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Driftwood
Who is Last?
Fame is rare in Driftwood- it’s hard to get famous if you don’t stick around long enough for people to know you. But many know the guide, Last, a one-blooded survivor who has seen his world end many lifetimes ago. For Driftwood is a strange place of slow apocalypses, where continents eventually crumble into mere neighborhoods, pulled inexorably towards the center in the Crush. Cultures clash, countries fall, and everything eventually disintegrates.
Within the Shreds, a rumor goes around that Last has died. Drifters come together to commemorate him. But who really was Last?
About Driftwood
Driftwood is the invention of bestselling author Marie Brennan. Mirroring the world that many people are currently living in, the Driftwood stories chronicle the struggles of survivors and outcasts to keep their worlds alive until everything changes, diminishes, and is destroyed. Driftwood is the first full-length novel in this world.
Fame is rare in Driftwood- it’s hard to get famous if you don’t stick around long enough for people to know you. But many know the guide, Last, a one-blooded survivor who has seen his world end many lifetimes ago. For Driftwood is a strange place of slow apocalypses, where continents eventually crumble into mere neighborhoods, pulled inexorably towards the center in the Crush. Cultures clash, countries fall, and everything eventually disintegrates.
Within the Shreds, a rumor goes around that Last has died. Drifters come together to commemorate him. But who really was Last?
About Driftwood
Driftwood is the invention of bestselling author Marie Brennan. Mirroring the world that many people are currently living in, the Driftwood stories chronicle the struggles of survivors and outcasts to keep their worlds alive until everything changes, diminishes, and is destroyed. Driftwood is the first full-length novel in this world.
206 pages, Paperback
First published August 14, 2020
77 people are currently reading
3834 people want to read
About the author
Marie Brennan
172 books3,254 followersMarie Brennan a.k.a. M.A. Carrick
Marie Brennan is a former anthropologist and folklorist who shamelessly pillages her academic fields for material. She recently misapplied her professors' hard work to Turning Darkness Into Light, a sequel to the Hugo Award-nominated series The Memoirs of Lady Trent. As half of M.A. Carrick, she is also the author of The Mask of Mirrors, first in the Rook and Rose trilogy. For more information, visit swantower.com, Twitter @swan_tower, or her Patreon.
Marie Brennan is a former anthropologist and folklorist who shamelessly pillages her academic fields for material. She recently misapplied her professors' hard work to Turning Darkness Into Light, a sequel to the Hugo Award-nominated series The Memoirs of Lady Trent. As half of M.A. Carrick, she is also the author of The Mask of Mirrors, first in the Rook and Rose trilogy. For more information, visit swantower.com, Twitter @swan_tower, or her Patreon.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 246 reviews
August 9, 2020
Driftwood is one of the most incredibly creative fantasies you will find. The story isn't about world-building as much as world-shattering. Think of a universe built of concentric circles.
On the outside is the Mist. Then, there's the Edge which is filled with all the worlds new to Driftwood, all having faced their own apocalypses and shattering into pieces as they move toward the center. Past this Ring of worlds, each containing unique amazing species and barely separated.
At the Edge, worlds are new to Driftwood. They just had their apocalypses. Farther in, there’s the Shreds, which are but remnants of entire planets, crumbling into Mere neighborhoods and city blocks. And then there's the Crush, where world crumble and die. Sort of like a giant black hole from which nothing emerges.
It's rather hard to visualize how these worlds all come together and how beings travel from one to another, but eventually you as a reader accept the concept.
Also added into the mix is an immortal being, Last, who acts as a bounty hunter or tour guide. He eventually becomes the focal point of the book, but the story is never told from his point of view. Just from those who encounter him and there are many of these who seek from him things he cannot bestow.
The format of the book is a little different too. This isn't an epic quest for the holy grail, but a series of connected folktales told by various people about the Shreds and about Last, the one who cannot die. This is one of those books so creative that it's just fascinating to read. And there's so much here with so many worlds that more stories could perhaps emerge.
Many thanks to the publisher for providing a copy for review.
On the outside is the Mist. Then, there's the Edge which is filled with all the worlds new to Driftwood, all having faced their own apocalypses and shattering into pieces as they move toward the center. Past this Ring of worlds, each containing unique amazing species and barely separated.
At the Edge, worlds are new to Driftwood. They just had their apocalypses. Farther in, there’s the Shreds, which are but remnants of entire planets, crumbling into Mere neighborhoods and city blocks. And then there's the Crush, where world crumble and die. Sort of like a giant black hole from which nothing emerges.
It's rather hard to visualize how these worlds all come together and how beings travel from one to another, but eventually you as a reader accept the concept.
Also added into the mix is an immortal being, Last, who acts as a bounty hunter or tour guide. He eventually becomes the focal point of the book, but the story is never told from his point of view. Just from those who encounter him and there are many of these who seek from him things he cannot bestow.
The format of the book is a little different too. This isn't an epic quest for the holy grail, but a series of connected folktales told by various people about the Shreds and about Last, the one who cannot die. This is one of those books so creative that it's just fascinating to read. And there's so much here with so many worlds that more stories could perhaps emerge.
Many thanks to the publisher for providing a copy for review.
October 14, 2020
Driftwood
Q: “That’s Driftwood. In the end, every person, every street, every world will fade and crumble and die.” …
Maybe Driftwood is an agreement among the gods, a final mercy, giving their worlds a chance to come to terms with death before it finishes happening. (c)
Q: “Save my world,” Alsanit said, “or kill me now.” (c)
There aren't too many books with great worldbuilding and no plot to speak of. This is one of that rare breed.
Great concept: of a mishmash of dying worlds is being slowly sucked into something that is called Crush and that I'd have called some sort of Black Hole. There are assorted people, worlds, tribes, nations, places that are dying, all of them. There's this Last, blue-skinned eternal guide who must be not quite as eternal as everyone believed. There are some stories told, some traipsing across varied places done and that's about it.
Some of the stories are touching (the feather story), some befuddling. It's pretty much clear why we don't see any grand happenings: what does one do in a place like that? Build a nuclear reactor? Maybe this is the case of fun worldbuilding being the end of plotbuilding.
Q:
I’d rather live my life as a guide, teaching people how to make their way across the wilderness of the Shreds, until the Shreds I know shrink down and slip into the Crush and I have to learn some new ones. I’ve gotten over mourning the loss of those worlds. They all die, in the end, so you might as well get over it. Sometimes I get hired by scholars who want to know about realities that are long gone, and then I get melancholy, remembering songs no one sings anymore, friends and lovers dead for ages, restaurants I’ll never eat at again. My memory goes back a long way: the only immortality any of these places get. (c)
Q:
Qoress … (c)
Q: “That’s Driftwood. In the end, every person, every street, every world will fade and crumble and die.” …
Maybe Driftwood is an agreement among the gods, a final mercy, giving their worlds a chance to come to terms with death before it finishes happening. (c)
Q: “Save my world,” Alsanit said, “or kill me now.” (c)
There aren't too many books with great worldbuilding and no plot to speak of. This is one of that rare breed.
Great concept: of a mishmash of dying worlds is being slowly sucked into something that is called Crush and that I'd have called some sort of Black Hole. There are assorted people, worlds, tribes, nations, places that are dying, all of them. There's this Last, blue-skinned eternal guide who must be not quite as eternal as everyone believed. There are some stories told, some traipsing across varied places done and that's about it.
Some of the stories are touching (the feather story), some befuddling. It's pretty much clear why we don't see any grand happenings: what does one do in a place like that? Build a nuclear reactor? Maybe this is the case of fun worldbuilding being the end of plotbuilding.
Q:
I’d rather live my life as a guide, teaching people how to make their way across the wilderness of the Shreds, until the Shreds I know shrink down and slip into the Crush and I have to learn some new ones. I’ve gotten over mourning the loss of those worlds. They all die, in the end, so you might as well get over it. Sometimes I get hired by scholars who want to know about realities that are long gone, and then I get melancholy, remembering songs no one sings anymore, friends and lovers dead for ages, restaurants I’ll never eat at again. My memory goes back a long way: the only immortality any of these places get. (c)
Q:
Qoress … (c)
September 9, 2020
Driftwood is a conglomerate world composed of the last bits of dying worlds: worlds ripped apart by sandstorms, burnt beyond recognition, decimated by plagues. All these fragments come to butt up against each other like uneasy neighbors, and together they drift inexorably inward - losing land, people, features, and even suns - as they wind toward the Crush, the black hole-like middle of Driftwood that is the ending of all endings. The newest denizens of Driftwood fight their fate; the older ones, whose worlds are accelerating toward the Crush, move on, intermarry, become Drifters. Regardless: every world and everyone will meet their end in Driftwood.
With one exception: a mysterious man called Last, who has outlived hundreds of worlds and serves as maybe tour guide or mercenary or god within the endlessly changing and often treacherous Driftwood. Now he is feared dead, and those who have known him have come together to tell their stories at his wake.
I adore weird travelogues and stories-within-stories, and Driftwood reminds me of Italo Calvino with some of the weirdness of Catherynne Valente and something of the elegiac quality of Elgar and Sibelius. Marie Brennan's storytellers come from vastly different civilizations responding to catastrophe in contrasting ways. There are feathered beings and furred ones, worlds with seven suns, cruel prophecies, sentient tree beings, courtyard worlds in which memories are exchanged through dance. And through these different stories and storytellers, a composite image of Last - a complex figure whom some see as cynical and opportunistic, others as grieving under an unwanted burden of immortality - begins to emerge.
The writing is sparse but beautiful, with a pervasive bittersweetness:
I loved this. It's the first book I've loved since lockdown started, and maybe the first that has spoken to my fear and grief that the world I knew was gone forever. It's been a tough couple of months in California between Covid outbreaks, heat waves, fires, and the closing off of just about every escape and stress release valve I used to have. Driftwood is about endings and the acceptance of entropy, the simultaneous sorrow and sweetness of remembering what is now lost to you, choosing how you want things to end when you cannot prevent them from ending. I'm not sure it will appeal to many people (especially some anti-religious themes in the final story), but I found it a strangely cathartic experience.
With one exception: a mysterious man called Last, who has outlived hundreds of worlds and serves as maybe tour guide or mercenary or god within the endlessly changing and often treacherous Driftwood. Now he is feared dead, and those who have known him have come together to tell their stories at his wake.
I adore weird travelogues and stories-within-stories, and Driftwood reminds me of Italo Calvino with some of the weirdness of Catherynne Valente and something of the elegiac quality of Elgar and Sibelius. Marie Brennan's storytellers come from vastly different civilizations responding to catastrophe in contrasting ways. There are feathered beings and furred ones, worlds with seven suns, cruel prophecies, sentient tree beings, courtyard worlds in which memories are exchanged through dance. And through these different stories and storytellers, a composite image of Last - a complex figure whom some see as cynical and opportunistic, others as grieving under an unwanted burden of immortality - begins to emerge.
The writing is sparse but beautiful, with a pervasive bittersweetness:
The music was foreign but lovely, a slow beat from skin-colored drums and some kind of rattle, stringed instruments like leudani weaving melody and harmony around it. Noirin could not understand the singer's worlds, but the sense of them reached her anyway: memory and forgetfulness, the foundations and chains of the past. She didn't know whether the connection of minds came about through the music, or if Quinendeniua did it to all who came within, but she believed what Last had told her was true.
