Victoria Strauss
Auteur van The Arm of the Stone
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Fotografie: copyright Victoria Strauss used by permission.
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Author in Progress: A No-Holds-Barred Guide to What It Really Takes to Get Published (2016) — Medewerker — 62 exemplaren
Tagged
Algemene kennis
- Gangbare naam
- Strauss, Victoria
- Officiële naam
- Strauss, Victoria
- Geboortedatum
- 1955
- Geslacht
- female
- Nationaliteit
- USA
- Land (voor op de kaart)
- USA
- Geboorteplaats
- Exeter, New Hampshire, USA
- Woonplaatsen
- Amherst, Massachusetts, USA
- Opleiding
- Vassar College (BA)
- Beroepen
- Novelist
- Organisaties
- Science Fiction & Fantasy Writers of America
Authors Guild
NINC - Prijzen en onderscheidingen
- Service to SFWA Award, 2009
- Korte biografie
- I'm the author of seven novels for adults and young adults, including the Stone duology ("The Arm of the Stone" and "The Garden of the Stone") and the Way of Arata duology ("The Burning Land" and "The Awakened City"). I've reviewed books for SF Site, Black Gate, and Fantasy magazine, and my articles on writing and how to get published have appeared in Writer’s Digest and elsewhere. In 2006, I served as a judge for the World Fantasy Awards.
I'm an active member of the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America (SFWA), and co-founder, with Ann Crispin, of Writer Beware, a publishing industry watchdog group that warns about literary schemes and scams. I maintain the Writer Beware website, blog, and Facebook pages, and I was honored with the SFWA Service Award in 2009.
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When I read the synopsis and then began reading the book itself, I was reminded of the kinds of stories that N.K. Jemisin is known for. That made me a little skeptical as to whether or not I would enjoy the book, since the two N.K. Jemisin books I’ve read were a bit boring to me. I don’t know how Victoria Strauss did it, but, with the exception of a couple slow points, her writing, story craft, and world building kept me engaged throughout the book. Also, towards the beginning of the book there were some details that led me to make a few predictions for how the story would turn out. However, every single one of them was wrong. Perhaps my research paper addled brain missed some signs and foreshadowing, but I can’t even remember the last time a book wasn’t at least a little predictable. Despite the unpredictability, the plot still made perfect sense. There was never anything that was confusing or made me turn back a page to reread and see if I missed something.
I recommend this book to everyone who loves Fantasy, especially if you happen to be a fan of N.K. Jemisin, or if you enjoyed her stories but found the telling to be lackluster. Though it didn’t bother me, I feel obligated to mention that The Burning Land does contain a rape scene. It’s towards the end of the book and, though it’s necessary to the story and not too graphic, may be an issue for some readers. In that case, I would still give the book a chance, since there’s enough “warning” before the scene, and it only takes up about a paragraph, so it’s easily skippable. Normally, I’d recommend otherwise, but this book is truly great and shouldn’t be missed.… (meer)
I recommend this book to everyone who loves Fantasy, especially if you happen to be a fan of N.K. Jemisin, or if you enjoyed her stories but found the telling to be lackluster. Though it didn’t bother me, I feel obligated to mention that The Burning Land does contain a rape scene. It’s towards the end of the book and, though it’s necessary to the story and not too graphic, may be an issue for some readers. In that case, I would still give the book a chance, since there’s enough “warning” before the scene, and it only takes up about a paragraph, so it’s easily skippable. Normally, I’d recommend otherwise, but this book is truly great and shouldn’t be missed.… (meer)
This is the start of a fantasy series. It's a good setup, and it stands on its own well enough, with satisfying resolutions to some important threads.
The kingdom of Arsace has restored its king in exile to the throne, after decades of harsh rule by godless tyrants. They're free once again to worship their beloved god Arata, and publicly celebrate their religious ceremonies. But just a few years have passed, and there's still much rebuilding to do, and one of the outstanding issues concerns renegade Aratists imprisoned by the Caryaxists, who escaped and fled into the Burning Lands--the harsh desert region where Arata is believed to be sleeping. Gyalo Amdo Samehen, a devout priest, a Shaper, and trusted aid to one of the most senior of the Brethren, the reincarnated children of the First Messenger of Arata, is appointed to lead an expedition into the Burning Lands to rescue and bring home any survivors of those exiles. Neither he nor those who send them have any clue what he's going to encounter.
