Hoffman, Nina Kiriki - Spirits That Walk in Shadow

[oyceter]

Ok, is this a sequel to something? Or set in the same world as another of Hoffman's books? I keep feeling like there's a giant other story in there about Jaimie and her adolescence, but I wasn't sure if it had already been told in another book or not.

Kim thinks in paintings and visuals and colors. Jaimie was raised in a magical family isolated from real life. They fight crime! become college roommates. Kim's depressed out of her mind due to a traumatic high school social incidence, and Jaimie and her cousins eventually figure out that's it's because of a spirit that feeds off of emotion.

They fight crime! solve the mystery!

I dunno. The book didn't work for me. It wasn't bad, but it was very prosaic. I wasn't surprised by anything, I didn't really like any of the characters, and I wasn't particularly interested in what happened to them. Also, I don't particularly get along with many made-up words for magical techniques.

Comments

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

I've been underwhelmed by Hoffman's novels, though her short stories can be excellent.

The magical family could be the same one from one of her other novels, whose title I forget. The main character had the talent to curse people and things, but didn't want it. It featured one of my least favorite Hoffman motifs, the total scumbag (in this case a rapist) who needs to be loved and forgiven.

Hoffman geeking

[jinian.livejournal.com]

I assume you're talking about A Fistful of Sky. As I recall (and I have read it several times, as I love it to bits), the rapist gets cursed with "Nothing twisted gives you pleasure," and he is NOT happy about it. He phones a little while later all pathetic, and the main character feels bad for what she did -- not, as I read it, for him. She just didn't like causing pain. He then disappears from the story entirely, presumably still tormented.

Um, anyway, Spirits is not about the LaZelles. It may not be the same world, but that's not totally clear. The magic is very different.

Having just finished Spirits this very hour, I agree that it's maybe not a great introduction to the magical system. Hoffman generally does make you construct theory from anecdote, though. (Fistful of Sky may be an exception, since the setup involves the main character's familiarity with magical concepts but not details, so more explication gets in.)

Come to think of it, there is kind of a scumbag-redemption bit in this one. It didn't bother me as played, but I can see how it would be annoying as latest-in-a-long-line.

Re: Hoffman geeking

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Ack, I hope that wasn't too spoilery for anyone. It didn't seem like one to me, so I just thought of that. I am a dork.

If the prosaically lovely thing doesn't grab you, though, maybe you don't need to read FoS?

Re: Hoffman geeking

[oyceter]

I think another bit of it is just that I am severely bored with elemental magic.

I do like prosaically lovely, but um... I found the prose sort of clunky and not much of the wonder that usually comes with urban fantasy/magical realism/whatever genre it is. Dunno... do you like FoS better?

Re: Hoffman geeking

[jinian.livejournal.com]

I do like FoS better, and the magic's not elemental at all in that one. The thing about the prose that grabs me, though, is the same, so I don't know whether I can recommend it to you or not.

Re: Hoffman geeking

[oyceter]

Hrm, ok, thanks!

Re: Hoffman geeking

[rachelmanija.livejournal.com]

You're right. However, it was the latest in a long line, and I felt like, "You've prevented an evil rapist from raping more women, and you feel bad about the pain that not raping causes him? Get a grip!"

Re: Hoffman geeking

[jinian.livejournal.com]

Yeah, I think I'd be just fine with it myself.

[oyceter]

Oh, doh. It's like Muraki all over again!

[gwyneira.livejournal.com]

It's not a direct sequel, but it's closely linked to The Thread That Binds the Bones -- same families, same magic. I don't remember Jaimie's exact role in the earlier book (which I haven't read in years), but I'm pretty sure her backstory is there. (The Silent Strength of Stones is the same world, but not as closely related.)

I didn't like this one as much as I've liked some of Hoffman's other books, but I did like it. I do think it helped that I've read the earlier books, which made the magical system more explicable.

[oyceter]

Ahhhh, ok. There were a lot of hints and references as to the clan's bad teacher and Jaimie basically being a monster that felt like another book's worth of story.

The magical system was explicable... I, uh, just found it sort of boring. I think I've read too much of the whole elemental magic bit.

[readsalot.livejournal.com]

I haven't read this one yet (must add it to my list), but I fell in love with The Thread That Binds the Bones when I first read it--it felt like Zenna Henderson's People stories, only less old-fashioned. Have you ever read the People stories? They're about, um, kind of a tribe of people with a mysterious origin who have psychic powers and are very community-oriented.

A little of Jaimie's backstory was in the first book, though her feelings of monstrosity might just be related to some of the awful things her relatives did.

[oyceter]

I haven't! Are the People stories the same as Jaimie's story?

[readsalot.livejournal.com]

No, I'm sorry I was unclear.

Jaimie is introduced in Hoffman's first novel, The Thread That Binds the Bones.

The People stories are by Zenna Henderson, who mostly wrote them during the 50s and 60s. I see them as similar to Thread in that they're about a group of related families who see themselves as "different", and that try to protect their own community. One of the things they indulge is a kink for people trying to find the place/community where they truly belong. Thread also has a little of that, but in a more, mmm, sophisticated way, maybe? I'm not sure how else to say it.

[takumashii.livejournal.com]

I've only read Hoffman's short stories, not her novels, but that trying-to-find-your-community thing feels very familiar, and while I like Hoffman generally, I think that's why she occasionally comes across as a bit twee.