I loved this. It's the first book I've loved since lockdown started, and maybe the first that has spoken to my fear and grief that the world I knew was gone forever. It's been a tough couple of months in California between Covid outbreaks, heat waves, fires, and the closing off of just about every escape and stress release valve I used to have. Driftwood is about endings and the acceptance of entropy, the simultaneous sorrow and sweetness of remembering what is now lost to you, choosing how you want things to end when you cannot prevent them from ending. I'm not sure it will appeal to many people (especially some anti-religious themes in the final story), but I found it a strangely cathartic experience.
August 17, 2020
3.5 of 5 stars at The BiblioSanctum https://bibliosanctum.com/2020/08/16/...
Welcome to Driftwood. It’s a place where worlds go to die. When a world approaches the end of its lifespan, they are enveloped by the Mist, where they will slowly fade away to nothing as they are gradually pulled towards a central zone called the Crush. But while this is happening, neighboring worlds are also experiencing the same slow creep towards oblivion, and so are brought together in a clash of cultures and geographies.
In the middle of all this is a character called Last, known for being Driftwood’s most enduring survivor, who saw his own world disappear a long time ago. People like to gather around and tell stories about him, for his reputation is legendary. Some say he is immortal; others desperately seek his guidance or try to learn his secrets and follow in his footsteps.
And thus, we have the book Driftwood, a collection of these tales, all linked together by the remarkable figure named Last. At the same time though, it’s not your typical anthology, as evidenced by the strange setting, the subject matter. Each story comes from a different viewpoint and reveals one of many faces of Last, whom we come to realize is a complicated character.
As a huge fan of Marie Brennan’s The Memoirs of Lady Trent series, I’ll read anything this amazing lady writes. Needless to say though, Driftwood is a completely different beast. You won’t be getting a linear or focused narrative here, as there’s absolutely nothing conventional about it, with its abstract premise and complex themes. The individual tales are more like short vignettes connected to each other by only a few tenuous threads, with little rhyme or rhythm to them otherwise. And because of its nontraditional format, there is an overall feeling of disjointedness.
I’ll admit, while these types of books aren’t typically my cup of tea, there’s just something so artful and charming about this one that I just couldn’t help but be drawn in. Granted, I think knowing the storytelling style beforehand helped a lot, as I was braced for a weird and possibility confusing read. As it turned out, I liked Driftwood more than I expected, and much of it has to do with the breathtaking world Brennan has created. Driftwood the world as a concept is an achievement of creativity and challenges the imagination. The notion is expansive, but at the same time easy to visualize and understand. Against the odds, I found myself enjoying the hodge-podge feel of multiple worlds and peoples colliding, co-existing.
Of course, the gorgeous writing didn’t hurt. Brennan takes difficult concepts, presents them clearly and concisely, and has time to ponder some significant questions about social malaise, belief systems, and the inevitability of fate besides.
My only complaint? This probably won’t be too surprising, but at a mere 240 pages, there simply was not enough room to capture the entire book’s potential, especially given its fragmented structure. Furthermore, not all the tales are created equal, and some of the transitions are jarring. The world of Driftwood is an odd place and to a great extent you are expected to go with the flow, and so if you are the kind of readers to expect explanations and answers, you are likely to be left unsatisfied.
As you can probably tell, in the end I’m of two minds about Driftwood. On the one hand I probably would have enjoyed the book a lot more if it had been more to my tastes, but I was also pleasantly surprised at how readable it was, not to mention how quickly I took to it considering the lack of a traditional plot structure, central characters or a clear focus. I only wish there had been a little more “oomph” to some of the vignettes, a little more reason to care about the people and their stories. Nevertheless, Marie Brennan has created something special here, and it’s worth reading if you don’t mind trying something different.
Welcome to Driftwood. It’s a place where worlds go to die. When a world approaches the end of its lifespan, they are enveloped by the Mist, where they will slowly fade away to nothing as they are gradually pulled towards a central zone called the Crush. But while this is happening, neighboring worlds are also experiencing the same slow creep towards oblivion, and so are brought together in a clash of cultures and geographies.
In the middle of all this is a character called Last, known for being Driftwood’s most enduring survivor, who saw his own world disappear a long time ago. People like to gather around and tell stories about him, for his reputation is legendary. Some say he is immortal; others desperately seek his guidance or try to learn his secrets and follow in his footsteps.
And thus, we have the book Driftwood, a collection of these tales, all linked together by the remarkable figure named Last. At the same time though, it’s not your typical anthology, as evidenced by the strange setting, the subject matter. Each story comes from a different viewpoint and reveals one of many faces of Last, whom we come to realize is a complicated character.
As a huge fan of Marie Brennan’s The Memoirs of Lady Trent series, I’ll read anything this amazing lady writes. Needless to say though, Driftwood is a completely different beast. You won’t be getting a linear or focused narrative here, as there’s absolutely nothing conventional about it, with its abstract premise and complex themes. The individual tales are more like short vignettes connected to each other by only a few tenuous threads, with little rhyme or rhythm to them otherwise. And because of its nontraditional format, there is an overall feeling of disjointedness.
I’ll admit, while these types of books aren’t typically my cup of tea, there’s just something so artful and charming about this one that I just couldn’t help but be drawn in. Granted, I think knowing the storytelling style beforehand helped a lot, as I was braced for a weird and possibility confusing read. As it turned out, I liked Driftwood more than I expected, and much of it has to do with the breathtaking world Brennan has created. Driftwood the world as a concept is an achievement of creativity and challenges the imagination. The notion is expansive, but at the same time easy to visualize and understand. Against the odds, I found myself enjoying the hodge-podge feel of multiple worlds and peoples colliding, co-existing.
Of course, the gorgeous writing didn’t hurt. Brennan takes difficult concepts, presents them clearly and concisely, and has time to ponder some significant questions about social malaise, belief systems, and the inevitability of fate besides.
My only complaint? This probably won’t be too surprising, but at a mere 240 pages, there simply was not enough room to capture the entire book’s potential, especially given its fragmented structure. Furthermore, not all the tales are created equal, and some of the transitions are jarring. The world of Driftwood is an odd place and to a great extent you are expected to go with the flow, and so if you are the kind of readers to expect explanations and answers, you are likely to be left unsatisfied.
As you can probably tell, in the end I’m of two minds about Driftwood. On the one hand I probably would have enjoyed the book a lot more if it had been more to my tastes, but I was also pleasantly surprised at how readable it was, not to mention how quickly I took to it considering the lack of a traditional plot structure, central characters or a clear focus. I only wish there had been a little more “oomph” to some of the vignettes, a little more reason to care about the people and their stories. Nevertheless, Marie Brennan has created something special here, and it’s worth reading if you don’t mind trying something different.
May 17, 2020
*Driftwood* is probably the most creative thing I’ve read since *The Library at Mount Char*. It was just … staggeringly imaginative.
This is not a large book. I started reading it shortly before going to bed, intending to read only the first chapter or so and get a feel for my new book. Three hours later, I’m done, and have so many thoughts and emotions bouncing around inside me that I still can’t even think about sleep.
Let me tell you about Driftwood - the place, not the book. Driftwood is where worlds go to die. At the edge are worlds that have just experienced their own unique apocalypse. As time passes, the worlds press in on each other, shrinking and shrinking as they move towards the Crush at the center of Driftwood. The outer edges of Driftwood, the newly dying worlds, are still much as they were. As one moves inward, things compress, and worlds that had been the size of a continent or a country are now reduced to a town, then a neighborhood, packed cheek-by-jowl with the surviving scraps of other doomed worlds. As they near the Crush they are abandoned entirely, as the remaining survivors abandon their home as it nears its fate. But they still share that fate regardless – when a world finally reaches oblivion, the people of that world go to. You can’t escape this by walking to another world. (something people do all the time in Driftwood. You can’t not.) You can’t outlast the end of your world, and you can’t do anything to slow its death. It can take a long time to die, but the world and its people *will* die.
There is one exception to this: a fellow called Last. His world fell into the Crush long, long ago, and his people went with it. No one knows how or why he’s still around, least of all Last himself, but he has, persisting long past the natural lifespan of his people. Some of the Drifters (the ever-changing interbred people who live on the fringes of the Crush, and as close to natives of Driftwood as it is possible to be) think he’s just a story, some think he’s a con man, some think he’s a hero, some think he’s a god. Last just think’s that he’s a person trying to get by, a fluke, though he is very emphatic on the subject of his non-divinity.
Except now there’s a rumor that he’s dead, that he’s gone into the Crush at last, and Drifters have gathered together to commemorate him (or stand vigil for him to return, or hail His Ascension, or sneer at the lot of them, depending on one’s personal opinions).
This book is in the tradition of *The Canterbury Tales*, or, to put it in SF/F territory, *Hyperion*. It’s a series of vignettes being told by people of how Last touched them, or their people, or their families. Last’s inexplicable *permanence* made him a very unique person in Driftwood, able to serve as an advisor and guide through its ever-changing maze (always for a price). The stories all have a common thread: the desire to preserve what can’t be preserved, to remember and be remembered as long as is possible, to not go gently into that good night. The stories are all evocative, often warming, and at the same time heartbreakingly sad. Everything in Driftwood ends up in oblivion, no matter what you can do.
It is somewhat ironic that I’m reading this as an advanced copy (thanks to the folks at Tachyon Publications for the ARC). I’ve been reading lots of ARCs lately, which is awesome, but I’m very conscious of all the books that I’m not reading. This book has got me wondering at all the books that have been forgotten. Books that got published and flopped. Wonderful gems that today might rise to the top of the SPFBO but were written before self-publishing was a thing and no publisher was willing to take a chance on. Books that only ever existed in the imagination of people who always *wanted* to write, but never had the time. *Driftwood* makes me want to stop reading new stuff and start finding old, forgotten books. To save them from the Crush for as long as possible.
Because there’s a kind of reality to Driftwood, and at some point - maybe years from now, maybe decades, maybe centuries - Middle-earth will find its way there, and Westeros, and Hogwarts, and Discworld, and the Stillness, and every other world we fantasy readers know and love.
I picked this book up with middling expectations. I read *A Natural History of Dragons* a few years ago, and thought it was ok, but it didn’t really catch me and I had no interest in the rest. This book caught me. It caught me bad. And made me want to go out and read and maybe give a few forgotten worlds just a little longer to flourish.
*Driftwood* is quite short - as I said, I read the full thing in about 3 hours. There's no suggestion of a sequel, but there's certainly room for one. Hell, there's literally room for infinite stories in Driftwood, by the very nature of the place. But I'm not sure whether or not I want there to be. This book might be better as a small, perfect standalone.
Either way, the book comes out on August 14th.
This is not a large book. I started reading it shortly before going to bed, intending to read only the first chapter or so and get a feel for my new book. Three hours later, I’m done, and have so many thoughts and emotions bouncing around inside me that I still can’t even think about sleep.
Let me tell you about Driftwood - the place, not the book. Driftwood is where worlds go to die. At the edge are worlds that have just experienced their own unique apocalypse. As time passes, the worlds press in on each other, shrinking and shrinking as they move towards the Crush at the center of Driftwood. The outer edges of Driftwood, the newly dying worlds, are still much as they were. As one moves inward, things compress, and worlds that had been the size of a continent or a country are now reduced to a town, then a neighborhood, packed cheek-by-jowl with the surviving scraps of other doomed worlds. As they near the Crush they are abandoned entirely, as the remaining survivors abandon their home as it nears its fate. But they still share that fate regardless – when a world finally reaches oblivion, the people of that world go to. You can’t escape this by walking to another world. (something people do all the time in Driftwood. You can’t not.) You can’t outlast the end of your world, and you can’t do anything to slow its death. It can take a long time to die, but the world and its people *will* die.
