OR WHAT YOU WILL
by Jo Walton
Rating: 3/5
Pages: 320
Genre: Fantasy
Release Date: July 07, 2020
Publisher: Macmillan-Tor/Forge
ISBN: 9781250308993
Price: $26.99 (USD)
Award-winning author, Sylvia Harrison has been writing versions of her main character for years. There are many things he’s been, but most of all, he’s been a constant companion in her mind. But he’s become increasingly aware of Sylvia’s mortality, and thus his own mortality. He thinks he has a plan to step off the wheel of mortality with Sylvia, but he’ll have to convince her first.
Introspective and thoughtful, this is a book that takes its time and really focus on asking questions of the reader. Sylvia was an interesting character and her relationship with the world she’s writing is quite interesting. Unfortunately, there’s a lot about the book that didn’t strike a chord with me. I suspect if I were more familiar with Jo Walton’s previous work and Shakespeare's the Twelfth Night, as it definitely felt there were references that I wasn’t getting.
If you’re looking for something fast-paced or really plot-heavy, this is not the book for you, but it is told in a style that’s easy to get into and if you’re looking for something thoughtful, slow-paced, and a tad self-indulgent it’s a good fit. I suspect it’s an even better fit if you’re a writer looking for those things!
Jo Walton has published fourteen novels, three poetry collections, two essay collections and one short story collection. Over her career she's won the John W. Campbell Award for Best New Writer (2002), the World Fantasy Award (Tooth and Claw, 2004), the Hugo and Nebula awards (Among Others, 2012) the Tiptree Aware (My Real Children, 2014) and the Locus Non Fiction award (What Makes This Book So Great, 2014).
To buy the book:
** Thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan-Tor/Forge for providing me with an eARC of this book**
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