Status
Available
Series
Publication
Small Beer Press (2017), Edition: Illustrated, 337 pages
Description
Fantasy. Fiction. Literature. HTML: Four women �?? a soldier, a scholar, a poet, and a socialite �?? are caught up on opposing sides of a violent rebellion. As war erupts and their loyalties and agendas and ideologies come into conflict, the four fear their lives may pass unrecorded. Using the sword and the pen, the body and the voice, they struggle not just to survive, but to make history. Here is the much-anticipated companion novel to Sofia Samatar's World Fantasy Award-winning debut, A Stranger in Olondria. The Winged Histories is the saga of an empire �?? and a family: their friendships, their enduring love, their arcane and deadly secrets. Samatar asks who makes history, who endures it, and how the turbulence of historical change sweeps over every aspect of a life and over everyone, no matter whether or not they choose to seek it out. Sofia Samatar is the author of the Crawford, British Fantasy, and World Fantasy award-winning novel A Stranger in Olondria. She also received the John W. Campbell Award. She has written for the Guardian, Strange Horizons, Lightspeed, and many other publications. She is working on a collection of stories. Her website is sofiasamatar.… (more)
Similar in this library
User reviews
LibraryThing member scvlad
I thought this was a lovely fantasy novel. The writing is slow and luxurious and you become immersed in the author's world, almost absorbing it through your skin.
This is her second novel, following [A Stranger in Olondria] which I have not read. The plot is simple: it revolves around a failed
Olandria is a nicely developed world with its own mythos and cultures and I enjoyed learning about it.
I enjoyed this very much and will read her first novel sometime soon.
Oh, don't expect a linear story. Samatar drifts back and forth from past to present and important plot elements are dribbled out over the course of the novel.
This is her second novel, following [A Stranger in Olondria] which I have not read. The plot is simple: it revolves around a failed
Show More
rebellion and a family's connection with it. It is told from four points of view: Tavis, a young who leaves her home and destiny to become a warrior; Talon, daughter of the priest of the stone, a new cult which is rocking the kingdom; Seren, Tavis' lover from one of local migrant tribes; and Siski, Tavis' older sister. Each of the novel's four parts is dedicated to one of their stories. Each has her own distinctive voice and character. The events are a small part of the novel; the relationship of the people in the events and how they respond to them are the major points.Olandria is a nicely developed world with its own mythos and cultures and I enjoyed learning about it.
I enjoyed this very much and will read her first novel sometime soon.
Oh, don't expect a linear story. Samatar drifts back and forth from past to present and important plot elements are dribbled out over the course of the novel.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Jarandel
A Stranger in Olondria could be loosely called a tale of what happened when a foreigner, enchanted by that country's literature, came to live among its inheritors and found they might not be quite what he expected.
The Winged Histories is also very much about that written and narrated legacy.
The book is divided into four parts with a protagonist for each. All women though a fifth man, Prince Andasya, features indirectly yet prominently as a brother, friend, love, and also the one the History of Olondria with a capital H will likely remember as the instigator of the major events it is likely to record.
Which he isn't, quite.
While far from just an empty figurehead or a puppet in the hands of the women of the family, he was also far from alone in it, as you will learn if you listen to the voices of others enmeshed in said events and many lesser and unrecorded events beneath the notice of History, yet ones without which the picture is staggeringly incomplete or maybe even false.
I nearly bounced off the first part, the one dedicated to the maiden of the sword Tavis.
It's as wonderfully written as everything else, but each chapter is headed by an excerpt, the first of which brought me to a screeching halt within maybe 2 lines because the tone was obviously either prophetic or hagiographic. I'm not too spoiler-averse while in the process of picking a read, but the author themselves handing me the cheat sheet of what will happen is a bit too much so I exercised my reader's discretion and skipped those excerpts.
It turns out I could have been more trusting. Yes, this is a book about who tells (hi)stories and how they do it and the interplay between them, and the author knew what she was doing but I didn't know that yet. And the experience was rather interesting anyway. Without the prophetic/hagiographic bits to tell you (maybe not quite accurately anyway) where all this is headed the main text feels a bit like the point of view character is wearing side-blinders and almost entirely lacks or rejects any projection into the future... a bit unusual and irritating.
