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A review by sam_bizar_wilcox
Frontier by Can Xue
5.0
Very weird, but in the best possible way.
Frontier actively evades a traditional narrative structure, instead focusing on single or clusters of related characters, but all centered around Pebble Town (a sort of mythic, surreal nonplace) and obliquely connected to the Design Institute. What makes this novel work is the almost mythical description and resonant patterns that emerge. The novel is more interested in motifs of friendship, family, loss, and alienation than explaining what sits at its narrative surface. This is a book to think about reading its final page, one immeasurably engaging and unique.
Frontier actively evades a traditional narrative structure, instead focusing on single or clusters of related characters, but all centered around Pebble Town (a sort of mythic, surreal nonplace) and obliquely connected to the Design Institute. What makes this novel work is the almost mythical description and resonant patterns that emerge. The novel is more interested in motifs of friendship, family, loss, and alienation than explaining what sits at its narrative surface. This is a book to think about reading its final page, one immeasurably engaging and unique.