Microreview [Book]: Tower of Mud and Straw by Yaroslav Barsukov

A story with rip-roaring pacing and imagination.

Playing with magic can be enchantingly impressive, but it can also be a dangerous act. That is never more clear in Tower of Mud and Straw. Its magic system is so inflammatory that it could spell doom for those affected. But there’s a different kind of magic going on in this novella, and that lies in its writerly craft. At a sentence level and in sheer ambition, it’s admirably wild and feels like at any time, the story could overload and explode in disaster. I’m happy to say that in terms of literary talent, Tower of Mud and Straw has writerly spellcraft that sometimes buckles under its own weight but otherwise soars.

The novella takes place in a steampunk-esque setting. Minister Shea is ordered by the queen to gas protesters but refuses. As punishment, he’s sent to the border to oversee a massive anti-airship tower. But something is awry, both regarding his history and the tower’s. He’s met with forces of various interests that try to pull him in their direction. He must reconcile with his own trauma, while digging into the world’s underbelly, and he may not like what he finds.

Tower of Mud and Straw takes a moment to lay the foundation for its unique world, but once the grounding is down, it charges on through—especially at its conclusion. While that rushing proved to be entertaining, some character development got lost along the way. The romantic relationship felt abbreviated, and what could’ve been a big a reveal for a certain character’s motivation felt more like moving the plot along, rather than a full-forced, surprising gut punch.

Two characters that did not suffer from abbreviated development is the protagonist Shea and his sister Lena. Shea is faced with quandary after quandary, and the novella does a great job of getting inside his head as we witness him processing and weighing selfish vs selfless gains. Despite showing compassion and humanity from the outset, I liked how he wasn’t a completely gilded, one-dimensional character. There was a sheen of morality, but by human nature, darkness still seeped into him, however small. Meanwhile, his sister Lena is dead from the outset of the novella, but the story intersperses flashbacks that expertly explore her and Shea's relationship, making the loss feel all the more potent.

The worldbuilding also left me wanting. As the title should indicate, the tower is the centerpiece of the story. Not only is it colossal in size, but its immensely described. But in its periphery is a world that has enough for me to get a bearing of, investing me in its story, but not nearly enough for me to sink my teeth in. A story that piques my interest and makes me wish for hundreds of more pages is something that deserves praise amidst the criticism. I hope there will be further stories in this universe, to further explore the world’s political machinations, magic, and fables.

The tower is a massive thing, made from countless hours of work. It’s something that inspires awe in the story for its sheer ambition. Later in the tale, it comes to light that there are architectural deficiencies therein. Just like the novella, there are some tarnishes and imbalances, but even when you learn about it, you can’t help but still be awed by the sheer imagination of the thing. Tower of Mud and Straw might not have answered all my burning questions, but it stands majestically tall, in many ways that tower over most.

 The Math

Baseline Score: 7/10

Bonuses: +1 For many beautifully lyrical passages.

Negatives: -1 For a few rushed instances.

Nerd Coefficient: 7/10

POSTED BY: Sean Dowie - Screenwriter, editor, lover of all books that make him nod his head and say, "Neat!"

Barsukov Yaruslov. Tower of Mud and Straw [Metaphorsosis Publishing, 2021].

Brief Note on Awards

The other day I got into an interesting conversation on twitter with fantasy author Sam Sykes. I was complaining about the Nebula shortlist leaving off a few books I thought should have been included, specifically Emily St. John Mandel's Station Eleven and Robert Jackson Bennett's City of Stairs. The latter book, I asserted, was the only fantasy novel I read in 2014 that moved the genre forward, and argued that this merited its inclusion. Sam took issue with phrase "moving the genre forward," and he has a point. I probably should have called City of Stairs "the most innovative, trope-busting fantasy novel I read in 2014."

Sam also questioned whether this was even a good frame of reference to use for awards, suggesting that a lot of books that get categorized as "standard" or "fun" actually have a lot of depth to them--depth that frequently gets ignored in critical discussions of the year's "best."

I agree. A great example of this would be John Scalzi's Old Man's War books, which can be read as straight adventure, but which--when you scratch the surface--are actually problematizing and subverting the Heinleinian source material. They are smart, clever and--crucially--fun. There are loads of other examples, one of which (Baptism of Fire) made my Hugo list.

That said, a book's impact on the field of science fiction or fantasy literature should, I think, be one of the foremost considerations when voting for awards. Actually I think it should be the second consideration, after an assessment of the book's overall quality. This is why I think it's so fundamentally disappointing that SFWA voters left Station Eleven and City of Stairs off the shortlist. These are incredibly good books--well-written, well-crafted, engaging and memorable. But they are also both breaking new ground and charting new paths for their respective styles, post-apocalyptic science fiction and epic fantasy. To me, at least, that's the essence of award-worthy.