There is one exception to this: a fellow called Last. His world fell into the Crush long, long ago, and his people went with it. No one knows how or why he’s still around, least of all Last himself, but he has, persisting long past the natural lifespan of his people. Some of the Drifters (the ever-changing interbred people who live on the fringes of the Crush, and as close to natives of Driftwood as it is possible to be) think he’s just a story, some think he’s a con man, some think he’s a hero, some think he’s a god. Last just think’s that he’s a person trying to get by, a fluke, though he is very emphatic on the subject of his non-divinity.
Except now there’s a rumor that he’s dead, that he’s gone into the Crush at last, and Drifters have gathered together to commemorate him (or stand vigil for him to return, or hail His Ascension, or sneer at the lot of them, depending on one’s personal opinions).
This book is in the tradition of *The Canterbury Tales*, or, to put it in SF/F territory, *Hyperion*. It’s a series of vignettes being told by people of how Last touched them, or their people, or their families. Last’s inexplicable *permanence* made him a very unique person in Driftwood, able to serve as an advisor and guide through its ever-changing maze (always for a price). The stories all have a common thread: the desire to preserve what can’t be preserved, to remember and be remembered as long as is possible, to not go gently into that good night. The stories are all evocative, often warming, and at the same time heartbreakingly sad. Everything in Driftwood ends up in oblivion, no matter what you can do.
It is somewhat ironic that I’m reading this as an advanced copy (thanks to the folks at Tachyon Publications for the ARC). I’ve been reading lots of ARCs lately, which is awesome, but I’m very conscious of all the books that I’m not reading. This book has got me wondering at all the books that have been forgotten. Books that got published and flopped. Wonderful gems that today might rise to the top of the SPFBO but were written before self-publishing was a thing and no publisher was willing to take a chance on. Books that only ever existed in the imagination of people who always *wanted* to write, but never had the time. *Driftwood* makes me want to stop reading new stuff and start finding old, forgotten books. To save them from the Crush for as long as possible.
Because there’s a kind of reality to Driftwood, and at some point - maybe years from now, maybe decades, maybe centuries - Middle-earth will find its way there, and Westeros, and Hogwarts, and Discworld, and the Stillness, and every other world we fantasy readers know and love.
I picked this book up with middling expectations. I read *A Natural History of Dragons* a few years ago, and thought it was ok, but it didn’t really catch me and I had no interest in the rest. This book caught me. It caught me bad. And made me want to go out and read and maybe give a few forgotten worlds just a little longer to flourish.
*Driftwood* is quite short - as I said, I read the full thing in about 3 hours. There's no suggestion of a sequel, but there's certainly room for one. Hell, there's literally room for infinite stories in Driftwood, by the very nature of the place. But I'm not sure whether or not I want there to be. This book might be better as a small, perfect standalone.
Either way, the book comes out on August 14th.
August 16, 2020
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Thank you NetGalley and Tachyon Publications for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are mine.
I pray to the voices of my ancestors and my descendants
that readers will find entertainment, comfort, or worthy moral lessons
within these pages.
For it is only through the telling of our tales
that we have hope of immortality.
Similar to One Thousand and One Nights, Driftwood tells its main tale through the aid of several short stories themed after the main character of Last. Last, who has lived for longer than anyone remembers or knows, while the rest of the worlds slowly disintegrate until they reach the Crush at the center of Driftwood and cease to exist.
As a whole, Driftwood is the sum of a lovely set that touches on our emotions in different ways. There is, throughout, a theme of friendship and bonding that spans along different years by way of the lead. And as the stories are read, we are reminded again and again that everything, eventually, comes to an end—yet there is no reason for one to dwell on that rather than attempt to make the best of the time that is left, live it, enjoy it, and be joyful. It's a takeaway worth keeping no matter the times.
As a reader, I have preferences, and one of them is my desire and enjoyment in getting to know characters and seeing them grow. That's not always easy to do when shorts are used rather than a novel, which is why I don't tend to read them too often. Therefore, it did lack that broadening of self that I want to see in a full cast.
However, as it is, there's also the advantage that a lot of ground was covered throughout the book and the reader gets to experience some of the different cultures and worlds that inhabit Driftwood. And these are fairly different and inventive. Marie Brennan does not lack imagination. With every story, there's something to learn about the people and places we read about, and the original Quinendeniua—or, The Court of Memory—is the little gem that I take with me moving forward.
The entire structure of Driftwood and its workings is not only well drafted and detailed, but I felt the sadness, hopelessness and sorrow that so many of these people feel at the fact that places eventually come to their end, and so do the people that belonged to them. It puts one in the place of Last while reading, thinking of what it must be like to exist as he has—to see so many that he cared for lost and gone, but remain, eventually alone and needing to start again.
There's heart of this book lies in its sentiment.
Thank you NetGalley and Tachyon Publications for this ARC. All thoughts and opinions are mine.
I pray to the voices of my ancestors and my descendants
that readers will find entertainment, comfort, or worthy moral lessons
within these pages.
For it is only through the telling of our tales
that we have hope of immortality.
Similar to One Thousand and One Nights, Driftwood tells its main tale through the aid of several short stories themed after the main character of Last. Last, who has lived for longer than anyone remembers or knows, while the rest of the worlds slowly disintegrate until they reach the Crush at the center of Driftwood and cease to exist.
As a whole, Driftwood is the sum of a lovely set that touches on our emotions in different ways. There is, throughout, a theme of friendship and bonding that spans along different years by way of the lead. And as the stories are read, we are reminded again and again that everything, eventually, comes to an end—yet there is no reason for one to dwell on that rather than attempt to make the best of the time that is left, live it, enjoy it, and be joyful. It's a takeaway worth keeping no matter the times.
As a reader, I have preferences, and one of them is my desire and enjoyment in getting to know characters and seeing them grow. That's not always easy to do when shorts are used rather than a novel, which is why I don't tend to read them too often. Therefore, it did lack that broadening of self that I want to see in a full cast.
However, as it is, there's also the advantage that a lot of ground was covered throughout the book and the reader gets to experience some of the different cultures and worlds that inhabit Driftwood. And these are fairly different and inventive. Marie Brennan does not lack imagination. With every story, there's something to learn about the people and places we read about, and the original Quinendeniua—or, The Court of Memory—is the little gem that I take with me moving forward.
The entire structure of Driftwood and its workings is not only well drafted and detailed, but I felt the sadness, hopelessness and sorrow that so many of these people feel at the fact that places eventually come to their end, and so do the people that belonged to them. It puts one in the place of Last while reading, thinking of what it must be like to exist as he has—to see so many that he cared for lost and gone, but remain, eventually alone and needing to start again.
There's heart of this book lies in its sentiment.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 8, 2022
توجه: این ریویو حاوی توضیحاتی مربوط به دنیاسازی کتاب است. اگر میخواهید هیچ چیز از دنیای کتاب ندانید و آن را خودتان کشف کنید، این ریویو را نخوانید. داستان کتاب اسپویل نشده است
دریفتوود جایی است که دنیاها برای مردن به اونجا میرن. فرض کنین برای دنیایی یک اتفاق آخرالزمانی پیش میاد و کل سیاره و حیاتش از بین میره ولی یک کشور یا قاره باقی میمونه. این بخش از دنیا به دریفتوود میره. مردم اون قسمت هنوز به مردن دنیاشون باور ندارن. علی رغم اینکه دورتادور دنیا رو مه گرفته و نمیتونن ازش خارج بشن. کم کم بعضی از رشتهکوهها و رودخانهها ناپدید میشن و دنیا به تدریج کوچک میشه. جایی که قبلا مه بود، حالا دنیاهای دیگه ای هستن. مثلا کافیه به سمت شرق برید تا به دنیایی برسید که سه تا خورشید داره یا به شمال برید و خوراک گرگهای شش پا بشید
دنیاهای دریفتوود پیوسته تحلیل میرن و هر چقدر که به مرکز دریفتوود (کراش) نزدیکتر میشید، فاصلهی بین دنیاها کمتر میشه تا اینکه دیگه کافیه از خیابان خودتون بیرون برین تا به یک دنیای دیگه برسین
دریفتوود پر است از مردم، جانوران و گیاهان متفاوت. پر از منظومههای خورشیدی رنگارنگ و اتمسفرهای مختلف. و اگر دنبال سفر و تجارت در چنین دنیایی هستین (که صد البته مجبورین چون منابع دنیای خودتون داره روز به روز کمتر میشه) به یک راهنما احتیاج دارین. و بهترین راهنمای دریفتوود کسی نیست جز لَست
Last
لست آخرین نفر از دنیای خودشه. کسی که مدتها بعد از مردن دنیاش هنوز زنده است. بعضهای میگن لست نامیرا است ولی چطور زمان رو توی دریفتوود اندازه میگیرید وقتی هر دنیایی ساعت و ماه و خورشید خودش رو داره؟ بعضیها میگن لست میدونه چطور میشه جلوی مرگ دنیاها رو گرفت. بعضیها میگن لست خدای دریفتووده ... و حالا ماجرایی پیش اومده که به لست مربوطه. کتاب از چند داستان مجزا تشکیل شده که هر کدوم توسط یکی از مردم دریفتوود روایت میشن و همگی مستقیم یا غیرمستقیم به لست ربط دارن
علی رغم اینکه دنیاسازی کتاب بر پایهی از دست دادن و تحلیل رفتن بنا شده ولی دریفتوود یکی از زنده ترین دنیاهایی است که تا حالا در کتابها دیدهم. وجود اون همه مردم از سیارههای مختلف، با تکنولوژی و فرهنگهای متفاوت، دنیایی رنگارنگ و بسیار سرزندهای رو به وجود آورده که از خوندنش بسیار لذت بردم. اگر طرفدار کتاب های بکی چمبرز باشین گمونم از این کتاب هم لذت میبرین
نویسنده نتیجهگیری نهایی رو به عهدهی خواننده میگذاره. پس اگر پایانهای باز رو دوست ندارید، سراغ این کتاب نیاید ولی به نظر من سفر کردن در دریفتوود به ندانستن پایان ماجرا میارزید
وقتی میبینید دنیایی که همهی دارایی شما ست جلوی چشمتان روز به روز کوچکتر میشه چه کار میکنید؟ به گذشته و رسوماتی که دیگر هیچ معنیای برای نسل جدید ندارن میچسبید یا با بقیهی مردم دریفتوود معاشرت میکنین و به کشف دنیاهای تازهتر میرین؟ یا تا آخرین لحظه به روی ویرانی لبخند میزنید؟
به قول تئودن "شاید فرجام کارمان چنان باشد که به سرودی بیارزد
دریفتوود جایی است که دنیاها برای مردن به اونجا میرن. فرض کنین برای دنیایی یک اتفاق آخرالزمانی پیش میاد و کل سیاره و حیاتش از بین میره ولی یک کشور یا قاره باقی میمونه. این بخش از دنیا به دریفتوود میره. مردم اون قسمت هنوز به مردن دنیاشون باور ندارن. علی رغم اینکه دورتادور دنیا رو مه گرفته و نمیتونن ازش خارج بشن. کم کم بعضی از رشتهکوهها و رودخانهها ناپدید میشن و دنیا به تدریج کوچک میشه. جایی که قبلا مه بود، حالا دنیاهای دیگه ای هستن. مثلا کافیه به سمت شرق برید تا به دنیایی برسید که سه تا خورشید داره یا به شمال برید و خوراک گرگهای شش پا بشید
دنیاهای دریفتوود پیوسته تحلیل میرن و هر چقدر که به مرکز دریفتوود (کراش) نزدیکتر میشید، فاصلهی بین دنیاها کمتر میشه تا اینکه دیگه کافیه از خیابان خودتون بیرون برین تا به یک دنیای دیگه برسین
دریفتوود پر است از مردم، جانوران و گیاهان متفاوت. پر از منظومههای خورشیدی رنگارنگ و اتمسفرهای مختلف. و اگر دنبال سفر و تجارت در چنین دنیایی هستین (که صد البته مجبورین چون منابع دنیای خودتون داره روز به روز کمتر میشه) به یک راهنما احتیاج دارین. و بهترین راهنمای دریفتوود کسی نیست جز لَست
Last
