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3.54 AVERAGE
3.54 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
Classic Wells in both gorgeous world building and in it's interior, practical point of view character. Our teen runaway, Emilie, reminds me a bit of Kade or Wells' other pre-Raksura protagonists.
I thought a couple writing choices were interesting here. First is that Emilie spends most of her time either on her own or helped and mentored by another woman. The leading women are both quite different from each other, being different cultures (and species!), and she learns different things from them. It was nice to read, and I enjoyed how Emilie grew with them.
Secondly, though it was very much Emilie's story, it wasn't her adventure. Most of the story was spent in an effort to rescue various people of whom she'd never heard and had no real investment other than people she liked liked them (I want to find my mentor's father, I want to find my friend's wife). The rest was spent escaping immediate danger, but there wasn't a lot of personal investment in terms of whether the quest would succeed or not. She also didn't drive the story a lot of the time, though she did save everyone's butts and generally help out a lot. It's very much not a Chosen One story, which was a nice change, I thought.
The writing is very evocative, especially describing feelings of a variety of repressed people, and painting incredible landscapes. I also laughed a lot, though the humour runs between dry and sarcastic, particularly in Emilie's reflections on events.
Liked the ending, and look forward to the next one.
I thought a couple writing choices were interesting here. First is that Emilie spends most of her time either on her own or helped and mentored by another woman. The leading women are both quite different from each other, being different cultures (and species!), and she learns different things from them. It was nice to read, and I enjoyed how Emilie grew with them.
Secondly, though it was very much Emilie's story, it wasn't her adventure. Most of the story was spent in an effort to rescue various people of whom she'd never heard and had no real investment other than people she liked liked them (I want to find my mentor's father, I want to find my friend's wife). The rest was spent escaping immediate danger, but there wasn't a lot of personal investment in terms of whether the quest would succeed or not. She also didn't drive the story a lot of the time, though she did save everyone's butts and generally help out a lot. It's very much not a Chosen One story, which was a nice change, I thought.
The writing is very evocative, especially describing feelings of a variety of repressed people, and painting incredible landscapes. I also laughed a lot, though the humour runs between dry and sarcastic, particularly in Emilie's reflections on events.
Liked the ending, and look forward to the next one.
I should say right away that I'm rating this book as a children's (middle grade) book, not young adult, which, I think, it's theoretically supposed to be.
It didn't read like YA. It read pure middle-grade to me, right down to Emilie, the heroine, coming off far more as 12-14 than 16 which she was supposed to be. The writing style, the plot, the occasionally unnecessary explanations to the reader - all that felt "young" to me (with the possible exception of occasional references to prostitutes
That said, once I'd adjusted my mindset and read it like a children's adventure instead of young adult fantasy, I really liked it. It reminded me a lot (in the general sense of wonder and adventure) of Jules Verne's work or Conan Doyle's Challenger books, although it was set in a fantasy world, not "our" world (one rather like ours / sort of 19th century feel, just with magic). The pacing was good (at least I didn't find it dragging), the adventures exciting, the heroine spunky and feisty and brave while not being superpowered, the supporting cast largely fairly good.
I'm not entirely keen on the hint of Emilie/Daniel we got from this book (I take it that there are more planned, although this works very well as a standalone), but, eh.
It didn't read like YA. It read pure middle-grade to me, right down to Emilie, the heroine, coming off far more as 12-14 than 16 which she was supposed to be. The writing style, the plot, the occasionally unnecessary explanations to the reader - all that felt "young" to me (with the possible exception of occasional references to prostitutes
That said, once I'd adjusted my mindset and read it like a children's adventure instead of young adult fantasy, I really liked it. It reminded me a lot (in the general sense of wonder and adventure) of Jules Verne's work or Conan Doyle's Challenger books, although it was set in a fantasy world, not "our" world (one rather like ours / sort of 19th century feel, just with magic). The pacing was good (at least I didn't find it dragging), the adventures exciting, the heroine spunky and feisty and brave while not being superpowered, the supporting cast largely fairly good.
I'm not entirely keen on the hint of Emilie/Daniel we got from this book (I take it that there are more planned, although this works very well as a standalone), but, eh.
I hate to say this, but in comparison to her other work, this book is strangely...hollow.
The two Emilie books are in some ways outliers from Martha Wells' oeuvre. They're YA , and a bit light and softer as a result, compared to her occasionally rather dark adult novels. But the other elements are there. Unusual but highly realistic fantasy worlds worlds, an emphasis on exploration and cross-cultural contact, lots of very memorable characters, and a good eye for pacing.
