Review: Mockingbird by Sean Stewart

Mockingbird by Sean Stewart

Published: Small Beer Press, 2005

Awards Nominated: Locus Fantasy, Nebula and World Fantasy Awards

The Book:

“Toni Beauchamp never liked her mother's world of magic and visions and six strange gods that took over her body at will. So when her mother died, Toni and her sister Candy thought it meant a new beginning, a life free of magic. But Elena had one last gift for her daughter - a sip from the Mockingbird Cordial. And from the moment Toni held the drink to her lips, her life would never be the same…” ~SeanStewart.com/novels

This is the second book I’ve read by Sean Stewart, and I bought it at the same time as Galveston. Both books are fantasies set in Texas, but I had a really hard time with Galveston’s unlikeable protagonists.  I’m happy I gave Stewart’s work another shot, though, because I enjoyed Mockingbird.

My Thoughts:

Mockingbird is a story primarily about familial relationships between women, identity, and coping with the unexpected.  The Beauchamp family was affected by the everyday presence of magic, but I think they were more significantly influenced by their relationships to one another.  For example, Toni disliked the magic because it made her mother an unreliable parent. Toni never knew, when she came home, whether she would be interacting with her mother or with one of the spirits whose fetishes her mother kept in a cupboard.  Toni and her little sister Candy learned from experience which of the personalities would be kind, and which were cruel or abusive.  Their close, dysfunctional family shaped both Toni and Candy’s lives, but in different ways, and it was interesting to see them come to terms with each other as the adults they have become.

While the story has its share of dramatic twists and turns, the focus is always more on the characters and their connections to one another.  Rather than an adventure that has a set beginning and end, this is the story of a specific period in Toni’s life, a time where she struggles to define her chosen identity and path. Toni initially tries to define herself through contrast to her mother--she has a stable job as an actuary, a reliable, self-sufficient personality, and can even take reproduction into her own hands.  The truth is, though, that no one can plan and execute their life with perfect control. Toni’s first curveball is her inheritance of her mother’s magic, but it is by no means the last unwelcome twist in her life.  In a way, it is a kind of a 30-something maturation story, and I enjoyed following Toni as she struggled to find the shape of her future life.

The magic is very naturally woven into the lives of the characters, and I would say this is more of a family drama than a fantasy.  I felt like the it mostly served the story by providing symbols and emphasis to specific events in this part of Toni’s life.  The novel is pretty slow-paced, as well, so I think the plot might risk feeling a little aimless if one is not invested in the characters. Altogether, it’s not the usual style of novel I read, but I enjoyed the change of pace.  Thus far, this is my favorite of Sean Stewart’s novels, and I can see why it received award nominations.  

My Rating: 3.5/5

Mockingbird is more of a character-driven story of female relationships and identity than a fantasy, though magic does play a seemingly natural role in the characters’ lives.  It is a slow-paced novel that follows Toni Beauchamp’s life in the wake of her mother’s death, as she passes through the journey “from being a daughter to having one”. Toni plans for her future to be organized and stable, in contrast to her mother’s magic and unreliability, but life has other plans.  I think the novel relies heavily on a reader’s investment in the characters, and I was very easily emotionally invested in Toni.  This is not my usual style of novel, but I’m glad I decided to read it.

Read-Along: Kushiel's Dart Part 2

Welcome to part 2 of the read-along of Jacqueline Carey’s Kushiel’s Dart.  I am actually hosting the questions this week, and they cover chapters 9-18.  Keep in mind, therefore, that there will be spoilers up through chapter 18 in the questions and answers below!  Also, remember to visit all the participants blogs to see what they have to say about this week’s section:

Allie (me) at Tethyan Books

Lisa at Over the Effing RainbowLynn at Lynn’s Book BlogGrace at Books Without Any PicturesLauren at Violin in a VoidCeline at Nyx Book ReviewsJenn at Morrison GirlIgret at Igret’s CornerMichael at Nashville Book WormKheya at Not Food PornEmma at EmmaMaree.comNancy at FaeStruck’s Reviews & MoreKelly at Orange Pekoe ReviewsSusan at Dab of Darkness

1) In these chapters, Phèdre finally gets to have her own dedication ceremony.  Were you surprised by what they did with the dove? Also, do you think it is fair to ask people to make a life decision about serving Naamah at such a young age?  