لست آخرین نفر از دنیای خودشه. کسی که مدتها بعد از مردن دنیاش هنوز زنده است. بعضهای میگن لست نامیرا است ولی چطور زمان رو توی دریفتوود اندازه میگیرید وقتی هر دنیایی ساعت و ماه و خورشید خودش رو داره؟ بعضیها میگن لست میدونه چطور میشه جلوی مرگ دنیاها رو گرفت. بعضیها میگن لست خدای دریفتووده ... و حالا ماجرایی پیش اومده که به لست مربوطه. کتاب از چند داستان مجزا تشکیل شده که هر کدوم توسط یکی از مردم دریفتوود روایت میشن و همگی مستقیم یا غیرمستقیم به لست ربط دارن
علی رغم اینکه دنیاسازی کتاب بر پایهی از دست دادن و تحلیل رفتن بنا شده ولی دریفتوود یکی از زنده ترین دنیاهایی است که تا حالا در کتابها دیدهم. وجود اون همه مردم از سیارههای مختلف، با تکنولوژی و فرهنگهای متفاوت، دنیایی رنگارنگ و بسیار سرزندهای رو به وجود آورده که از خوندنش بسیار لذت بردم. اگر طرفدار کتاب های بکی چمبرز باشین گمونم از این کتاب هم لذت میبرین
نویسنده نتیجهگیری نهایی رو به عهدهی خواننده میگذاره. پس اگر پایانهای باز رو دوست ندارید، سراغ این کتاب نیاید ولی به نظر من سفر کردن در دریفتوود به ندانستن پایان ماجرا میارزید
وقتی میبینید دنیایی که همهی دارایی شما ست جلوی چشمتان روز به روز کوچکتر میشه چه کار میکنید؟ به گذشته و رسوماتی که دیگر هیچ معنیای برای نسل جدید ندارن میچسبید یا با بقیهی مردم دریفتوود معاشرت میکنین و به کشف دنیاهای تازهتر میرین؟ یا تا آخرین لحظه به روی ویرانی لبخند میزنید؟
به قول تئودن "شاید فرجام کارمان چنان باشد که به سرودی بیارزد
October 6, 2020
Driftwood is filled with meditative, calming and melancholic, loosely connected stories of the world of Driftwood, where dying worlds end up. Each world is slowly falling apart, experiencing its own version of an apocalypse: climate change, lowering birth rates, coupled with places and things literally disappearing, becoming part of the Crush, a white nothingness that no one has penetrated and returned from successfully.
Except one man known as Last, who appears in each story, which is relayed as some sort of encounter with this man. Last outlasted his own world’s absorption into the Crush, but who persists, long past his own enduring. People build legends around him, but no one knows, including him, why he yet lives.
The writing is gorgeous, and though there is little action, each story has a sense of tremendous loss but also of calm and inevitability. Death is everywhere, but amidst this, people seek ways to remember, to find some meaning still in the slow destruction. Despite the dark concept of these stories, I loved the soothing tone of these stories and the beautiful prose Marie Brennan employed to bring this dying world to life.
Except one man known as Last, who appears in each story, which is relayed as some sort of encounter with this man. Last outlasted his own world’s absorption into the Crush, but who persists, long past his own enduring. People build legends around him, but no one knows, including him, why he yet lives.
The writing is gorgeous, and though there is little action, each story has a sense of tremendous loss but also of calm and inevitability. Death is everywhere, but amidst this, people seek ways to remember, to find some meaning still in the slow destruction. Despite the dark concept of these stories, I loved the soothing tone of these stories and the beautiful prose Marie Brennan employed to bring this dying world to life.
August 14, 2020
Ahoy there me mateys! I received this fantasy eARC from Edelweiss in exchange for an honest review. So here be me honest musings . . .
I love Marie Brennan and Tachyon Publications so I was excited to get this and it is awesome.
Have ye ever heard about the end of the world? Well Driftwood is the purgatory where worlds hang out just before they end forever. Yer world slowly starts disappearing before eventually being engulfed by the Crush. Driftwood itself is a collection of the last pieces and parts of a variety of worlds slowly being consumed and the people who inhabit them.
As the author says on her website:
"Driftwood is inherently a place of fragments, the large, coherent structure of a novel felt like fundamentally the wrong approach to storytelling in that setting. But there’s a way around that. Call it a fixup if you want — a book assembled out of pre-existing shorter material — or a mosaic novel, with the story being told through many voices and many sub-tales . . . It’s made up of the short stories I’ve written already, plus a novelette-length tale that’s new, and it’s all stitched together with a frame that gives context and greater meaning to the pieces within it. Which makes the text kind of like Driftwood itself.'
The novel's interconnected short story format was a little confusing at first cause ye be tossed right in. I quickly became fascinated by Driftwood. There is a character, Last, who is the frame holding the stories together. Last's world is long gone but somehow he didn't go with it. He passes his time being a translator and guide. His presence is felt all over Driftwood and he seems to be the only constant. He is a mystery with no good answers but lots of speculation.
I loved the world building, the different people, how the economies worked, the magic elements, and the mixing of cultures. The short story format was tantalizing and always left me wanting more. More about every world, more about the characters ye merely glimpse, and just more stories altogether.
The only real dissatisfaction came from the book ending too soon even though it was fantastic and kinda perfect in how it ended. I could certainly read more about Driftwood and while I loved the mosaic novel, I would also love more of Last's life and backstory.
So lastly . . .
Thank you Tachyon Publications!
I love Marie Brennan and Tachyon Publications so I was excited to get this and it is awesome.
Have ye ever heard about the end of the world? Well Driftwood is the purgatory where worlds hang out just before they end forever. Yer world slowly starts disappearing before eventually being engulfed by the Crush. Driftwood itself is a collection of the last pieces and parts of a variety of worlds slowly being consumed and the people who inhabit them.
As the author says on her website:
"Driftwood is inherently a place of fragments, the large, coherent structure of a novel felt like fundamentally the wrong approach to storytelling in that setting. But there’s a way around that. Call it a fixup if you want — a book assembled out of pre-existing shorter material — or a mosaic novel, with the story being told through many voices and many sub-tales . . . It’s made up of the short stories I’ve written already, plus a novelette-length tale that’s new, and it’s all stitched together with a frame that gives context and greater meaning to the pieces within it. Which makes the text kind of like Driftwood itself.'
The novel's interconnected short story format was a little confusing at first cause ye be tossed right in. I quickly became fascinated by Driftwood. There is a character, Last, who is the frame holding the stories together. Last's world is long gone but somehow he didn't go with it. He passes his time being a translator and guide. His presence is felt all over Driftwood and he seems to be the only constant. He is a mystery with no good answers but lots of speculation.
I loved the world building, the different people, how the economies worked, the magic elements, and the mixing of cultures. The short story format was tantalizing and always left me wanting more. More about every world, more about the characters ye merely glimpse, and just more stories altogether.
The only real dissatisfaction came from the book ending too soon even though it was fantastic and kinda perfect in how it ended. I could certainly read more about Driftwood and while I loved the mosaic novel, I would also love more of Last's life and backstory.
So lastly . . .
Thank you Tachyon Publications!
March 7, 2023
Wow, what a fascinating little book. I had no idea what to expect going in (I think I assumed it was going to be a fantasy based on the title and on reading the author's, A Natural History of Dragons), and for a good deal of the book I had no idea what I was reading.......but I liked it? In some ways, the reading experience reminded me of The Library at Mount Char in that I had no idea what was going on in this weird story, but I felt compelled to keep reading. It also reminded me a bit of Midwinterblood, with what was essentially a short book of fantastical stories that were all linked in a weird way by a semi-immortal person(s).
The gist of this book's concept is that Driftwood is a place where worlds/realities go to die, basically. A world suffers some kind of apocalypse (a sun burns out, sand storms decimate the surface, a plague wipes out most of the population), and that world ends up on the edge of Driftwood. To one side is an unknown "mist" of nothingness, and to the other side(s) are boundaries with other worlds, all gradually being pulled toward an unknown center point called the Crush. Worlds on the Edge are still mostly intact, but as they get pulled ever inwards, the remains of the world fade away or get condensed until all that's left are the Shreds, fragments of worlds with scarcely any hint left of what they used to be. The people surviving often flee to other worlds, intermingling with other races/species, so that you have mixed people known as Drifters (because they were born in Driftwood) and others known as one-blood who were born in their own worlds. Eventually, all worlds fall into the Crush and are gone forever, with only stories told by generations of Drifters to remember them by.
THIS story is (roughly) about one man known as Last, who seems to be inexplicably immortal. His own world was swallowed by the crush ages ago, and he's lived through generation upon generations of other worlds passing through Driftwood. He's become something of a legend, with people begging him for the secret of how to save their world from the Crush, others thinking he's a god or not even real. This book is told in kind of a mishmash of stories, with various characters from different worlds recounting their experience meeting Last.
I was about halfway through this book when I realized that this all kind of reminded me of a Doctor Who episode. Fantastical worlds colliding with one another, an assortment of civilizations and peoples and cultures interacting with one another, mysterious phenomenon....and tying it all together is one lone man. The last of his kind. His own world long gone, and him just a legend that people tell stories about......Yeah, totally Doctor Who.
So, I don't know what it was about this book, but I sped through it. It felt beautiful and bleak at the same time, in a way that felt....profound. The concept of Driftwood was so haunting, and I know my mind will keep coming back to it. There wasn't a lot of character development in this book (since you're usually only with a particular story teller for a single chapter), but I still found myself empathizing with Last....but, again, this might be because he reminded me of the Doctor. Ultimately, this was primarily a world-building (or world-destroying) book, rather than a plot or character book. Usually I don't like that, but in this case it worked for me.
Anyway, really enjoyed this. Definitely recommended as a unique standalone story.
The gist of this book's concept is that Driftwood is a place where worlds/realities go to die, basically. A world suffers some kind of apocalypse (a sun burns out, sand storms decimate the surface, a plague wipes out most of the population), and that world ends up on the edge of Driftwood. To one side is an unknown "mist" of nothingness, and to the other side(s) are boundaries with other worlds, all gradually being pulled toward an unknown center point called the Crush. Worlds on the Edge are still mostly intact, but as they get pulled ever inwards, the remains of the world fade away or get condensed until all that's left are the Shreds, fragments of worlds with scarcely any hint left of what they used to be. The people surviving often flee to other worlds, intermingling with other races/species, so that you have mixed people known as Drifters (because they were born in Driftwood) and others known as one-blood who were born in their own worlds. Eventually, all worlds fall into the Crush and are gone forever, with only stories told by generations of Drifters to remember them by.
