Book Review: A Corner of White
May. 23rd, 2013 09:19 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
osprey_archerThere is but one problem with Jaclyn Moriarty’s A Corner of White: the sequel is not out yet.
Actually this is not entirely true. A Corner of White does have an actual defect. While it eventually becomes quite engrossing, it takes an awfully long time to get rolling: while the book is never a slog, it remains eminently put-down-able until the two protagonists finally come into contact, and that’s about a hundred pages in.
I say “come in contact” rather than “meet” because, of course, Madeleine and Elliot do not and cannot meet, on account of living in different universes. (In consequence Elliot and Madeleine show no signs of falling in love with each other, which is quite refreshing. Although I suppose if it becomes possible for them to meet in a future book that may change.)
They become penpals by sending letters to each other through a crack between worlds. A broken parking meter in Cambridge, where Madeleine came to roost after she ran away from home for the thirteenth time and her mother followed her (what is it with Moriarty’s characters and running away from home?), connects up to a broken TV in the Elliot’s hometown of Bonfire in the Kingdom of Cello, where colors occasionally attack people.
Red comes in waves that make people either intensely busy or intensely angry, purple slashes people to death or occasionally picks them up and spirits them away to its lair - colors live in lairs, of course - and yellow - but we won’t even talk about yellow.
And also sometimes towns register themselves as Hostile, which means they are seceding from the Kingdom of Cello - except recently towns have started becoming Hostile without bothering to register. I mean really, how rude.
Okay, the world-building is a bit bizarre, which probably contributed to the fact that I found A Corner of White hard to get into at first. The bizarre is something of a wildcard quality in Moriarty’s work: her best characters, IMO, her Emily Thompsons and Bindy Mackenzies, are also the strangest, because their eccentricities make them seem the most individual and most fully human.
But I think sometimes her willingness to throw herself into zany plot twists or world-building weakens her stories by taking the focus away from the character interactions, which are what she does best.
However, ultimately the gamble pays off with the Kingdom of Cello. It starts out seeming quaint and unreal, but eventually, unevenly, fleshes itself out to seem like a real place. And there are things people don’t know, which I found excellent: I think often fantasy authors want to explain too much. It is perhaps important to know how magic works, and what it can do - but it can get pretty boring if you also know why. Leave unanswered questions!
And then write the rest of the trilogy! Because I want to know what happens next.
Actually this is not entirely true. A Corner of White does have an actual defect. While it eventually becomes quite engrossing, it takes an awfully long time to get rolling: while the book is never a slog, it remains eminently put-down-able until the two protagonists finally come into contact, and that’s about a hundred pages in.
I say “come in contact” rather than “meet” because, of course, Madeleine and Elliot do not and cannot meet, on account of living in different universes. (In consequence Elliot and Madeleine show no signs of falling in love with each other, which is quite refreshing. Although I suppose if it becomes possible for them to meet in a future book that may change.)
They become penpals by sending letters to each other through a crack between worlds. A broken parking meter in Cambridge, where Madeleine came to roost after she ran away from home for the thirteenth time and her mother followed her (what is it with Moriarty’s characters and running away from home?), connects up to a broken TV in the Elliot’s hometown of Bonfire in the Kingdom of Cello, where colors occasionally attack people.
Red comes in waves that make people either intensely busy or intensely angry, purple slashes people to death or occasionally picks them up and spirits them away to its lair - colors live in lairs, of course - and yellow - but we won’t even talk about yellow.
And also sometimes towns register themselves as Hostile, which means they are seceding from the Kingdom of Cello - except recently towns have started becoming Hostile without bothering to register. I mean really, how rude.
Okay, the world-building is a bit bizarre, which probably contributed to the fact that I found A Corner of White hard to get into at first. The bizarre is something of a wildcard quality in Moriarty’s work: her best characters, IMO, her Emily Thompsons and Bindy Mackenzies, are also the strangest, because their eccentricities make them seem the most individual and most fully human.
But I think sometimes her willingness to throw herself into zany plot twists or world-building weakens her stories by taking the focus away from the character interactions, which are what she does best.
However, ultimately the gamble pays off with the Kingdom of Cello. It starts out seeming quaint and unreal, but eventually, unevenly, fleshes itself out to seem like a real place. And there are things people don’t know, which I found excellent: I think often fantasy authors want to explain too much. It is perhaps important to know how magic works, and what it can do - but it can get pretty boring if you also know why. Leave unanswered questions!
And then write the rest of the trilogy! Because I want to know what happens next.
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no subject
Date: 2013-05-23 03:11 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-05-23 06:56 pm (UTC)The first book is Feeling Sorry for Celia, but I think The Year of Secret Assignments is the better starting point. It's more immediately charming - I started reading it one morning before breakfast and got about one hundred pages in before going "Wait, didn't I mean to make toast?" - and the books are so loosely connected that it doesn't give anything from the earlier book away.
I used to hate waiting for the next book in a series to come out, but now I've learned to savor my anticipation. It's great having something to look forward to!
no subject
Date: 2013-05-23 06:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-05-23 07:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-05-23 07:11 pm (UTC)The book itself will be like a message in a bottle, so that's kind of cool.
no subject
Date: 2013-05-23 07:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2013-05-24 02:25 am (UTC)