Short Book Reviews: Escape from the Brothel (with Unbelievable Horses)

The Good Luck Girls, by Charlotte Nicole Davis (Tor Teen)

I gave up on this book about a quarter through. The opening really grabbed me – the dystopic world with its resonance of the Wild West, “dustblood” girls raised in a brothel, drugged so they would not resist their boorish “brags,” the autocratic madam, the girls being tattooed with magic symbols that not only identify them but flare into agony when covered up. And sweet, trusting Clementine, about to entertain her first customer. When she resists being raped, she accidentally kills him (and although she does not know it, he is the son of a very powerful, wealthy family who will be bent on revenge). Her sister, Aster, concocts an escape attempt as the alternative to execution. These are young teenagers, so of course their planning is haphazard, but they manage to get away, aided by the madam’s favorite and a pair of other girls. I was with them, entranced, every step of the way.

That, alas, was where I ran into obstacles. If I trust a writer, I can immerse myself in the story, accepting details I do not necessarily understand as part of the world. After all, our own world isn’t always explicable or consistent. But when I’m jarred out of the narrative by a detail I know isn’t right, it can be hard to resume the flow. That happened when the girls had stolen some horses and were about to flee. The author had them cracking the reins to signal the horses to move forward. Anyone who’s spent any time with horses knows this is nonsense. All it accomplishes is futile arm-waving and an annoyed horse. There followed, in close succession, equally implausible details – horses having black eyes (they don’t), galloping through the night (a sure way to kill a horse), and stabbing a mountain lion between the shoulders (please check an anatomy chart for why this is not an effective strategy). By this time, I was questioning everything in the narrative. The writer had lost my confidence.

Today's Moment of Art

Ferdinand Knab (1834-1902)

Short Book Reviews: Hunting the Last Sea Dragon

The Bone Ships, by RJ Barker (Orbit Books)

Oh, what a luscious, heart-rending, beautifully crafted book this is! In the world of warring island nations, the most valuable commodity – one that comprises the great war ships that grant naval supremacy – is the bones of sea dragons. The supply is limited, for the dragons are believed to be extinct, so the bones are salvaged and repurposed to for the great ships of the fleet. Then there are the black ships, the ships of the condemned and untouchable. Fisherman’s son Joron is one of those wretched souls, sentenced as “shipwife” (captain) to a black ship and determined to stay as drunk as possible. His fortunes change with the arrival of “Lucky” Meas, an extraordinary leader and daughter of the ruler, although why she might have been sentenced to a black ship, Joron has no idea. As Meas trains and then inspires the dissolute crew, Joron goes from grudging obedience to trust, even as he learns her true mission. For after centuries a sea dragon has been spotted, and the contest for its precious bones threatens to plunge the world into unending war.

There is so much to love about this book, but for me it was the language that enchanted me the most. I found myself slowing down and repeating passages just to savor them. In many senses, the narrative text itself was a character and gateway to this world.

Tide Child’s colour showed he [in this world ships are masculine] was a last-chance ship, the crew condemned to death. The only chance anyone had for a return to life was through some heroic act, something so undeniably great that the acclaim of the people would see their crimes expunged and their life restored to them. Such hope made desperate deckchilder, and desperate deckchilder were fierce. Though if any forgiveness had been offered to the dead it had not been in Joron’s lifetime, or in his father’s lifetime before him. 

At some point this crew of the violent and the lost had decided that Meas could be trusted, and if she kept her side of the bargain then they would keep theirs. It was an odd thing, thought Joron, to find a purpose in such a dark place as a black ship.

Superb world-building, compelling characters, and carefully nuanced tension mark Bone Ships as a book to treasure. And there will be more – I can hardly wait!

Today's Moment of Art

Edouard Vuillard 1868-1940

About That Review...

Unless you write in secret and never show anyone your stories, sooner or later someone will give you feedback. It could be a relative or classmate, or the editor of the school literary magazine. Or friend with whom you’ve swapped fanfic. What you want to hear, of course, is that they loved it. And chances are that’s what they’ll say, either because they’d love anything you wrote or they’re so impressed that anyone they know wrote anything, or they have no idea how to evaluate a piece of writing. If your friends are still in high school, they might have a passing acquaintance with writing book reports, but that’s not helpful in critiquing a manuscript.

I think this stage in the development of writers, readers, and reviewers is just fine. We all start out with boundless enthusiasm and undeveloped critical ability. When a writer is just starting out, praise and encouragement are a whole lot more helpful than disapproval. Case in point: the story of the Wranglers and the Stranglers (attributed to Arthur Gordon in A Touch of Wonder). Various versions run something like this:

A group of male college students with literary talent formed a club. They met regularly to read and critique each other's work. These men were merciless with one another. They dissected the most minute literary expression into a hundred pieces. They were heartless, tough, even mean, in their criticism. They were so relentless in their criticism that their group became known as “The Stranglers.” 

Not to be outdone, the women of literary talent in the university were determined to start a club of their own, one comparable to the Stranglers. They called themselves the "Wranglers." They, too, read their works to one another. But there was one great difference: the feedback was positive. Sometimes there was almost no criticism at all. Every effort, even the most feeble one, was encouraged. 

Twenty years later of all the bright young men in the Stranglers, not one had made a significant literary accomplishment of any kind. From the Wranglers had come six or more successful writers, some of national renown such as Marjorie Kinnan Rawlings, who wrote The Yearling. 

Talent between the two? Probably the same. Level of education? Not much difference. But the Stranglers strangled, while the Wranglers were determined to give each other a lift. The Stranglers promoted an atmosphere of contention and self-doubt. The Wranglers highlighted the best, not the worst.

That’s what we need to get started: kindness and encouragement. Eventually, however, most of us encounter situations in which we benefit from critical feedback in order to overcome our own creative blind spots. And once we’ve started publishing, whether with a traditional publisher or self-publishing, we enter a new realm: our work being reviewed.