Matthew Griffiths

https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3198861.html

This is a novel in the Bernice Summerfield continuity, set during the Road Trip audio sequence (not that you'd really notice). It's a short book set on a world with no native animals, entirely ruled by trees; Bernice and three other women from the human colonising power have to make sense of it all. Another reviewer compared it favourably with Ann Leckie; I wouldn't go that far, but I thought the setting and language were a lot more original and imaginative than I'm used to from this series, and although the action was a bit confusing to begin with, it resolves reasonably quickly and anyway does not go on too long. Unusually, I think it would be a satisfactory read for someone who was not familiar with Benny's wider story.… (altro)

The first Bernice Summerfield novel for five years, this takes place between episodes of the box set Road Trip; in fact, it's the first adventure Benny and new companion Ruth have on their "road trip" from Lyndiaz to Legion. Given that, it's a bit disappointing, but that would be true regardless. The book begins in medias res, with Benny and Ruth split up and on opposite sides, which is fine, I love me a bit of medias res, but the book maintains the sense of confusion for far too long, to the extent that I never really got what was at stake. Mostly it seemed like Benny was just kind of running around in circles, and meanwhile a minster was doing a thing, and also there was an archive. The explanations all seemed to arrive in the last fifteen pages, which was way too late! By that time I had completely checked out of whatever was going on. A disappointing return of Bernice to the medium that originally gave birth to her.… (altro)