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Title and Link: A Strong and Sudden Thaw
Author: R W DayPublisher: Lethe Press
Genre: GLBT (M/M) SpeculativeLength: 376 pages (print) (also available in ebook)
Rating: 4.5 out of 5 starsGuest Reviewer: Kris
The Blurb:
The Ice fell upon the world nearly a hundred years ago, and if civilization didn’t rightly collapse, it surely staggered and fell ill a while. In the small town of Moline, Virginia, folks struggle to survive, relying on hybrid seed sent by the faraway Dept. of Reintroduction and Agriculture and their own faith in God and hard work. But when a mated pair of dragons starts hunting the countryside, stealing sheep, and attacking children, the townsfolk quickly learn that they don’t have the weapons or the skills to fight off such predators.
David Anderson is a farmer’s son who has explored the world through books. When he meets the new healer in town, Callan Landers, he doesn’t quite know what to make of the strange warmth stealing over him. It’s not until he surprises Callan with another man—and both men are promptly arrested for sodomy—that David finally realizes the truth about his own feelings.
When David and Callan stumble over a secret in a nearby abandoned town, their personal problems fade before government politics and corruption that threaten lives. It seems the dragons aren’t the worst dangers facing Moline.
The Review:
Honesty from the outset~
I'm a huge, huge fan of speculative fiction. For those not familiar with the term, speculative fiction is basically a catch-all word used to encompass the genres of science fiction, fantasy, futuristic, horror, urban fantasy, paranormal... well, you get the point.
Not only is this story speculative, but the setting is futuristic, post-Apocalyptic Earth - one of my fave eva genres - and has a terrific frontier-like feel to it. Think Firefly or Jericho.
Not only that, but it has a Conspiracy (yes, it's worthy of an uppercase 'C'! What more can a lover of this genre ask for?? Nothing I tells ya! *ahem* You can therefore imagine that I was pretty much in heaven reading A Strong and Sudden Thaw.
That being said, the book was not without a few issues.
First things first~
In general I found this a very well written book told in the first person from the point of view of the main character, David. This is a POV I tend to have mixed feelings about (it's the 'I' thing), however I found this a pretty accessible read.
This was intended to be the first book in a series, although it seems uncertain now as to whether a sequel will be written. Regardless, the world building was absolutely spot on. It didn't overwhelm me with description like some first-offs do and it was extremely believable (with some twists), which I think is very important when it comes to the post-Apocalyptic genre in particular. It is entirely imaginable that people turn to their belief systems in the face of uncertainty, hence the homophobia that prevails in this small town and society as a whole.
I especially liked the references between some of the things we take for granted today and what life was like for the people of this world. I think these comparisons allowed me to connect more with the story and the characters.
The biggest problem I had with A Strong and Sudden Thaw was that the plot was a little contrived. For me, a few of the bad things (ie conflict) seemed to be resolved (relatively) easily. Other issues like the homosexuality of the main character; albeit a main story arc, was dealt with in a more in depth - and satisfying - way.
A couple of warnings~
It's a country town, people, so the language is 'down-on-the-range-ish', which did take me a little while to get into.
In addition to this, David and his romantic interest, Callan, are babies. David is the ripe old age of about 17, Callan in his early 20s. This did worry me a little to begin with, although I eventually got into the frontier-groove of the story where folk did marry young, start contributing to the family young, etc, etc.
It does mean the story focuses on David's growing realisation of his feelings and sexuality (although I think it would have been good to have this explored a little further through more self-reflection/inner dialogue), his developing relationship with Callan and the impact this will have on him, his family and life.
For those boys and girls who prefer erotica, this is not the book for you. What sex scenes there are between David and Callan are sweet, hot and all about discovery, which is a main theme of A Strong and Sudden Thaw.
My recommendation~
If you like post-Apocalyptic fiction with an m/m theme and/or yearn for a great coming of age story, then you'll really enjoy this.
I will definitely read more work by R W Day and hope (beg and plead) there will be a sequel for A Strong and Sudden Thaw.
22 comments:
I read this book many many moons ago when it was published by Iris Print and heart Becky Day muchly. I worry that this book won't sell as well because it IS spec fic, and a good chunk of the crowd who likes that genre heard of it and bought it the first time round. Hopefully, I'm wrong.
Great work Kris and very thoughtful review.
Hey Emmy
If people don't pick it up they will be missing something pretty special, won't they.
This has to be one of the best coming of age stories I've ever read and I would recommend it to anyone for that fact alone.
Thanks Wave (and a special thank you for all your help with these first two reviews!).
