Canada books Archives - Where to Kim?

Interesting books set on mysterious, magical and absurd islands

Kim — Wed, 11 Aug 2021 14:00:00 +0000

Interesting books set on or featuring mysterious, magical and absurd islands that drag you into the most fascinating situations.

Sometimes you simply want to spend some time in a mysterious place. Islands are perfect for that because of their isolation. In 2020 and 2021, many new books were published and are still being published about interesting, mysterious and absurd islands, helping to keep the mystery alive.

Keep on reading for some obvious and less obvious book suggestions.

Leone Ross - Popisho

A sensual novel, Popisho conjures a world where magic is everywhere, food is fate, politics are broken, and love awaits. Everyone in Popisho was born with a little something… The local name for it was cors. Magic, but more than magic. A gift, nah? Yes. From the gods: a thing that felt so inexpressibly your own.

Somewhere far away– or maybe right nearby– lies an archipelago called Popisho. A place of stunning beauty and incorrigible mischief, destiny and mystery, it is also a place in need of change.

Xavier Redchoose is the macaenus of his generation, anointed by the gods to make each resident one perfect meal when the time is right. Anise, his long lost love, is on a march toward reckoning with her healing powers. The governor’s daughter, Sonteine, is getting married, her father demanding a feast out of turn. And graffiti messages from an unknown source are asking hard questions. A storm is brewing. Before it comes, before the end of the day, this wildly imaginative narrative will take us across the islands, their history, and into the lives of unforgettable characters.

Buy from Amazon
Read my review of Popisho

Yoko Ogawa - The Memory Police

On an unnamed island off an unnamed coast, objects are disappearing: first hats, then ribbons, birds, roses – until things become much more serious. Most of the island’s inhabitants are oblivious to these changes, while those few imbued with no power to recall the lost objects live in fear of the draconian Memory Police, who are committed to ensuring that what has disappeared remains forgotten.

When a young woman who is struggling to maintain her career as a novelist discovers that her editor is in danger from the Memory Police, she concocts a plan to hide him beneath the floorboards. As fear and loss close in around them, they cling to her wiring as the last way of preserving the past.

Buy from Amazon
Read my review of The Memory Police

Yun Ko-eun - The Disaster Tourist

An eco-thriller with a fierce feminist sensibility, The Disaster Tourist engages with the global dialog around climate activism, dark tourism, and the #MeToo movement.

For ten years, Yona has been stuck behind a desk as a coordinator for Jungle, a travel company specializing in vacation packages to destinations devastated by disaster and climate change. Her work life is uneventful until trouble arises in the form of a predatory colleague.

To forestall any disruption of business-as-usual, Jungle makes Yona a proposition: a paid “vacation” to the desert island of Mui. But Yona must pose as a tourist and assess whether Jungle should continue their partnership with the unprofitable destination.

Yona travels to the remote island, whose major attraction is an underwhelming sinkhole, a huge disappointment to the customers who’ve paid a premium. Soon Yona discovers the resort’s plan to fabricate a catastrophe in the interest of regaining their good standing with Jungle–and the manager enlists Yona’s help. Yona must choose between the callous company to whom she’s dedicated her life, or the possibility of a fresh start in a powerful new position. As she begins to understand the cost of the manufactured disaster, Yona realizes that the lives of Mui’s citizens are in danger–and so is she.

Buy from Amazon
Read my review of The Disaster Tourist

Shelly Nolden - The Vines

In the shadows of New York City lies forbidden North Brother Island, where the remains of a shuttered hospital hide the haunting memories of century-old quarantines and human experiments. The ruins conceal the scarred and beautiful Cora, imprisoned by contagions and the doctors who torment her. When Finn, a young urban explorer, arrives on the island and glimpses an enigmatic beauty through the foliage, intrigue turns to obsession as he seeks to uncover her past—and his own family’s dark secrets. By unraveling these mysteries, will he be able to save Cora? Will Cora meet the same tragic ending as the thousands who’ve already perished on the island?

