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A review by nataliya_x
Uncanny Magazine Issue 35: July/August 2020 by Chimedum Ohaegbu, Elsa Sjunneson, Michael Damian Thomas, Lynne M. Thomas
3.0
This review is for Hugo-nominated novelette The Inaccessibility of Heaven by Aliette de Bodard.
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Urban fantasy with fallen angels* and a serial killer murder mystery, told in noir style.
Arvedai the Fallen Angel is the noir version of Crowley, with a heart of gold hiding somewhere under the mafia boss dealing in angel bones exterior. Calariel “Cal” the Fallen Angel is supposedly a good person but with dark secrets hiding behind that angelic exterior. Squishy humans Sam (a witch) and O’Connor (a hired thug) are being angsty over them and become involved with forces seemingly too big for them to handle. All while someone is murdering the Fallen in the city of Starhollow.
The good: This novelette reads like it should belong in an established Urban Fantasy world — and for all I know it may be, as this is the first (but probably not the last) work by Aliette de Bodard I’ve read. Something about it reminds me of P. Djèlí Clark’s [b:A Dead Djinn in Cairo|29635542|A Dead Djinn in Cairo (Dead Djinn, #0.5)|P. Djèlí Clark|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1459173382l/29635542._SX50_.jpg|49993780] — the use of mythology, the supernatural murder mystery, the human investigation of supernatural crimes. And although I’m not a big fan of noir overtones in general, here they work well and set a moody, gloomy atmosphere that feels like it should be filmed in black and white palette, with wisps of cigar smoke obscuring the view. It’s grim and moody and well-done.
The not-so-good: Deux ex machina. Thematically fitting, but still cheap.
3.5 stars.
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My Hugo and Nebula Awards Reading Project 2021: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3701332299
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“I knew all too well how former angels balanced on a knife’s edge between despair and madness, and how easy it was for them to let go—in a city which sold their bones as drugs.”
Urban fantasy with fallen angels* and a serial killer murder mystery, told in noir style.
* When I hear “Fallen Angel”, my mind immediately counters with one A.J. Crowley, of Pratchett/Gaiman superb Good Omens, who “did not so much Fall as Saunter Vaguely Downwards.”
Arvedai the Fallen Angel is the noir version of Crowley, with a heart of gold hiding somewhere under the mafia boss dealing in angel bones exterior. Calariel “Cal” the Fallen Angel is supposedly a good person but with dark secrets hiding behind that angelic exterior. Squishy humans Sam (a witch) and O’Connor (a hired thug) are being angsty over them and become involved with forces seemingly too big for them to handle. All while someone is murdering the Fallen in the city of Starhollow.
The good: This novelette reads like it should belong in an established Urban Fantasy world — and for all I know it may be, as this is the first (but probably not the last) work by Aliette de Bodard I’ve read. Something about it reminds me of P. Djèlí Clark’s [b:A Dead Djinn in Cairo|29635542|A Dead Djinn in Cairo (Dead Djinn, #0.5)|P. Djèlí Clark|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1459173382l/29635542._SX50_.jpg|49993780] — the use of mythology, the supernatural murder mystery, the human investigation of supernatural crimes. And although I’m not a big fan of noir overtones in general, here they work well and set a moody, gloomy atmosphere that feels like it should be filmed in black and white palette, with wisps of cigar smoke obscuring the view. It’s grim and moody and well-done.
The not-so-good: Deux ex machina. Thematically fitting, but still cheap.
3.5 stars.
——————
My Hugo and Nebula Awards Reading Project 2021: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3701332299