I'd put these somewhere in the middle of Wells's work. Not quite the tour-de-force that is Murderbot or City of Bones, but still a pair of pleasant reads, and one I expect I'll be rereading in due time.
I'd put these somewhere in the middle of Wells's work. Not quite the tour-de-force that is Murderbot or City of Bones, but still a pair of pleasant reads, and one I expect I'll be rereading in due time.
Emilie and the Hollow World by Martha Wells is the latest offering out from Strange Chemistry, the YA branch of Angry Robot. Those of you who have been paying attention will be aware that I've loved almost everything Strange Chemistry have put out, and Emilie and the Hollow World is no exception.
This is a first and foremost an adventure novel with a large dose of exploration thrown in. It's maybe the sort of thing Jules Verne would have written if he'd written YA in modern language and had a tendency to include subtle feminist commentary (so, OK, not that similar to Jules Verne except for the exploration and adventure part). It's also a more steampunkish setting, with magic and aether currents powering the vessels which travel to the inner world — the one on the inside surface of the planet's sphere.
Emilie was a great character. She constantly compares her current situation with books (always nice to have something in common with the main character) and she takes the dangerous and outlandish situations in which she finds herself in stride. I also appreciated that she didn't have a particularly morbid and depressing reason for running away from her aunt and uncle, but also that her reason wasn't too trivial. She had a proper plan when she set out that could have worked if things hadn't gone awry.
This is above all a fun read. If tales of adventure and exploration of exotic and completely unknown lands appeal to you, give it a shot. Equally, if you're looking for lady adventuresses and some of the opposition they might face (mild sexism, nothing too hideous although a few of the male characters said and did punch-worthy things, in my opinion), definitely give this a shot. As well as Emilie, there's also Miss Marlende, the adult daughter of a scientist-explorer who takes Emilie under her wing, and Rani one of the inner-world people, who seem to have different ideas about women and their place (whereas the outer-world people's opinions are similar to real-world Victorian times, more or less).
I'm rather excited to discover that there's another Emilie book in the works, Emilie and the Sky World, due out next year. I did feel the first book set things up nicely for an indefinitely long series of adventures with Emilie. That said, it stands alone perfectly well if series aren't your thing (but I'm usually a fan of getting more of a good thing).
4.5 / 5 stars
You can read more of my reviews on my blog.
This is a first and foremost an adventure novel with a large dose of exploration thrown in. It's maybe the sort of thing Jules Verne would have written if he'd written YA in modern language and had a tendency to include subtle feminist commentary (so, OK, not that similar to Jules Verne except for the exploration and adventure part). It's also a more steampunkish setting, with magic and aether currents powering the vessels which travel to the inner world — the one on the inside surface of the planet's sphere.
Emilie was a great character. She constantly compares her current situation with books (always nice to have something in common with the main character) and she takes the dangerous and outlandish situations in which she finds herself in stride. I also appreciated that she didn't have a particularly morbid and depressing reason for running away from her aunt and uncle, but also that her reason wasn't too trivial. She had a proper plan when she set out that could have worked if things hadn't gone awry.
This is above all a fun read. If tales of adventure and exploration of exotic and completely unknown lands appeal to you, give it a shot. Equally, if you're looking for lady adventuresses and some of the opposition they might face (mild sexism, nothing too hideous although a few of the male characters said and did punch-worthy things, in my opinion), definitely give this a shot. As well as Emilie, there's also Miss Marlende, the adult daughter of a scientist-explorer who takes Emilie under her wing, and Rani one of the inner-world people, who seem to have different ideas about women and their place (whereas the outer-world people's opinions are similar to real-world Victorian times, more or less).
I'm rather excited to discover that there's another Emilie book in the works, Emilie and the Sky World, due out next year. I did feel the first book set things up nicely for an indefinitely long series of adventures with Emilie. That said, it stands alone perfectly well if series aren't your thing (but I'm usually a fan of getting more of a good thing).
4.5 / 5 stars
You can read more of my reviews on my blog.
You don’t see enough hollow world fiction these days. There is probably a reason for that. Fortunately there are no mole people to be seen here, although there are some merpeople. Emilie and the Hollow World mixes up a couple of genres and devices to create a satisfying adventure story with a likeable protagonist. My chief criticism is simply that Martha Wells doesn’t take it far enough. This is a “safe” book.
Emilie is supposed to stow away on the steamer Merry Bell. At least, that’s the plan: stow away to Silk Harbor and flee her evil aunt and uncle to make her own way in the world. Instead she ends up stowing away aboard Sovereign, a private ship outfitted for an expedition she didn’t even conceive of existing before the steamer starts descending towards the ocean floor. Soon she finds herself an ad hoc member of a search and exploration expedition inside the Earth itself.
