Book Review: Sister Mine by Nola Hopkinson
Feb. 4th, 2017 03:08 pmTitle: Sister Mine
Author: Nalo Hopkinson
Narrator: Robin Miles
Published: Dreamscape Media, 2013
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 320
Total Page Count: 203,840
Text Number: 625
Read Because: personal enjoyment, audiobook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Makeda is the odd one out in her unusual family--the half-mortal child of demigods, she was born without magic. Magical realist narratives have a tendency towards meandering, fluid creativity, and there's a lot of that on display here. The larger-than-life magics, the voice, and the issues of gender/sex/disability/race, presented with playful honesty, are all vivid and engaging. But the plot is a ramble of vignettes, many of which are individually successful but which as a whole sometimes drag. It gets in its own way, which to be honest is how I usually feel about the genre and so may be a reflection of personal taste. I'll probably pick up more by the author someday, and see if I have better luck.
Author: Nalo Hopkinson
Narrator: Robin Miles
Published: Dreamscape Media, 2013
Rating: 3 of 5
Page Count: 320
Total Page Count: 203,840
Text Number: 625
Read Because: personal enjoyment, audiobook borrowed from the Multnomah County Library
Review: Makeda is the odd one out in her unusual family--the half-mortal child of demigods, she was born without magic. Magical realist narratives have a tendency towards meandering, fluid creativity, and there's a lot of that on display here. The larger-than-life magics, the voice, and the issues of gender/sex/disability/race, presented with playful honesty, are all vivid and engaging. But the plot is a ramble of vignettes, many of which are individually successful but which as a whole sometimes drag. It gets in its own way, which to be honest is how I usually feel about the genre and so may be a reflection of personal taste. I'll probably pick up more by the author someday, and see if I have better luck.