Buy from Amazon
Read my review of The Vines

Katłıà - Land-Water-Sky

A vexatious shapeshifter walks among humans. Shadowy beasts skulk at the edges of the woods. A ghostly apparition haunts a lonely stretch of highway. Spirits and legends rise and join together to protect the north.

Land-Water-Sky/Ndè-Tı-Yat’a is the debut novel from Dene author Katłıà. Set in Canada’s far north, this layered composite novel traverses space and time, from a community being stalked by a dark presence, a group of teenagers out for a dangerous joyride, to an archeological site on a mysterious island that holds a powerful secret.

Riveting, subtle, and unforgettable, Katłıà gives us a unique perspective into what the world might look like today if Indigenous legends walked amongst us, disguised as humans, and ensures that the spiritual significance and teachings behind the stories of Indigenous legends are respected and honored.

Buy from Amazon
Read my review of Land-Water-Sky

Wu Ming-yi - The Man with the Compound Eyes

On the island of Wayo Wayo, every second son must leave on the day he turns fifteen as a sacrifice to the Sea God. Atile’i is one such boy, but as the strongest swimmer and best sailor, he is determined to defy destiny and become the first to survive.

Alice Shih, who has lost her husband and son in a climbing accident, is quietly preparing to commit suicide in her house by the sea. But her plan is interrupted when a vast trash vortex comes crashing onto the shore of Taiwan, bringing Atile’i with it.

In the aftermath of the catastrophe, Atile’i and Alice retrace her late husband’s footsteps into the mountains, hoping to solve the mystery of her son’s disappearance. On their journey, memories will be challenged, an unusual bond formed, and a dark secret uncovered that will force Alice to question everything she thought she knew.

Buy from Amazon

Terry Pratchett - Nation

Alone on a desert island — everything and everyone he knows and loves has been washed away in a storm — Mau is the last surviving member of his nation. He’s completely alone — or so he thinks until he finds the ghost girl. She has no toes, wears strange lacy trousers like the grandfather bird, and gives him a stick that can make fire.
Daphne, sole survivor of the wreck of the Sweet Judy, almost immediately regrets trying to shoot the native boy. Thank goodness the powder was wet and the gun only produced a spark. She’s certain her father, distant cousin of the Royal family, will come and rescue her but it seems, for now, that all she has for company is the boy and the foul-mouthed ship’s parrot, until other survivors arrive to take refuge on the island. Together, Mau and Daphne discover some remarkable things (including how to milk a pig, and why spitting in beer is a good thing), and start to forge a new nation.

Buy from Amazon

Hanya Yanagihara - The People in the Trees

In 1950, a young doctor called Norton Perina signs on with the anthropologist Paul Tallent for an expedition to the remote Micronesian island of Ivu’ivu in search of a rumored lost tribe. They succeed, finding not only that tribe but also a group of forest dwellers they dub “The Dreamers,” who turn out to be fantastically long-lived but progressively more senile. Perina suspects the source of their longevity is a hard-to-find turtle; unable to resist the possibility of eternal life, he kills one and smuggles some meat back to the States. He scientifically proves his thesis, earning worldwide fame and the Nobel Prize, but he soon discovers that its miraculous property comes at a terrible price. As things quickly spiral out of his control, his own demons take hold, with devastating personal consequences.

Buy from Amazon

Ali Shaw - The Girl with Glass Feet

Strange things are happening on the remote and snowbound archipelago of St. Hauda’s Land. Magical winged creatures flit around the icy bogland, albino animals hide themselves in the snow-glazed woods, and Ida Maclaird is slowly turning into glass. Ida is an outsider in these parts who has only visited the islands once before. Yet during that one fateful visit the glass transformation began to take hold, and now she has returned in search of a cure.

Buy from Amazon

Jess Richards - Snake Ropes

Set on an isolated island off the Scottish coast, in a community run by women who are in awe of a mysterious structure called the Thrashing House, the novel is narrated by two teenage girls in very different circumstances. Mary is doing her best to protect her younger brother, Barney, as the island’s sons are mysteriously disappearing. Morgan is scheming to escape the prison her parents have made of their home. The two girls unite, each on a desperate mission in which secrets will be revealed and lives changed forever.