THIS story is (roughly) about one man known as Last, who seems to be inexplicably immortal. His own world was swallowed by the crush ages ago, and he's lived through generation upon generations of other worlds passing through Driftwood. He's become something of a legend, with people begging him for the secret of how to save their world from the Crush, others thinking he's a god or not even real. This book is told in kind of a mishmash of stories, with various characters from different worlds recounting their experience meeting Last.
I was about halfway through this book when I realized that this all kind of reminded me of a Doctor Who episode. Fantastical worlds colliding with one another, an assortment of civilizations and peoples and cultures interacting with one another, mysterious phenomenon....and tying it all together is one lone man. The last of his kind. His own world long gone, and him just a legend that people tell stories about......Yeah, totally Doctor Who.
So, I don't know what it was about this book, but I sped through it. It felt beautiful and bleak at the same time, in a way that felt....profound. The concept of Driftwood was so haunting, and I know my mind will keep coming back to it. There wasn't a lot of character development in this book (since you're usually only with a particular story teller for a single chapter), but I still found myself empathizing with Last....but, again, this might be because he reminded me of the Doctor. Ultimately, this was primarily a world-building (or world-destroying) book, rather than a plot or character book. Usually I don't like that, but in this case it worked for me.
Anyway, really enjoyed this. Definitely recommended as a unique standalone story.
August 12, 2020
Driftwood is a post-apocalyptic fantasy novel by award winning author Marie Brennan
No. Actually, scratch this. This novel can’t really be categorized, and it will be hard to review with spoiling anything.
Driftwood is a place of quantum shenanigans where worlds, and their last survivors, wind up after their respective apocalypses. Time crawls to a slow pace there. The different worlds revolve around themselves in circles, and slowly crash into each other, creating places of mixed cultures. Sometimes it goes well, sometimes it doesn’t. On the edge, you find the newest arrivals, and in the center, well, time might be slow, but all these worlds are slowly being pulled into their final destination, the « crush ». There is a Chiron like character, rumored the be the only one to have ever outlived the crush of his world, serving as some sort of narrator to readers, a guide to the denizens, and an upholder of the rules of this strange place.
This book is difficult to review and can’t be categorized as fantasy, because we don’t follow a team of adventurers in a quest to save themselves from oblivion. It is clearly stated that this can’t be done, The story is told from the point of view of many of the inhabitants, weaving a tapestry allowing us to understand the place and its rules.
Imagination run abounds and, even if it isn’t an humorous title as such, one can be reminded of Sir Terry Pratchett at times. And, actually, maybe Discworld is there somewhere on the edge.
Driftwood seems to be a world building exercise, and a great one at that as, in the end, many stories could be told in this strange universe Marie Brennan has created there. The book is fairly short, so I can’t imagine the author being finished with it.
Thanks to the aptly named Tachyon publications and Netgalley for the ARC provided in exchange for this unbiased review.
No. Actually, scratch this. This novel can’t really be categorized, and it will be hard to review with spoiling anything.
Driftwood is a place of quantum shenanigans where worlds, and their last survivors, wind up after their respective apocalypses. Time crawls to a slow pace there. The different worlds revolve around themselves in circles, and slowly crash into each other, creating places of mixed cultures. Sometimes it goes well, sometimes it doesn’t. On the edge, you find the newest arrivals, and in the center, well, time might be slow, but all these worlds are slowly being pulled into their final destination, the « crush ». There is a Chiron like character, rumored the be the only one to have ever outlived the crush of his world, serving as some sort of narrator to readers, a guide to the denizens, and an upholder of the rules of this strange place.
This book is difficult to review and can’t be categorized as fantasy, because we don’t follow a team of adventurers in a quest to save themselves from oblivion. It is clearly stated that this can’t be done, The story is told from the point of view of many of the inhabitants, weaving a tapestry allowing us to understand the place and its rules.
Imagination run abounds and, even if it isn’t an humorous title as such, one can be reminded of Sir Terry Pratchett at times. And, actually, maybe Discworld is there somewhere on the edge.
Driftwood seems to be a world building exercise, and a great one at that as, in the end, many stories could be told in this strange universe Marie Brennan has created there. The book is fairly short, so I can’t imagine the author being finished with it.
Thanks to the aptly named Tachyon publications and Netgalley for the ARC provided in exchange for this unbiased review.
August 5, 2020
This review and others can be read on my blog, Black Forest Basilisks.
In order to get the most out of Driftwood, a reader must arm themselves ahead of time. Archeologists’ tools - brushes, trowels, and picks - are recommended. This, you see, is not merely a book… but an artefact of another world. Driftwood immerses the reader within its ever-shifting borders. It demands that the reader explore and discover, content in its own ergodicity without crossing the line into onanism. The constant press of the new and novel, the erasure of history and culture, and the preservation of individual identity within that atmosphere is explored with a subtle, deft hand. This is less a novel than it is a glimpse into a distant, alien future that might have been.
In order to get the most out of Driftwood, a reader must arm themselves ahead of time. Archeologists’ tools - brushes, trowels, and picks - are recommended. This, you see, is not merely a book… but an artefact of another world. Driftwood immerses the reader within its ever-shifting borders. It demands that the reader explore and discover, content in its own ergodicity without crossing the line into onanism. The constant press of the new and novel, the erasure of history and culture, and the preservation of individual identity within that atmosphere is explored with a subtle, deft hand. This is less a novel than it is a glimpse into a distant, alien future that might have been.
The world - or rather worlds - of Driftwood are an ever-present reminder that time waits for no one. Driftwood is the shore where worlds wash up to die. At the edges, life can more or less continue on as normal. When worlds have only recently ended, they’re able to maintain much of their history… for a time. As new lands fall and wash up from the Mists and into Driftwood, their weight begins to push others inward. Everything compacts in on itself, slowly and inexorably being pushed into the Crush, where everything ends once and for all.
Life is different in the Shreds. Out on the very edges of Driftwood, places like Kakt, a determined person can live her whole life pretending her home is still its own world. A little farther in, when things have gotten smaller and you’re not by the Mist anymore, you start thinking of your world as a country; you learn about your neighbors, trade with them, set up embassies in their territory. But in the Shreds, there’s no ignoring the weirdnesses of Driftwood, the way it’s summer on one street and winter on another, day here and night there, obedient to your laws of reality in your own ghetto, but operating by a totally different set of rules three houses down. Don’t ask how it works. It’s Driftwood. Patchwork of world fragments, illogic made concrete. It just is, and you learn to live with it.
Each of the short vignettes presented in the novel explores a different facet of preservation. Very few go gladly unto their deaths; most are desperate to grasp at the smallest chance that they might regain who they were before Driftwood eroded away at their home and culture. They’ve lost their land, their temples, and sometimes even their own names. They have not only been destroyed, but also replaced - they have been ground away by the new worlds appearing at the edges, forced into extinction by new world, new people, and new cultures. They have grown old and forgetful. Their identity has been diluted until it became no longer recognizable as their own.
The many featured narrators are gathered together in an amphitheater located in a small Shred of a world, itself a microcosm of Driftwood at large. “The amphitheater has been abandoned for ages, and for good reason. Any living creature that remains within its truncated bowl when that world’s sun rises dies . . . or disappears and is never seen again, which amounts to the same thing.” While the amphitheater exists at a much smaller scale, it represents the same sort of cyclical renewal-destruction process exhibited in Driftwood as a whole. Each dawn is a destruction of any who remain within its boundaries, just as the arrival of a new world to Driftwood spells the end of an existing one.
One person in Driftwood exists outside of this basic law of creation and Crush. Known only as Last, he is the only remaining survivor of his world. His people and land disappeared into the Crush long ago; unlike other one-bloods who never mixed with other races of Driftwood, Last managed to avoid disappearing alongside his home. Each of the narrators describe one small facet of Last’s story. He brings them hope, heartache, and ruin in turns. Through this lens, they unveil Last’s own struggle with immortality.
Last is deeply, deeply alone. While he finds small bits and pieces of meaning and identity through his role as a guide to those who are lost, he nevertheless faces an internal battle not dissimilar to the physical world’s. He is burdened not by the future, but by his own past. Memories of his people have long ago ceased to be a comfort; now, they weigh him down and press him in just as the new worlds push and jostle the older ones. Last struggles to remain in the present as he watches countries come and go. Each one that succumbs to the Crush is yet another weight on his soul. He struggles to maintain close friendships, keeping others at arms-length by keeping to his contracted role as a helper.
“You’re the only one who remembers,” Noirin said. His world, and countless others that had come and gone. “If you forget . . . then they’re dead, even if you live.”
“Maybe I want that,” he said harshly, cutting across the steady rise and fall of the music.
“For now. But not forever. There will come a time when you regret the loss of those memories. And who will remember them for you then?”
While Last’s fate is ambiguous, what he desires most becomes clearer and clearer throughout the course of each story. This culminates in the final, the last, story in the novel. This one is told from Last’s perspective, focused on a small, tiny farm that appeared at the edge of the Mist. Due to its diminutive size, it was commonly held that Paggarat would disappear long before it ever reached the Crush. However, its two inhabitants held on, smiling, until the very end. To them, what mattered existed in the moment. The connection and love between the two of them allowed them to smile even in the face of annihilation. Connection: the one thing that Last both seeks out and rejects in the same breath.
These conflicting desires as they exist alongside the destruction and renewal are what sets Brennan’s novel apart. Driftwood will haunt you long after you’ve set it down. Brennan has crafted a gorgeous, poignant apocalypse where getting a second chance doesn’t always mean getting a new life. Each of the diaspora she’s depicted are richly imagined, complex, and compelling. I cannot recommend it enough.
More reviews on my blog, Black Forest Basilisks.
October 25, 2021
Прекрасна жінка Марі Бреннан любить писати світи і навіть консультує авторів-початківців з цього приводу.
І от її Driftwood ("Плавник" по-нашому, троха неопоетично виходить) - це роман в новелах про... та десь так про сотню світів, якщо не більше. А якщо серйозно - про кладовище світів, точку в просторі, де збираються реальності, що пережили апокаліпсис і потроху в'януть, зіщулюються і зрештою провалюються в небуття, коли від них лишається дрібка простору, а після них - кілька мешканців, які ще можуть пам'ятати світ, мову, казки, до яких вже нікому діла нема. А можуть і не пам'ятати, якщо добре асимілювалися в Shreds/Скалках - просторі, де оці залишки світів стиснулись до розмірів гетто і животіють одне в одного на головах, утворюючи строкатий світ дріфтерів-напівкровок, котрі живуть собі поки живеться боджай якось.
Коротенький такий роман про пам'ять і безпам'ятство, про асиміляцію і відстоювання самості за будь-яку ціну, про ворожнечу і спроби знайти поразуміння, про сонця, які зникли, і богів, які нас полишили, про дівчину, яка перетворилася на вітер, про чоловіка, який спробував створити мапу реальності, що змінюється щомиті, про вигадану релігію і її невдатного пророка, про contra spem spero і похорон всього, що мало значення. А ще про чоловіка, який чомусь не помер разом зі своєю реальность і визначив реальність для всіх інших.
