A review by chirson
Or What You Will by Jo Walton

5.0

In the hands of a less accomplished writer, this might have dissolved into a solipsistic navel-gazing mess. But instead, I loved it. Maybe not as much as Lent, which enraptured me, but still rather a lot. Walton is playful and melancholy here, spinning a story of many worlds and characters and bringing together her love of Florence, Shakespeare, sff literature and metafiction. There is experimentation here, and self-indulgence, and not everything she throws on the page sticks the landing completely, but the parts that do work so well. I laughed, and I cried a little, and I thought "this is the most canlit Walton has ever been" and then there was that ending.

Spoiler

I think Walton's commitment to ending on a happy note is simply exceptional, and while it didn't have the same weight Lent had, I loved the life-affirmation.

It also made me want to read everything, which is always the case with Walton and one of the reasons I wanted to start 2021 - a new year, a new decade - with her.