soupçon/ˈsuːpsɒn,ˈsuːpsɒ̃/ noun
1. a very small quantity of something; a slight trace, as of a particular taste or flavorSunday Soupçons is where I scribble mini-reviews for books I don’t have the brainspace/eloquence/smarts to write about in depth – or if I just don’t have anything interesting to say beyond I LIKED IT AND YOU SHOULD READ IT TOO!
Two very difference science fantasies!
Genres: Adult, Science Fantasy
Representation: Brown MC, secondary queer MC
PoV: First-person, present-tense; multiple PoVs
Published on: 3rd September 2024
ISBN: 1951631404
Goodreads
Invisible Cities meets sentient gargoyles
In the parched, post-apocalyptic Western U.S. of the 22nd Century, wolves float, bonfires sing, and devils gather to pray. Water and safety are elusive in this chaotic world of alchemical transformations, where history books bleed, dragons kiss, and gun-toting trees keep their own kind of peace.
Among this menagerie of strange beasts, two sentient stone gargoyles, known only as “E” and “M,” flee the rubble of their Southwestern church in search of water. Along the way, they meet climate refugees Rose Baker and her mother Dolores, who’ve escaped the ravaged West Coast in search of a safer home. This quartet forms an uneasy alliance when they hear of a new hope: a mysterious city of dancing gargoyles. Or is it something more sinister? In this strange, terrible new world, their arrival at this elusive city could spark the destruction of everything they know.
Tara Campbell summons fantastical magic in this kaleidoscopic new speculative climate fiction.
I received this book for free from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I was intrigued by the very weird premise, and City of Dancing Gargoyles definitely delivered on the weird!
Something Happened in the 22nd century, and now the North American continent is full of surreal, bizarre, and sometimes creepy Stuff, the vast majority of which is, thankfully, tied to specific locales. These areas are called Cities even when they’re more like towns or villages, size-wise. Are there any normal places left? Honestly, it doesn’t seem like it, but because the book is focused on the Cities, it’s possible there are normal areas that we just don’t see in Dancing.
Dancing is made up of alternating PoVs and storylines, which eventually intersect. E and M are sentient gargoyles, who strike out looking for a new home when their current one runs out of water (which they need to survive); Dolores is a teenager travelling with her spear-wielding mom looking for a safe place to live; and Meena and Joseph are travelling researchers, writing up reports on the different Cities they visit.
This isn’t a very plot-heavy book; it’s a lot of weirdness for the sake of weirdness, vibes, and an attempt at an Actual Plot stuffed in very unsatisfyingly at the last minute. But that doesn’t mean it’s not fun; I just think it’s a good idea not to go in expecting plot, or a traditional story-structure. The reports on the Cities can almost be treated like flash fiction or short stories, and although I didn’t find every City interesting – especially in the second half of the book it felt like Campbell was running out of ideas – they were still…amusing? A nice break from the other PoVs? I looked forward to them.
Some of the Cities were disturbing or even stomach-churning, but a) I’m a wimp, and b) it was clearly deliberate on Campbell’s part. There’s the City of Glaring Chocolates, where the chocolates have Opinions on the fact that they’re made only to be consumed; the City of Bleeding Books, which is exactly what it sounds like; and the City of Cringing Blankets, where blankets react to human shame. Some were pretty ridiculous, like the City of Gun-Toting Trees, and some didn’t go into NEARLY enough detail, like the City of Feasting Banshees, which is a one-page poem instead of a mini-short story like most of the other reports.
But some were amazing; the City of Failing Knives, which has extremely unique marriage customs; the City of Sailing Statues, where what statue sails to shore determines what kind of year the City will have; and the City of Bingeing Bats, where the humans have finally beaten a retreat. And plenty of the others!
The book did kind of fail when it attempted plot: Joseph starts going off the rails, but how or why, and how it’s resolved, either wasn’t explained or made no sense at all; and the gargoyles start Doing A Thing that comes out of nowhere and is ‘solved’ in about two seconds. There’s quite a few things that some characters know that others don’t, which is one of the reasons I think this might be the start of a series – Rose needs to find out what M did at some point, right? And some kind of eldritch being talked to Meena in a way that DEFINITELY implied there would be more stories in this setting. It works as a standalone if you let it, but not perfectly.
