http://speculiction.blogspot.com/2016/01/review-of-radiant-days-by-elizabeth-han... ( )

I really loved the liminal connecting character, Ted, and how he worked in the story. He was marvelous, really marvelous. I loved Merle's interactions with Arthur, and I was amused, rather than annoyed, by how long it took her to accept the reality that he had stepped out of the past. Merle's rationalizations seemed completely realistic. Merle herself I liked, too, but Arthur .... ehhh. He was at his most appealing interacting with Merle--talking about Plato's theory of a third sex, and reading his poetry--and when he was in Mazas Prison.

Anyway, read it for Ted, and for a relationship based on a desire to break the world and create it fresh, rather than that old standby, Eros. ( )

I really loved the liminal connecting character, Ted, and how he worked in the story. He was marvelous, really marvelous. I loved Merle's interactions with Arthur, and I was amused, rather than annoyed, by how long it took her to accept the reality that he had stepped out of the past. Merle's rationalizations seemed completely realistic. Merle herself I liked, too, but Arthur .... ehhh. He was at his most appealing interacting with Merle--talking about Plato's theory of a third sex, and reading his poetry--and when he was in Mazas Prison.

Anyway, read it for Ted, and for a relationship based on a desire to break the world and create it fresh, rather than that old standby, Eros. ( )

No matter what genre or age group, if Elizabeth Hand writes something, I will read it. Radiant Days is one of my favorites of her works now.
Merle is a teenage, an art student in DC who gets involved with an older woman. In short order she cuts classes, spends all her money, and gets kicked out of school. (Considering how often Hand's protagonists flunk out I have to wonder about her own education.) Things seem to keep getting worse, and eventually Merle's shared house becomes a dump with no utilities. And not long after she loses everything else which matters to her. That's when things get interesting...
On the other side, a young Arthur Rimbaud is dealing with his tyrannical mother then getting arrested while sneaking into Paris. France is at war with Prussia at this time, so life is rough and people aren't willing to trust strangers. Arthur does everything he can to keep from going home and continues to compose the poetry for which he will become immortal. One night he falls into a dream... and the power of art breaks down time.

I don't want to share too much of the plot, because you need to read it! Both learn how to make art and make magic, and make more of their lives than they can ever have imagined.

The portrayal of two young people, both of whom are gay/queer and not having that be the focal point of the story, needs to happen much more often in fiction. Also keep your eyes open for a possible legend of a secondary character. ( )

In Radiant Days, one of Elizabeth Hand's latest books, we are introduced to Rimbaud, the poet, and Merle, an artist. Set in two distinctly different periods of time, but overlapping via an abandoned lockhouse, the lives of the two artist bump intoeach other in ways that enrich the works of both. All artists, be they workers in charcoal, or with a can of spray paint, or drawing with words on a page, will relate to that feeling when the art “comes true”, as it frequently does for these two artists. Of much interest to me was the exploration of synaesthesia and how it influenced Rimbaud's work so intently that even non-synaesthetes can feel it. Those who find it as interesting as I did can get further input at http://www.doctorhugo.org/synaesthesia/rimbaud.html ( )