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A review by thepurplebookwyrm
Elder Race by Adrian Tchaikovsky
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Rave video review over here: https://youtu.be/sFceoGnWS8I.
First five star read that wasn't a re-read of the year! π
This novella was... perfect? I mean honestly that's how it felt to me. It was such a beautiful, moving, meaning-laden and thematically rich story. It hit all the right notes for me, and had just the right balance, given the novella format, between world-building, plot and character development. Now that I think about it, it almost felt like... an Ursula K. LeGuin story in a way? And just to be clear, from me, that's a massive compliment. With just a delicious smidge of "weird fictionality" thrown in. βΊοΈ
Elden Race centres on, and fully, oh-so-satisfyingly develops, two primary themes or ideas: 1) Arthur C. Clarke's Third Law of Science-Fiction (and what this implies for communicating across time and culture), and 2) the experience and maladaptive management of severe chronic depression. As a sufferer of the latter, I can confidently assert that the representation of depression in this relatively short tale is superb, and keenly poignant. Following Nyr's struggle with mental illness made me feel seen and understood in a way I seldom experience - though it's interesting that I read this shortly after reading The Magicians, another SFF novel that does a great job of showing what the experience of mental illness, depression specifically, is like.
Seriously though, can I have a version of Nyr's DCS device, please and thank you? I promise I won't mis-use it! π Not going to say much more than that, it's a novella after all and I invite anyone who's interested to check it out for themselves.
Also, it's neat that I now have two books I can recommend to those looking for mental illness/depression rep in SFF - this one specifically is even better when it comes to representing depression the exact way I experience it, which is partly why I loved it so much.
First five star read that wasn't a re-read of the year! π
This novella was... perfect? I mean honestly that's how it felt to me. It was such a beautiful, moving, meaning-laden and thematically rich story. It hit all the right notes for me, and had just the right balance, given the novella format, between world-building, plot and character development. Now that I think about it, it almost felt like... an Ursula K. LeGuin story in a way? And just to be clear, from me, that's a massive compliment. With just a delicious smidge of "weird fictionality" thrown in. βΊοΈ
Elden Race centres on, and fully, oh-so-satisfyingly develops, two primary themes or ideas: 1) Arthur C. Clarke's Third Law of Science-Fiction (and what this implies for communicating across time and culture), and 2) the experience and maladaptive management of severe chronic depression. As a sufferer of the latter, I can confidently assert that the representation of depression in this relatively short tale is superb, and keenly poignant. Following Nyr's struggle with mental illness made me feel seen and understood in a way I seldom experience - though it's interesting that I read this shortly after reading The Magicians, another SFF novel that does a great job of showing what the experience of mental illness, depression specifically, is like.
Seriously though, can I have a version of Nyr's DCS device, please and thank you? I promise I won't mis-use it! π Not going to say much more than that, it's a novella after all and I invite anyone who's interested to check it out for themselves.
Also, it's neat that I now have two books I can recommend to those looking for mental illness/depression rep in SFF - this one specifically is even better when it comes to representing depression the exact way I experience it, which is partly why I loved it so much.