Take a photo of a barcode or cover
euanbrook 's review for:
Slow River
by Nicola Griffith
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It took me a long time to finish this book, not because it wasn't readable, but because I didn't want it to end. To give you an idea, I read fifty pages in one day, then another fifty a few days later. Then I stopped reading for several weeks, started reading more leisurely, but then just as I was about to finish, I stopped again.
I first discovered this book well over a decade ago now, after reading an excerpt online. I never got it then, though I'd memorised the author's name and the title. I'd clearly decided then that I would read it someday, so it's absurd that it's taken so long. I suppose my hesitation in finishing the book came from a kind of sad nostalgia. To finish it would be to lose that brief attachment to my adolescence that I'd felt upon starting it. A strange, sad feeling.
Still, I've finished it now. I know what happens to Lore and Spanner and Magyar. I'm happy I know, although I am sad to see it concluded. I don't know if the book has this effect on all of its readers or if this is just an odd exception, but I was deeply moved by the characters and the wonderful science-fiction world, so similar yet so different to our own.
It's of its era, published in 1995. It has that End of History edge to it, with corporations in total control of the world but also a heightened understanding of the future of technology. Many fascinating and correct suppositions are made, that we would carry around tablet-like devices for internet-use, that we would have digital IDs and credit cards, that there would be deep-fakes and digital fraud. One incredible detail is when a character slides a video call to the side of their tablet-screen, much as we do today with apps. Going back to this era of science-fiction writers, it is very clear how many of them had their finger on the pulse of technology in a way even modern writers just can't compete with.
The story actually focuses around a kidnapping, and a young woman's development following this event. As someone who has experienced stalking and generally avoids stories of this nature, I couldn't break away. Even when I wasn't reading, my thoughts regularly turned to the book's world. Perhaps it's just the way the author wrote it, or maybe it's my own personal response, but I could see the world as described so intensely: Spanner's apartment, the Polar Bear, the industrial plant, the tent.
It's a real privilege to come across books like this.
I first discovered this book well over a decade ago now, after reading an excerpt online. I never got it then, though I'd memorised the author's name and the title. I'd clearly decided then that I would read it someday, so it's absurd that it's taken so long. I suppose my hesitation in finishing the book came from a kind of sad nostalgia. To finish it would be to lose that brief attachment to my adolescence that I'd felt upon starting it. A strange, sad feeling.
Still, I've finished it now. I know what happens to Lore and Spanner and Magyar. I'm happy I know, although I am sad to see it concluded. I don't know if the book has this effect on all of its readers or if this is just an odd exception, but I was deeply moved by the characters and the wonderful science-fiction world, so similar yet so different to our own.
It's of its era, published in 1995. It has that End of History edge to it, with corporations in total control of the world but also a heightened understanding of the future of technology. Many fascinating and correct suppositions are made, that we would carry around tablet-like devices for internet-use, that we would have digital IDs and credit cards, that there would be deep-fakes and digital fraud. One incredible detail is when a character slides a video call to the side of their tablet-screen, much as we do today with apps. Going back to this era of science-fiction writers, it is very clear how many of them had their finger on the pulse of technology in a way even modern writers just can't compete with.
The story actually focuses around a kidnapping, and a young woman's development following this event. As someone who has experienced stalking and generally avoids stories of this nature, I couldn't break away. Even when I wasn't reading, my thoughts regularly turned to the book's world. Perhaps it's just the way the author wrote it, or maybe it's my own personal response, but I could see the world as described so intensely: Spanner's apartment, the Polar Bear, the industrial plant, the tent.
It's a real privilege to come across books like this.