Buy from Amazon

Kirsty Logan - The Gracekeepers

As a Gracekeeper, Callanish administers shoreside burials, laying the dead to their final resting place deep in the depths of the ocean. Alone on her island, she has exiled herself to a life of tending watery graves as penance for a long-ago mistake that still haunts her. Meanwhile, North works as a circus performer with the Excalibur, a floating troupe of acrobats, clowns, dancers, and trainers who sail from one archipelago to the next, entertaining in exchange for sustenance.

In a world divided between those inhabiting the mainland (“landlockers”) and those who float on the sea (“damplings”), loneliness has become a way of life for North and Callanish, until a sudden storm offshore brings change to both their lives – offering them a new understanding of the world they live in and the consequences of the past, while restoring hope in an unexpected future.

Buy from Amazon

Michael Crichton - Jurassic Park

An astonishing technique for recovering and cloning dinosaur DNA has been discovered. Now humankind’s most thrilling fantasies have come true. Creatures extinct for eons roam Jurassic Park with their awesome presence and profound mystery, and all the world can visit them—for a price.

Until something goes wrong. . . .

Buy from Amazon

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Review: Satellite love by Genki Ferguson

Kim — Mon, 21 Jun 2021 14:00:00 +0000

Satellite Love by Genki Ferguson is about a lonely girl looking for a soul – a companion – in an unexpected place.

Location: near Kumamoto on Kyushu Island in Japan

Satellite Love synopsis

Set in 1999 Japan, Satellite Love is a heartbreaking and beautifully unconventional debut novel about a girl, a boy, and a satellite–and a bittersweet meditation on loneliness, alienation, and what it means to be human.

On the eve of the new millennium, in a city in southern Japan that progress has forgotten, sixteen-year-old Anna Obata looks to the stars for solace. An outcast at school, and left to fend for herself and care for her increasingly senile grandfather at home, Anna copes with her loneliness by searching the night sky for answers. But everything changes the evening the Low Earth Orbit satellite (LEO for short) returns her gaze and sees her as no one else has before.

After Leo is called down to Earth, he embarks on an extraordinary journey to understand his own humanity as well as the fragile mind of the young woman who called him into being. As Anna withdraws further into her own mysterious plans, he will be forced to question the limits of his devotion and the lengths he will go to protect her.

Full of surprising imaginative leaps and yet grounded by a profound understanding of the human heart, Satellite Love is a brilliant and deeply moving meditation on loneliness, faith, and the yearning for meaning and connection. It is an unforgettable story about the indomitable power of the imagination and the mind’s ability to heal itself, no matter the cost, no matter the odds.

Book review

 2/5

When you betray even your imaginary friends, you know you are not doing well. The lighthearted, emotionless narrative voices almost disguise how disturbed Anna is. Anna is a lonely girl, an outcast at school, and is often bullied. She needs someone she can build on, someone who will treat her as the center of the world and acknowledge her existence. In the absence of her mother and the lack of interest from a boy, she finds this in the person of the satellite LEO.

Existence

In Satellite Love, Genki Ferguson reflects on the existence and presence of souls in people, technology and nature. I love the symbolism and the idea behind linking technology (not necessarily AI), spirituality and psychology. The characters search for souls in unexpected places to prove their own existence. And that’s when a young girl and a satellite discover they have something in common.

Observing the story

The synopsis suggests conflict (how far is LEO willing to go for her?), a bittersweet meditation on loneliness, and a sci-fi satellite-turned-human turn of events. Unfortunately, the story didn’t get as exciting as that. I expected the author to do a little more with the concept. I couldn’t feel Anna’s derangement as strongly as I did with the main characters in books like Astral Season, Beastly Season. It felt more like I was reading this book from a distance, in the same way a satellite would emotionlessly observe life on earth.

The story is slow-paced and the thoughts and conversations are spiritless. All the narrators sound the same, which I can understand for two of them, but not for the others. Moreover, their private thoughts are far too insightful. It feels repetitive. When the satellite analyzes Anna it takes away from the subtlety and makes the whole story too obvious. The author highlights the similarities between the characters to the reader. Although the story reads pleasantly and feels soothing, I am less impressed with the meaning of the sentences. It is okay if the characters don’t feel (or express themselves) strongly, but I want to feel strongly about them!

