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A review by skelleycat
The Mapmaker's War by Ronlyn Domingue
4.0
The first time I heard about this book was in Renae's review, and it definitely piqued my curiosity. Shortly thereafter, I learned that Ronlyn Domingue would be visiting my favorite local bookshop, so I attended the event. I was even more intrigued, even though the event had a certain air of... haught? -- which sort of turned me off. However, since then, I have wanted to read the book (and I regret not buying it then and there), so after months of this little beauty sitting on my shelf (and even after reading a sample of it aloud to my husband), I finally sat down to read it!
Wow.
Okay, it's clear that I enjoy books written in experimental styles. I've always been a fan of artists who are willing to break norms and do what they think might be interesting and/or different. This book is written in second person, which some people probably find quit off-putting, but I very much enjoyed. It reminded me a lot of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan in some ways, but ultimately it was wholly its own, beautiful beast.
The narrative is beautiful, haunting, and eloquent. It's such a treat (for me, at least) to watch a story unfold and unravel from a future viewpoint looking back. Looking back on one's life, talking to yourself -- making you face yourself and be honest (I can't count how many times Aoife told herself: "Tell the truth." or "Admit it." in this book) -- is something I just find utterfly fascinating.
Aside from that, the overall story is full of map-making, magical/mystical elements, intrigue, tragedy, social issues (especially in regards to women), family and relationship issues (I could relate so much to Aoife and her lack of desire for children), idealistic and utopian societies, mistakes, love, travels... I could go on and on. This book might look short, but it is so FULL and RICH and vibrant and heartbreaking that it is enough. I loved every last word.
So why did I only rate it 4 stars?
There are no maps to be found in this book. That highly disappointed me, especially since so much of it revolved around mapmaking and Aoife's connection to it. Perhaps it was a specific choice not to include any maps -- perhaps they wanted the readers to imagine their own maps for Aoife's travels -- but that was a disappointing decision as far as I'm concerned. Alas! At least the words made up for it!
Wow.
Okay, it's clear that I enjoy books written in experimental styles. I've always been a fan of artists who are willing to break norms and do what they think might be interesting and/or different. This book is written in second person, which some people probably find quit off-putting, but I very much enjoyed. It reminded me a lot of Snow Flower and the Secret Fan in some ways, but ultimately it was wholly its own, beautiful beast.
The narrative is beautiful, haunting, and eloquent. It's such a treat (for me, at least) to watch a story unfold and unravel from a future viewpoint looking back. Looking back on one's life, talking to yourself -- making you face yourself and be honest (I can't count how many times Aoife told herself: "Tell the truth." or "Admit it." in this book) -- is something I just find utterfly fascinating.
Aside from that, the overall story is full of map-making, magical/mystical elements, intrigue, tragedy, social issues (especially in regards to women), family and relationship issues (I could relate so much to Aoife and her lack of desire for children), idealistic and utopian societies, mistakes, love, travels... I could go on and on. This book might look short, but it is so FULL and RICH and vibrant and heartbreaking that it is enough. I loved every last word.
So why did I only rate it 4 stars?
There are no maps to be found in this book. That highly disappointed me, especially since so much of it revolved around mapmaking and Aoife's connection to it. Perhaps it was a specific choice not to include any maps -- perhaps they wanted the readers to imagine their own maps for Aoife's travels -- but that was a disappointing decision as far as I'm concerned. Alas! At least the words made up for it!