This is the English translation of a book that was a big hit in its
native Estonia, about a world where snakes have taught humans Snakish,
the language of animals. The story is set in the medieval period where
people are leaving the forest to live in villages and the main character
is the last man who can speak Snakish. The author heavily satires
village life and Christian beliefs, but to be fair he does much the same
to the Pagan characters as well. Despite that, it's surprising dark at
times. It's well written and engaging, but where it fails for me is
that I think the author had the opportunity to make some meaningful
statements on social and cultural change, but concentrates instead on
satire and drama.
Rating: 7.5/10.
This is another of the novellas that Tor.com started putting out last
year. It's a retelling and deconstruction of H.P. Lovecraft's "The
Horror at Red Hook". I haven't read the original story, but from
looking it up online some of the same characters appear, but the
important new one is one Charles Thomas Tester, a young black man who
deals with sorcerers, elder gods, and racism in 1920's New York. Halfway through the narrative switches to the cop, Malone, and while it makes sense for plot reasons, I didn't find his character quite as engaging. Otherwise, the story was very good.
Rating: 8/10.
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