But in a sense maybe she does live aimlessly for a long while after her escape, and despite being the linchpin of most of what will unfold, she only realizes what she really wants to do and how she might accomplish it as it emerges through accumulated present experience and remembrance of things past.
The second part is the tale of Tialon, the daughter of a priest of the Stone. Said Stone is covered with a multitude of tiny engraved sentences from various ages in many languages and for many purposes. It is a rather transparent but fascinating stand-in for any holy text you might care to name, or even recorded history in general, and what happens when people try to confiscate, control and manipulate the reading and telling of it in the name of a higher purpose for all-too-human ends.
Unnecessary hint : it's not pretty.
The third part is the tale of Seren, a young nomad woman whose tribe Tavis came to live with for a while before and after the uprising.
A singer and loremaster but one whose traditions dictate that only men compose their great tragedies while women craft lighter songs, she's gently prodded into reconsidering, to this reader's delight.
The fourth and last is the tale of Siski. Her struggle might seem at first somewhat petty and cowardly (or even non-existent), but it neatly ties events together.
And all things considered, while not putting herself in direct physical danger or hardship like her cousins who ran off to become soldiers, she may have been facing more directly and staving off forces no less formidable than the other protagonists.
Namely, the most prominent antagonist of sorts in the book : the matriarch of the family three of the five protagonists belong to, the one who placed them like so many chess piecesbefore some began to chomp at the bit and unravel her carefully laid dynastic plans .
I suppose a number of readers will love to hate the old woman and the character is not badly done, but for this reader she was soundly overwhelmed by what she was a mouthpiece for. I can't really remember her name or what she was supposed to look like, she simply was the incarnation of every person messing with the lives of others in the name of the biological/holy drive to cover as much territory and grab as many resources as they can for their own bloodline and those most like them.
Though the eyes of many will concentrate on the sound and furyand apparent inconclusive failure of the uprising , she and what she stands for are IMO the real dragon in the story, more than the Olondrian who really just crept in with their money and whose nobility some locals were more than happy to marry into, or the few if strategically placed zealots of the Stone.
Siski was the one who almost fell into the dragon's trap as she was barely becoming a woman, the one who remained longest and most vulnerable under its stare, its pressure to take a husband, the right husband as planned for her, to breed, to surrender her children to further dreams of wealth and power while being made to have none of her own.
The Winged Histories is also very much about that written and narrated legacy.
Show More
Stories, histories, who gets to tell and transmit them beyond just the local equivalent of "the victors" or "dead men of high status" (not quite "dead white men" here since as far as I remember everyone seemed to be some shade of brown), why and how, their infinite wealth and complexity.The book is divided into four parts with a protagonist for each. All women though a fifth man, Prince Andasya, features indirectly yet prominently as a brother, friend, love, and also the one the History of Olondria with a capital H will likely remember as the instigator of the major events it is likely to record.
Which he isn't, quite.
While far from just an empty figurehead or a puppet in the hands of the women of the family, he was also far from alone in it, as you will learn if you listen to the voices of others enmeshed in said events and many lesser and unrecorded events beneath the notice of History, yet ones without which the picture is staggeringly incomplete or maybe even false.
I nearly bounced off the first part, the one dedicated to the maiden of the sword Tavis.
It's as wonderfully written as everything else, but each chapter is headed by an excerpt, the first of which brought me to a screeching halt within maybe 2 lines because the tone was obviously either prophetic or hagiographic. I'm not too spoiler-averse while in the process of picking a read, but the author themselves handing me the cheat sheet of what will happen is a bit too much so I exercised my reader's discretion and skipped those excerpts.
It turns out I could have been more trusting. Yes, this is a book about who tells (hi)stories and how they do it and the interplay between them, and the author knew what she was doing but I didn't know that yet. And the experience was rather interesting anyway. Without the prophetic/hagiographic bits to tell you (maybe not quite accurately anyway) where all this is headed the main text feels a bit like the point of view character is wearing side-blinders and almost entirely lacks or rejects any projection into the future... a bit unusual and irritating.
But in a sense maybe she does live aimlessly for a long while after her escape, and despite being the linchpin of most of what will unfold, she only realizes what she really wants to do and how she might accomplish it as it emerges through accumulated present experience and remembrance of things past.
