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A review by pattydsf
The Book of Joan by Lidia Yuknavitch
3.0
“When they own languages, she thought, we are terrorists. When we own them, we are revolutionaries.”
I really wanted to love this book. Last year I read The Chronology of Water and before that I read The Small Backs of Children. Both books are full of pain and suffering so I can’t say I loved them, but I did find the writing wonderful and imaginative. The Small Backs of Children was especially meaningful to me. Such a hard book, but so beautifully written. Since I was glad to have read Yuknavitch before and I like science fiction, I thought this novel might be one of my favorites from the Tournament of Books (ToB) this year.
Unfortunately, this was not destined to be a well liked read. I like Joan, the “savior” of this future world, but I didn’t really like the narrator or the world that Yuknavitch has invented.
There are reasons that many speculative fiction stories are long. One of them is that world building takes time. I missed the world building in this story. There was enough to know what was going on, but not enough for me to be able to immerse myself in this new world. When I put this book down, I didn’t think about it until I picked it up again.
I also struggled with the “science” behind CIEL, the spaceship where much of this story takes place. What happened to the characters was not scientifically possible. It jarred me out of the tale.
I am not sorry that I read this book. I will continue to read Yuknavitch because I do believe she can write and that her books will always be interesting. This was just a miss for me. She gets three stars because of her other works.
I really wanted to love this book. Last year I read The Chronology of Water and before that I read The Small Backs of Children. Both books are full of pain and suffering so I can’t say I loved them, but I did find the writing wonderful and imaginative. The Small Backs of Children was especially meaningful to me. Such a hard book, but so beautifully written. Since I was glad to have read Yuknavitch before and I like science fiction, I thought this novel might be one of my favorites from the Tournament of Books (ToB) this year.
Unfortunately, this was not destined to be a well liked read. I like Joan, the “savior” of this future world, but I didn’t really like the narrator or the world that Yuknavitch has invented.
There are reasons that many speculative fiction stories are long. One of them is that world building takes time. I missed the world building in this story. There was enough to know what was going on, but not enough for me to be able to immerse myself in this new world. When I put this book down, I didn’t think about it until I picked it up again.
I also struggled with the “science” behind CIEL, the spaceship where much of this story takes place. What happened to the characters was not scientifically possible. It jarred me out of the tale.
I am not sorry that I read this book. I will continue to read Yuknavitch because I do believe she can write and that her books will always be interesting. This was just a miss for me. She gets three stars because of her other works.