This story could have used some “chaos,” or basically anything unexpected happening or someone acting out of character. I longed for some vague comments. Normally you would say that clarity is a good thing for a story, but in this case I don’t think so. The role of each character in the story is clear and you know what thoughts they are supposed to add to the question of existence. The story might have been stronger with more focus on Anna and LEO. The perspectives of Soki and Grandfather did not add much to the story in my opinion.

Final thoughts

As for a reading recommendation: this story wasn’t for me and I’m not sure who it is for, although I see many positive reviews on Goodreads. I would cautiously recommend Satellite Love to those of you who like clear, steady-going stories, but the final chapters may not fit that thought well. It’s also not a great romance story, nor is it sci-fi. I liked the concept but was not impressed with the execution.

Interested?

Get your copy of Satellite Love from Amazon.

Book details

Title: Satellite Love
Author: Genki Ferguson
Language: English
Publisher: McClelland & Stewart
Pages: 280
ISBN (13): 9780771049873
Publication date: 2 March 2021

About the author

Genki Ferguson was born in New Brunswick to a family of writers and grew up in Calgary. He spent much of his childhood in the subtropical island of Kyushu, Japan, where his mother’s family still resides. Fluent in Japanese and capable of making a decent sushi roll, Genki recently completed a degree in Film Production while working part-time at Book Warehouse, an indie store in Vancouver.

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Review: What Was Said To Me by Ruby Peter and Helene Demers

Kim — Mon, 26 Apr 2021 14:00:00 +0000

What Was Said To Me: The Life of Sti’tum’atul’wut, a Cowichan Woman by Ruby Peter and Helene Demers teaches the importance of cultural identity and roots. Let her life and dedication be an inspiration to many.

Location: Cowichan Valley in British Colombia, Canada

What Was Said To Me synopsis

A narrative of resistance and resilience spanning seven decades in the life of a tireless advocate for Indigenous language preservation.

Life histories are a form of contemporary social history and convey important messages about identity, cosmology, social behaviour and one’s place in the world. This first-person oral history—the first of its kind ever published by the Royal BC Museum—documents a period of profound social change through the lens of Sti’tum’atul’wut—also known as Mrs. Ruby Peter—a Cowichan elder who made it her life’s work to share and safeguard the ancient language of her people: Hul’q’umi’num’.

Over seven decades, Sti’tum’atul’wut mentored hundreds of students and teachers and helped thousands of people to develop a basic knowledge of the Hul’q’umi’num’ language. She contributed to dictionaries and grammars, and helped assemble a valuable corpus of stories, sound and video files—with more than 10,000 pages of texts from Hul’q’umi’num’ speakers—that has been described as “a treasure of linguistic and cultural knowledge.” Without her passion, commitment and expertise, this rich legacy of material would not exist for future generations.

Book review

 4/5

In her biography, Ruby tells what it is like to grow up as an Indian native in the Cowichan Bay area in the mid-20th century. She has an impressive track record of preserving her language and culture, which is of great importance because many of the old teachings were lost when children went to residential schools. Now only the Longhouse and the winter dances remain. Read this biography by Ruby Peter (recorded by Helene Demers) if you are interested in history and oral traditions and enjoy learning about other cultures.

Storyteller

The written form of the biography stays true to the nature of the narrative. The story is written down as it was told by Ruby, with all its repetitions, colloquialisms, and imperfections. Sometimes you have to wait for an explanation because with each chapter a tip of the veil is lifted until you see the full picture.

Reading What Was Said To Me feels like having a conversation with Ruby, as if she is personally telling you her story. A story that reads smoothly and continues without pause. You just have to keep reading, and at the same time, you also have to take breaks because you can only take so many repetitions of the same part of the story in one day.

