A review by zmull
Or What You Will by Jo Walton

3.0

I'm a Jo Walton fan. She's a no questions buy for me. So, it brings me no joy to say this her first book I didn't particularly like. It's a total muddle of a book. Part of it is about a "real world" author and is told in first person by her... muse, maybe? The narrator is spark of life that she uses to bring her characters to life. Sort of. He speaks to her. The author is clearly a bit autobiographical, but also not. The author and the narrator have decided to try to find a way for the author to live on in a fantasy world from one of her books where death has been defeated. It's a pretty good premise for a book and these sections are the best parts. The other thread, set in the fantasy world, is a mismash of Jo Walton tropes. There's time travel, Renaissance Florence, literal gods, Marsilio Ficino makes his third (?) appearance in a Walton novel, and lots of discussion of ethics and philosophy. Plus, she throws in characters from Twelfth Night and the Tempest to manage the plot, such that it is. This whole thread is very undercooked. There are a lot of characters and none of them get the focus they deserve.

Here's my recommendation. Buy a copy or request your local library buy a copy. Read all Jo Walton's other books first. Then come back to this one.