layout of this floating city itself and how it was powered, the context of this taking place after much of the rest of the world has collapsed, the mystery of the breaks. It did feel all over the place, but overall I really enjoyed it.

Bonnie, I echo your question: why did they put Ora in the Cabinet? I don't recall if that was ever addressed.