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A review by jordanian_reads_
The Warm Hands of Ghosts by Katherine Arden
5.0
In her newest novel, The Warm Hands of Ghost, Katherine Arden has crafted a brilliantly haunting work of WWI historical fiction and thrown in more than a dash of the supernatural. This is a story of siblings – Laura, an injured combat nurse returns to the battlefront in search of her missing brother, Freddie; Laura’s expedition will require her to wade through the senseless violence of war and grapple with ghosts (both literal and figurative).
The Warm Hands of Ghosts takes some time to really get moving in terms of plot, but it’s well worth the wait because Arden’s characters are ::chef’s kiss:: Laura Ivens is fiercely loyal, competent as hell, and hard as nails on the outside, but quietly kind and compassionate. Laura reminded me a lot of some of my favorite characters – Puck Connelly from Stiefvater’s Scorpio Races and Alex Stern from Bardugo’s Ninth House to name a few. I also appreciated that Laura is supported by two strong women - for all that wartime experience tend to feature men (and this book does include chapters from the POV of Freddie), Laura and her compatriot’s narrative really stole the show.
Arden also does a terrific job of giving the reader an unflinching look at the Great War. I was especially fascinated by Arden’s focus on the harsh juxtapositions presented by modern inventions and attitudes colliding with the old world. In Arden’s phenomenal author’s note, she describes this as ‘steampunk’ and writes, “The years of World War I were as close to a moment of historical science fiction as we will ever get: an indescribable mashup of changing mores and technologies. And its participants, like time travelers, were people of one era flung without warning into another.” (Quick tangent - It was through this author's note that I learned WWI was the catalyst for Tolkein's Lord of the Rings?!)
The Warm Hands of Ghost delivered an emotional gut punch and left me asking for more damage. It also convinced me to reevaluate the importance of WWI to western thought and art. I know so many of my friends are going to love this one as well. Highly recommend!
Thank you to Del Rey Books and NetGalley for the ARC! This book is out today.
The Warm Hands of Ghosts takes some time to really get moving in terms of plot, but it’s well worth the wait because Arden’s characters are ::chef’s kiss:: Laura Ivens is fiercely loyal, competent as hell, and hard as nails on the outside, but quietly kind and compassionate. Laura reminded me a lot of some of my favorite characters – Puck Connelly from Stiefvater’s Scorpio Races and Alex Stern from Bardugo’s Ninth House to name a few. I also appreciated that Laura is supported by two strong women - for all that wartime experience tend to feature men (and this book does include chapters from the POV of Freddie), Laura and her compatriot’s narrative really stole the show.
Arden also does a terrific job of giving the reader an unflinching look at the Great War. I was especially fascinated by Arden’s focus on the harsh juxtapositions presented by modern inventions and attitudes colliding with the old world. In Arden’s phenomenal author’s note, she describes this as ‘steampunk’ and writes, “The years of World War I were as close to a moment of historical science fiction as we will ever get: an indescribable mashup of changing mores and technologies. And its participants, like time travelers, were people of one era flung without warning into another.” (Quick tangent - It was through this author's note that I learned WWI was the catalyst for Tolkein's Lord of the Rings?!)
The Warm Hands of Ghost delivered an emotional gut punch and left me asking for more damage. It also convinced me to reevaluate the importance of WWI to western thought and art. I know so many of my friends are going to love this one as well. Highly recommend!
Thank you to Del Rey Books and NetGalley for the ARC! This book is out today.