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A review by simonlorden
Starlings by Jo Walton
5.0
Read on my blog.
I received a copy through NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.
I was recommended two different books by Jo Walton ([b:The Just City|22055276|The Just City (Thessaly, #1)|Jo Walton|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1416448145s/22055276.jpg|39841651] and [b:My Real Children|18490637|My Real Children|Jo Walton|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1380218782s/18490637.jpg|26174356], specifically) and while I unfortunately haven’t managed to get a copy of either of those, after reading those two blurbs my thoughts were pretty much “I want to live in this person’s brain”. Jo Walton seemed to be an author with incredibly creative and unique ideas, and I wanted to read something of hers. Thus, I picked up Starlings.
Starlings is a collection of short pieces of writing, both in prose and in verse. I admit that not all of the short stories worked for me and I didn’t like most of the poems (note: there were fewer poems than short stories), but that’s expected in collections. There were still several stories that I adored, and I am now even more excited to be picking up more of Jo Walton’s work in the future.
Since there were so many stories (around 21 short stories and 15 poems), it would be difficult to review all of them, so let me say a few words about my favourites. Some of these are only one or two pages long and yet they absolutely blew me away. More than anything, what really grabbed me was how different all these stories were from each other, and how many topics they covered.
Relentlessly Mundane: I may be biased, but this one had one of my favourite concepts/tropes, and carried it out beautifully. What happens to the children who become the heroes of fantasy worlds and then have to go back to live in their own? How do they deal with their past experiences as adults?
Out Of It: A story about angels, devils, and making deals with them. “You never give up, do you?” “Never.”
Parable Lost: An interesting take on the parable of throwing jellyfish in the sea.
Tradition: A short sci-fi story about traditions with an endearing twist.
What Joseph Felt: A few beautiful pages from the perspective of the Bible’s Joseph and his views on his wife and newborn child.
The Need to Stay the Same: I absolutely loved this one. It’s a book review of a book where humans are a fictional race.
A Burden Shared: Is it really easier to carry someone else’s pain than your own?
Since most of these stories are short, it’s difficult to say a lot about them without spoiling the whole thing (and often, it’s not really the plot that is interesting but the writing, so summing them up is difficult). In any case, this collection had some amazing short stories (and the poems were alright too I suppose). There’s some sci-fi, something more like fantasy, some Greek and Norse mythology, some Christian mythology… A little something for everyone, really.
I received a copy through NetGalley in exchange for a honest review.
I was recommended two different books by Jo Walton ([b:The Just City|22055276|The Just City (Thessaly, #1)|Jo Walton|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1416448145s/22055276.jpg|39841651] and [b:My Real Children|18490637|My Real Children|Jo Walton|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1380218782s/18490637.jpg|26174356], specifically) and while I unfortunately haven’t managed to get a copy of either of those, after reading those two blurbs my thoughts were pretty much “I want to live in this person’s brain”. Jo Walton seemed to be an author with incredibly creative and unique ideas, and I wanted to read something of hers. Thus, I picked up Starlings.
Starlings is a collection of short pieces of writing, both in prose and in verse. I admit that not all of the short stories worked for me and I didn’t like most of the poems (note: there were fewer poems than short stories), but that’s expected in collections. There were still several stories that I adored, and I am now even more excited to be picking up more of Jo Walton’s work in the future.
Since there were so many stories (around 21 short stories and 15 poems), it would be difficult to review all of them, so let me say a few words about my favourites. Some of these are only one or two pages long and yet they absolutely blew me away. More than anything, what really grabbed me was how different all these stories were from each other, and how many topics they covered.
Relentlessly Mundane: I may be biased, but this one had one of my favourite concepts/tropes, and carried it out beautifully. What happens to the children who become the heroes of fantasy worlds and then have to go back to live in their own? How do they deal with their past experiences as adults?
Out Of It: A story about angels, devils, and making deals with them. “You never give up, do you?” “Never.”
Parable Lost: An interesting take on the parable of throwing jellyfish in the sea.
Tradition: A short sci-fi story about traditions with an endearing twist.
What Joseph Felt: A few beautiful pages from the perspective of the Bible’s Joseph and his views on his wife and newborn child.
The Need to Stay the Same: I absolutely loved this one. It’s a book review of a book where humans are a fictional race.
A Burden Shared: Is it really easier to carry someone else’s pain than your own?
Since most of these stories are short, it’s difficult to say a lot about them without spoiling the whole thing (and often, it’s not really the plot that is interesting but the writing, so summing them up is difficult). In any case, this collection had some amazing short stories (and the poems were alright too I suppose). There’s some sci-fi, something more like fantasy, some Greek and Norse mythology, some Christian mythology… A little something for everyone, really.