The Actual Star

A Novel

Pas de couverture

Monica Byrne: The Actual Star (2021, HarperLuxe)

paperback, 736 pages

Publié 14 septembre 2021 par HarperLuxe.

ISBN :
978-0-06-311788-4
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5 étoiles (7 critiques)

2 editions

A braided tale spanning millenia

5 étoiles

Three societies at three moments in time: a Mayan kingdom in decline in 1012CE, modern day capitalist society at the rollover of the Mayan calendar's 'long count' cycle in 2012, and 'Laviaja', a post-climate-change wanderer society of 3012CE.

If you liked Cloud Atlas's cast of characters popping up in different ages, you'll like the braided structure of this novel. In each strand, a small cast of characters face abandonment, alienation, and the yearning to escape.

If Ursula Le Guin's 'Birthday of the World' left you yearning for more, you'll love Byrne's 1012CE strand, as teenage twin monarchs rise to power in a declining kingdom bathed in animal gods, bloody rituals, and sacred places.

If you ponder #PostColonialism, #CulturalAppropriation, or you've ever been a privileged white tourist on a guided tour to an ancient place, there's something in the 2012CE strand for you. It follows the sordid misadventures of a misfit …

thought provoking, definitely worth reading, ending a bit too tidy.

4 étoiles

Content warning meta discussion of ending

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