“Among Others”: Growing Up One Page at a Time

Title: Among Others
Author: Jo Walton
Publisher: Tor Books
ISBN-10: 0765331721
ISBN-13: 978-0765331724
Format: hardback, paperback, Kindle & audio editions
Paperback: 304 pages
Genre: Fantasy/Coming of Age
Rating: 3 ½ out of 5 Stars

Distorting Time with Words

Have you ever noticed that when you’re young time oozes like syrup, but as you get older it runs like water? Psychologist Jeremy Dean confirms this observation in his article “10 Ways Our Mind Warp Time.” He says there are studies which show “people in their 20s are pretty accurate at guessing [time] … but people in their 60s systematically overestimate it, suggesting time is passing about 20% more quickly for them.” So how does an author create this illusion in a novel? Jo Walton seems to have found just how to capture it in her fantasy novel for young adults, Among Others.

Walton first captures our attention by opening with a pivotal moment in the young heroine’s life. Written as a journal entry for May 1^st 1975, we watch as 11-year-old Morganna, and her identical twin, Morwenna, approach the Phurnacite factory in Abercwmboi. Their goal is to destroy the factory with fairy magic because it “looked like something from the depths of hell, black and looming with chimneys of flame, reflected in a dark pool that killed any bird or animal that drank from it. The smell was beyond description.” Our heroines are challenged by the looming presence around the factory, which has “no vegetation here, not even dead trees. Cinders crunched underfoot, and clinker and slag threatened to turn our ankles.” And there is a sign warning about dangerous watch dogs. Though Morwenna is terrified of dogs, the brave sisters throw the magic flower they’ve brought into the black pool and the next day the factory announces its closing. Magic is real, though not the way we imagine it. A post script from the journal’s author says she write this first because “it’s compact and concise and it makes sense, and a lot of the rest of this isn’t that simple.” This statement entices us to read further.

Slowing Time with Daily Details

The story then jumps ahead four years to September 5^th 1979 and we learn that Morwenna died in a car accident and a seriously injured Morganna has been sent to live with her estranged father after running away from her insane mother. Using details about the mundane aspects of daily life and numerous references to science fiction and fantasy novels, the remaining scenes unfold slowly with only hints of magic, its unpredictable nature and the dangers of using it for self-interest. Morganna choses to be called Mor, connecting herself to her dead twin, yet in the first part of the story, she distances herself from her father by just calling him “he.” We meet “the aunts”, Anthea, Dorothy and Frederica, who control “him” by having him manage their estate. The aunts “get rid” of Mor by rushing her off to the boarding school, Arlinghurst. Walton sets the contrast between Mor’s life with her mother’s family and life at the aunts’ house, enhancing the distance from her poor side of the family and her father’s rich side. Mor’s only connection to her father is books. They share an interest in science fiction/fantasy which Mor reads with an OCD consumption. Since she is in constant pain from her injured leg and has nothing else to do, we can sympathize with Mor and understand her reading compulsion. However, continuing references to titles and authors slows the pacing and makes it a challenge to continued reading even in the face of the subtle threat of her mother’s magic.

We are almost half-way through the novel before the pacing speeds up with the introduction of Wim, a boy Mor meets at a SciFi/Fantasy book club. Like a lot of things in life, the joy of being in Wim’s presence carries Mor through the daily rituals of boarding school until the next time with meeting him. Wim adds flavor to the plot with his questionable reputation and his curiosity about magic until the final scene where Mor must confront her mother.

In order to improve my own writing, I read “Among Others” because it won the 2011 Nebula Award. Through the first half of the book, I kept asking why it won such a prestigious award when other novels held so much more interest. But after finishing the book, it makes sense, and so does the slow pacing of the first half. My kudos go to Jo Walton for using the technique of slowing time with Mor childhood and then speeding it up as she matures and for winning the 2012 Hugo Award for Best Novel. If you haven’t read this novel, be as patient as you would with any teenager, knowing the maturity at the end is worth it.

Red River Runs True to Form

Title: Red River
Author(s): Kelly Van Hull
Publisher: Kelly Van Hull
Copyright: 2013
ASBN: BOOGQLNDOG
Format: market paperback & ebook
Genre: Young Adult Dystopian
Part of Series: Book Two in the Tent City Series
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars

Kelly Van Hull continues to keep our attention in the Second Book of the Tent City Series: Red River. Many writers of dystopian fiction can fall out of balance between maintaining realism versus “crossing the line” in the sequel. However, Van Hull maintains a realistic balance in this novel for young adults despite her apocalyptic theme, the Biblical references to end of times plagues and the “advancements” which empower some of the characters. Continuity is maintained between the first and second books with the first-person point of view narration through the eyes of 17-year-old Dani. We learn that Dani’s 5-year-old brother, Brody, is the prophesized “Golden Child”. Dani’s determined to protect Brody by keeping his identity secret, even from their friends in Tent City. Like Van Hull, Dani is doing a balancing act. Dani is still undecided about her feeling for the brothers, Bentley and Jack, but that’s the least of her worries.

The novel opens with Dani discovering that Brody has the mark of the Golden Child as the young people from Tent City, along with Dani’s mother and father are on their way back to Tent City. The second plague occurs as they cross the river, which has turned to blood. This means that Bentley and Jack’s father, General Burke, can no longer be called a religious lunatic, he’s right! They now know they must face the remaining plagues soon. However, even concern about the plagues must be put on the back burner because winter in the Black Hills is approaching and they need a new camp.

The plot pacing is enjoyable, as Dani and Bentley search for a winter camp, but for me it’s just a backdrop for the inner conflict which Dani faces as she wavers between the pouting teenager whose parents are “in charge” and the strong young woman she is becoming. I like that her protectiveness of Brody keeps her firmly rooted in her own strength and that she constantly battles her own temper when she is forced to share the camp with the infamous General Burke. New characters are smoothly introduced into the sequel and flesh it out to create a lively conflict for Dani’s inner conflict. A few surprising twists toward the end makes us wonder what will happen in the third book to this trilogy.

Though I enjoyed Kelly Van Hull’s second book, Red River, it didn’t capture my attention as much as the first book, Tent City, which I gave five stars. It’s still a good read, though, and I highly recommend it for the young people and adults who are following Van Hull’s series.