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erebus53's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
What's with my accidentally stumbling upon a bunch of books in a row set in and around London?
Set in an alternate London, and aimed at a youth audience, Tyger tells the story of a boy born in London to a Middle-Eastern migrant family. Doubling down on the oppression of modern London, this setting is in a British Empire that has an actual Emperor, slaves, and segregation that is maintained by a police state.
While doing deliveries for his family business young Adam runs from a man who wants to mug him and finds himself in a rubbish dump on common land, where he finds a Tyger.. (you know.. burning bright and all those tygery things that tygers do) this would be weird enough, but these animals are supposed to be extinct in that world, and this one talks.
Now I have a pretty good grounding in myth and fantasy stuff, and this book got me looking things up and rabbit-holing a wee bit. Having recently learned that Tyburn gallows is "the most haunted place in London" (because Netflix says so, thanks "Lockwood & Co.") I was already familiar with that, but I was noticing some serious creation mythos stuff as we skirt some Angelic things.
First I recognised the name Urizen (°*waves to friend who used this an an online alias*°), but I have not read William Blake, and it seems that much of the entire mythos in this book is based off those writings. The author certainly lingers on the tiger's symmetry and the the spelling of Tyger is straight from Blake's poem of the same name.
Most books for young people tend to skirt the yucky bits of violent oppression but this book, in a move that I haven't seen since the (historical fiction) Felix and Zelda series (Morris Gleitzman), included the hanging of an innocent child. It also has Tyger wounded several times by nasty hunters including a child having to nurse its injuries. It may not be a good fit for very sensitive readers.
I kept getting a feeling that there was going to be some horrible revelation at the other end of the book, but much as I recognised certain things long before they happened, the focus of the story remained on the children, and their empowerment. The primary focus of the story is hope, and specifically having imagination and creativity (which psychologists say is essential in healing and overcoming trauma, so that's spot on). As the characters learn to recognise others and see what is going on in the world around them, reflect on themselves and their interactions, and then be loving and trusting, we share a skillset for developing networks that give power to people to end oppression (maybe I have read too much communist literature lately?). Only if you can imagine a different world, can you use your energies to bring that world into being.
Set in an alternate London, and aimed at a youth audience, Tyger tells the story of a boy born in London to a Middle-Eastern migrant family. Doubling down on the oppression of modern London, this setting is in a British Empire that has an actual Emperor, slaves, and segregation that is maintained by a police state.
While doing deliveries for his family business young Adam runs from a man who wants to mug him and finds himself in a rubbish dump on common land, where he finds a Tyger.. (you know.. burning bright and all those tygery things that tygers do) this would be weird enough, but these animals are supposed to be extinct in that world, and this one talks.
Now I have a pretty good grounding in myth and fantasy stuff, and this book got me looking things up and rabbit-holing a wee bit. Having recently learned that Tyburn gallows is "the most haunted place in London" (because Netflix says so, thanks "Lockwood & Co.") I was already familiar with that, but I was noticing some serious creation mythos stuff as we skirt some Angelic things.
First I recognised the name Urizen (°*waves to friend who used this an an online alias*°), but I have not read William Blake, and it seems that much of the entire mythos in this book is based off those writings. The author certainly lingers on the tiger's symmetry and the the spelling of Tyger is straight from Blake's poem of the same name.
Most books for young people tend to skirt the yucky bits of violent oppression but this book, in a move that I haven't seen since the (historical fiction) Felix and Zelda series (Morris Gleitzman), included the hanging of an innocent child. It also has Tyger wounded several times by nasty hunters including a child having to nurse its injuries. It may not be a good fit for very sensitive readers.
I kept getting a feeling that there was going to be some horrible revelation at the other end of the book, but much as I recognised certain things long before they happened, the focus of the story remained on the children, and their empowerment. The primary focus of the story is hope, and specifically having imagination and creativity (which psychologists say is essential in healing and overcoming trauma, so that's spot on). As the characters learn to recognise others and see what is going on in the world around them, reflect on themselves and their interactions, and then be loving and trusting, we share a skillset for developing networks that give power to people to end oppression (maybe I have read too much communist literature lately?). Only if you can imagine a different world, can you use your energies to bring that world into being.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Racial slurs, Child death, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Racism, Animal cruelty, Slavery, Mental illness, Bullying, Religious bigotry, Classism, Death, Grief, Violence, Islamophobia, and Hate crime
Minor: Excrement, Deportation, and Antisemitism
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