From the start I was concerned by Emilie as a protagonist, because she lacks the training necessary to be of much use in the situations she finds herself. After she finds her way into the Sovereign’s party, people spend a lot of time explaining things to her. This is ideal for exposition, of course, but it makes Emilie somewhat dull compared to the secondary characters. She is so young, and she has no personal stake in what’s happening.
Wells is clearly aware of these dangers and seeks to mitigate them, however. Emilie is clever and, more importantly, forthright and ready to take risks. Over the course of the story she proves instrumental in acting quickly and honestly in the best interests of her newfound friends. She is far from a Mary Sue, too: she’s not suddenly an amazing navigator or awesome sailor or able to wield a sword or gun. This makes Emilie very relatable, and while she is as much of a product of this pseudo-Edwardian society as any other character, she is less of a fully-formed person. Her youth and inexperience makes her more impressionable and flexible and matches the open-mindedness of the reader. This pairing does much to ameliorate Emilie’s otherwise vague role in the narrative, and she does serve an important purpose in much of the story.
The other chief deficiency of this book might simply be the lack of a good villain. This is a story screaming for a villain, and the banal Lord Ivers doesn’t cut it. There are a few layers of conflict to this book, from the Sovereign’s search for Dr. Marlende to the question of whether they can ever return to the surface at all. Yet when we finally meet Lord Ivers, he’s a bit of a letdown. The whole secondary climax with a mole on Soverign and sabotage, etc., should have worked better than it did, and Wells did her best to foreshadow the identity of the mole without spoiling it. Unfortunately, there is a slapstick quality to the relationships between Engal, Marlende, and Ivers that undermines the significance of the threats happening here.
Finally, I’m somewhat disappointed with the ambience of the hollow world itself. There is so much latent potential here. We learn early on that there are many different species here, from the Cirathi to the merpeople to others we don’t even glimpse. There are hints of monsters who lurk in the sub-ocean. There should be so many wonders to behold and dangers to dodge, but ultimately what we get is a fairly pathetic little war and some escape/chase sequences. Don’t get me wrong: what Wells delivers here is good quality action. Yet she just barely scrapes the surface of what’s possibly present in her hollow world, and it’s frustrating. There could have been so much more adventure here. I don’t want to tell an author how to write her book. I just love the idea of the hollow world so much that I’m sad we don’t see more of it.
If you’ve read this far (you crazy review reader you), you might have developed the impression I didn’t like this book, because all I’m really doing is harping on its flaws. There’s a reason for that, but it’s not a dislike of Emilie and the Hollow World. This is a fun novel, a relaxing but entertaining read. But there isn’t much that’s remarkable about it. If that sounds strange, given the dearth of hollow world stories these days, then it is. I can be very hard on books that try and fail, but I am even harder on books that don’t try at all just to succeed. Emilie and the Hollow World is a fine choice, and I won’t discourage you from reading it. But there are just so many other books that take more risks and present wider vistas and gutsier conflicts. I enjoyed this one, but it didn’t excite me.
Emilie is supposed to stow away on the steamer Merry Bell. At least, that’s the plan: stow away to Silk Harbor and flee her evil aunt and uncle to make her own way in the world. Instead she ends up stowing away aboard Sovereign, a private ship outfitted for an expedition she didn’t even conceive of existing before the steamer starts descending towards the ocean floor. Soon she finds herself an ad hoc member of a search and exploration expedition inside the Earth itself.
From the start I was concerned by Emilie as a protagonist, because she lacks the training necessary to be of much use in the situations she finds herself. After she finds her way into the Sovereign’s party, people spend a lot of time explaining things to her. This is ideal for exposition, of course, but it makes Emilie somewhat dull compared to the secondary characters. She is so young, and she has no personal stake in what’s happening.
Wells is clearly aware of these dangers and seeks to mitigate them, however. Emilie is clever and, more importantly, forthright and ready to take risks. Over the course of the story she proves instrumental in acting quickly and honestly in the best interests of her newfound friends. She is far from a Mary Sue, too: she’s not suddenly an amazing navigator or awesome sailor or able to wield a sword or gun. This makes Emilie very relatable, and while she is as much of a product of this pseudo-Edwardian society as any other character, she is less of a fully-formed person. Her youth and inexperience makes her more impressionable and flexible and matches the open-mindedness of the reader. This pairing does much to ameliorate Emilie’s otherwise vague role in the narrative, and she does serve an important purpose in much of the story.