Although the suppression of the culture and language of the native Indians of Cowichan Bay, coupled with the general hardships of life, is not something to look back on with a positive feeling, Ruby’s account is not bitter or regretful. You read of her and her family’s hardships, but also of their strength and sense of community. Eventually, you will know more about the Sxwuyxwi mask, the Thi’tha line, and the Rattler. But only to a certain level, because true knowledge of these things is not for you.

Expectation versus reality

There is a certain mismatch between the expectations I had after reading the synopsis and the actual content of the biography. I expected to read more about Ruby’s efforts in the later years of her life. For example, how she worked to preserve her culture and language, and the difficulties she faced in creating the writing system and streamlining education. These are the things I wanted to read about, but they are pretty much left out.

Instead, the biography is more of a history book focusing on life and society in Ruby’s childhood and early teenage years. Don’t get me wrong: I love history and I enjoyed reading about life in the mid-20th century. It’s just that I would have preferred a deeper conversation about the language and education part.

Perseverance

If only one thing stays with you after reading this biography, let it be the power of commitment. Take care of your community and the community will take care of you. Be passionate about your culture and language, and the passion will spill over to others. And when times are tough, focus on what’s important – often the people – because better times will come. Preserve what is worth preserving for later generations. Together you will find a way.

Interested?

Get your copy of What Was Said To My from Amazon (available 18 June 2021).

Book details
Title: What Was Said To Me: The Life of Sti’tum’atul’wut, a Cowichan Woman
Author: Ruby Peter, Helene Demers
Publisher: Royal BC Museum
Pages: 240
ISBN (13): 9780772679383
Publication date: 18 June 2021

Many thanks to Royal BC Museum and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

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Most interesting and engaging books of 2020

Kim — Wed, 23 Dec 2020 15:00:00 +0000

What are the best new books in 2020? And how about surprisingly good older gems? A year of reviewing books led me to some very engaging books.

These are my highlights and surprises of 2020. While I haven’t read all books that were published – not even all of the popular ones – I found many engaging books among those that I did read.

A year of reading and reviewing books… I read over 100 books this year and reviewed half of them. Many of the books I read are now on my Korea, Japan, Finland, Malaysia, or Hong Kong book lists.

While I read books from all over the world, I still have some blindspots. So my resolution for next year: read a book originating from or set in Africa and South America. If you know a good one, please suggest it to me in the comments below.

Back to 2020. Many of the books I read were released in 2020 or will be released in 2021. But aside from my more recent picks, I also read some classics or other books that are still getting a lot of attention around the world. Some of it deserved, the rest – in my eyes – baffling. That’s what is so great about the vast amount of books that exist in the world: there is a ‘right’ book for everyone.

I see it as my mission to raise awareness of all the good stories that exist in this world.

So here they come: the best, most engaging, unique, and inspiring stories of 2020.

Feelings

My Wow books of 2020

Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin (Review): a beautiful story, wonderfully crafted with a deeper layer underneath.
What Makes a City? By Park Seongwon (Review): deep and moving, and above all, intriguing stories that discuss heavy themes in a dark humor kind of way.
Earthlings by Sayaka Murata (Review): a mix of humor, rich fantasy, and survival on top of everything that is wrong in society. I like books with (dark) twists in the end.
The Disaster Tourist by Yun Ko-eun (Review): a perfect blend between reality and imagination. Who doesn’t love to read about traveling to unique places?
No One Writes Back by Eun-Jin Jang (I didn’t review this one, check it out on Amazon): even though the plot might not come as a surprise, the journey there is beautiful to read.

Engaging my mind

Dead Money by Srinath Adiga (Amazon, 2021 release date): what if the economy of your present life and afterlife would mingle? My review of this book will be published on January 18th.
The Naked Sun by Isaac Asimov (Amazon): this book feels so 2020 when talking about the difference between seeing and viewing, and the characters living alone on their estates.
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-joo (Amazon): painful and confronting. The last chapter from the doctor’s point of view was brilliant.
There’s No Such Thing as an Easy Job by Kikuko Tsumara (Review): a book that is funny at times, deep at others. An excellent read about passion and finding meaning.

This one holds a special place in my heart

Children of the Cave by Virve Sammalkorpi (Review): I have no rational explanation for liking this book. The book is not very exciting, yet it made me feel a lot.