The second part is the tale of Tialon, the daughter of a priest of the Stone. Said Stone is covered with a multitude of tiny engraved sentences from various ages in many languages and for many purposes. It is a rather transparent but fascinating stand-in for any holy text you might care to name, or even recorded history in general, and what happens when people try to confiscate, control and manipulate the reading and telling of it in the name of a higher purpose for all-too-human ends.
Unnecessary hint : it's not pretty.
The third part is the tale of Seren, a young nomad woman whose tribe Tavis came to live with for a while before and after the uprising.
A singer and loremaster but one whose traditions dictate that only men compose their great tragedies while women craft lighter songs, she's gently prodded into reconsidering, to this reader's delight.
The fourth and last is the tale of Siski. Her struggle might seem at first somewhat petty and cowardly (or even non-existent), but it neatly ties events together.
And all things considered, while not putting herself in direct physical danger or hardship like her cousins who ran off to become soldiers, she may have been facing more directly and staving off forces no less formidable than the other protagonists.
Namely, the most prominent antagonist of sorts in the book : the matriarch of the family three of the five protagonists belong to, the one who placed them like so many chess pieces
I suppose a number of readers will love to hate the old woman and the character is not badly done, but for this reader she was soundly overwhelmed by what she was a mouthpiece for. I can't really remember her name or what she was supposed to look like, she simply was the incarnation of every person messing with the lives of others in the name of the biological/holy drive to cover as much territory and grab as many resources as they can for their own bloodline and those most like them.
Though the eyes of many will concentrate on the sound and fury
Siski was the one who almost fell into the dragon's trap as she was barely becoming a woman, the one who remained longest and most vulnerable under its stare, its pressure to take a husband, the right husband as planned for her, to breed, to surrender her children to further dreams of wealth and power while being made to have none of her own.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Panopticon2
This book has a wonderful and intriguing premise and I really thought I'd love it. But non-linear narratives are not my thing. I struggled with this book for many months but regrettably, have given it up for now. I plan to try again, though - it sounds as though other reviewers who persevered have
Show More
been rewarded. Show Less
LibraryThing member Shoosty
This is a fantasy story of a rebellion led against the ruler of the land by his son. It is told by 4 women in 4 different sections.
Although I enjoyed the story I did not connect with the characters and thus it took me a while to read the book, especially at the start.
Although I enjoyed the story I did not connect with the characters and thus it took me a while to read the book, especially at the start.
LibraryThing member reading_fox
Odd. An unusual style of story telling, it doesn't quite work and drags substantially through the middle.
It's the story of two sisters and their cousin who are raised in a comfortable family. The setting is somewhat middles ages europe ish. Active religion, wandering tribes and frequent small
It's the story of two sisters and their cousin who are raised in a comfortable family. The setting is somewhat middles ages europe ish. Active religion, wandering tribes and frequent small
Show More
fights between neighbours. However the children go their own ways, a poet, a soldier and a socialite, none of them carrying the honour of the family name. We follow each in turn, but aren't aware of how their lives interact until subsequent sections. There is no great resolution at the end. Show Less
LibraryThing member Euryale
I have mixed feelings about this book. The characters are well realized, and I like the prose style. That said, I'm not at all invested in the plot. I like the multiple dimensions to the conflict (political, religious, family, all realistically overlapping) and the fact that we see it from several
I'd read more by Samatar in the future, but I'm not clicking with this one. (I'd recommend Samatar's other book in this world, A Stranger in Olondria, over this one.)
Show More
different sides. The viewpoint characters all had believable motives and goals, but I didn't connect with any of them emotionally. I keep putting this down, forgetting about it for days, and then finding I'd lost the narrative thread. It may also be that I'm reading it in PDF format, which makes it hard to skim back over what I've read to remind myself who's who or how they're related.I'd read more by Samatar in the future, but I'm not clicking with this one. (I'd recommend Samatar's other book in this world, A Stranger in Olondria, over this one.)