*g*
No worries.
Another good review. I too have issues with first person and I'm not really into the post-apocalyptic future thingy. :-) Good job though.
Kris,
Sounds like a great read. Have to check it out!
Tam: Although the setting is post-Apocalyptic, the story is extremely accessible. The first POV in this instance allows the reader to really connect with the story and world at a personal level as opposed to a 'big picture' type setting.
I think why the POV worked for me in 'AS&ST' was the immediate affinity I had with the main character, who has a strong, mature, insightful and caring personality.
And where have you been, Ozakie?? *tapping foot*
It is a damn fine book. If you do read it, let me know what you think. I'll be interested to hear your thoughts.
I loved this book, big time. It was so beautiful, both in the author's prose and in the development of the relationship between Callan and David.
The age thing didn't bother me because David had such a mature voice and also because in the harsh environment of the book children were expected to grow up quickly - as you said.
I hope your review does inspire those people who don't usually read spec fiction to give the book a try as it would be a shame to have such a great book overlooked. I felt this was more a 'coming of age' story than anything too fantasy/sci-fi. There's even a plausable explanation for the dragons!
I thank God you did like it, Jen, otherwise I may have given myself another 'I suck at recommendations' sticker. LOL.
I noticed there are several reviews about this book at the moment *wink* so it is my hope that other readers will consider what these say and look past setting for the amazing coming of age story it is. And this is me, the rabid spec fan, saying this. :)
I'm very happy the book is getting another chance to shine, Thaw is a great story, and has something for just about everyone, it's almost a YA in the older age bracket, coming of age, conspiracy, post-apocalyptic, romance, mystery... all in one book! What I particularly loved was that the weather is an actual character in the book--you can do nothing without referent to it.
The sequel is written, has been for years (it was originally going to be three books, but is now two, I think) and I suppose whether it gets published may depend on the success of this reissue. Thanks for a great review. I'll point it out to the author.
Erastes
Thank YOU, Erastes. I'm thrilled to learn that there is a sequel already written and I think there will be many readers who will be champing at the bit to read it. Hmmm, perhaps a petition to Lethe Press is in order. *g*
BTW, it's interesting that you mentioned it being almost a YA. I was actually going to add YA to the genre descriptor, but didn't want to label it as such in fear that it might put some readers off. Having said that, I think this is a book, which would definitely appeal to both young and older readers.
They aren't marketing it to YA, I'm told, probably because the sex is a little too much(?) (I'm not a YA expert) but it has been reviewed on Lee Wind's YA review site, so I hope that people do find it.
A petition to Lethe is certainly in order. I'll be reordering the new version, definitely, and if people do that, it will help, too.
I read a lot of YA and there is a number being written that feature - and are extremely popular - main characters in their late teens/early 20s. I think it would be a market that would be ideal for this book, especially with the amount of spec that's being written and gobbled up by a variety of readers.
Will work on the idea of the petition. At the very least sending Lethe a list of review sites indicating the positive reader response to 'AS&ST' would be a good step forward.
Kris and Erastes
I'm on the list of Lethe Press reviewers so I'll forward your review to the publisher, in the hope that it will spark their interest.
Kris
Congratulations, by the way, on such an excellent book choice for your debut as a Reviewer on this blog. Great job on the review as well.
I have sent a copy of the review to Steve Berman, Publisher of Lethe Press, for his information.
Looks like I missed this review. Yet I'm sure I read it. *scratching head*. I've had this book on my WL for a solid year and a half because I'd heard everywhere it was a must read. I wish now I'd ordered it sooner because I'm not fon of that new cover - emphasizes the youth of the characters and makes it look yaoi, which from the descritpion it is definitely not. I cursed when I saw in your review that this was yet another 1st person POV story - God, how I hate that. But if this one's done well, I'l still at least give it a try.
Very nice review, thanks :).
I don't think you'll regret it, it's a beautiful book.
I don't think I'll regret it either :). I just wish it wasn't first person, it makes it harder for me to get into a story.
that's a shame, you must miss out on so many great books in literature.
Oh, I do usually end up reading them anyway and a lot of the time enjoy them (I adore Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden novels and Josh Lanyon's Adrien English mysteries, for instance), but it just takes much longer before I can bring myself to start them. I can't help it, my first reaction when I see it's an "I" book is to think "fuck". "I"s make me feel I'm being told what to think and it rubs me the wrong way - like it narrows the field of my imagination. Plus, it means you are only ever privy to one person's thoughts and I have enough of that in RL. Books are my only chance of being omniscient. (Yes, I'm a nosy person :D)
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