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thepurplebookwyrm's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
This one's... a little difficult to talk about, but here goes:
The Rain Heron opens up with a fable about its titular creature, and how its impact on the weather impacted, in turn, the fortunes of a lone farmer, some time in the undefined past. This, and the recurring Nature-related imagery in the novel, are probably why I've also seen this called an 'eco-fable', more specifically.
The book then follows a series of interrelated characters: a female hermit surviving in the mountainous wilds, a male military medic, and a female military commander (at two different points in her life) whose lives are all affected by the legendary Rain Heron – or the people who wish to capture and harness it.
And it... was basically a miss for me. Genre-wise, The Rain Heron counts as magical realism more than anything else, though it didn't grate on my nerves the way previously read magically realist tales have in the past. Still, the world-building in, and speculative nature of this book didn't amount to much; the story takes place in the unspecified future, past a certain point of no return, it seemed, with regards to climate change. And in... Tasmania, apparently? I figured it was Australia, given the mention of marsupial species, but no place name was otherwise provided in the text, so I guess it doesn't really matter in any case.
There certainly was the titular Rain Heron, and another, somewhat fantastical creature, what I'll call the 'Rainbow Squid' – the ink of which lends a feeling of 'super-realism' to paintings, amongst other things. The writing around those two animals was very evocative, and the descriptions of Nature, of wilderness more generally were beautifully evocative, and immersive as well. But I wish the Rain Heron, at least, had been more immediately present, and focal to the story, in a way it just wasn't.
Outside of that, well... this was a very meandering, and rather empty-feeling story, unfortunately. Overall, I suppose this one counts as character-driven, but that's only because the characters, and attendant character work, were just a little more front and centre than the very bare-bones plot.
This one was all about vibes, really. The theming, such as it was, was incredibly weak – somewhat unlike previous magically realist novels I've read, funnily enough. Sure, the setting and aforementioned vibes reminded me, at times, of Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation and Into the Wild (the movie), but there wasn't anything I could really engage with beyond a very basic: "hoomans be too stoopid and destructive to appreciate and harmonise with Nature, and Nature, for its part, doesn't give a shit either way and will carry on just fine without us (kind of)". Okay.
So yeah: beautiful Nature-related descriptions, very evocative Nature-related vibes, cool magical heron and semi-magical squid, and that's it. All in all, this one felt like a smooth, pretty looking but empty shell I quickly slipped off of (especially past part two). Worth reading once, but no more.
The Rain Heron opens up with a fable about its titular creature, and how its impact on the weather impacted, in turn, the fortunes of a lone farmer, some time in the undefined past. This, and the recurring Nature-related imagery in the novel, are probably why I've also seen this called an 'eco-fable', more specifically.
The book then follows a series of interrelated characters: a female hermit surviving in the mountainous wilds, a male military medic, and a female military commander (at two different points in her life) whose lives are all affected by the legendary Rain Heron – or the people who wish to capture and harness it.
And it... was basically a miss for me. Genre-wise, The Rain Heron counts as magical realism more than anything else, though it didn't grate on my nerves the way previously read magically realist tales have in the past. Still, the world-building in, and speculative nature of this book didn't amount to much; the story takes place in the unspecified future, past a certain point of no return, it seemed, with regards to climate change. And in... Tasmania, apparently? I figured it was Australia, given the mention of marsupial species, but no place name was otherwise provided in the text, so I guess it doesn't really matter in any case.
There certainly was the titular Rain Heron, and another, somewhat fantastical creature, what I'll call the 'Rainbow Squid' – the ink of which lends a feeling of 'super-realism' to paintings, amongst other things. The writing around those two animals was very evocative, and the descriptions of Nature, of wilderness more generally were beautifully evocative, and immersive as well. But I wish the Rain Heron, at least, had been more immediately present, and focal to the story, in a way it just wasn't.
Outside of that, well... this was a very meandering, and rather empty-feeling story, unfortunately. Overall, I suppose this one counts as character-driven, but that's only because the characters, and attendant character work, were just a little more front and centre than the very bare-bones plot.
This one was all about vibes, really. The theming, such as it was, was incredibly weak – somewhat unlike previous magically realist novels I've read, funnily enough. Sure, the setting and aforementioned vibes reminded me, at times, of Jeff VanderMeer's Annihilation and Into the Wild (the movie), but there wasn't anything I could really engage with beyond a very basic: "hoomans be too stoopid and destructive to appreciate and harmonise with Nature, and Nature, for its part, doesn't give a shit either way and will carry on just fine without us (kind of)". Okay.
So yeah: beautiful Nature-related descriptions, very evocative Nature-related vibes, cool magical heron and semi-magical squid, and that's it. All in all, this one felt like a smooth, pretty looking but empty shell I quickly slipped off of (especially past part two). Worth reading once, but no more.
Content Warnings
Minor: Violence and Animal cruelty
yinflower's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, and Gore
Moderate: War, Death of parent, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, and Violence
othersociologist's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Minor: Gun violence, War, and Animal cruelty
hillzye's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Intense, beautiful, mysterious,
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood and Violence
Minor: Dysphoria, Animal cruelty, and Torture
sarah2438's review against another edition
2.5
I liked the writing and it's a cool concept but the world/characters were severely underdeveloped. I could see some of that being done intentionally, but it bothered me that Ren alluded to her past so often but we never got any of those questions answered. There were some major pacing issues as well, particularlyin part 3. I think the writer can clearly write but there were just so many technical issues that I couldn't get past.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Gore
sauvageloup's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Another marvel from Arnott, i love his work so damn much
Pros:
- the writing is gorgeous, vivid, imaginative and poignant, whilst still being direct and crisp
- the myth of the rain heron is beautiful and Arnott's own invention as far as I can tell. The descriptions of it and the squids were just beautiful and I loved the overlap between the real, the speculative and the mythological - Arnott treads the lines so well
- the landscapes they travel through are well-described too, I could perfectly imagine each of them.