The three unfortunate books that I expected more from

Anxious People by Fredrik Backman (Amazon): Fredrik Backman is one of my favorite authors and I’ve read and enjoyed most of his books. This book just didn’t work for me.
Free Food For Millionaires by Min Jin Lee (Amazon): I read this book because the Dutch translation was published this year. Nothing in it inspired me to write a review. Too underwhelming.
The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow (Amazon): Why couldn’t I like this book about traveling through doors? 🙁 Fortunately, many other people do like it very much.

Extra spotlight for my favorite books of last year (pre-review era)

The Library at Mount Char by Scott Hawkins (Amazon): fun, engaging, and refreshing fantasy book.
Beside the sea by Véronique Olmi (Amazon): painfully real, just painful.
Echo by Thomas Olde Heuvelt (Amazon): Dutch horror book of my favorite Dutch author. The English translation will be released in 2021. His earlier book Hex has already been translated into English. I’m looking forward to the Dutch release of his new book Orakel in January 2021.
No Longer Human by Osamu Dazai (Amazon): my favorite Japanese book.

Travel and Art

The two books that resembled travel guides the most

The Ghost Moths by Harry Farthing (Review): a great read infused with history, culture, and mysteries. Set in Tibet, Nepal, and India.
Winter in Sokcho by Elisa Shua Dusapin (Review): a beautiful story, wonderfully crafted with a deeper layer underneath.

Imbued with the spirit of art

Conception by Özgür Uyanık (Review): a thought-provoking read, humorous, but in a morbid way. Conception is about an artist who challenges society with his conceptual art.
Girls Against God by Jenny Hval (Review): a book that fascinated me, but that I didn’t necessarily enjoy. Still, after rereading my review: maybe I’ll read the book again someday.

Fascinating because of its uniqueness or topic

Girls Against God by Jenny Hval (Review): a book that fascinated me, but that I didn’t necessarily enjoy. Still, after rereading my review: maybe I’ll read the book again someday.
Land-Water-Sky by Katłıà (Review): a magical story collection inspired by Dene (Canada) legends and myths. I really enjoyed reading about legends and myths I had never heard of before.

Broadening my mind with some poetry

I’ll Fly Away by Rudy Francisco (Review): a poetry collection about language barriers and (mis)communication. This one didn’t resonate with me as well as the next one.
Some Are Always Hungry by Jihyun Yun (Review): wonderful poems that read like stories. You sympathize with the characters, but sometimes, you sympathize even more with the food.

Best cover art

Some Are Always Hungry by Jihyun Yun (Review): wonderful poems that read like stories. You sympathize with the characters, but sometimes, you sympathize even more with the food.

Otherwise interesting

Golden oldies

The Underground Village by Kang Kyeong-ae (Review): a storybook that gives insight into the lives of those that came before us. Placeless stories, sometimes timeless, showing the harsh reality of life.
Kokoro by Natsume Sōseki (Amazon): a Japanese classic quietly contemplating feelings and relationships.
Snow Country by Yasunari Kawabata (Amazon): another Japanese classic that is highly praised. Unfortunately, I didn’t like it all that much. I couldn’t ‘feel’ what it was about.

A big role for animals

The Travelling Cat Chronicles by Hiro Arikawa (Amazon): sometime this year I got fascinated by the vast amount of Japanese books featuring cats. This is one of them. Even better: it’s about a cat that is traveling!
The Year of the Hare by Arto Paasilinna (Amazon): animals are great companions that can have a large impact on your life. Who would have thought that meeting a hare could be this life-changing?

What is the most interesting and engaging book you read in 2020? Any books you’re looking forward to in 2021?

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Review: Land-Water-Sky / Ndè-Tı-Yat’a by Katłıà

Kim — Mon, 05 Oct 2020 14:00:00 +0000

Land-Water-Sky by Katłıà is a mythical story collection inspired by Dene (Canada) legends and myths. What if the otherworldly lived among us?

