Norwescon discussion

Have you read The Book of Etta? What did you think? Let us know!

The Book of Etta follows a few generations past "The Book of the Unnamed Midwife" after a plague strikes down pregnant women leaving a male dominated planet and women either venerated as life itself or traded as a commodity. One of the strengths of the first book was the imagining of all the different permutations of society, which is again evident in the sequel.

The first third is introduction, Etta the trader and scavenger who becomes Eddy while on the road, dodging female-traders and rescuing those women and girls that he can. Good worldbuilding and engaging characters abound.

The middle is where I think the book hit quite a snag. We got the gender fluidity message right from the start, gender as a spectrum, but instead of presenting it as just a fact of this world or these characters, this is where we get beat across the head and shoulders with "THE MESSAGE" over and over and over again. I feel it definitely could have used a more subtle touch and this will, inevitably, date this book.

The final third gets a bit bogged down in the typical awful brutal post-apocalyptic world trope, but I do think it's deserving of its nomination as it does seek to broaden people's minds and post a "what if."

One of the nominees for the 2018 Philip K Dick Awards.

Much as with the first book in this series, it’s well written and realized, but simply isn’t my thing. Post-apocalyptic fiction tends towards the dark, dismal, and dreary, and these are no exception. I can recognize that they’re well written, and can see why they resonate for many people…just not for me. Because of that, I can’t really give a more thorough review.