.gif){kind=small}
Lovereading view...
A Maxim Jakubowski selected title.
One of the most original books of the year so far, this tale of the romance of silent film movie-making and early Hollywood soons veers into the most unpredictable of directions and takes the reader to new worlds and horizons that are truly staggering in their speculative sense of wonder. Involving alternate history, 1920s space exploration with a strong touch of the naivety of the pulp writing era, gossip columns a la Hedda Hopper, actual film scripts, the adventures we are presented with are like an ever-shifting kaleidoscope that peers into another dimension. Severin, the daughter of a famous film director of gothic romances in a world which is not quite like ours rebels against her environment and becomes a documentarian in space when she stumbles against a tale straight from the yellowing pages of early SF cliches and reality literally takes a tumble. Bizarre, exhilarating and a must read for anyone with a thirst for the uncommon. ~ Maxim Jakubowski
Synopsis
Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente
Severin Unck is the headstrong young daughter of a world famous film director. She has inherited her father's love of the big screen but not his exuberant gothic style of filmmaking. Instead, Severin makes documentaries, artful and passionate and even rather brave - for she is a realist in a fantastic alternate universe, in which Hollywood occupies the moon, Mars is rife with lawless saloons, and the solar system contains all manner of creatures, cults and colonies. For Severin's latest project she leads her crew to the watery planet of Venus to investigate the disappearance of a diving colony there. But something goes wrong during the course of their investigations; and her crew limp home without her. All that remains of Severin are fragments. Can these snippets of scenes and shots, voices and memories, pages and recordings be collected and pieced together to tell the story of her life - and shed light on the mystery of her vanishing? Clever, dreamy, strange and beautifully written - Radiance is a novel about how stories give form to worlds.
Reviews
'The long-awaited first science fiction novel - though it's really more of a cosmic fantasy - from Tiptree winner Valente is a masterpiece of storytelling, seductive in prose and ambitious in scope ... This will captivate readers with all the drama and wonder that Valente's strange and wonderful golden age Hollywood demands.' Publishers Weekly
'Valente's descriptions are lush and striking, her worlds reveling in the dreamiest of nods to classic science fiction, where alien planets are full of life and easily reachable. A heady, strange, and beautifully written novel about how stories give form to worlds.' Kirkus
'An intriguing examination of how we piece together our personal narratives Washington Post Radiance is a sleek rocket ship of a novel, swaddled in Art Deco decadence and glossy with an unsettling alt-history patina.' New York Times
About the Author
|
|
Loading similar books...
Loading other formats...
Book Info
Publication date
3rd March 2016Author
Catherynne M. ValenteMore books by Catherynne M. Valente
Author 'Like for Like'
recommendations
Author's Website
www.valentefairyland.com/Author's Facebook Latest
Loading facebook updates...
Loading twitter updates...
Publisher
Corsair an imprint of Little, Brown Book GroupFormat
Hardback432 pages
Categories
Science FictioneBook Favourites
FantasyISBN
9781472115140I love Lovereading because I get to read great books and then get to tell everybody how good they are.
Sally Doel
It gives a chance to read about new titles, invites comments from all kinds of readers and is run by such a nice bunch of book lovers.
Joy Bosworth
Lovereading has given me the opportunity to delve into new and exciting worlds of authors who I would never have tried before.
Glynis Elliott
The best new books on the market, reviewed honestly, to give your readers the best choices.
Julie Cook
Love Reading - it not only does what it says on the tin, it does it with Jam on!!
Maz Tucker
Its jam packed with fantastic titles, informative descriptions & fantastic reviews and has a vast array of great features & competitions.
Linda Rollins
Hooked on books? Give Lovereading a go - for the chance to discover brilliant books, and to see why our members love it so.
Claire Hill
Why I love @lovereadinguk? It's in the name - as dedicated lovers of reading, they are perfect matchmakers for helping me find my next read!
Catherine Jenkins
Share this page
What is this?