І от її Driftwood ("Плавник" по-нашому, троха неопоетично виходить) - це роман в новелах про... та десь так про сотню світів, якщо не більше. А якщо серйозно - про кладовище світів, точку в просторі, де збираються реальності, що пережили апокаліпсис і потроху в'януть, зіщулюються і зрештою провалюються в небуття, коли від них лишається дрібка простору, а після них - кілька мешканців, які ще можуть пам'ятати світ, мову, казки, до яких вже нікому діла нема. А можуть і не пам'ятати, якщо добре асимілювалися в Shreds/Скалках - просторі, де оці залишки світів стиснулись до розмірів гетто і животіють одне в одного на головах, утворюючи строкатий світ дріфтерів-напівкровок, котрі живуть собі поки живеться боджай якось.
Коротенький такий роман про пам'ять і безпам'ятство, про асиміляцію і відстоювання самості за будь-яку ціну, про ворожнечу і спроби знайти поразуміння, про сонця, які зникли, і богів, які нас полишили, про дівчину, яка перетворилася на вітер, про чоловіка, який спробував створити мапу реальності, що змінюється щомиті, про вигадану релігію і її невдатного пророка, про contra spem spero і похорон всього, що мало значення. А ще про чоловіка, який чомусь не помер разом зі своєю реальность і визначив реальність для всіх інших.
August 25, 2020
4.5 stars.
I added this to my TBR because of the lovely (starred) review in Publishers Weekly. I am so glad I did. What a fascinating book!
Here's a link to that review: https://tinyurl.com/y6ammyzy
I can't say it better, so I won't even try.
This is a story that gives the reader a lot to think about.
Most of all, I want a large version of the fascinating map.
I added this to my TBR because of the lovely (starred) review in Publishers Weekly. I am so glad I did. What a fascinating book!
Here's a link to that review: https://tinyurl.com/y6ammyzy
I can't say it better, so I won't even try.
This is a story that gives the reader a lot to think about.
Most of all, I want a large version of the fascinating map.
July 1, 2020
I freaking loved this book! It has one of the most unique concepts I've ever read about.
Driftwood is a place where all worlds go to die after they had their apocalypse. Little pieces of the worlds with some inhabitants (if there are any left still) come out of the mist and slowly make their way for the middle, where the Crush awaits them. People from specific worlds are called one-bloods. Those who come from parents whose worlds have long perished are called drifters. Here, worlds don't live long,and neither do people. But there is one person,rumored to have been there when the first world came to die in Driftwood. His name is Last.
The book is structured as a collection of stories. People come to this bar and tell stories of encounters with Last. It is always the impressions he left on others,not the man himself, and I loved it,it made him into an enigma that he was for everyone in this place. We never find out if he is good or bad,just that he is very sad. Someone who lived that long would undoubtedly be sad and tired.
I loved all the different worlds that we got to see. This little book is filled with love for culture, customs, history and memories. I really need like ten more books set in Driftwood, I would read them all.
Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Driftwood is a place where all worlds go to die after they had their apocalypse. Little pieces of the worlds with some inhabitants (if there are any left still) come out of the mist and slowly make their way for the middle, where the Crush awaits them. People from specific worlds are called one-bloods. Those who come from parents whose worlds have long perished are called drifters. Here, worlds don't live long,and neither do people. But there is one person,rumored to have been there when the first world came to die in Driftwood. His name is Last.
The book is structured as a collection of stories. People come to this bar and tell stories of encounters with Last. It is always the impressions he left on others,not the man himself, and I loved it,it made him into an enigma that he was for everyone in this place. We never find out if he is good or bad,just that he is very sad. Someone who lived that long would undoubtedly be sad and tired.
I loved all the different worlds that we got to see. This little book is filled with love for culture, customs, history and memories. I really need like ten more books set in Driftwood, I would read them all.
Thank you to Netgalley for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
August 7, 2020
Thanks to NetGalley and Tachyon Publications for providing an ARC!
_______________________________
I never read Marie Brennan before, so it was my first encounter with her writing-style. Let's say I don't regret it!
First, let me tell you: it's quite hard to write about this book. What to say, what not to say, how to explain, what could be a spoiler, what is not, how to express what I felt reading it. I'll try as best I can.
I had a hard time in the beginning because it is quite confusing: we enter the book in medias res, not knowing anything about the characters and the world. There are some hard names to pronounce - except for Last's -, it's hard to know when a name is for a world or for a person, hard to know where we are, who is who, what is going on.
But I feel like it is intentional: the reader is confused just like the new comers in Driftwood are confused. We get to experience what they live through when they arrive in this strange new place. Moreover, after the first chapter briefly introducing Last, the reader encounters different narrators: they might be a way to show the diversity of Driftwood.
Last is the main character but he is only the narrator for a short time - snippets of the first chapter actually. After this, in the book, he becomes a kind of myth for some, for others a man they met and lived something with. Either way, they feel the need to tell or to listen to what happened to honor and/or remember him. Because Last disappeared, and no one knows what he became.
Last is a mystery for others and for himself: he doesn't know why he's still here, why he didn't know the same fate as everyone else. He clearly suffers from the situation and from the way people regard him. Nobody really knows anything about him, and the reader doesn't get much from the short time they spent in his head. I really would like more from this character!
How can I tell you about Driftwood without saying too much? If you want to enter blind, you'll be lost. If you read the synopsis, you might still be lost. But "there is grace in being lost".
This world is strange, terrible, and beautiful at the same. The whole concept is both poetic and horrible. If you read the synopsis, you can read the spoiler here:
This book is both beautiful and awful, both inspiring and depressing. Everything comes to an end one day: it is heartbreaking. This book also emphasizes the need to remember and to keep cultures and traditions alive. They live as long as someone remembers - more heartbreak. *heart breaks slowly anew*
I spoke earlier about strange names for people and worlds: the reader gets to know different cultures and different people throughout the novel. It is fascinating to imagine the different worlds, the streets of Driftwood, the borders , the different architectures, the different languages: it feels like Babel sometimes. I loved that there are places where some rituals feel like magic , where things are possible as long as the place is still in Driftwood. It felt magical, eerie, and I wanted to stay longer.
When the book ended - on yet another heartbreaking but beautiful scene -, I just wanted more. If another book comes out related to this world, I'll read it for sure!
_______________________________
I never read Marie Brennan before, so it was my first encounter with her writing-style. Let's say I don't regret it!
First, let me tell you: it's quite hard to write about this book. What to say, what not to say, how to explain, what could be a spoiler, what is not, how to express what I felt reading it. I'll try as best I can.
I had a hard time in the beginning because it is quite confusing: we enter the book in medias res, not knowing anything about the characters and the world. There are some hard names to pronounce - except for Last's -, it's hard to know when a name is for a world or for a person, hard to know where we are, who is who, what is going on.
But I feel like it is intentional: the reader is confused just like the new comers in Driftwood are confused. We get to experience what they live through when they arrive in this strange new place. Moreover, after the first chapter briefly introducing Last, the reader encounters different narrators: they might be a way to show the diversity of Driftwood.
Last is the main character but he is only the narrator for a short time - snippets of the first chapter actually. After this, in the book, he becomes a kind of myth for some, for others a man they met and lived something with. Either way, they feel the need to tell or to listen to what happened to honor and/or remember him. Because Last disappeared, and no one knows what he became.
Last is a mystery for others and for himself: he doesn't know why he's still here, why he didn't know the same fate as everyone else. He clearly suffers from the situation and from the way people regard him. Nobody really knows anything about him, and the reader doesn't get much from the short time they spent in his head. I really would like more from this character!
How can I tell you about Driftwood without saying too much? If you want to enter blind, you'll be lost. If you read the synopsis, you might still be lost. But "there is grace in being lost".
This world is strange, terrible, and beautiful at the same. The whole concept is both poetic and horrible. If you read the synopsis, you can read the spoiler here:
This book is both beautiful and awful, both inspiring and depressing. Everything comes to an end one day: it is heartbreaking. This book also emphasizes the need to remember and to keep cultures and traditions alive. They live as long as someone remembers - more heartbreak. *heart breaks slowly anew*
I spoke earlier about strange names for people and worlds: the reader gets to know different cultures and different people throughout the novel. It is fascinating to imagine the different worlds, the streets of Driftwood, the borders , the different architectures, the different languages: it feels like Babel sometimes. I loved that there are places where some rituals feel like magic , where things are possible as long as the place is still in Driftwood. It felt magical, eerie, and I wanted to stay longer.
When the book ended - on yet another heartbreaking but beautiful scene -, I just wanted more. If another book comes out related to this world, I'll read it for sure!
January 25, 2021
“I love you,” Ila whispered into her shoulder, fierce through the tears. “And I will remember. Every bit of it. I’ll teach my children about Oneua, and they will teach theirs, from now until the end of Driftwood.”
When I picked up Driftwood on a casual 'read something quick on a Sunday night' whim as a break from The Stone Knife, I did not expect it to be such an engrossing read. Neither did I expect it to be such a profound story (or rather, stories) that reminded me of something I really needed to remember. But more on that later.
Driftwood is essentially, a story about the end. It's a setting where the remnants of broken worlds collide into each other, slowly sliding towards the center before vanishing for good, along with its inhabitants, and the cultures within it. There is absolutely nothing anyone can do; no matter how hard you try, how creative you get, everything ends in Driftwood. Everything goes into the Crush.
And yet... for something so inherently nihilistic, it retains a core of hope. Throughout the sequence of several stories, each with their own characters, there's a common thread, a guide called Last who has seen more worlds, more people, more cultures fade away than anyone else. As a consequence, he's scarred, cynical, unwilling to connect. After all, what's the point when everything dies? Why care, if compassion and kindness and love all fade in time?
Despite this premise, throughout the book, Last encounters people striving against the end, fully knowing it's a losing prospect. They make hard decisions, they give the greatest of sacrifices, go on the most arduous of journeys just to buy a little extra time against that inevitable end, or to bring one last spark of joy to others before it comes.
It reminds me of life, and of how lost I've been feeling these past few months. If you'll allow me to take a detour into musings about life — I've been wondering why I keep going each morning, when I see everything in dull shades of grey.
Reading Driftwood reminded me that yes, life is inherently meaningless. But it's up to you to seize meaning from it, even if it ultimately amounts to nothing, in the grand scheme of things. Because it's not about whether it matters in the end. It's about whether it matters to you, in the here and now. Just because something ends, or will end, doesn't automatically make it worthless, or that it wasn't beautiful or meaningful.
Going back to Driftwood: These characters chose to seize meaning in the face of emptiness. They chose to make their own meaning where there was none, and I find that beautiful (this is the second Marie Brennan book that has made me cry at work, coincidentally). And I think it's something I really needed to be reminded of, right now — that life is only as empty as one wishes for it to be.
I'll conclude this review then, by saying that this is an absolutely wonderful read and you should grab it, along with this quote:
“Paggarat was less doomed than they wagered, not because of how long it lasted, but because of how it went out. Because of Aun and Esr, smiling at each other until the end of the world.”
When I picked up Driftwood on a casual 'read something quick on a Sunday night' whim as a break from The Stone Knife, I did not expect it to be such an engrossing read. Neither did I expect it to be such a profound story (or rather, stories) that reminded me of something I really needed to remember. But more on that later.
