By Marie Brennan
Tachyon Publications, 2020. 240 pages. Fiction
Fame is rare in Driftwood--it's hard to get famous if you don't stick around long enough for people to know you. But many know the guide, Last, a one-blooded survivor who has seen his world end many lifetimes ago. For Driftwood is a strange place of slow apocalypses, where continents eventually crumble into mere neighborhoods, pulled inexorably towards the center in the Crush. Cultures clash, countries fall, and everything eventually disintegrates. Within the Shreds, a rumor goes around that Last has died. Drifters come together to commemorate him. But who really was Last? Lying liar, or heroic savior? A mercenary, a charlatan, a legend? A man, an immortal--perhaps even a god?
When I began this book, I’ll be honest, I was confused. I felt like it lacked descriptions as to what was meant by the Crush or the Shreds, but as I read it gradually became clear. This book is a slow burn but keeps you curious. The story is told through several different characters and perspectives, and each reveals new worlds, cultures, and peoples found in Driftwood. Despite the large cast of characters and the somewhat brief encounters with each, the characters are complex and well written. I found myself deeply intrigued and invested in each persons’ vignette. If you like complicated characters, world building, and stories with multiple perspectives, you will enjoy this book.
- JC
If you like Driftwood, you might also like:
Notes From the Burning Age
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Once, we lived through the Burning Age—the time when we cared so little for the world that it went up in flames. It was a punishment. But it was also a gift, and centuries of peace followed. Ven was a holy man; he studied texts from the ashes of the past and sorted secrets from heresies. But when he gets caught up in the political scheming of the Brotherhood, he finds himself in the middle of a war, fueled by old knowledge and forbidden ambition. There was a time when the world burned. Now, some want to set the fire again…
The Fifth Season
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When her husband murders their son and abducts their daughter, grief-stricken and vengeful Essun pursues him across The Stillness, a vast and dynamic super-continent on the brink of catastrophe that will usher in a "fifth season," a time of uncertainty and hardship. But Essun is as formidable as the land she traverses -- she's an orogene, which means that she can shape the contours of the land. Although she's spent much of her life hiding from those who would kill her on account of her race, Essun is about to prove how dangerous a woman on a mission can be. Set in a richly detailed, fully realized world inhabited by numerous well-drawn and complex cultures, The Fifth Season launches the Broken Earth series.
Red Rising
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Ballantine Books, 2014. 400 pages. Science Fiction
A tale set in a bleak future society torn by class divisions follows the experiences of sixteen-year-old secret revolutionary Darrow who, after witnessing his wife's execution by an oppressive government, joins a revolutionary cell and attempts to infiltrate an elite military academy.
If you like Driftwood, you might also like:
By Claire North
Orbit, 2021. 464 pages. Science Fiction
Once, we lived through the Burning Age—the time when we cared so little for the world that it went up in flames. It was a punishment. But it was also a gift, and centuries of peace followed. Ven was a holy man; he studied texts from the ashes of the past and sorted secrets from heresies. But when he gets caught up in the political scheming of the Brotherhood, he finds himself in the middle of a war, fueled by old knowledge and forbidden ambition. There was a time when the world burned. Now, some want to set the fire again…
By N.K. Jemisin
Orbit, 2015. 498 pages. Science Fiction
When her husband murders their son and abducts their daughter, grief-stricken and vengeful Essun pursues him across The Stillness, a vast and dynamic super-continent on the brink of catastrophe that will usher in a "fifth season," a time of uncertainty and hardship. But Essun is as formidable as the land she traverses -- she's an orogene, which means that she can shape the contours of the land. Although she's spent much of her life hiding from those who would kill her on account of her race, Essun is about to prove how dangerous a woman on a mission can be. Set in a richly detailed, fully realized world inhabited by numerous well-drawn and complex cultures, The Fifth Season launches the Broken Earth series.
By Pierce Brown
Ballantine Books, 2014. 400 pages. Science Fiction
A tale set in a bleak future society torn by class divisions follows the experiences of sixteen-year-old secret revolutionary Darrow who, after witnessing his wife's execution by an oppressive government, joins a revolutionary cell and attempts to infiltrate an elite military academy.
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