I imagined that they were going to sacrifice the dove, so I was really happy to see that it was more of a symbol, with the dove flying up to freedom.  Thinking on what Phèdre is dedicating her life to, it would not have made sense to kill the dove.  I think it’s just what I have grown to anticipate from these kinds of scenes.  

I don’t really think it is fair to treat Phèdre’s adolescent decision as one that is completely un-coerced, even though I think her guardians have made it as free a decision as they can.  Phèdre has been educated a little by the Night Court about what to expect, but she has also been a little bit indoctrinated by them.  Also, she knows that this is the path Delaunay has planned for her, so there is additional pressure even though he doesn’t intend to actively apply it. Furthermore, given her inexperience and age, I don’t think she could truly understand what she is agreeing to in the long run.  For instance, younger-adolescent Phèdre would have happily gone to Valerian House, but just a few years later she realizes that she would have regretted that decision.

2) Sex ed is definitely different in Terre d’Ange.  Do you think the Showing was useful for the teenagers? Do you think, at their age, you would have appreciated something like the book-learning they received in the art?

I’m pretty sure that most teenagers would probably enjoy that kind of a Showing, but I don’t know if I would say it was useful in their case.  If it was to learn the mechanics, the two principle actors’ hair seemed to have covered most of that up.  Also, it featured one possible pairing which doesn’t seem to be Alcuin’s most common, so far.  Maybe it was more intended to get them excited about the future? In that case, I think it served it’s purpose!  The classes, on the other hand, sound very useful.  In a society where everyone is just expected to magically know what to do (like modern-day society), I think it would be very cool to have some kind of formal theoretical training.

3) Hyacinthe has some neat theories about Delaunay’s past.  What is your favorite theory? 

I’m falling down as a reader in puzzling this out.  It’s probably partially because I still have to keep reminding myself all of the courtiers names right now, and also because I read these first two sections sleepily on airplanes.  I think my favorite theory so far is that Delaunay was the King’s first betrothed’s lover, and that he is trying to bring her killers to justice.  There also seems to be a bit of a Count of Monte Cristo thing going on, since it seems like Anafiel Delaunay has a different previous name, and this is known to some of his closer friends. 

4) Phèdre seems to be making a name for herself as an anguissette, known for never giving the signale. Do you think she would ever actually choose to use the signale, even if she were in real danger? Do you think her inability to do so might get her into trouble?

This seemed like a danger sign to me.  She gets so caught up in the moment that it doesn’t seem to me like she would ever use her signale.  That puts all the responsibility for not seriously injuring her on the patron, and we know that some of the patrons hate Delaunay, at least.  Also, I think that having that kind of a reputation might attract patrons who want to do more and more extreme things, which would make it more likely that she would need to protect herself. I hope nothing terrible happens to her. 

5) Do you think Alcuin is enjoying his career as much as Phèdre, or do you think he has a different focus? Do you think their differing appeals and tastes will drive them apart?  

I thought Alcuin seemed less excited than Phèdre about the actual assignments, especially about his first one.  I am wondering how much his decision to follow this path of service was due to personal desire, and how much was to please Delaunay.  If he really doesn’t enjoy this life, then it seems like that might start to grate a little between him and Phèdre.  I think we’ve also seen a little distance already between Delaunay and Phèdre, due to the fact that he doesn’t really understand her tastes.  I’m wondering if that’s going to cause any problems between Phèdre and Alcuin as well.

Other Thoughts:  

—To keep up my comments on real-world Terre d’Ange, from what I can gather, I am not all that close to the Skaldic raiding. I think my little village (near the French-Swiss border) is pretty safe.

—It seems like la Confédération Helvétique has collapsed in this fictional world? Is this a clue as to the corresponding real-world time period?

