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A review by mediaevalmuse
Redemption in Indigo by Karen Lord
3.0
This is another one of those books that has been on my TBR for a while. It's a short read, so I figured I'd pick it up and just flit through. Overall, there were a lot of things I liked: I liked the folktale/mythological mood, including the way the narrator (Lord?) spoke to the reader. I also had a lot of fun with the tricksters and the djombi, and the magical realism was truly very delightful. What prevents me from giving this book more than 3.5 stars, however, is the slow and meandering narrative; while I understand that Lord crafts her story this way on purpose, I also think it just wasn't for me.
WRITING: Lord's prose style is fairly heavy on the telling side, but it can perhaps be forgiven because the overall feeling is very oral. Lord narrates the story as if talking to the reader, so there are a lot of second person pronouns, blunt explanations, and self-conscious references to the fact that we are reading something of a fairy tale. Overall, it wasn't a bad style; it reminded me a lot of early folk tales, and there is a playfulness to Lord's tone that makes the narration feel whimsical. I can see how it might bother some readers, though.
My main criticism, however, has to do with suspense. Lord has a tendency to cut off the narrative suspense rather then follow it through, which made it difficult for me to feel invested in the building action. For example, Lord will reach a climax in the plot such as Paama being teleported away by the Inigo Lord, and instead of following them, the narration will focus on side characters and what they are doing. It made me feel like a lot of the most interesting parts were having the legs knocked out from under them, and I sometimes struggled to get excited for the next chapter.
PLOT: The plot of this book follows Paama, a skillful cook who has left her husband and finds herself entangled in the power play of the djombi - spirits who are either benevolent or malevolent. One of the djombi bestows upon her the gift of the Chaos Stick - an instrument that allows Paama to manipulate probability - but a very powerful spirit known as the Indigo Lord desires the power be his and his alone.
The cover and marketing of this book proclaims that the plot is a loose retelling of a Senegalese folktale, but I'm not knowledgeable enough to identify which one(s). I therefore can't evaluate whether or not it does a good job of exploring the themes of the original, so I'd recommend reading reviews by other readers, if you're interested in the folk/mythological themes.
Personally, I felt like the narrative meandered a bit and had a tendency to drag. To be fair, Lord seems to do this on purpose; the narrator (whether it's Lord or not) chides listeners who are eager for a story to get to the end as quickly as possible. While I can understand and respect the desire to break common storytelling convention, the result was, in my opinion, that the story focused on too many things. As a result, the story of Paama and the Indigo Lord felt diluted.
But there were things I liked. I loved the magical realism and the trickster figures who caused light chaos. I also liked the "moral" (or philosophical message) of the story once we learned who the Indigo Lord was.
Still, I think I would have enjoyed this plot better if the focus was more strongly on Paama and the Indigo Lord, with secondary characters doing more to support that narrative thread than they currently do. Maybe that's just a personal preference and Lord is telling her tale very deliberately, but I don't know. I like what I like, I guess.
CHARACTERS: There are a number of characters in this book so I'm going to speak of a few and only in very broad terms.
Paama is billed as the protagonist of the novel, but to me, it seemed like she had the least to learn or do as a fairytale heroine. If anything, it seemed like the Indigo Lord had the most character development; he was the one who had to learn a lesson, and while I think he learns it fairly well, I wish Paama had had a little more to do. Don't get me wrong - I liked how she came to pity her husband and how she was always looking for ways to "save" people. But she also does barely anything with the Chaos Stick, and I wish her quick thinking was utilized a bit more.
Side characters, as I stated above, felt a bit distracting. Some of them had a lot of potential to compliment Paama and the Indigo Lord's narrative, but I personally don't think there was enough there to draw from. Ansige's plot was perhaps the most entertaining; his hunger had an air of the supernatural about it, and it was both amusing and sad to see his story play out. His character also has the most impact on Paama, so I felt his thread had the most potential and most revelance; the others (Paama's sister, the House of Sisters, the tricksters) all felt like they could have had more bearing on the plot but ultimately didn't have a strong connection to the message.