Driftwood is essentially, a story about the end. It's a setting where the remnants of broken worlds collide into each other, slowly sliding towards the center before vanishing for good, along with its inhabitants, and the cultures within it. There is absolutely nothing anyone can do; no matter how hard you try, how creative you get, everything ends in Driftwood. Everything goes into the Crush.
And yet... for something so inherently nihilistic, it retains a core of hope. Throughout the sequence of several stories, each with their own characters, there's a common thread, a guide called Last who has seen more worlds, more people, more cultures fade away than anyone else. As a consequence, he's scarred, cynical, unwilling to connect. After all, what's the point when everything dies? Why care, if compassion and kindness and love all fade in time?
Despite this premise, throughout the book, Last encounters people striving against the end, fully knowing it's a losing prospect. They make hard decisions, they give the greatest of sacrifices, go on the most arduous of journeys just to buy a little extra time against that inevitable end, or to bring one last spark of joy to others before it comes.
It reminds me of life, and of how lost I've been feeling these past few months. If you'll allow me to take a detour into musings about life — I've been wondering why I keep going each morning, when I see everything in dull shades of grey.
Reading Driftwood reminded me that yes, life is inherently meaningless. But it's up to you to seize meaning from it, even if it ultimately amounts to nothing, in the grand scheme of things. Because it's not about whether it matters in the end. It's about whether it matters to you, in the here and now. Just because something ends, or will end, doesn't automatically make it worthless, or that it wasn't beautiful or meaningful.
Going back to Driftwood: These characters chose to seize meaning in the face of emptiness. They chose to make their own meaning where there was none, and I find that beautiful (this is the second Marie Brennan book that has made me cry at work, coincidentally). And I think it's something I really needed to be reminded of, right now — that life is only as empty as one wishes for it to be.
I'll conclude this review then, by saying that this is an absolutely wonderful read and you should grab it, along with this quote:
“Paggarat was less doomed than they wagered, not because of how long it lasted, but because of how it went out. Because of Aun and Esr, smiling at each other until the end of the world.”
December 18, 2021
3.5 love a creative apocalypse story
September 3, 2020
Review first published here: https://thecurioussffreader.wordpress...
Driftwood is a place where worlds slowly die by dissolving into oblivion. It’s where worlds go after their apocalypses. It starts the same with every world. One day, a house, a street, a city, disappear and is replaced by the Mist. After the Mist comes other drifting worlds that shrink as they drift towards the center of Driftwood: The Crush. From worlds, they shrink to the size of countries, cities, streets, mere houses and then, they meet their inevitable end.
Driftwood is a place of death but it is also full of life. Populated by the descendants of the people from numerous worlds, the Drifters consider the remnants of the dying worlds as their home and try to live as well as they can on the ever-changing landscapes. Driftwood is also the story (or should I say stories) of Last, the oldest Drifter. Last of his race, last of his world, he remains untouched by Driftwood. Some people use him as a guide, an interpreter or a helper while others see him as a god who detains the secret to immortality. Driftwood is a collection of short stories and vignettes that are linked by Last and his relationships to the other Drifters.
Throughout those stories, the reader discovers a few of the many drifting worlds and how their inhabitants react to their fate. Some of them are desperate and try their hardest to find a cure. Others worship Last, befriends him or need him to find special items in other worlds. Each story manages to show a new side of Last, the tales span generations of Drifters and allow the reader to see how Last is affected by his immortality.
My biggest apprehension when I read a collection of short stories is that they will start blending into each other after a while. A lot of authors love exploring the same themes and ideas in their stories and, when you read a lot of them back to back, they can start feeling a bit “samey”. To prevent that, I usually don’t read more than two stories from the same author back to back, however, it wasn’t an issue with Driftwood.
Indeed, since Driftwood is composed of many different worlds with different cultures, it leaves a lot of room to explore different themes and ideas. The characters of each story had different personalities and goals and all of them had unique relationship with Last. The format allowed Brennan to discuss several interesting themes such as how people react to grief, the loss of their belongings, identity and culture. Brennan discusses religion, social entropy, fear of death and being forgotten while providing the reader with engaging stories and great prose.
I didn’t expect to love Driftwood as much as I did, I knew nothing about it before picking it up except that it was written by the author of the well-known Memoirs of Lady Trent, a series that I haven’t read. However, after reading the first few pages, my curiosity quickly morphed into enthusiasm. Brennan’s writing style is engaging and managed to pull me into the chaotic world of Driftwood in a couple of paragraphs. I read this book twice and, each time, in less than a day. I first read it in May and I wanted to refresh my memory before writing this review by reading it again more slowly but… I couldn’t stop turning the pages! Guess I’ll have to read it a third time. 😀
Highly recommended to any fantasy lovers!
Driftwood is a place where worlds slowly die by dissolving into oblivion. It’s where worlds go after their apocalypses. It starts the same with every world. One day, a house, a street, a city, disappear and is replaced by the Mist. After the Mist comes other drifting worlds that shrink as they drift towards the center of Driftwood: The Crush. From worlds, they shrink to the size of countries, cities, streets, mere houses and then, they meet their inevitable end.
Driftwood is a place of death but it is also full of life. Populated by the descendants of the people from numerous worlds, the Drifters consider the remnants of the dying worlds as their home and try to live as well as they can on the ever-changing landscapes. Driftwood is also the story (or should I say stories) of Last, the oldest Drifter. Last of his race, last of his world, he remains untouched by Driftwood. Some people use him as a guide, an interpreter or a helper while others see him as a god who detains the secret to immortality. Driftwood is a collection of short stories and vignettes that are linked by Last and his relationships to the other Drifters.
Throughout those stories, the reader discovers a few of the many drifting worlds and how their inhabitants react to their fate. Some of them are desperate and try their hardest to find a cure. Others worship Last, befriends him or need him to find special items in other worlds. Each story manages to show a new side of Last, the tales span generations of Drifters and allow the reader to see how Last is affected by his immortality.
My biggest apprehension when I read a collection of short stories is that they will start blending into each other after a while. A lot of authors love exploring the same themes and ideas in their stories and, when you read a lot of them back to back, they can start feeling a bit “samey”. To prevent that, I usually don’t read more than two stories from the same author back to back, however, it wasn’t an issue with Driftwood.
Indeed, since Driftwood is composed of many different worlds with different cultures, it leaves a lot of room to explore different themes and ideas. The characters of each story had different personalities and goals and all of them had unique relationship with Last. The format allowed Brennan to discuss several interesting themes such as how people react to grief, the loss of their belongings, identity and culture. Brennan discusses religion, social entropy, fear of death and being forgotten while providing the reader with engaging stories and great prose.
I didn’t expect to love Driftwood as much as I did, I knew nothing about it before picking it up except that it was written by the author of the well-known Memoirs of Lady Trent, a series that I haven’t read. However, after reading the first few pages, my curiosity quickly morphed into enthusiasm. Brennan’s writing style is engaging and managed to pull me into the chaotic world of Driftwood in a couple of paragraphs. I read this book twice and, each time, in less than a day. I first read it in May and I wanted to refresh my memory before writing this review by reading it again more slowly but… I couldn’t stop turning the pages! Guess I’ll have to read it a third time. 😀
Highly recommended to any fantasy lovers!
August 14, 2020
When worlds are hit by an apocalypse and go into their final state before desintegrating, their remaining fragments enter the world of Driftwood through the Mists and go through several stages slowly fading away until they finally disappear in a zone called the Crush. People on neighboring worlds change borders like nothing, each fragment with its own weather, moons and suns, and inhabitants.
Does that sound strange and maybe confusing? Never mind, because it doesn't have an astronomical explanation. It's a fantasy world with an unexplained mythology and the reader simply has to accept the setting which is joyfully described but never explained.
Some people meet in an infamous bar, the "Spit in the Crush's Eye" and tell wondrous stories about a man called Last. He is well known, and rumors go around that he is immortal, the last man of his world, the only one remembering it.
"I don’t want you worshipping me; I just want you to stop this idiotic cult business of yours and let people get back to whatever lives they can manage in this cosmic joke we call Driftwood."
He works as a paid guide, but sometimes helps people for free. They are astonishing, curious and ever creative, and always entertaining. They don't get old or similar and can be read back to back.
Lately, I've read a couple of story mosaics bound together as a novel with a framing story. The Hair Carpet Weavers or Trafalgar come to mind. This novel by Marie Brennan, the author of "A Natural History of Dragons", doesn't stand back against those classics and I highly recommend reading it.
Does that sound strange and maybe confusing? Never mind, because it doesn't have an astronomical explanation. It's a fantasy world with an unexplained mythology and the reader simply has to accept the setting which is joyfully described but never explained.
Some people meet in an infamous bar, the "Spit in the Crush's Eye" and tell wondrous stories about a man called Last. He is well known, and rumors go around that he is immortal, the last man of his world, the only one remembering it.
"I don’t want you worshipping me; I just want you to stop this idiotic cult business of yours and let people get back to whatever lives they can manage in this cosmic joke we call Driftwood."
He works as a paid guide, but sometimes helps people for free. They are astonishing, curious and ever creative, and always entertaining. They don't get old or similar and can be read back to back.
Lately, I've read a couple of story mosaics bound together as a novel with a framing story. The Hair Carpet Weavers or Trafalgar come to mind. This novel by Marie Brennan, the author of "A Natural History of Dragons", doesn't stand back against those classics and I highly recommend reading it.
August 29, 2021
Actual Rating: 4.5/5
Vlog with my rambly thoughts: https://youtu.be/-wWjigE051Q
I picked this up because of the cover and the author, I knew nothing else and man was this book pretty much made for me. Its a unique storytelling structure framing (check), mysterious legendary character with charisma (check), a world where worlds go after apocalypse and then slowly die meaning ALL the world building intrigue (check). I had a really fun time reading this and it oddly gave me a lot of hope in a time where I feel like I am in the middle of an apocalypse. These stories are all full of hope and why you should live even after the world is over. The ending will not satisfy everyone and I am still thinking about it but I am already considering getting myself a copy for a future re-read.
Vlog with my rambly thoughts: https://youtu.be/-wWjigE051Q
I picked this up because of the cover and the author, I knew nothing else and man was this book pretty much made for me. Its a unique storytelling structure framing (check), mysterious legendary character with charisma (check), a world where worlds go after apocalypse and then slowly die meaning ALL the world building intrigue (check). I had a really fun time reading this and it oddly gave me a lot of hope in a time where I feel like I am in the middle of an apocalypse. These stories are all full of hope and why you should live even after the world is over. The ending will not satisfy everyone and I am still thinking about it but I am already considering getting myself a copy for a future re-read.
August 10, 2020
Will review at www.fantasyliterature.com.
March 25, 2020
“Driftwood is the end, the end of the ends. Nothing comes after that. Only oblivion, and maybe not even that much.”
A beautiful book made up of many stories, species, and worlds, all connected by a man named Last. Brennan described it as “a mosaic novel, with the story being told through many voices and many sub-tales… It’s made up of the short stories I’ve written already, plus a novelette-length tale that’s new, and it’s all stitched together with a frame that gives context and greater meaning to the pieces within it. Which makes the text kind of like Driftwood itself.” Perfection. I really can’t get over how brilliant it is. I feel like I need to immediately buy this author’s other books and I definitely plan on buying a physical copy of this one when it’s released.
