Reviews

I recently read all the novels nominated for this year's Nebula and Hugo Awards. Now, I have turned my attention to the Nebula- and Hugo-nominated novellas. To date, I have read the seven novellas nominated for the Nebula Award. Two of those novellas, Becky Chambers's A Psalm for the Wild-Built and Aliette de Bodard's Fireheart Tiger, were also nominated for the Hugo Award. Today, I began reading the four other novellas nominated for the Hugo. Catherynne M Valente's The Past is Red was the first that I chose.

What a remarkable work! I read The Past is Red in a single sitting, and I loved it from the start. Valente's narrator, Tetley Abednego, is wonderfully endearing, and the circumstances of her life drew me in right away. But as I read the early chapters, I could not have imagined the wrenching emotion Valente achieves in the novella's later chapters. There is deep and powerful meaning here, and Valente's prose - sometimes quirky and humorous, other times lyrical and heartbreaking - captures it perfectly.

I know that Valente is a prolific writer. I will make a point of seeking out her other work in the near future.

cheyenne_halud's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

kaalika's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Loveable characters? No

3.0

angiegladden's review against another edition

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1.0

DNF 35% page 55

everie's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Feels like if Junie B. Jones was born in the post-apocalypse (HIGHEST PRAISE).

This is my first Valente, and I cannot BELIEVE how much she packs into so few pages. Just when you think it can't go any farther, she drops things like

semi-sentient robot and the entire lost rich jerk population of earth terraforming Mars

on you so naturally. Nothing feels out of place, everything is heart-wrenching, and certainly it's a story for our strange, strange times.

kalliegrace's review against another edition

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dark lighthearted sad fast-paced

4.0

This climate disaster post-apocalypse story has a running optimism that feels affected. I enjoyed this so much more than Space Opera by the same author - that one was over the top in terms of nonsense. This one is playful, a character is called Goodnight Moon, but the circumstances are somber and you can feel that.

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