- I really enjoyed the side characters, or the earlier POVS. I loved Ren, liked Daniel and was interested in Alec in his brief appearance. I'm pretty sure Alec was meant to be Ren's estranged son and it was so sad that they came so close to reuniting. I suppose Daniel getting his happy ending with his farmer parents (i assume), and Harker reuniting with him too, was a stand in for the reunion Ren and Alec were denied.
- the themes of the deteriorating environment and collapse of government control were an interesting addition to the background of the main story, setting the stage against which the characters were sized up. They all reacted differently to the military control, to the damaged weather, and that showed who they were. It seems to me that Harker acts as a kind of reflection of general humanity - she follows the path of least resistance after suffering loss in childhood. She sees herself as not being evil and yet causes great harm through her bland competency within the military's cogs. it takes the loss of an eye (like Odin, gaining his wisdom?) for her to gain clarity and try to set things right as far as she can. The return of the heron doesn't fix the overall environment, but its shows a glimpse of light.
- the squid harvesting also seemed to speak to sustainable farming using traditional methods, and the damage outsiders do when they come in with their greed. what Harker's aunt's inappropiate laughter represented, I don't know, but it was an interesting addition to her character
Cons:
- I thought the book could have been longer, with more focus on environment and backstory. There were flashes of it, but nothing very satisfying. the talk of the human and animal cost was minimal apart from at the very start, and the vague mentions of weird weather just didn't feel quite... woven in enough? resolved? addressed? And nor did this mysterious coup. And yet I don't know whether more backstory would've just weighed it down, hard to say.
- I didn't like later Harker much, not because of her morality really, I just didn't find her very intriguing. As a child, placed next to her aunt, she was absolutely fine, but as an adult, she lacked something for me. Too burnt out or passive maybe. I liked the characters in this one, but I did like the <i> Flames </i> characters more and was more invested in them.
- whilst I liked the landscape descriptions, I felt the travelling phrase was a bit filler-y. Parts 0, 1 and 2 were definitely my favourite.
Overall, an excellent and beautiful read, but not quite up to the standard of <i> Flames </i> imo.
Pros:
- the writing is gorgeous, vivid, imaginative and poignant, whilst still being direct and crisp
- the myth of the rain heron is beautiful and Arnott's own invention as far as I can tell. The descriptions of it and the squids were just beautiful and I loved the overlap between the real, the speculative and the mythological - Arnott treads the lines so well
- the landscapes they travel through are well-described too, I could perfectly imagine each of them.
- I really enjoyed the side characters, or the earlier POVS. I loved Ren, liked Daniel and was interested in Alec in his brief appearance. I'm pretty sure Alec was meant to be Ren's estranged son and it was so sad that they came so close to reuniting. I suppose Daniel getting his happy ending with his farmer parents (i assume), and Harker reuniting with him too, was a stand in for the reunion Ren and Alec were denied.
- the themes of the deteriorating environment and collapse of government control were an interesting addition to the background of the main story, setting the stage against which the characters were sized up. They all reacted differently to the military control, to the damaged weather, and that showed who they were. It seems to me that Harker acts as a kind of reflection of general humanity - she follows the path of least resistance after suffering loss in childhood. She sees herself as not being evil and yet causes great harm through her bland competency within the military's cogs. it takes the loss of an eye (like Odin, gaining his wisdom?) for her to gain clarity and try to set things right as far as she can. The return of the heron doesn't fix the overall environment, but its shows a glimpse of light.
- the squid harvesting also seemed to speak to sustainable farming using traditional methods, and the damage outsiders do when they come in with their greed. what Harker's aunt's inappropiate laughter represented, I don't know, but it was an interesting addition to her character
Cons:
- I thought the book could have been longer, with more focus on environment and backstory. There were flashes of it, but nothing very satisfying. the talk of the human and animal cost was minimal apart from at the very start, and the vague mentions of weird weather just didn't feel quite... woven in enough? resolved? addressed? And nor did this mysterious coup. And yet I don't know whether more backstory would've just weighed it down, hard to say.
- I didn't like later Harker much, not because of her morality really, I just didn't find her very intriguing. As a child, placed next to her aunt, she was absolutely fine, but as an adult, she lacked something for me. Too burnt out or passive maybe. I liked the characters in this one, but I did like the <i> Flames </i> characters more and was more invested in them.
- whilst I liked the landscape descriptions, I felt the travelling phrase was a bit filler-y. Parts 0, 1 and 2 were definitely my favourite.
Overall, an excellent and beautiful read, but not quite up to the standard of <i> Flames </i> imo.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Gun violence, Gore, Body horror, Animal cruelty, Grief, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Violence, and Murder
the self harm is a long mention and plot point in part 2. extension discussion of a lost eye, infection and injury detail in latter parts of the bookamberinbookland's review against another edition
medium-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Animal cruelty, Animal death, War, Gun violence, Violence, and Torture
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