beer good
Well-Known Member
Jaqueline Carey: Santa Olivia (2009)
Someone I usually trust told me "You like Buffy, so read this" and thrust this book into my hands. And I'm glad.
In a not-too-distant future, the US government is finally sick of illegal immigrants, bird flu, and terrorist attacks from south of the border and do something drastic but effective: they cordon off a strip of west Texas, declare it no longer part of the US but a military buffer zone, and give everyone a few hours to get out. Those who choose to remain - and, 20 years later, their children - find themselves living on occupied territory, with only as many rights as it's currently convenient for the military to allow them, and no possibility to leave in either direction. Except one: every month or so, there's a boxing gala where locals are invited to challenge the current military champion. If they win, they get a ticket back to the States. Of course nobody has (yet), and isn't likely to since everyone knows it'd be a PR disaster if people back home found out how things are...
This is where Loup (pronounced "Lou") Garrón grows up. Loup is... different. Her father, a deserter whom she never met, was part of some sort of military experiment (described with a great deal of exaggeration in the tabloids as "werewolf soldiers", hence her name), and as a result, it's clear early on that Loup has inherited something from him. She's stronger and faster than a normal person, and she has no capacity to feel fear. Which isn't a good thing when you're living under martial law, and doesn't get easier when she and her half-brother get orphaned early on. He grows up to be the best boxer the town of Santa Olivia has seen, she grows up in an orphanage trying to hide who or what she is; falling in love with another girl doesn't make things easier for her. But the town has a legend of its own, that of Santa Olivia, the blue-clad little girl who stopped a war, and as people get sick of their situation they start praying for her to appear.
It's tempting to describe the plot of Santa Olivia as Dark Angel meets Rocky; mutant girl becoming working-class hero. That doesn't mean it's not an intriguing novel. Sure, you'll see the plot twists coming, but Carey wisely doesn't rush into things, taking time to set up her world and giving all sides motivations for acting the way they do without painting anyone as a grade-A villain. The SF/fantasy elements and the big political questions are played very low and used mostly as a background for the story of the town, how people survive in it, the stories and dreams they rely on to keep going from day to day, and of course Loup herself. She's an intriguing character, enough so that even when the tempo flags in the middle rounds (the entire third act of the novel is essentially one long training montage) it stays on track, a slow but rich build-up to a finale that makes me want to read more. It's not quite a masterpiece, but hey, if you like the idea of a fairly realistic dystopia with a female protagonist who kicks ass, you won't be disappointed.
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Someone I usually trust told me "You like Buffy, so read this" and thrust this book into my hands. And I'm glad.
In a not-too-distant future, the US government is finally sick of illegal immigrants, bird flu, and terrorist attacks from south of the border and do something drastic but effective: they cordon off a strip of west Texas, declare it no longer part of the US but a military buffer zone, and give everyone a few hours to get out. Those who choose to remain - and, 20 years later, their children - find themselves living on occupied territory, with only as many rights as it's currently convenient for the military to allow them, and no possibility to leave in either direction. Except one: every month or so, there's a boxing gala where locals are invited to challenge the current military champion. If they win, they get a ticket back to the States. Of course nobody has (yet), and isn't likely to since everyone knows it'd be a PR disaster if people back home found out how things are...
This is where Loup (pronounced "Lou") Garrón grows up. Loup is... different. Her father, a deserter whom she never met, was part of some sort of military experiment (described with a great deal of exaggeration in the tabloids as "werewolf soldiers", hence her name), and as a result, it's clear early on that Loup has inherited something from him. She's stronger and faster than a normal person, and she has no capacity to feel fear. Which isn't a good thing when you're living under martial law, and doesn't get easier when she and her half-brother get orphaned early on. He grows up to be the best boxer the town of Santa Olivia has seen, she grows up in an orphanage trying to hide who or what she is; falling in love with another girl doesn't make things easier for her. But the town has a legend of its own, that of Santa Olivia, the blue-clad little girl who stopped a war, and as people get sick of their situation they start praying for her to appear.
It's tempting to describe the plot of Santa Olivia as Dark Angel meets Rocky; mutant girl becoming working-class hero. That doesn't mean it's not an intriguing novel. Sure, you'll see the plot twists coming, but Carey wisely doesn't rush into things, taking time to set up her world and giving all sides motivations for acting the way they do without painting anyone as a grade-A villain. The SF/fantasy elements and the big political questions are played very low and used mostly as a background for the story of the town, how people survive in it, the stories and dreams they rely on to keep going from day to day, and of course Loup herself. She's an intriguing character, enough so that even when the tempo flags in the middle rounds (the entire third act of the novel is essentially one long training montage) it stays on track, a slow but rich build-up to a finale that makes me want to read more. It's not quite a masterpiece, but hey, if you like the idea of a fairly realistic dystopia with a female protagonist who kicks ass, you won't be disappointed.
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