(no subject)
Jul. 18th, 2021 10:59 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
skygiantsI've had occasion to rec Elatsoe twice this weekend for different reasons, once for someone asking for ace protagonists and a second time in a discussion of interesting loopholes in vampire lore .... "if a Native person uninvites a vampire from their traditional lands they HAVE TO GO" is the best play on the invite-only nature of vampires I've seen in years.
The worldbuilding in Elatsoe overall is extremely good and one of the standout elements of the book imo. It's set in a version of the U.S. that is Like Our Own but seamlessly assumes the public and mainstream existence of vampires, fairies, coyote people, etc. -- there's very little background scene-setting exposition and supernatural elements simply show up when they become relevant to the story, which allows the book to move without getting bogged down in its own mythology, but as with the vampires, everything that does appear gets integrated into the story in really neat and interesting ways. Also, by now I as many others probably have read many variants on 'immigrants bring their magic backstories to America byyyy which I mean I want to talk about fairies mostly' and it is extremely pleasant to read a version that's written by a Native author who is able to center Native stories and then pick and choose whatever else she wants to throw in for fun.
The plot itself focuses on Apache high schooler Ellie (short for Elatsoe, the name of her Six-Great Grandmother, from whom she inherited her ability to raise the dead) who finds herself tasked by her cousin's ghost with bringing his murderer to justice after he dies in a suspicious car accident.
Throughout the story, Ellie receives help from: her ghost dog; her best friend, Jay, who has extremely minor magic powers inherited from a fairy ancestor; her parents, who occasionally institute a temporary necromancy ban until Ellie can talk to a mentor but are overall extremely supportive; Jay's sister and her best friends from the basketball team; Jay's sister's boyfriend, a friendly college vampire bro; the ghosts of many, many trilobites; and, potentially, her Six-Great Grandmother.
Less helpful: the police, who are useless; Ellie's cousin's grieving widow, whose justifiable anger and sorrow are starting to impact her judgment a little when it comes to things like 'are raising revenge spirits a good idea'; and the picture-perfect town of Willowbee, which seems MUCH too green -- and too white -- for the region of Texas it inhabits.
I read this for my book group, and this ended up being the first book in months if not years that absolutely everybody liked. The content of the story is frequently pretty dark, but the writing and tone are warm and matter-of-fact rather than sinister; the plot moves quickly and the narrative treats all the characters like people worthy of concern and consideration. (Although Ellie herself is 17, the book feels to me like it's written more on the 12-13-ish-year-old edge of YA rather than the 17-18-year-old edge, but I don't think that's a bug.) I zoomed through the book in a day and would gladly read more.
The worldbuilding in Elatsoe overall is extremely good and one of the standout elements of the book imo. It's set in a version of the U.S. that is Like Our Own but seamlessly assumes the public and mainstream existence of vampires, fairies, coyote people, etc. -- there's very little background scene-setting exposition and supernatural elements simply show up when they become relevant to the story, which allows the book to move without getting bogged down in its own mythology, but as with the vampires, everything that does appear gets integrated into the story in really neat and interesting ways. Also, by now I as many others probably have read many variants on 'immigrants bring their magic backstories to America byyyy which I mean I want to talk about fairies mostly' and it is extremely pleasant to read a version that's written by a Native author who is able to center Native stories and then pick and choose whatever else she wants to throw in for fun.
The plot itself focuses on Apache high schooler Ellie (short for Elatsoe, the name of her Six-Great Grandmother, from whom she inherited her ability to raise the dead) who finds herself tasked by her cousin's ghost with bringing his murderer to justice after he dies in a suspicious car accident.
Throughout the story, Ellie receives help from: her ghost dog; her best friend, Jay, who has extremely minor magic powers inherited from a fairy ancestor; her parents, who occasionally institute a temporary necromancy ban until Ellie can talk to a mentor but are overall extremely supportive; Jay's sister and her best friends from the basketball team; Jay's sister's boyfriend, a friendly college vampire bro; the ghosts of many, many trilobites; and, potentially, her Six-Great Grandmother.
Less helpful: the police, who are useless; Ellie's cousin's grieving widow, whose justifiable anger and sorrow are starting to impact her judgment a little when it comes to things like 'are raising revenge spirits a good idea'; and the picture-perfect town of Willowbee, which seems MUCH too green -- and too white -- for the region of Texas it inhabits.
I read this for my book group, and this ended up being the first book in months if not years that absolutely everybody liked. The content of the story is frequently pretty dark, but the writing and tone are warm and matter-of-fact rather than sinister; the plot moves quickly and the narrative treats all the characters like people worthy of concern and consideration. (Although Ellie herself is 17, the book feels to me like it's written more on the 12-13-ish-year-old edge of YA rather than the 17-18-year-old edge, but I don't think that's a bug.) I zoomed through the book in a day and would gladly read more.
no subject
Date: 2021-07-19 05:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-21 01:45 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-19 07:15 am (UTC)It's a very good book and I have her next one on preorder, but yeah, it's definitely a first novel too.
no subject
Date: 2021-07-21 01:48 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-19 12:27 pm (UTC)Sold!
no subject
Date: 2021-07-21 01:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-19 01:15 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-21 01:49 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-19 03:05 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-21 01:52 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-21 11:34 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-19 03:34 pm (UTC)BTW, do you have recs for ace but not aro protagonists, YA or adult?
no subject
Date: 2021-07-21 01:59 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-21 03:02 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-19 04:35 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-21 02:01 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-19 05:32 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-19 10:17 pm (UTC)Yeah, not much help, is that ...
no subject
Date: 2021-07-21 02:19 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2021-07-22 11:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2022-01-03 06:31 pm (UTC)And yeah, concur that it felt more MG than YA to me.
no subject
Date: 2022-01-03 06:13 pm (UTC)> there's very little background scene-setting exposition and supernatural elements simply show up when they become relevant to the story, which allows the book to move without getting bogged down in its own mythology
I read this book recently and yes, this is the thing I was trying to articulate. (I said in my GR writeup, "The fantasy elements are nicely woven into the fabric of the book. They're definitely important to the book, but it also doesn't feel like A Fantasy Book.")
> Also, by now I as many others probably have read many variants on 'immigrants bring their magic backstories to America byyyy which I mean I want to talk about fairies mostly' and it is extremely pleasant to read a version that's written by a Native author who is able to center Native stories and then pick and choose whatever else she wants to throw in for fun.
Ooh, such a good point.
> "if a Native person uninvites a vampire from their traditional lands they HAVE TO GO" is the best play on the invite-only nature of vampires I've seen in years.
SO GOOD!
> Throughout the story, Ellie receives help from: [...] her parents, who occasionally institute a temporary necromancy ban until Ellie can talk to a mentor but are overall extremely supportive [...]
I really appreciated that her parents believe and support her -- and that Ellie mostly communicates with them and with other people. In ways that felt realistic, but so grateful to avoid the, "People don't talk to each other and/or believe people they're close to -- because the plot demands it..."
And yeah, I agree with other commenters that it felt more MG than YA to me.