![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
smalltimereadsCreatures of Passage was published by Akashic Books.
Creatures of Passage is a gorgeously written book. The prose has a gravity to it, a sense of weight and force. The style is very 'old time myth,' with states as kingdoms and a plasticity to time and recurring triplicates. It feels familiar and unique at the same time. The atmosphere is palpable and the sense of place both solid and fantastical.
The characters had a similar gravity to them, especially Nepthys, Osiris, and Mercy. Rosetta's sections were particularly painful to read, for how badly she'd been failed. Dash's POV was also well done, with his knowing something bad happened but unable to wrap his mind around entirely around the what or the why.
In the end, though, I think the gravity, rather than pulling me in, instead distanced me from the book. I could recognize the technical excellence, but I couldn't connect to the characters lost in fog and myth. Osiris' passage through the afterlife was full of wild emotion- anger in all its many forms, and grief, and righteousness- but I didn't feel any of them. They were just words on a page. I wanted to be along for the ride, like one of Nepthys' wandering hearts, but that connection just didn't happen.
Still, I think this book deserves a decent sized audience. There's a lot of skill in it, and I hope Yejidé continues writing.
Creatures of Passage is a gorgeously written book. The prose has a gravity to it, a sense of weight and force. The style is very 'old time myth,' with states as kingdoms and a plasticity to time and recurring triplicates. It feels familiar and unique at the same time. The atmosphere is palpable and the sense of place both solid and fantastical.
The characters had a similar gravity to them, especially Nepthys, Osiris, and Mercy. Rosetta's sections were particularly painful to read, for how badly she'd been failed. Dash's POV was also well done, with his knowing something bad happened but unable to wrap his mind around entirely around the what or the why.
In the end, though, I think the gravity, rather than pulling me in, instead distanced me from the book. I could recognize the technical excellence, but I couldn't connect to the characters lost in fog and myth. Osiris' passage through the afterlife was full of wild emotion- anger in all its many forms, and grief, and righteousness- but I didn't feel any of them. They were just words on a page. I wanted to be along for the ride, like one of Nepthys' wandering hearts, but that connection just didn't happen.
Still, I think this book deserves a decent sized audience. There's a lot of skill in it, and I hope Yejidé continues writing.