The other chief deficiency of this book might simply be the lack of a good villain. This is a story screaming for a villain, and the banal Lord Ivers doesn’t cut it. There are a few layers of conflict to this book, from the Sovereign’s search for Dr. Marlende to the question of whether they can ever return to the surface at all. Yet when we finally meet Lord Ivers, he’s a bit of a letdown. The whole secondary climax with a mole on Soverign and sabotage, etc., should have worked better than it did, and Wells did her best to foreshadow the identity of the mole without spoiling it. Unfortunately, there is a slapstick quality to the relationships between Engal, Marlende, and Ivers that undermines the significance of the threats happening here.
Finally, I’m somewhat disappointed with the ambience of the hollow world itself. There is so much latent potential here. We learn early on that there are many different species here, from the Cirathi to the merpeople to others we don’t even glimpse. There are hints of monsters who lurk in the sub-ocean. There should be so many wonders to behold and dangers to dodge, but ultimately what we get is a fairly pathetic little war and some escape/chase sequences. Don’t get me wrong: what Wells delivers here is good quality action. Yet she just barely scrapes the surface of what’s possibly present in her hollow world, and it’s frustrating. There could have been so much more adventure here. I don’t want to tell an author how to write her book. I just love the idea of the hollow world so much that I’m sad we don’t see more of it.
If you’ve read this far (you crazy review reader you), you might have developed the impression I didn’t like this book, because all I’m really doing is harping on its flaws. There’s a reason for that, but it’s not a dislike of Emilie and the Hollow World. This is a fun novel, a relaxing but entertaining read. But there isn’t much that’s remarkable about it. If that sounds strange, given the dearth of hollow world stories these days, then it is. I can be very hard on books that try and fail, but I am even harder on books that don’t try at all just to succeed. Emilie and the Hollow World is a fine choice, and I won’t discourage you from reading it. But there are just so many other books that take more risks and present wider vistas and gutsier conflicts. I enjoyed this one, but it didn’t excite me.
Great fun steampunk adventure for the younger YA bracket
Mysterious contraptions, rival scientists and fascinating new lands make this steampunk romp a great fun read. I enjoyed this particularly for the characters and world building.
Emilie makes a great main character for this age bracket. At the start of the novel, she's running away from home, so she is showing initiative and drive, but as we're seeing her out of her comfort zone, she quickly comes up against challenges that really test her. I've seen some reviews on Goodreads criticising her passivity, and yes, there are some situations in which she lacks a little oomph or allows herself to be lead, but I found that entirely believable for her age (16) and for how far from her ordinary world she finds herself. I feel that these touches of realistic characterisation make for an effective novel, and allow us to easily and readily sympathise with Emilie as an 'everygirl' type character.
The world building is deftly managed, with some really nice touches of description. The different races that Martha Wells has created struck me as unique and intriguing, and seeing everything from Emilie's perspective (although in third person narration), as a curious and relatively naive outsider, brings a freshness and gentleness.
As a steampunk novel (albeit with magical aether-powered devices rather than actual steam), there is a lot of broadly Victorian (or perhaps Victorian-inspired is more accurate) detail in clothing, technology and attitudes. There is a clear feminist slant (note: this is a Good Thing), with Emilie finding an excellent role model in lady adventurer Lady Marlende.
Overall, I really enjoyed this and would definitely recommend it.
Mysterious contraptions, rival scientists and fascinating new lands make this steampunk romp a great fun read. I enjoyed this particularly for the characters and world building.
Emilie makes a great main character for this age bracket. At the start of the novel, she's running away from home, so she is showing initiative and drive, but as we're seeing her out of her comfort zone, she quickly comes up against challenges that really test her. I've seen some reviews on Goodreads criticising her passivity, and yes, there are some situations in which she lacks a little oomph or allows herself to be lead, but I found that entirely believable for her age (16) and for how far from her ordinary world she finds herself. I feel that these touches of realistic characterisation make for an effective novel, and allow us to easily and readily sympathise with Emilie as an 'everygirl' type character.
The world building is deftly managed, with some really nice touches of description. The different races that Martha Wells has created struck me as unique and intriguing, and seeing everything from Emilie's perspective (although in third person narration), as a curious and relatively naive outsider, brings a freshness and gentleness.
As a steampunk novel (albeit with magical aether-powered devices rather than actual steam), there is a lot of broadly Victorian (or perhaps Victorian-inspired is more accurate) detail in clothing, technology and attitudes. There is a clear feminist slant (note: this is a Good Thing), with Emilie finding an excellent role model in lady adventurer Lady Marlende.
Overall, I really enjoyed this and would definitely recommend it.
The story was fine, but I couldn't get into the protagonist very well. It was a very young YA book I think.