Thoughts on the Nebula Shortlist

 
Hey, hey! The 2013 Nebula Award Shortlist has been announced. As usual, here it is! When available, I've included links for purchase on all novels and films, for those who are so inclined, and links to !FREE! stories when available for short stories, novellas and novelettes. After presenting each slate of nominees, I offer my thoughts and predict a winner.

Best Novel

We Are All Completely Beside Ourselves, Karen Joy Fowler (Marian Wood)
The Ocean at the End of the Lane, Neil Gaiman (Morrow; Headline Review)
Fire with Fire , Charles E. Gannon (Baen)
Hild, Nicola Griffith (Farrar, Straus and Giroux)
Ancillary Justice  Ann Leckie (Orbit US; Orbit UK)
The Red: First Light, Linda Nagata (Mythic Island)
A Stranger in Olondria, Sofia Samatar (Small Beer)
The Golem and the Jinni, Helene Wecker (Harper)

I have to confess that, of this list, I've only read Ancillary Justice, but if you'll recall it did make my Hugo shortlist. It's definitely a good enough book, though I think it better fits the profile of a Hugo than a Nebula winner (it's organized around a simple but striking conceit, it's aspirations are firmly grounded in genre and it is, in a fundamental way, in explicit conversation with genre). Nevertheless, it's probably the front runner.

The Golem and the Jinni is another book I could see winning, as it combines urban fantasy with the kind of "political conflicts dressed up as cultural/civilizational conflicts are stupid and pointless when you consider: a) how much we've got in common; and b) how much everyone would benefit from some cooperation and mutual understanding" type message that I find sensible and appealing. Disclaimer: I haven't read it. But from what I've read about it, the book seems to be very well-written too.

As far as the rest go, I'm happy to see Samatar and Small Beer Press get recognition from what is arguably the institutional voice of the genre. And I'm inclined to support the choice of The Red: First Light, for the simple fact that it demonstrates the SFWA recognizes the changing dynamics of the publishing industry and does not exhibit the kind of reflexive prejudice against self-publishing that is yin to the yang of Hugh Howey's zealotry. (I've also heard the book is very good, so it's not just any self-published novel.)

Hild, however, is the kind of daring choice that underscores my belief that the Nebulas are inherently superior to the Hugos. It's gotten more attention from mainstream literary types than genre insiders; it subverts and inverts a number of questionable assumptions about gender in the Middle Ages, generally transported wholesale into fantasy; and it's barely fantasy, for that matter. I don't expect it to win, but I'm glad it's on the list.

Predicted Winner: Ancillary Justice, Ann Leckie (Orbit US; Orbit UK) because it's the buzziest SF novel of 2013.


Best Novella

‘‘Wakulla Springs,’’ Andy Duncan & Ellen Klages (Tor.com 10/2/13)
‘‘The Weight of the Sunrise,’’ Vylar Kaftan (Asimov’s 2/13)
‘‘Annabel Lee,” Nancy Kress (New Under the Sun)
‘‘Burning Girls,’’ Veronica Schanoes (Tor.com 6/19/13)
‘‘Trial of the Century,’’ Lawrence M. Schoen (lawrencemschoen.com, 8/13; World Jumping)
"Six-Gun Snow White," Catherynne M. Valente (Subterranean)

 Lawrence Schoen again? I find that hard to explain, unless he happens to be one of a small number of writers the SFWA's "conservative," "progressive" and "I don't care about the politics" wings can agree on. This story just isn't that good, to be frank. Nor, unfortunately, is Valente's--a disappointment, given how good her writing generally is. But maybe I just have "fairly tale retelling fatigue," a condition I blame on Disney and the various abominations that go under the name Once Upon a Time--wretched creatures that murdered this niche genre before my very eyes and then performed wicked and depraved acts upon its corpse.

"Wakulla Springs," by contrast, is a more interesting choice, but if Hild is barely fantasy, this one isn't really SF or fantasy at all. Can't see that winning.

Predicted Winner: ‘‘Trial of the Century,’’ Lawrence M. Schoen (lawrencemschoen.com, 8/13; World Jumping) because other SF/F writers seem to really like his novellas.


