Weaver

by Kelly Ann Jacobson

In this Cloud Atlas-style speculative novel, humans are the alien invaders. The reader learns through many documents—police reports, legal depositions, speech transcripts, and diary entries—that a human company named HealthCorp has attempted to enslave two alien the Laffians stranded on a planet-wide ocean and the feline HoFe living on a bed of hofellium. Now, those same aliens have come to Earth in the hopes of using the planet to safely repopulate. A Finalist for the New Orleans Press Lab Prize and Longlist Selectee for the Dzanc Books Prize for Fiction, this new novel by award-winning author Kelly Ann Jacobson asks the question of whether these three groups can reconcile on Earth without killing each other first—and whether they should.

275 pages, Kindle Edition

Published November 10, 2023

About the author

Dr. Kelly Ann Jacobson is the author or editor of many published books, including her contest-winning chapbook An Inventory of Abandoned Things (Split/Lip Press), her young adult novel Tink and Wendy (Three Rooms Press), and her forthcoming young adult novel Robin and Her Misfits (Three Rooms Press).

Kelly received her PhD in fiction from Florida State University and teaches as the Assistant Professor of English (Creative Writing) at the University of Lynchburg and as an Instructor of speculative fiction and short story writing for Southern New Hampshire University’s online MFA in creative writing.

Kelly’s short works have been published in such places as Best Small Fictions, Boulevard, Southern Humanities Review, Daily Science Fiction, Northern Virginia Review, Iron Horse Literary Review, New Plains Review, and Gargoyle.

Reviews

[Richard Derus · Rating 5 out of 5]

Real Rating: 4.5* of five

The Publisher Says: In this Cloud Atlas-style speculative novel, humans are the alien invaders. The reader learns through many documents—police reports, legal depositions, speech transcripts, and diary entries—that a human company named HealthCorp has attempted to enslave two alien the Laffians stranded on a planet-wide ocean and the feline HoFe living on a bed of hofellium. Now, those same aliens have come to Earth in the hopes of using the planet to safely repopulate. The overriding question becomes whether these three groups can reconcile on Earth without killing each other first. . . .

I RECEIVED A DRC FROM THE PUBLISHER VIA NETGALLEY. THANK YOU.

My Review: Definitely a message I endorse: anti-capitalist, anti-racist, greedshaming, selfish, tribalistic thoughts and actions disparaged and criticized in a post-apocalyptic novel that is very queer-inclusive. The author's previous two excursions into mostly YA storytelling but that are suitable for adults to enjoy too (ROBIN AND HER MISFITS, TINK AND WENDY) were favorites of mine earlier this year.

Author Jacobson's storytelling chops, in this book, are aptly held up against David Mitchell's famously fractured framework in Cloud Atlas and, while I wasn't a fan of that book, I felt this iteration of that multi-documentary style worked...and didn't work...in the same ways here. It makes the worldbulding, particularly important in a story with an alien species introduced to Earth, a bit spottier and harder to follow than is my personal sweet spot for reading.

What definitely works is Author Jacobson's certainty that all her queer-coded characters are central to the narrative of humanity's survival. It is by no means certain that humanity will survive, but we're giving it a good, solid go in our confict with the superior forces of an uncaring galactic horde. The story is moe than rich enough in detail to make the average teen reader use their pattern-spotting skills, keeping track of the many different threads of the story.

A terrific choice for the experienced SFF reader, the young queer or questioning reader will find themself in here too, and the grown person will enjoy this non-triumphalist, question-authority vibed tale of working for survival.
Highly recommended for the Booksgiving choice to unwrap and dive right into.

[Janalyn, the blind reviewer · Rating 4 out of 5]

After having to flee Laffnia due to a volcano eruption Tamsen and his dad or two of only 200 Laffnians refugees on the ship they call Laffnia, Laffnia, which means life in their language. They were trying to find a new planet to inhabitate but when they landed on the planet which was made of only green sea and no land they couldn’t leave so they made due. Tamsens dad ultimately died by committing suicide but I’d led him to a great discovery in a material where they could make more ships for their growing tribe. After creating their own type of island which was made up of ships all tied together with bridges in between and living on this watery planet for years they finally have contact with health core the company that pretty much runs America and although the plane leaves they do come back to the planet and say they’re going to rescue the Laffnians. The humans promise to relocate them to a uninhabited planet that is the most like their original home planet Laffnia. The humans are more than happy to do this for them but first they want the aliens to gather up all the seaweed they can because it had a special property in it and health core wants to produce and it is sorely needed on earth. The only problem is just like history the original quota isn’t good enough and every time they reach it the humans want more. This is when the crux of the problem begins. In the book made up of police reports eyewitness accounts quart room documents and so much more are not told and chronological order but is easy to follow. The brief summary I have put is pretty much the beginning of what came a problem I found this book to be so interesting and thought the author did an awesome job creating a culture out of whole cloth with their own language and rituals. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and if you love sci-fi you will definitely enjoy it as well it is an alternate future universe where the bad guy doesn’t get the last laugh… Or does he? I want to thank Net Galley and the publisher for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