The blurb says: Mirroring the world that many people are currently living in, the Driftwood stories chronicle the struggles of survivors and outcasts to keep their worlds alive until everything changes, diminishes, and is destroyed.
If you’re confused in the beginning, don’t worry, everything gets explained rather quickly once you’re past the initial little tale where you first meet Last. But here’s a little hint:
“Every world ends someday. Or maybe I’m wrong; who knows? If a place doesn’t come to an end, it doesn’t come here. But Driftwood is where worlds come to die.”
If that doesn’t make you want to read this, I don’t know what else to say. I really just want to write a few pages about what Driftwood really is, and what the Crush is, but alas, that’s a giant spoiler.
There are so many things to love about this book, and the characters are one of them. I thought the jumping around with different characters and their stories would bother me (because it almost always does), but I loved it here. Each world is so different and fascinating, and the stories really sucked me in. Plus, they’re connected in little ways by one character.
There was one story/chapter I wasn’t as fond of, “Remembering Light”, but one among the many isn’t bad, and I did enjoy the story… just not near as much as the rest of the book. It was slow and vague up until the very end. Just wasn’t the best story in the bunch is all.
And one last spoiler type thing that kind of bugged me:
(Side note: I couldn’t help thinking how, if Earth ended up in Driftwood, humans would definitely find a way to completely destroy it and kill everybody, or at the very least, they’d start sowing hate and mistrust at every turn. One character does that, and I kept thinking “so maybe she’s got some human in her down the line”. So many times while I was reading about all these different species walking around together, trying to survive together for as long as possible despite the insane circumstances, did I think “I just know that humans would not be able to handle this shit.” Religious fanatics would be fueling some crazy ass fires, everyone would be fear mongering and xenophobic (or whatever word means hating and fearing other species/worlds/realities), and the militaries and governments would either separately start nuking everything or band together to nuke everyone else/everything they didn’t understand. Darkly funny and deeply sad, but I thought about it quite often.)
Anyway. This story is so creative and magical, I wish I had thought of it. And whenever I have that thought while reading, I know I have to recommend it. I would have anyway though, because it’s a fun book with characters and plots that stay interesting start to finish.
A beautiful book made up of many stories, species, and worlds, all connected by a man named Last. Brennan described it as “a mosaic novel, with the story being told through many voices and many sub-tales… It’s made up of the short stories I’ve written already, plus a novelette-length tale that’s new, and it’s all stitched together with a frame that gives context and greater meaning to the pieces within it. Which makes the text kind of like Driftwood itself.” Perfection. I really can’t get over how brilliant it is. I feel like I need to immediately buy this author’s other books and I definitely plan on buying a physical copy of this one when it’s released.
The blurb says: Mirroring the world that many people are currently living in, the Driftwood stories chronicle the struggles of survivors and outcasts to keep their worlds alive until everything changes, diminishes, and is destroyed.
If you’re confused in the beginning, don’t worry, everything gets explained rather quickly once you’re past the initial little tale where you first meet Last. But here’s a little hint:
“Every world ends someday. Or maybe I’m wrong; who knows? If a place doesn’t come to an end, it doesn’t come here. But Driftwood is where worlds come to die.”
If that doesn’t make you want to read this, I don’t know what else to say. I really just want to write a few pages about what Driftwood really is, and what the Crush is, but alas, that’s a giant spoiler.
There are so many things to love about this book, and the characters are one of them. I thought the jumping around with different characters and their stories would bother me (because it almost always does), but I loved it here. Each world is so different and fascinating, and the stories really sucked me in. Plus, they’re connected in little ways by one character.
There was one story/chapter I wasn’t as fond of, “Remembering Light”, but one among the many isn’t bad, and I did enjoy the story… just not near as much as the rest of the book. It was slow and vague up until the very end. Just wasn’t the best story in the bunch is all.
And one last spoiler type thing that kind of bugged me:
(Side note: I couldn’t help thinking how, if Earth ended up in Driftwood, humans would definitely find a way to completely destroy it and kill everybody, or at the very least, they’d start sowing hate and mistrust at every turn. One character does that, and I kept thinking “so maybe she’s got some human in her down the line”. So many times while I was reading about all these different species walking around together, trying to survive together for as long as possible despite the insane circumstances, did I think “I just know that humans would not be able to handle this shit.” Religious fanatics would be fueling some crazy ass fires, everyone would be fear mongering and xenophobic (or whatever word means hating and fearing other species/worlds/realities), and the militaries and governments would either separately start nuking everything or band together to nuke everyone else/everything they didn’t understand. Darkly funny and deeply sad, but I thought about it quite often.)
Anyway. This story is so creative and magical, I wish I had thought of it. And whenever I have that thought while reading, I know I have to recommend it. I would have anyway though, because it’s a fun book with characters and plots that stay interesting start to finish.
April 6, 2020
What a wonderful story made up from a few short stories, connected by one man named Last. Who is Last and why is this his name? And how is he still alive, wandering around Driftwood, making legend of himself?
I was hooked up from page one and the thing that pulled me in was a beautiful prose. I really liked the style of writing here, it carried with itself the sense of wonder and, sometimes, a nostalgia. And every short story gives us a feeling of magic, but also fleeting and vanishing of everything. Because Driftwood is where worlds die. There are many of them, but they aren't whole. They come to Driftwood after their apocalypses, shredded and dying, just to exist for a while and then disappear into the Crush.
With its construction, this novel reminded me a little of first volume of the Witcher series, where we have some kind of introduction to each story and then we got the story. Also Last as a character in times reminded me of Geralt of Rivia.
Like I said, this is a wonderful story with a beautiful world, or worlds, all connected by Driftwood and Last. Excellent idea and I hope we will see more of the universe.
I was hooked up from page one and the thing that pulled me in was a beautiful prose. I really liked the style of writing here, it carried with itself the sense of wonder and, sometimes, a nostalgia. And every short story gives us a feeling of magic, but also fleeting and vanishing of everything. Because Driftwood is where worlds die. There are many of them, but they aren't whole. They come to Driftwood after their apocalypses, shredded and dying, just to exist for a while and then disappear into the Crush.
With its construction, this novel reminded me a little of first volume of the Witcher series, where we have some kind of introduction to each story and then we got the story. Also Last as a character in times reminded me of Geralt of Rivia.
Like I said, this is a wonderful story with a beautiful world, or worlds, all connected by Driftwood and Last. Excellent idea and I hope we will see more of the universe.
June 6, 2020
This was an incredible world with an amazing character at the center of all the stories being told. I loved this short book. I expected a sprawling epic fantasy, but what I got was a bunch of short stories about a man. And I loved it. More to come closer to release.
ARC received from Tachyon Publications on Netgalley. This did not affect my review.
To read more reviews, check out my blog keikii eats books!
ARC received from Tachyon Publications on Netgalley. This did not affect my review.
To read more reviews, check out my blog keikii eats books!
April 16, 2021
Actually a collection of short stories all set in same place: Driftwood (of the title)
Cool idea. I didn’t love the framing story but the stories that had apparently previously been published (frequently in Beneath Ceaseless Skies - a fav) were all good
Worth a read
Cool idea. I didn’t love the framing story but the stories that had apparently previously been published (frequently in Beneath Ceaseless Skies - a fav) were all good
Worth a read
Read
November 22, 2022Hauntingly beautiful exploration of how different societies would cope with their imminent destruction.
September 18, 2021
9,5 I sometimes state that I like SF more than fantasy, but that wouldn't be the case if there were more fantasybooks like these. It's a mosaic novel built from short stories that come together to create a portrait of the world called 'Driftwood' and the long lived man 'Last', who some have come to revere as a god, but who seems now to have disappeared.
It's only 200 pages or so, so no 1000 page epic or a multi part series. In that relatively small space the author introduces a completely unique world, created by uncountable other worlds. After a world goes through an apocalypse, its remnants end up here, coming out of the mist and slowly drifting inward, growing smaller and smaller, until the shards that are left end up in the Crush. Around the Crush a city formed of small enclaves has grown up. (Fasinatingly, al the Shreds still have the weather and day and night cycle and magic of the original world). Most of the inhabitants, Drifters, are descendents of multiple species and only some are 'one blooders', often desperately trying to save some element of their world from oblivion. Their struggles seem doomed, but still they try to retain a sense of meaning in an existence that can come to seem doomed. The one blooder Last, the last of his species, has lived longer than most and knows more of Driftwood than most. He travels between neighbouring worlds and serves as guide and interpreter. Some come to imbue him with meaning, even if he does not want it.
It's a fascinating premise and one that I had not encountered before. This is why I read fantasy - not to slog through thousands of pages of quest narative in a vaguely European world, but to encounter something truly new, a world that could not exist, but is home to unique stories. I loved it.
It's all well written too. Not too showy, but with a clear eye for the characters and their struggles. I liked it a lot.
I don't want to say much more about this book - but if you, like me, look to fantasy to be surprised, this is a book for you. It will ignite your imagination, make you think about life (as our lives too move toward a 'crush' at the end) and will stay with you for a long time.
It's only 200 pages or so, so no 1000 page epic or a multi part series. In that relatively small space the author introduces a completely unique world, created by uncountable other worlds. After a world goes through an apocalypse, its remnants end up here, coming out of the mist and slowly drifting inward, growing smaller and smaller, until the shards that are left end up in the Crush. Around the Crush a city formed of small enclaves has grown up. (Fasinatingly, al the Shreds still have the weather and day and night cycle and magic of the original world). Most of the inhabitants, Drifters, are descendents of multiple species and only some are 'one blooders', often desperately trying to save some element of their world from oblivion. Their struggles seem doomed, but still they try to retain a sense of meaning in an existence that can come to seem doomed. The one blooder Last, the last of his species, has lived longer than most and knows more of Driftwood than most. He travels between neighbouring worlds and serves as guide and interpreter. Some come to imbue him with meaning, even if he does not want it.
It's a fascinating premise and one that I had not encountered before. This is why I read fantasy - not to slog through thousands of pages of quest narative in a vaguely European world, but to encounter something truly new, a world that could not exist, but is home to unique stories. I loved it.
It's all well written too. Not too showy, but with a clear eye for the characters and their struggles. I liked it a lot.
I don't want to say much more about this book - but if you, like me, look to fantasy to be surprised, this is a book for you. It will ignite your imagination, make you think about life (as our lives too move toward a 'crush' at the end) and will stay with you for a long time.
December 30, 2020
I was honestly really confused for a long time. This was not a story that worked in audio. The narrator was good, but the story needed to be read.
I was all what?
What?
What?
Ok so world dies in the universe and gets pulled into Driftwood, like a black hole thing? THey are all smashed together until they disappear. The concept was great and interesting.
There is someone called Last who is always around. The book consists of short stories that tell about people who have met him. Some good, some confusing.
I am mostly confused. Not a book for audiolovers.
Great concept, confusing to listen to. I will still give it an ok grade for the world she created, but it was honestly a book that I just did not like cos it was too confusing.
I was all what?
What?
What?
Ok so world dies in the universe and gets pulled into Driftwood, like a black hole thing? THey are all smashed together until they disappear. The concept was great and interesting.
There is someone called Last who is always around. The book consists of short stories that tell about people who have met him. Some good, some confusing.
I am mostly confused. Not a book for audiolovers.
Great concept, confusing to listen to. I will still give it an ok grade for the world she created, but it was honestly a book that I just did not like cos it was too confusing.
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