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A review by ninjamuse
The Silenced Tale by J.M. Frey
4.0
In brief: Forsyth and Lucy Piper are safely back in Canada after their adventures in Forsyth’s fictional homeworld. It’s been peaceful, but suddenly Lucy’s having nightmares, Forsyth’s author’s being stalked, and they might not be able to think their way out this time. Third in a trilogy.
Thoughts: And I thought the last two books had achieved peak metafiction!
I don’t even know where to begin with this one. It is so fannish and too real and I don’t even know how Frey managed to upend some of the tropes she did, or how she thought to do so. I’m not even sure I can effectively compare the plot to the last two, because it was so different. It’s a very different feel compared to the other books in the trilogy, doesn’t follow the same patterns, but if you couldn’t guess from the summary, that’s sort of the point.
There’s actually not a lot I can discuss without spoiling things, now that I think of it. So much of the story relies on surprises and not knowing what comes next. But I can say, as a nerd who’s been steeped in lit and fandom for years, I a) can absolutely tell that Frey has too, with some of the things she’s tackling and the angles she’s used and b) was completely delighted by the metafictional hoops she wove this through. The climax is something else.
I’m also really pleased by the level of diversity in the book, and the portrayal of fandom, and the fact that (see: hoops, metafictional) there are 110% valid plot reasons for them too.
This isn’t to say it’s a totally perfect book. There were a few sections that felt slow without adding all that much to the tension, and while the fandom stuff jived, the police stuff and some of the legal/financial things felt off-kilter, like there was fudging for plot reasons. Those things threw me, made it a bit easier to wander off for a while, but I can forgive the latter because getting all that pitch-perfect would’ve changed the story for the worse. The slowness? Could just be me. It’s not like those sections didn’t have important stuff in them either.
I’m definitely more of a fan of this series now that I’ve finished it. They’re more complex than they sound, especially this one, and, as I predicted before I bought the first one, absolutely my thing. (So complex one could pull a Pip and write their dissertation on them.) Good fantasy, good story, good characters, good themes, good understanding of tropes and craft, with a lot of smart things to say.
Warnings: Gore. Villain who thinks nothing of stalking, abuse, killing animals, or mind-rape. Allusions to torture. Sexist old white man trying to be better. Several misogynistic and racially insensitive comments, shot down and called out. Radicalized fans. Earthquake- or bombing-like scenario.
8.5/10
Thoughts: And I thought the last two books had achieved peak metafiction!
I don’t even know where to begin with this one. It is so fannish and too real and I don’t even know how Frey managed to upend some of the tropes she did, or how she thought to do so. I’m not even sure I can effectively compare the plot to the last two, because it was so different. It’s a very different feel compared to the other books in the trilogy, doesn’t follow the same patterns, but if you couldn’t guess from the summary, that’s sort of the point.
There’s actually not a lot I can discuss without spoiling things, now that I think of it. So much of the story relies on surprises and not knowing what comes next. But I can say, as a nerd who’s been steeped in lit and fandom for years, I a) can absolutely tell that Frey has too, with some of the things she’s tackling and the angles she’s used and b) was completely delighted by the metafictional hoops she wove this through. The climax is something else.
I’m also really pleased by the level of diversity in the book, and the portrayal of fandom, and the fact that (see: hoops, metafictional) there are 110% valid plot reasons for them too.
This isn’t to say it’s a totally perfect book. There were a few sections that felt slow without adding all that much to the tension, and while the fandom stuff jived, the police stuff and some of the legal/financial things felt off-kilter, like there was fudging for plot reasons. Those things threw me, made it a bit easier to wander off for a while, but I can forgive the latter because getting all that pitch-perfect would’ve changed the story for the worse. The slowness? Could just be me. It’s not like those sections didn’t have important stuff in them either.
I’m definitely more of a fan of this series now that I’ve finished it. They’re more complex than they sound, especially this one, and, as I predicted before I bought the first one, absolutely my thing. (So complex one could pull a Pip and write their dissertation on them.) Good fantasy, good story, good characters, good themes, good understanding of tropes and craft, with a lot of smart things to say.
Warnings: Gore. Villain who thinks nothing of stalking, abuse, killing animals, or mind-rape. Allusions to torture. Sexist old white man trying to be better. Several misogynistic and racially insensitive comments, shot down and called out. Radicalized fans. Earthquake- or bombing-like scenario.
8.5/10