Scan barcode
A review by crofteereader
Fireheart Tiger by Aliette de Bodard
3.0
The progression of my thoughts as I read this novella: ooh we have political intrigue, bitterness, and memories of fear/trauma (plus some good old fashioned racism); points for gay ladies but the love interest doesn't have me convinced; was there a time jump in here somewhere without me realizing it? apparently not; this is the kind of magic I can get behind; I feel like I missed something somewhere; heck yes Giang; heck yes Thanh!
I felt like a lot of decisions were being made off of the page, leaving the reader kind of scrambling to catch up. We're told of a grand love affair (it was refreshing for there to be absolutely no qualms as to the genders of the two parties, even when the idea of marriage is tossed around), but we only see some lust and patronizing language. And a letter is sent to (and a reply received from) another country within some interminable time that felt like it might have been an afternoon but I'm honestly not sure (hence the "was there a time jump in there somewhere" comment above).
I did really like that everything was not magically solved over the course of this very short novella. We're left with the understanding that there is much more work to do (both personal and political) following the events described.
{Thank you Tor.com and NetGalley for the advanced copy; all thoughts are my own}
I felt like a lot of decisions were being made off of the page, leaving the reader kind of scrambling to catch up. We're told of a grand love affair (it was refreshing for there to be absolutely no qualms as to the genders of the two parties, even when the idea of marriage is tossed around), but we only see some lust and patronizing language. And a letter is sent to (and a reply received from) another country within some interminable time that felt like it might have been an afternoon but I'm honestly not sure (hence the "was there a time jump in there somewhere" comment above).
I did really like that everything was not magically solved over the course of this very short novella. We're left with the understanding that there is much more work to do (both personal and political) following the events described.
{Thank you Tor.com and NetGalley for the advanced copy; all thoughts are my own}