Land-Water-Sky / Ndè-Tı-Yat’a synopsis

Book review

 3/5

The Medicine Man knows many stories of the land, water, and sky; legends that had existed from time immemorial.

The first two stories in Land-Water-Sky bring you back to medieval times. The writing style makes you feel like you’re reading a medieval manuscript in translation. Tales like Beowulf and Beauty and the Beast come to mind. But in this case, the Dene author Katłıà took her inspiration from the legends and myths of the Dene, an indigenous group living in the northern boreal and Arctic regions of Canada.

The stories are set around Yellowknife (Coppertown in the book) with the fictional Nàejì Island resembling Nishi Island / Old Fort Rae. The names of the characters in the book are spelled in the Weledeh-Tłįchǫ language. Very real, but also somewhat hard to read, and you’ll probably resort to just reading the first letter of the names.

One of the reasons Katłıà wrote this book is to start discussions about violence in familial relationships. This is visible in the beauty and the (shapeshifter) beast story at the start, but also in the story of Lafì set in modern times. Half of the characters are kind and good, while their counterparts are beasts in disguise (both otherworldly and human). The stories show the harshness of unequal fights: men and women fighting against and alongside otherworldly creatures. If you bring it down to the essence, it can be about any unequal conflict between humans as well.

I liked the first two stories the most because of the writing style. The more wordy, medieval-folk-tale-like writing style Katłıà used helped the immersion. This is where her strength lies. I was less fond of the writing style in the other stories. Then, after a forgettable intermezzo introducing Louie and the ghost on the road, the longer story of Deèyeh followed to link the past to the present, explaining it all, except for what I wanted to know about her past.

It feels like Katłıà missed a chance here. If she had continued that story, instead of switching to Lafì to tell the other side of the story, Land-Water-Sky would have been a better book. I wanted to read more about Deèyeh and her friend. It would have been so nice if the author had finished the book from their point of view.

Conclusion

After a mesmerizing start, Land-Water-Sky almost ended up an unexpected gem if not for the second part of the book. Still, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed reading the stories, finishing the book in one sitting. The setting, the Northwest Territories in Canada, is also very original. Do pick up this book if you like stories based on mythology and legends from a culture many of us don’t know much about. These stories certainly make me want to visit the northern part of Canada as they show the beauty of nature.

Interested?

Pre-order your copy of Land-Water-Sky from Amazon or directly from the publisher Fernwood Publishing (available 15 October 2020).

Many thanks to Fernwood Publishing and NetGalley for a digital ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

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Canada books Archives - Where to Kim?

Interesting books set on mysterious, magical and absurd islands

Leone Ross - Popisho

Yoko Ogawa - The Memory Police

Yun Ko-eun - The Disaster Tourist

Shelly Nolden - The Vines

Katłıà - Land-Water-Sky

Wu Ming-yi - The Man with the Compound Eyes

Terry Pratchett - Nation

Hanya Yanagihara - The People in the Trees

Ali Shaw - The Girl with Glass Feet

Jess Richards - Snake Ropes

Kirsty Logan - The Gracekeepers

Michael Crichton - Jurassic Park

Review: Satellite love by Genki Ferguson

Satellite Love synopsis

Book review

Existence

Observing the story

Final thoughts

Interested?

Book details

About the author

Review: What Was Said To Me by Ruby Peter and Helene Demers

What Was Said To Me synopsis

Book review

Storyteller

Expectation versus reality

Perseverance

Interested?

Most interesting and engaging books of 2020

Feelings

My Wow books of 2020

Engaging my mind

This one holds a special place in my heart

The three unfortunate books that I expected more from

Extra spotlight for my favorite books of last year (pre-review era)

Travel and Art

The two books that resembled travel guides the most

Imbued with the spirit of art

Fascinating because of its uniqueness or topic

Broadening my mind with some poetry

Best cover art

Otherwise interesting

Most popular reviews on WheretoKim in 2020

Golden oldies

A big role for animals

Review: Land-Water-Sky / Ndè-Tı-Yat’a by Katłıà

Land-Water-Sky / Ndè-Tı-Yat’a synopsis

Book review

Conclusion

Interested?