Show Less
LibraryThing member cuentosalgernon
Something strange happened to me with this book. I enjoyed the style and the prose, poetical, precise, with some beautiful sentences, and I also think the structure was interesting and promising, with those four women telling four different pieces of the story of the war in Olondria, until the
I liked “Stranger in Olondria” slightly better, and although it’s not indispensable, I’d recommend starting with that first book, and if you like it, go ahead with “The Winged Stories”, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it too.
Show More
puzzle, the novel, is completed. But, despite all that, the plot and the characters didn’t resonate with me at all, and I had to force myself to keep on reading. I liked “Stranger in Olondria” slightly better, and although it’s not indispensable, I’d recommend starting with that first book, and if you like it, go ahead with “The Winged Stories”, I’m sure you’ll enjoy it too.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Gretchening
Sofia Samatar's work is a revelation. Her prose has only become richer and more assured between her debut novel and this follow-up. The Winged Histories gives the stories of four women whose stories are linked by the events that shape them (and that they help to shape). The contexts of the
Show More
complicated class and national histories the inform these women is described in such clear detail that I feel that I know them all, their histories and their inner realities. Amazing, incredible, lush, emotionally rich, politically fascinating, this is one of the most satisfying novels I have picked up in ages. It begs the reader in each moment to consider how histories are created, and the costs and inequalities behind how we all must fight to be a part of history, however it gets written Show Less
LibraryThing member quondame
Strange and wonderful if episodic and convoluted. Every woman has her own history. I look forward to reading the first book in this setting.
LibraryThing member deeEhmm
I adore Sofia Samatar and the prior book in this sequence, A Stranger in Olondria, was masterful--a rival, in transporting me to a place that felt more real and believable than my own world, to the Lord of the Rings. I did not find myself transported by The Winged Histories. It was a difficult and
Show More
puzzling book, though filled with intriguing characters, relationships, and possibilities from which my own imagination could take flight. Show Less
LibraryThing member allison_s
Can I smear tears on a piece of paper and call that a review?
This was GORGEOUS and emotionally bruising and so so wonderful and engaging and many other perfect words. There is so much world-building, a fascinating mythology, and beautiful language (I'm trying not to yell about Seren's little
Poetic and bloody, lovely and dark, this is a book to be SAVORED, and I will be re-reading it again soon, at a much slower pace. (And then maybe I'll write a much better review for this amazing book.)
This was GORGEOUS and emotionally bruising and so so wonderful and engaging and many other perfect words. There is so much world-building, a fascinating mythology, and beautiful language (I'm trying not to yell about Seren's little
Show More
language lessons). There are amazing epigraphs, which I'm always a huge fan of. Samatar winds the stories of four very different women through a monumental period of Olondrian history, and it's one of the best reading experiences I've had in the last year. Poetic and bloody, lovely and dark, this is a book to be SAVORED, and I will be re-reading it again soon, at a much slower pace. (And then maybe I'll write a much better review for this amazing book.)
Show Less
LibraryThing member eldang
A pleasure to come back to Olondria, and good to see more of the cracks in a world that has a dangerously twee surface. This book really felt more like four novellas to me than a single novel, even though they are all about the same events. The use of four distinct storytellers was interesting, but
Show More
somehow it didn't quite drag me all the way into its world in the way that the one extended fever dream of A Stranger In Olondria did. Show Less
LibraryThing member DrFuriosa
This book is a slow start but the momentum builds quickly to a startling and wrenching finish. Sofia Samatar is an AMAZING writer. Like, her prose is gorgeous and will wreck you and create an image that you will be haunted by long after you've put the book down. I think her choice of four female
Many thanks to my sister, who gave this a rave review. I think this is a contender for best book I've read this year.
Show More
narrators throughout civil unrest was a smart choice, as it demonstrates the effects of war on women civilians. The narrative polyphony is broken up into four books, so you don't have to try and identify which woman is speaking. That said, this novel reminds me a lot of Virginia Woolf's The Waves, which is all about mourning the loss of something or someone. Many thanks to my sister, who gave this a rave review. I think this is a contender for best book I've read this year.
Show Less
Awards
Locus Award (Finalist — Fantasy Novel — 2017)
Nommo Award (Long list — 2017)
NPR: Books We Love (2016)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2016-03
Physical description
337 p.; 8.5 inches
ISBN
1618731378 / 9781618731371