Book Review: The Moon Opera by Bi Feiyu, trans. Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Li-chun Lin

Title: The Moon Opera
Author: Bi Feiyu
Translators: Howard Goldblatt and Sylvia Li-chun Lin
Published: Boston: Houghton Mifflins Harcourt, 2009 (2007)
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 117
Total Page Count: 68,768
Text Number: 198
Read For: Winter holiday gift from Lyz / sisterite (thank you!)
Short review: Twenty years after her shameful exit from the stage and the closing of the opera, Xiao Yanqiu is given a fresh chance to play the lead role in The Moon Opera. She is incredibly talented, but her late journey back to stardom will be fraught with difficulty and doubt. As short and delicate and the protragonist's life is wild and long, The Moon Opera can be difficult to connect to but still offers a deep story and a fascinating protragonist. I recommend it.

( Long review. )

Review posted here on Amazon.com.

Book Review: The Dry Salvages by Caitlín R. Kiernan

Title: The Dry Salvages
Author: Caitlín R. Kiernan
Published: Burton: Subterranean Press, 2004
Rating: 4 of 5
Page Count: 123
Total Page Count: 68,891
Text Number: 199
Read For: fan of the author, checked out from the library
Short review: An old woman recounts a long-ago journey with a small crew to investigate distant abandoned ruins, humanity's first proof of alien life. The mission brought the crew to madness and prompted a government cover-up; now, the narrator is the last record of what they really found in the ruins. At only novella-length, The Dry Salvages suffers from too much build up and not enough delivery. Nonetheless, the build-up and atmosphere are top notch, a combination of psychological and Lovecraftian horror, and on the whole this is an intriguing and enjoyable, if brief, read. I recommend it.

( Long review. )

Review posted here on Amazon.com.