—I’m wondering what’s going to happen between Kushiel’s Line and Kushiel’s Dart!  Future-Phèdre is seeming to say it’s something serious.

Review: Intrusion by Ken MacLeod

Intrusion by Ken MacLeod

Published: Orbit, 2012

Awards Nominated: BSFA, Campbell Memorial, and Arthur C. Clarke Awards

The Book:

“Do you believe people should be free to make their own personal choices?  What if they don’t choose what you believe is right? In a perfect world, where everyone has access to all information, perhaps everyone would make the ‘right’ choices.  Since we don’t live in this perfect world, maybe imperfectly informed individuals need to be protected from making the ‘wrong’ choices.  Then again, to what authority could we comfortably surrender that responsibility?

In a near future world with advanced technology, a pill (the Fix) has been developed that, when taken by a pregnant mother, cleanses her fetus’s DNA of any potentially troubling content.  Hope Morrison is pregnant with her second child, and she does not want to take the Fix.  She also refuses to give her decision any socially acceptable justification. In a state that increasingly controls the bodies of its people, in a world that is threatened by nihilistic anti-civilization terrorists, no personal decision is allowed to be as simple and harmless as it first appears.” ~Allie

This is the second novel I’ve read by Ken MacLeod, the first being “The Night Sessions”, which addresses how artificial intelligence might fit within religion. I bought a signed copy of Intrusion at last year’s WorldCon, LonCon3!

My Thoughts:

This is one of the scariest dystopian novels that I’ve ever read, most likely because it is very easy to imagine a similar society rising out of our current world. The central story involves a young couple, Hope and Hugh, whose second child is on the way. Hope does not intend to take the Fix, and refuses to give a rationale for her decision. This doesn’t seem like it should be a problem, since the Fix is not yet legally compulsory, and plenty of parents choose not to take it for religious or philosophical reasons.  However, due to the current political climate, what should be a quiet personal decision begins to be escalated to extreme levels.  From my perspective, her refusal to justify herself is exactly the point of the situation.  It is a question of whether or not Hope has a right to bodily integrity and to make choices for her unborn child.  Once one starts judging the case based on whether or not the reasons behind her decisions are acceptable enough, one has already answered the previous question in the negative.  

This is far from the only difficult issue the story grapples with, through Hope and Hugh as well as through a few secondary characters.  For instance, there was exploration about the compromises made between safety and privacy, in a populace whose monitored lives risk being flagged as suspicious by impersonal computing algorithms.  Similarly, how much should a government intrude in people’s lives ‘for their own good’?  This falls most heavily on women of child-bearing age, who face many restrictions on their lives, ostensibly for the good of a potential fetus. There are also discussions about about civil liberty, terrorism, and governmental use of physical torture. Things could get quite information-dense and confusing at times, especially since I am not particularly well versed in modern-day UK politics and the culture of the island of Lewis. Realistically, though, there are no simple solutions to ‘fix’ society.

This is definitely a book I will remember for a long time for its ideas, though it did not seem to spend quite as much time developing its characters.  I felt a bit like the characters were held at arm’s length--observed through their words and actions, but never allowed to be fully understood. The existence of Hugh’s second sight, also, seemed a strangely fantastical addition to an otherwise grounded near-future dystopian story. I appreciated its role in clarifying the motivations of Hope’s decision, but I did not really understand why it needed to be supernatural. From my perspective, at least, the ideas were so compelling that these minor complaints seem small in comparison.

My Rating: 4.5/5

Intrusion paints a terrifying picture of a dystopian society with policies that do not feel very far removed from those in place in many societies today.  The novel covers many topics in the uneasy relationship between the state and the individual, including, among other things, rights to privacy and to bodily integrity. The story escalates from the decision of a young married woman, Hope, to not take a genetic Fix for her unborn child, and her refusal to provide a socially accepted reason for her choice. While I thought the characters were somewhat distant and the inclusion of one slightly fantastical element seemed a little off tone, I was deeply affected by the topics explored. I think this is a frighteningly plausible dystopia that deserves many readers.