Best Novelette

‘‘Paranormal Romance,’’ Christopher Barzak (Lightspeed 6/13)
‘‘The Waiting Stars,’’ Aliette de Bodard (The Other Half of the Sky)
‘‘They Shall Salt the Earth with Seeds of Glass,’’ Alaya Dawn Johnson (Asimov’s 1/13)
‘‘Pearl Rehabilitative Colony for Ungrateful Daughters,’’ Henry Lien (Asimov’s 12/13)
‘‘The Litigation Master and the Monkey King,’’ Ken Liu (Lightspeed 8/13)
‘‘In Joy, Knowing the Abyss Behind,’’ Sarah Pinsker (Strange Horizons 7/1 – 7/8/13)

This is a decent slate, with quality stories by Liu, Pinsker and de Bodard. ‘‘Paranormal Romance,’’ I'm afraid, didn't do it for me--it's the kind of inward-looking, self-referential genre story that Paul Kincaid associates with SF's "exhaustion" and I generally associate with the Hugos. ‘‘The Waiting Stars’’ by Aliette de Bodard is my favorite of the shortlist, though Liu and Pinsker would also be worthy winners.

Predicted Winner: ‘‘The Litigation Master and the Monkey King,’’ Ken Liu (Lightspeed 8/13) because it's good, everyone loves Ken Liu and, well, his stories just feel like award-winners. 


Best Short Story

‘‘The Sounds of Old Earth,’’ Matthew Kressel (Lightspeed 1/13)
‘‘Selkie Stories Are for Losers,’’ Sofia Samatar (Strange Horizons 1/7/13)
‘‘Selected Program Notes from the Retrospective Exhibition of Theresa Rosenberg Latimer,’’ Kenneth Schneyer (Clockwork Phoenix 4)
‘‘If You Were a Dinosaur, My Love,’’ Rachel Swirsky (Apex 3/13)
‘‘Alive, Alive Oh,’’ Sylvia Spruck Wrigley (Lightspeed 6/13)

None of my Hugo nominees made it, which is a horrible stain on the reputation of the SFWA. And boy does the SFWA rank-and-file seem to prefer Lightspeed over Clarkesworld. (No knock on Lightspeed, but where's the love for Clarkesworld?)

But now that I've had a chance to read some of these, I'll concede that ‘‘Selkie Stories Are for Losers’’ by Sofia Samatar; ‘‘The Sounds of Old Earth’’ by Matthew Kressel; and ‘‘Selected Program Notes from the Retrospective Exhibition of Theresa Rosenberg Latimer’’ by Kenneth Schneyer are all very high-quality. Schneyer's piece is a great example of how to effectively deploy an experimental story structure, but I imagine it will feel a bit too much like a "thought experiment" to some. Samatar's, by contrast, is an emotionally-charged, Clarion-style piece; what's more, it hits hard in the way only short stories can hit hard. 

Predicted Winner: ‘‘Selkie Stories Are for Losers,’’ Sofia Samatar (Strange Horizons 1/7/13) because it's the story that leaves the biggest emotional impact on the reader.


Ray Bradbury Award for Outstanding Dramatic Presentation

Doctor Who: ‘‘The Day of the Doctor’’ (Nick Hurran, director) (BBC Wales)
Europa Report (Sebastián Cordero, director) (Start Motion Pictures)
Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón, director) (Warner Bros.)
Her (Spike Jonze, director) (Warner Bros.)
The Hunger Games: Catching Fire (Francis Lawrence, director) (Lionsgate)
Pacific Rim (Guillermo del Toro, director) (Warner Bros.)

I find the idea of comparing Pacific Rim to Gravity exceedingly strange.

Predicted Winner: Gravity (Alfonso Cuarón, director; Alfonso Cuarón & Jonás Cuarón, writers) (Warner Bros.) because it is a rare "hard" SF film, because it uses the medium in unique ways and because, in comparison to it, everything other than Europa Report is a complete joke.


Andre Norton Award for Young Adult Science Fiction and Fantasy

The Coldest Girl in Coldtown, Holly Black (Little, Brown; Indigo)
When We Wake, Karen Healey (Allen & Unwin; Little, Brown)
Sister Mine, Nalo Hopkinson (Grand Central)
The Summer Prince, Alaya Dawn Johnson (Levine)
Hero (The Woodcutter Sisters), Alethea Kontis (Harcourt)
September Girls, Bennett Madison (Harper Teen)
A Corner of White, Jaclyn Moriarty (Levine)

I have read none of these and know very little about any of them. Sorry.

Predicted Winner: Your guess is as good as mine. 

***

POSTED BY: The G--purveyor of nerdliness, genre fanatic and Nerds of a
Feather founder/administrator (2012).