If you’d like a shot of weirdness, check this out, but if you need things to make sense, I’d recommend skipping this one.
Genres: Adult, Queer Protagonists, Sci Fi
Representation: Nonbinary MC, MLM MC
PoV: Third-person, past-tense; multiple PoVs
Published on: 3rd September 2024
ISBN: 1803369833
Goodreads
In the distant future, when mortals mingle with the gods in deep space, an out-of-date automaton, a recovering addict, and an angel race to solve the Pope’s murder in an abandoned corner of the galaxy.
Scribe IV is an obsolete automaton, peacefully whiling away his years on the Bastion, a secluded monastery in an abandoned corner of the galaxy. But when the visiting Pope is found murdered, Scribe IV knows he has very little time before the terrifying Sisters of the Drowned Deep rise up to punish the Bastion’s residents for their crime.
Quin, a recovering drug addict turned private investigator, picks up a scrambled signal from the Bastion and agrees to take the case. Traumatized by a bizarre experience in his childhood, Quin repeatedly feeds his memories to his lover, the angel Murmuration. But fragmented glimpses of an otherworldly horror he calls the crawling dark continue to haunt his dreams.
Meanwhile in Heaven, an angel named Angel hears Scribe IV’s prayer. Intrigued by the idea of solving a crime with mortals, xe descends to offer xer divine assistance (whether those mortals want it or not). With the Drowned Sisters closing in around the Bastion, Scribe IV, Quin, and Angel race to find out who really murdered the Pope, and why. Quin’s missing memories may hold the key to the case—but is remembering worth the price?
Haunting, dreamy and beautifully written, Out of the Drowning Deep is perfect for fans of Becky Chambers, Martha Wells, and This Is How You Lose the Time War.
I received this book for free from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
I loved this, but to be clear, it is nothing like Martha Wells, Becky Chambers, or This Is How You Lose the Time War. Publicists, just stop, ffs.
What it is is a fabulous little gem of a science fantasy, weird and wonderful and fairly dark, but also hopeful. The murder really is the tiniest part of the book, more an excuse to throw the characters together than anything – but that’s fine, because there’s plenty of other plot to sink your teeth into. And the worldbuilding! This is a future where gods and saints and angels are all real, but it’s possible for humans to create new gods, too (which is very relevant); where we have nanites and space stations right alongside prayer-as-radio. I AM A FAN!
An angel could be a terrible thing, but so could a human, sometimes without even trying.
I admit to being confused about one small element of the ending – which I don’t think I can talk about without spoilers – but other than that? I loved everything. Wise’s prose is vivid and delicate, the imagery and turns of phrase fantastic (in all senses of the word), and wow did I enjoy the cast of deeply fucked-up people! Everyone here is so broken, in ways that are difficult and complicated and don’t have easy fixes, and not only did I eat it up with a spoon, I licked the plate when I was done!
Quin looked away, too late. What were eyes but a window to the soul? And apparently he was doing a shit job of keeping the blinds drawn.
Although I would have LOVED more of this world and these characters, Out of the Drowning Deep is exactly as long as it needs to be, fitting perfectly within its (160) pagecount. It didn’t feel rushed or squashed, and every aspect of the story had room to breathe (and be appreciated). Nor is the story streamlined; we got lots of little details tucked here and there that made me go starry-eyed with delight at the attention to detail! For example, we learn about the drug pixie dust, or pixie for short – and then we discover that it’s ‘dirtier cousin’ is called POOKAH! Aka, another kind of faerie! Specifically a faerie TRICKSTER, often, and that’s just so appropriate!
Or how about calling Quin’s dealer – of pixie dust, remember – his fairy godmother? I’m clearly going to have to check out Wise’s other books, because I just adored her – sense of humour? I’m not sure that’s the right term. Imagination? Approach? It really doesn’t hurt that Out of the Drowning Deep is pleasantly sweary, which made it feel weirdly approachable and homey to me (probably because I swear like a sailor).
Angel understood how some gods could grow addicted to prayer, how they could gorge themselves on human desire, and how, in the great turning of existence, many had gone mad with it.
EASILY one of my favourite takes on angels/gods, AND on science fantasy! Strongly recommended!
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