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A review by samwreads
The Vorrh by Brian Catling
2.0
I came into this book with huge expectations, for some reason. This is rarely a good idea, but in this case positive critical and reader reviews from people I respect had me thinking it would be some sort of modern Dhalgren/New Sun/Heart of Darkness hybrid with amazing language and dense, beautiful language and plotting.
Indeed, the first chapter is amazing and I love it and if I were looking at the book on a store shelf and deciding whether to buy, and read the first few pages I would be sold instantly. It is so weird and new and creative and fit perfectly into the sort of expectations I had built myself.
From there, unfortunately, it's all pretty much downhill. Not steeply downhill, but slowly and steadily. Indeed, I felt the language and tautness of writing overall declined throughout the book. In the beginning Catling has a really interesting continuity in metaphor and description (I noticed it manifesting primarily in velocity-based descriptions) that declines and decays as the book wears on. What is left after the wonderful strangeness of the beginning fades is somewhat conventional fantasy writing and characters, an interesting world that is discovered largely through exposition, and questionable representation of women and minority characters. It's hard for me to tell how much of this last issue is intentional, as we see the world through its cadre of primary characters whose early 20th-century colonial setting would seem to carry some baggage.
Whatever the case, I think "The Vorrh" is worth a read if you enjoy fantasy and are looking for a creative and strange new world. I just think it is highly flawed and fails to transcend its genre in any meaningful way.
Indeed, the first chapter is amazing and I love it and if I were looking at the book on a store shelf and deciding whether to buy, and read the first few pages I would be sold instantly. It is so weird and new and creative and fit perfectly into the sort of expectations I had built myself.
From there, unfortunately, it's all pretty much downhill. Not steeply downhill, but slowly and steadily. Indeed, I felt the language and tautness of writing overall declined throughout the book. In the beginning Catling has a really interesting continuity in metaphor and description (I noticed it manifesting primarily in velocity-based descriptions) that declines and decays as the book wears on. What is left after the wonderful strangeness of the beginning fades is somewhat conventional fantasy writing and characters, an interesting world that is discovered largely through exposition, and questionable representation of women and minority characters. It's hard for me to tell how much of this last issue is intentional, as we see the world through its cadre of primary characters whose early 20th-century colonial setting would seem to carry some baggage.
Whatever the case, I think "The Vorrh" is worth a read if you enjoy fantasy and are looking for a creative and strange new world. I just think it is highly flawed and fails to transcend its genre in any meaningful way.