Unseelie Brothers, Ltd., by Fran Wilde

A lot of folks found Unseelie Brothers Ltd. a bit predictable, and they are right. The tale unfolds from the title and the initial setting. I did find the fashion descriptions fun, and it was gripping to read even if you knew what was coming. Maybe a twist in that it has a happier ending than many stories of the Fae. I liked it and am glad I got to read it. It got nominated for a lot of awards--solid execution counts for a lot.

My Goodreads Review

A Catalog of Storms, by Fran Wilde

A Catalog of Storms is nominated for a Nebula this year.  Fran Wilde uses her Bone Universe literary understanding of wind and its emotional content for this story--really it's that understanding boiled down to its essence.  You control storms by naming them, just as you would emotions.  Sacrifice and hope are also here.  A fun little item to read.

Cloudbound, by Fran Wilde

Cloudbound by Fran Wilde

My rating: 3 of 5 stars


In this installment of The Bone Universe we get a change of POV (from Kirit to her brother Nate), and of perspective. Nate is a more reflective and big-picture thinker than Kirit, which shows in his attraction to politics and able players. The book centers on how he and Kirit will try to save their home from his perspective.

We get a nice expansion of the Bone Universe, in an expected but interesting way. (view spoiler)[They literally do live on the back of something you could legitimately call a giant turtle. Wryly funny. (hide spoiler)] We get a more thorough introduction to the ecosystem, and Wilde does a good job of showing how delicately balanced their environment is.

But I have to say I didn't like it as much as the first one, since the world is now familiar. Others have said the plot is not quite dramatic enough for YA, nor intricate enough for adult SF, and I agree. Many like the writing style, but it is wearing on me. Very short sentences that don't flow make it a more challenging read than it needs to be. This one falls victim to the "middle of the trilogy" syndrome, where it's just difficult to keep the momentum going.

The third book is nominated for awards, so I'm looking forward to that one.



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Clearly Lettered In a Mostly Stable Hand, by Fran Wilde

Clearly Lettered in a Mostly Steady Hand by Fran Wilde

My rating: 2 of 5 stars


I just finished this story, and read all the reviews below to see if there was something I missed. If so, the rest of us did too. If there isn't some kind of a reveal that any of us can figure out, then it's just a series of disturbing little vignettes. Fran Wilde is a better writer than that, at least in her novels, so I'm willing to give more of the benefit of the doubt once I find out what all this is a metaphor for, but so far it eludes me.



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The Jewel and Her Lapidary, by Fran Wilde

The Jewel and Her Lapidary is the final entry in the Nebula novella category.  The story centers on Lin, the Jewel, and Sima, the Lapidary, the last survivors of treason against the royal family of the valley.  That family invoked the power of gems to protect it.  But there were two great costs that brought them down--the gems cause madness in those who can hear them, unless great skill is used and precautions taken.  More insidiously, it allowed the people of the valley not to participate in their own defense--the gems and lapidaries handled it.  Now their kingdom is at an end.

I really enjoyed Updraft, the Nebula nominated novel by Wilde from last year.  This story is less ambitious, but I can't help thinking it could have been.  Fleshing out other characters and developing the setting would have produced a novel, probably a good one.  As it is, we learn little about the valley society, missing out on what we learned of the people in her novel.  The story is a good one, but pretty much middle of the pack in the field this year.  3 stars from me.

So who's my favorite this year?  If it's my choice I pick Seasons of Glass and Iron, by Amal El-Mohtar.  It's too beautiful to deny.  We'll see what the voters do.

Updraft, by Fran Wilde

I have just finished another excellent Nebula award nominee, Updraft by Fran Wilde.  Thought I haven't read the winner yet (Uprooted is on my list and my Kindle) this had to have been a strong contender.  In fact it won in the young adult category.  It features a young protagonist, though the tone of the book isn't really youthful.  It's a good, challenging read.

The synopsis was kind of blocky and made the book sound kind of ordinary, so I wasn't sure I would like it.  In fact, I was fascinated by it.  Wilde has crafted an amazingly complex universe, with plenty of potential.

The people of the City (and the people know of nothing beyond the City, so far as I can tell) live in a set of living bone towers that rise up out of the clouds.  They apparently at one point lived below the clouds, but they fought constantly and were almost wiped out when the last few decided to Rise and inhabit the towers.  Now their entire universe is those towers, and the central Spire, where the Singers who interpret the City and protect its residents, live.

Basically they are parasites of some sort, though the nature of what grows the towers they live in is not explored.  It's a precarious existence, and the people are a hard lot.  Not given to assisting the weak or helping each other.

Our protagonist wants to apprentice to her mother as a trader, though their relationship is a cool one.  But she's not very careful, and an infraction marks her as a Lawsbreaker.  She is offered amnesty if she joins the Singers, and eventually does so.  From there the book develops the secrets of this universe, while continuing to clarify the character of the people.

The book is a fine, satisfying read.  And it has a real ending, even though it is meant to be a part of a series.  There is a definite sense of closure at the end, but plenty of room for new stories.

This is a book I'd highly recommend to adults of any age.   I look forward to many more.  4 stars!