I had really high hopes for "We Are All But Embers" by Gemma Noon (her first published story, by the way). This time around I picked my literary criticism subject based upon title appeal. Fire is a very strong concept. "Embers" is not only a bold word, it also has a certain smoothness to it. It can almost feel melancholy at times. When you place the pronoun "we" in front of it, you get a flash of emotion potent enough to draw me in.
"We Are All But Embers" fell a little short of my expectations. It read more like literary than science fiction, although it is most definitely the latter. The language, while splendid for the most part, dipped at times, which is a major problem for stories aiming for a literary feel. A few other problems hacked away at this story's validity.
The characters in this story are fairly well done. Little is learned about them, but what is learned is vibrant and attention-holding. The protagonist's struggle could have been portrayed a smidgen better, yet in a story of this type the effort is commendable.
This story's largest flaw is plot. Is there plot? Well, yes, I suppose there is. There isn't, however, a traditional plot. This story's plot has no tempo to speak of. The use of a distancing variety of 3rd-narrative separated me from what plot there is. This is a very common occurrence, and some probably enjoy this sort of story based upon the shear amount of examples, but I am not a fan.
As far as setting goes, this story gets a thumbs-up. Could it have been better? Yes. Was it good enough? Definitely. The setting puts a nice spin on the typical setting of the dystopian subgenre. It's a smallish spin with a smallish scope; it wouldn't work in some stories, but it worked here.
Obviously, I have some mixed feelings toward this story. It didn't deliver to the extent of my hopes. It did entertain me. In this case, the latter is more important. Please try this story out and tell me what you think of it.
I'm surprised to hear of the lack of character development and emotions if you think it was leaning towards literary fiction within science fiction. Otherwise, the title draws me in too, though the idea of sci-fi still repels me somewhat. It sounds like an interesting read and if I get the chance I will give it a shot for sure. Thanks for reviewing, Patrick :)
ReplyDeleteI strongly prefer the way speculative fiction genres go about character development and emotions. Granted, I haven't read much literary lately, and much of what I did read was YA. It's a really short story; it only takes 3-5 minutes to read. Dislike of sci-fi, I believe, is a consequence of mainstream English/literature education. Literary, mainstream, and genre fiction are definitely not equal in terms of class time. It's really very awful a situation.
DeleteI believe this is the same story I saw mentioned on another blog with a glowing review. Now I get a balanced commentary on it and that piques my interest even more. I shall have to take time from something to work it in, but work it in I shall.
ReplyDeleteIt's very short, sir. Then again, I really don't know just how busy you are...It's nice to see you here.
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