Meanwhile, in Refuge, deep in the Burning Lands, the descendants of those lost Aratists are a healthy, successful colony of over three hundred people, secure in the knowledge that they are the Risen Arata's chosen people, the only people left in the world, destined to repopulate the world when the Next Messenger comes to summon them forth. Axane, a young woman who is the daughter of Refuge's leader, is a Dreamer, a fact she has kept carefully hidden. Dreamers in Refuge, at the age of 35, must retreat to the House of Dreams, confined to a life of sleeping and Dreaming, creating the veil that keeps Refuge hidden and safe from the demons they believe are the only other life in the world. Because Axane has kept her ability secret, her Dreaming is untrained and unconstrained--and she sees the outside world in her Dreams, and has seen enough of the outside world to know that Arsace and the rest of the kingdoms of Galea are still there, inhabited by human beings, and that part at least of her people's beliefs are simply wrong.
Axane and Gyalo are both headed for revelations that will shake their beliefs to their core, and disrupt their societies. And as they each try to serve their people and their faiths, they find their faith even in the leaders they've trusted all their lives crushed and broken.
Strauss builds a world and a religion that make sense together, and treats the inhabitants of that world--traditional Aratists, the divergent Aratists of Refuge, and the occasional atheists, as intelligent, thinking people who have reasons for what they believe or don't believe. They also, for good or for ill, have reasons for their actions.
This is a very solid fantasy novel. Recommended.
I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.… (meer)
The kingdom of Arsace has restored its king in exile to the throne, after decades of harsh rule by godless tyrants. They're free once again to worship their beloved god Arata, and publicly celebrate their religious ceremonies. But just a few years have passed, and there's still much rebuilding to do, and one of the outstanding issues concerns renegade Aratists imprisoned by the Caryaxists, who escaped and fled into the Burning Lands--the harsh desert region where Arata is believed to be sleeping. Gyalo Amdo Samehen, a devout priest, a Shaper, and trusted aid to one of the most senior of the Brethren, the reincarnated children of the First Messenger of Arata, is appointed to lead an expedition into the Burning Lands to rescue and bring home any survivors of those exiles. Neither he nor those who send them have any clue what he's going to encounter.
Meanwhile, in Refuge, deep in the Burning Lands, the descendants of those lost Aratists are a healthy, successful colony of over three hundred people, secure in the knowledge that they are the Risen Arata's chosen people, the only people left in the world, destined to repopulate the world when the Next Messenger comes to summon them forth. Axane, a young woman who is the daughter of Refuge's leader, is a Dreamer, a fact she has kept carefully hidden. Dreamers in Refuge, at the age of 35, must retreat to the House of Dreams, confined to a life of sleeping and Dreaming, creating the veil that keeps Refuge hidden and safe from the demons they believe are the only other life in the world. Because Axane has kept her ability secret, her Dreaming is untrained and unconstrained--and she sees the outside world in her Dreams, and has seen enough of the outside world to know that Arsace and the rest of the kingdoms of Galea are still there, inhabited by human beings, and that part at least of her people's beliefs are simply wrong.
Axane and Gyalo are both headed for revelations that will shake their beliefs to their core, and disrupt their societies. And as they each try to serve their people and their faiths, they find their faith even in the leaders they've trusted all their lives crushed and broken.
Strauss builds a world and a religion that make sense together, and treats the inhabitants of that world--traditional Aratists, the divergent Aratists of Refuge, and the occasional atheists, as intelligent, thinking people who have reasons for what they believe or don't believe. They also, for good or for ill, have reasons for their actions.
This is a very solid fantasy novel. Recommended.
I received a free electronic galley of this book from the publisher via NetGalley.… (meer)
Misschien vindt je deze ook leuk
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Normally my favorite part of a story is the character building and world building, and while I did love the way the characters learned about themselves and changed, I feel much is left unfinished and unresolved.