[Tanya · Rating 4 out of 5]

Kelly Ann Jacobson’s novel, Weaver, is a dystopian speculative fiction imagining of a future in which cultures and species collide not only with each other but with the forces of planetary resource depletion, pollution, and the need to survive. This heavily LGBTQ+-coded YA novel pulls no punches in its condemnation of corporate greed and its deep roots in selfishness and tribalism.
Through a modular format that shapes a compelling narrative out of a collection of legal documents, diary entries, and first-person experiences, this depiction of the forces that drive individuals apart attempts to make a big point about life, love, and tolerance across the fault lines that divide people and cultures.
Where it doesn’t quite deliver on its promises is in its simplifications—the world-building is sketched in at times, and things that ought to be nuanced (religion on Earth reduced to Catholicism, culture on Earth to Americanism) left mostly unshaded. The future American society is divided into urban sophisticates and exurban, poverty-stricken “foragers,” complete with cornfields and crop circles. Humans are locked in unresolvable Hobbesian competition with other species in the universe.
This is a novel that will be appreciated by teens and young adults looking for a narrative that has an innate embrace of queer culture, and for fans of dystopian speculative fiction who have wearied of Earth-centric exceptionalism. Jacobson’s longing for universal thriving shines clear and bright even if she doesn’t provide a solution in the pages of this novel, and her depiction of stories and storytelling as a key to reaching understanding is truly beautiful.

[atlas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

My Rating: 3.75

CW: murder, enslavement, mentions of genocide, interspecies racism

This book is what the blurb tells you it is, but not much more. The blurb does tell you everything that happens.
That said I thought it was a nice and quick read. It is written quite well and was very easy to read.
It is a collection of documents so there are a lot of jumps and different perspectives. Nevertheless Jacobson somehow manages that one can still follow the events and not be confused.
This book is also a nice (as in I think rather accurate) reflection of the human race and how some will enslave others, murder others for their own benefit. And how the rest either looks away and pretends they don't know it's happening or find ridiculous reasons as to why these other people deserve it or should actually be happy about it.

However, because of the format, there is no character development. Actually there are barely any characters at all that you can care about/root for. So if you like books that are in anyway character driven, this is not for you. Also there is no line of suspense.

[Susan Fisher · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was challenged by keeping the characters straight, given their unusual names and different races. The story was an allegory for our world and how those of different races, positions, and heritages can work together or not. Slowly this allegory came into focus as I got further into the book. By the end it was very clear; however I did go back to read the beginning again to identify what I had missed initially. I think the format was unique and interesting, however the relationship between the Laffa and the HoFe could have been developed more fully. It sounded like three races were there but was it two?

[Merlynn · Rating 1 out of 5]

I loved the concept in the blurd but the way this book is formatted makes it impossible to read. The information the reader is supposed to be sifting through has nothing that denotes it from the first hand accounts.
I wasn't even sure where the actual book began.

It's not often I can't work through rough formatting but that and my dyslexia made it literally impossible to read.

[Bryce Fumia · Rating 2 out of 5]

"Weaver" by Kelly Ann Jacobson was overall a relatively good novel, however there were some aspects of it that left me waiting for more. Jacobson did an amazing job at creating the world and introducing the beliefs and lifestyle of Laffians. Her use of numerous descriptive words enhanced my journey throughout this book allowing it to pull my in. However, the place where "Weaver" fell short was format. While POV is quite easy to jump back and forth from, this novel jumped from topic to topic, such as jumping from character development into court cases, which seemed a little out of place, even though they were quite interesting.
Overall, Jacobson did great work in character development, world building, and plot description, but fell short in format.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a journey! I'm not a big sci fi fan but I am a huge fan of Kelly Ann Jacobson's work so I knew I needed this instantly. It did not disappoint! I was lucky enough to get an advanced copy but I do not let that affect my reviews.
The story is set out as documents (diary entries, police report, case notes, testimonies) in a court case to determine which species gets to inherit the earth: humans or HoFeLaffians, made up of the cat-like HoFe and blue/green Laffa.


I'd definitely say this one is more sci-fantasy than true sci-fi. The worldbuilding of the different species and the various planets the story moves through is so rich, with the Laffians whose genders aren't defined until they choose a mating role and the HoFe whose roles change depending on environment.
This was such an usual, intriguing and fascinating story and I highly recommend it!