This book’s magic is different than that of its predecessor, yet the spells they cast are comparably powerful.
The mercurial and provocative Jones follows up Palmares (2021), her novel of 17th-century Brazilian slavery, in the unlikely and, yes, provocative form of an epic narrative poem.
The starkly rendered imagery and intensely orchestrated language in such Jones novels as Corregidora (1975) and Eva’s Man (1976) suggest that she has always been as compelling a poet as a storyteller. Her new book is a poem in two parts, Song for Anninho having been first published 40 years ago as prelude to Palmares, her sprawling, epochal bildungsroman about Almeyda, a young enslaved Black Brazilian woman, and her tumultuous adventures under different masters before escaping bondage with her husband, Anninho, to the refuge of Palmares. As readers of the novel will recall, the community is ravaged by war, scattering the survivors and sending Almeyda on a yearslong search for the missing Anninho. The newer of the two “songs,” which opens this duo, finds Anninho safely bivouacked from his pursuers and preparing for the battle to build a “New Palmares.” He is seeking answers from a curandero (or healer) as to the safety and location of his wife and speaks with other exiled Palmarenians: “Men and women who want to be / Who they are / Some must be taught to be / Themselves / But rebels are rebels.” Anninho also conducts imaginary conversations with Almeyda, whom he assures “the war has not / Ended. But / here in these caverns are the / African waters that / heal.” Meanwhile, in her song to Anninho, Almeyda conducts imaginary conversations with her husband, as she has been viciously enslaved again; at times, she grudgingly returns to a reality where she will sometimes “cross my hands over breasts / that are no longer there.” The pain and mortification of her abusive imprisonment are relieved by her reminiscences of her previous life and dreams of the distant prospects for freedom. There is fierce and evocative intimacy in these songs that contrast sharply with the sweeping momentum and formidable amplitude of the storytelling in Palmares. Readers familiar with both books will likely suspect that there’s far more to come in the saga of these besieged yet rhapsodic revolutionaries. For readers who are more encouraged than intimidated by Jones’ steely focus and breadth of vision, this is an important stop on a remarkable journey.
This book’s magic is different than that of its predecessor, yet the spells they cast are comparably powerful.Pub Date: April 5, 2022
ISBN: 978-080702990-9
Page Count: 200
Publisher: Beacon Press
Review Posted Online: March 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2022
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.
Are we not men? We are—well, ask Bigfoot, as Brooks does in this delightful yarn, following on his bestseller World War Z(2006).
A zombie apocalypse is one thing. A volcanic eruption is quite another, for, as the journalist who does a framing voice-over narration for Brooks’ latest puts it, when Mount Rainier popped its cork, “it was the psychological aspect, the hyperbole-fueled hysteria that had ended up killing the most people.” Maybe, but the sasquatches whom the volcano displaced contributed to the statistics, too, if only out of self-defense. Brooks places the epicenter of the Bigfoot war in a high-tech hideaway populated by the kind of people you might find in a Jurassic Park franchise: the schmo who doesn’t know how to do much of anything but tries anyway, the well-intentioned bleeding heart, the know-it-all intellectual who turns out to know the wrong things, the immigrant with a tough backstory and an instinct for survival. Indeed, the novel does double duty as a survival manual, packed full of good advice—for instance, try not to get wounded, for “injury turns you from a giver to a taker. Taking up our resources, our time to care for you.” Brooks presents a case for making room for Bigfoot in the world while peppering his narrative with timely social criticism about bad behavior on the human side of the conflict: The explosion of Rainier might have been better forecast had the president not slashed the budget of the U.S. Geological Survey, leading to “immediate suspension of the National Volcano Early Warning System,” and there’s always someone around looking to monetize the natural disaster and the sasquatch-y onslaught that follows. Brooks is a pro at building suspense even if it plays out in some rather spectacularly yucky episodes, one involving a short spear that takes its name from “the sucking sound of pulling it out of the dead man’s heart and lungs.” Grossness aside, it puts you right there on the scene.
A tasty, if not always tasteful, tale of supernatural mayhem that fans of King and Crichton alike will enjoy.Pub Date: June 16, 2020
ISBN: 978-1-9848-2678-7
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Del Rey/Ballantine
Review Posted Online: Feb. 9, 2020
Kirkus Reviews Issue: March 1, 2020
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK TO SCREEN
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.
A young Navarrian woman faces even greater challenges in her second year at dragon-riding school.
Violet Sorrengail did all the normal things one would do as a first-year student at Basgiath War College: made new friends, fell in love, and survived multiple assassination attempts. She was also the first rider to ever bond with two dragons: Tairn, a powerful black dragon with a distinguished battle history, and Andarna, a baby dragon too young to carry a rider. At the end of Fourth Wing (2023), Violet and her lover, Xaden Riorson, discovered that Navarre is under attack from wyvern, evil two-legged dragons, and venin, soulless monsters that harvest energy from the ground. Navarrians had always been told that these were monsters of legend and myth, not real creatures dangerously close to breaking through Navarre’s wards and attacking civilian populations. In this overly long sequel, Violet, Xaden, and their dragons are determined to find a way to protect Navarre, despite the fact that the army and government hid the truth about these creatures. Due to the machinations of several traitorous instructors at Basgiath, Xaden and Violet are separated for most of the book—he’s stationed at a distant outpost, leaving her to handle the treacherous, cutthroat world of the war college on her own. Violet is repeatedly threatened by her new vice commandant, a brutal man who wants to silence her. Although Violet and her dragons continue to model extreme bravery, the novel feels repetitive and more than a little sloppy, leaving obvious questions about the world unanswered. The book is full of action and just as full of plot holes, including scenes that are illogical or disconnected from the main narrative. Secondary characters are ignored until a scene requires them to assist Violet or to be killed in the endless violence that plagues their school.
Unrelenting, and not in a good way.Pub Date: Nov. 7, 2023
ISBN: 9781649374172
Page Count: 640
Publisher: Red Tower
Review Posted Online: Jan. 20, 2024
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
SEEN & HEARD
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