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A review by micksland
The Citadel of Weeping Pearls by Aliette de Bodard
3.0
3.5 stars
Nominee: 2015 Locus Award for Best Novella
While I enjoyed this novella, I didn’t like it as much as the prequel “On a Red Station, Drifting”. The story is about a space station that goes missing, and a series of families are torn apart by the event. The novella explores parent-child relationships and grief in the face of the missing citizens’ unknown fates.
The writing is absolutely gorgeous and the worldbuilding is excellent. However, the plot is very complex and in my opinion moves much too quickly for the novella format. Several plot threads ended abruptly because there just wasn’t space to explore them. Finally, the ending was extremely abrupt, and I found it to be somewhat unsatisfying. I’ll definitely read other stories in this universe, and I hope the author eventually chooses to explore some of her excellent ideas in a longer work.
Nominee: 2015 Locus Award for Best Novella
While I enjoyed this novella, I didn’t like it as much as the prequel “On a Red Station, Drifting”. The story is about a space station that goes missing, and a series of families are torn apart by the event. The novella explores parent-child relationships and grief in the face of the missing citizens’ unknown fates.
The writing is absolutely gorgeous and the worldbuilding is excellent. However, the plot is very complex and in my opinion moves much too quickly for the novella format. Several plot threads ended abruptly because there just wasn’t space to explore them. Finally, the ending was extremely abrupt, and I found it to be somewhat unsatisfying. I’ll definitely read other stories in this universe, and I hope the author eventually chooses to explore some of her excellent ideas in a longer work.