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A review by hrtk
Memory of Water by Emmi Itäranta
4.0
Itäranta seems to be a really talented writer, moreso than any contemporary Finnish writer I can think of right now. While her first published novel had themes that tend to turn me off (dystopia in general, environmentalist dystopia especially, ancient mystique) they were handled delicately enough that I mostly didn't pay much attention.
Picking the rating was really difficult this time--I'd have picked 3.5 if that was possible. But as first novels go, this was surprisingly good, and I even read the the book in Finnish which tends to make futuristic things feel incredibly stupid and far fetched. So a bit of mercy is in place, and 4 stars are warranted.
I won't make the mistake of picking a Finnish language scifi book again (I happened to start the Finnish translation of The Quantum Thief at the same time, and I just couldn't read it) given an English alternative. Shame on me, I didn't do my homework and didn't realize Finnish writers write in English these days.
Picking the rating was really difficult this time--I'd have picked 3.5 if that was possible. But as first novels go, this was surprisingly good, and I even read the the book in Finnish which tends to make futuristic things feel incredibly stupid and far fetched. So a bit of mercy is in place, and 4 stars are warranted.
I won't make the mistake of picking a Finnish language scifi book again (I happened to start the Finnish translation of The Quantum Thief at the same time, and I just couldn't read it) given an English alternative. Shame on me, I didn't do my homework and didn't realize Finnish writers write in English these days.