TL;DR: Redemption in Indigo is a folktale with a lot of compelling elements: a cast of supernatural creatures, magical realism, and an oral storytelling style that is self-conscious and insightful. However, I personally thought the side characters distracted from the main narrative rather than complimenting it, and I wish the heroine had made more use of her unique qualities.
WRITING: Lord's prose style is fairly heavy on the telling side, but it can perhaps be forgiven because the overall feeling is very oral. Lord narrates the story as if talking to the reader, so there are a lot of second person pronouns, blunt explanations, and self-conscious references to the fact that we are reading something of a fairy tale. Overall, it wasn't a bad style; it reminded me a lot of early folk tales, and there is a playfulness to Lord's tone that makes the narration feel whimsical. I can see how it might bother some readers, though.
My main criticism, however, has to do with suspense. Lord has a tendency to cut off the narrative suspense rather then follow it through, which made it difficult for me to feel invested in the building action. For example, Lord will reach a climax in the plot such as Paama being teleported away by the Inigo Lord, and instead of following them, the narration will focus on side characters and what they are doing. It made me feel like a lot of the most interesting parts were having the legs knocked out from under them, and I sometimes struggled to get excited for the next chapter.
PLOT: The plot of this book follows Paama, a skillful cook who has left her husband and finds herself entangled in the power play of the djombi - spirits who are either benevolent or malevolent. One of the djombi bestows upon her the gift of the Chaos Stick - an instrument that allows Paama to manipulate probability - but a very powerful spirit known as the Indigo Lord desires the power be his and his alone.
The cover and marketing of this book proclaims that the plot is a loose retelling of a Senegalese folktale, but I'm not knowledgeable enough to identify which one(s). I therefore can't evaluate whether or not it does a good job of exploring the themes of the original, so I'd recommend reading reviews by other readers, if you're interested in the folk/mythological themes.
Personally, I felt like the narrative meandered a bit and had a tendency to drag. To be fair, Lord seems to do this on purpose; the narrator (whether it's Lord or not) chides listeners who are eager for a story to get to the end as quickly as possible. While I can understand and respect the desire to break common storytelling convention, the result was, in my opinion, that the story focused on too many things. As a result, the story of Paama and the Indigo Lord felt diluted.
But there were things I liked. I loved the magical realism and the trickster figures who caused light chaos. I also liked the "moral" (or philosophical message) of the story once we learned who the Indigo Lord was.
Still, I think I would have enjoyed this plot better if the focus was more strongly on Paama and the Indigo Lord, with secondary characters doing more to support that narrative thread than they currently do. Maybe that's just a personal preference and Lord is telling her tale very deliberately, but I don't know. I like what I like, I guess.
CHARACTERS: There are a number of characters in this book so I'm going to speak of a few and only in very broad terms.
Paama is billed as the protagonist of the novel, but to me, it seemed like she had the least to learn or do as a fairytale heroine. If anything, it seemed like the Indigo Lord had the most character development; he was the one who had to learn a lesson, and while I think he learns it fairly well, I wish Paama had had a little more to do. Don't get me wrong - I liked how she came to pity her husband and how she was always looking for ways to "save" people. But she also does barely anything with the Chaos Stick, and I wish her quick thinking was utilized a bit more.
Side characters, as I stated above, felt a bit distracting. Some of them had a lot of potential to compliment Paama and the Indigo Lord's narrative, but I personally don't think there was enough there to draw from. Ansige's plot was perhaps the most entertaining; his hunger had an air of the supernatural about it, and it was both amusing and sad to see his story play out. His character also has the most impact on Paama, so I felt his thread had the most potential and most revelance; the others (Paama's sister, the House of Sisters, the tricksters) all felt like they could have had more bearing on the plot but ultimately didn't have a strong connection to the message.
TL;DR: Redemption in Indigo is a folktale with a lot of compelling elements: a cast of supernatural creatures, magical realism, and an oral storytelling style that is self-conscious and insightful. However, I personally thought the side characters distracted from the main narrative rather than complimenting it, and I wish the heroine had made more use of her unique qualities.