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ylshelflove 's review for:
Blackfish City
by Sam J. Miller
"Every city is a war."
At once a cautionary tale of social issues exacerbated by climate change and an ode to humanity's increasingly forgotten basic need for community, Blackfish City immerses us in the vibrant, gritty, city of Qaanaaq. Rising sea levels have dismantled the global order as we know it, and people from all corners of the world have come to seek refuge in this Arctic City.
I absolutely loved this place that Miller has created. The blend of cultures is fantastic. Pockets of rich cultural identity sit side-by-side, proudly distinct yet also swirled together. As the characters move throughout the city, its history is revealed in the small but specific details such as a faded welcome sign written in Chinese characters (accented pinyin provided as well!) or the mouth-watering scents wafting from a Middle Eastern food stall.
Qaanaaq may be a fictional city, but its issues are very, very real. Xenophobic religious fanatics, war-weary refugees and immigration overflow, gentrification, self-serving politicians, an AIDS equivalent, genocide, generational trauma and generational privilege - you name it, Miller talks about it. It's no easy task to comment on so many problems, but I think Miller's success in this comes from showing the intersectionality of it all. He only chooses a few to focus on, but through a diverse cast of characters, he is able to shine a light on the spiderweb that links everything together.
While Miller did an amazing job building up the culture of Qaanaaq, I thought the ending was rather anticlimatic, rushed, and sloppy. I can see the ending being a good launchpad for another book, and if Miller had planned to write a series or even just making it a duology, I would say it was the perfect place to pause. But without this promise of further exploration and unpacking of the final set of events, it reads as if Miller had gotten halfway through and then was told that he needed to wrap everything up in half the pages he had originally intended. This abrupt ending was so jarring for me that it dropped the book from 4.5 or 5 stars to the 3.5, 3 star range. Even so, Qaanaaq stuck around in my head for a long time after I had finished the book, and the moment Miller decides that he wants to return to this world, I am immediately jumping on the hype train.
At once a cautionary tale of social issues exacerbated by climate change and an ode to humanity's increasingly forgotten basic need for community, Blackfish City immerses us in the vibrant, gritty, city of Qaanaaq. Rising sea levels have dismantled the global order as we know it, and people from all corners of the world have come to seek refuge in this Arctic City.
I absolutely loved this place that Miller has created. The blend of cultures is fantastic. Pockets of rich cultural identity sit side-by-side, proudly distinct yet also swirled together. As the characters move throughout the city, its history is revealed in the small but specific details such as a faded welcome sign written in Chinese characters (accented pinyin provided as well!) or the mouth-watering scents wafting from a Middle Eastern food stall.
Qaanaaq may be a fictional city, but its issues are very, very real. Xenophobic religious fanatics, war-weary refugees and immigration overflow, gentrification, self-serving politicians, an AIDS equivalent, genocide, generational trauma and generational privilege - you name it, Miller talks about it. It's no easy task to comment on so many problems, but I think Miller's success in this comes from showing the intersectionality of it all. He only chooses a few to focus on, but through a diverse cast of characters, he is able to shine a light on the spiderweb that links everything together.
While Miller did an amazing job building up the culture of Qaanaaq, I thought the ending was rather anticlimatic, rushed, and sloppy. I can see the ending being a good launchpad for another book, and if Miller had planned to write a series or even just making it a duology, I would say it was the perfect place to pause. But without this promise of further exploration and unpacking of the final set of events, it reads as if Miller had gotten halfway through and then was told that he needed to wrap everything up in half the pages he had originally intended. This abrupt ending was so jarring for me that it dropped the book from 4.5 or 5 stars to the 3.5, 3 star range. Even so, Qaanaaq stuck around in my head for a long time after I had finished the book, and the moment Miller decides that he wants to return to this world, I am immediately jumping on the hype train.