Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Tor (New York, 2019). 1st edition, 1st printing. 368 pages. $26.99.
Description
""If you control our sleep, then you can own our dreams . . . And from there, it's easy to control our entire lives." The bestselling author of All the Birds in the Sky returns with a strange, haunting, and deeply human tale. Sophie serves coffee at an underground cafe. She stays in the shadows and listens to the troubles of the parlor guests, but does not draw attention to herself for one simple reason: Sophie is supposed to be dead. When a nationalistic revolution forces Sophie from her safe haven, she must make a dangerous journey to a new city, one that revels in hedonism and chaos. After joining up with a band of smugglers, she finds herself on a long and treacherous path that will lead her far closer to the truth of her entire world---and to the dangers that lurk even in the light of day" --… (more)
Media reviews
This is a long novel, and it’s not in a hurry to get where it’s going. Anders’s plotting isn’t thin, exactly; it’s just that storyline isn’t what she finds most interesting. Instead she draws the reader into the socio-political detail of her imagined world ... This is a millennial’s
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novel, featuring young people trying to make their way through an uncaring, corrupt and intermittently violent world. If this middle-aged reviewer found it sometimes hard to like the dramatis personae, that doubtless says more about the gap between real-world generations than about the novel. Though sometimes judgmental and self-righteous, Anders’s characters are also emotionally sophisticated and passionate, and this is heartfelt and absorbing fiction. Show Less
Anders... has given us an original protagonist in the awkward and open Sophie, who feels an otherness to her core. Her love for Bianca is as pure as it is misplaced. Readers will recognize their own Biancas in this story, as well as their own personal tragedies. The City in the Middle of the Night
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may be set light-years away, but it’s likely to hit too close to home. Show Less
I never thought I would describe a book as painting a story entirely in different shades of anxiety, but Anders nails the feelings of claustrophobia, fear of acceptance, inferiority and loss of identity all in the span of 360 pages ... The City in the Middle of the Night does not end cleanly, and
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perhaps it’s fitting that a story so well grounded in realistic and relatable protagonists ends with such an unsatisfying tilt. In this novel, Anders has lovingly crafted a unique world, and finishes with a wild twist that left me endlessly interested in the next book of the series. Show Less
Anders weaves an intricate tale of colonialism and evolution on both physical and social levels. The harsh world and well-developed characters combine with stunning storytelling that will capture readers' minds and hearts.
Watching Sophie come into her own and gradually (and almost too late) realize that the Bianca she loves doesn’t exist is inevitable, sad, and, eventually, empowering ... Anders contains multitudes; it’s always a fascinating and worthwhile surprise to see what she comes up with next.
User reviews
LibraryThing member quondame
A heavy tale of life in three cities on a tidally locked planet, a repressive state that enforces and artificial day-night cycle, a free for all gangster run city where you are free to do what you want when you want but you can starve or be killed anytime too. The third is a vision of the unknown
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dark side buried city of the natives. The world was well textured in detail, but not believably balanced from a long view. The central relationship is obsessive/abusive, so no joy there, but the emotions are well portrayed and the characters largely believable. It could have stood to have a good chunk edited out of the middle. Show Less
LibraryThing member klpm
This book was a crazy ride through an unrecognizable world. I kept being totally shocked by the things that happened but nothing ever felt out of place. Strangely, my favorite thing was the use of words whose meanings had changed after hundreds of years. Something would be mentioned like "lemonade"
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and then the person would be served a glass of green liquid with weeds in it that tasted slightly sour. I thought about language for days after finishing this book! I didn't think about tidally-locked planets because those are apparently horrifying and I am glad I will never have to migrate to one. Show Less
LibraryThing member flying_monkeys
"Humans are experts at storing knowledge and forgetting facts..."
For the record, I disliked Bianca from the get-go. Her narcissistic, spoiled rich kid personality was so obvious. I had to suspend disbelief that someone as sharp as Sophie wouldn't see right through Bianca. Yeah, I'm (maybe too) hard
I'll admit I am not well read in sf. I spent most of my life roaming around and exploring the f in SFF. So it can take me longer to sink into sf worlds. Anders crafts a tangible new planet with January and really breathes life into it with striking imagery.
But there was a lot of time spent on the worldbuilding -- like 200 pages before the really good bits kicked in. Personally, I would've liked to have started with the Gelet and stayed with them far longer than 30 pages.
And, while I get the final pages, the ending is abrupt. I think the point was to end on hope, despite the planet's prognosis. At least that's how I choose to interpret it.
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*Disclaimer: A major pet peeve is toxic relationships in which one partner continually gives into the other partner. Like the one partner has a secret power and the other partner is helpless against it or something. Yes, I realize this is part of what makes codependent relationships bad; I just can't stand to read from the POV of the push over.
Now, the character and relationship that fits the above does have a believable transformation, if not of the too-little-too-late variety. Kind of like, so much more could've been accomplished and avoided if the character had wised up sooner than later.
For the record, I disliked Bianca from the get-go. Her narcissistic, spoiled rich kid personality was so obvious. I had to suspend disbelief that someone as sharp as Sophie wouldn't see right through Bianca. Yeah, I'm (maybe too) hard
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on YA relationships*, I know this; after all, most everyone gets duped by someone at some point in their life, right? Or is my cynical side showing...I'll admit I am not well read in sf. I spent most of my life roaming around and exploring the f in SFF. So it can take me longer to sink into sf worlds. Anders crafts a tangible new planet with January and really breathes life into it with striking imagery.
But there was a lot of time spent on the worldbuilding -- like 200 pages before the really good bits kicked in. Personally, I would've liked to have started with the Gelet and stayed with them far longer than 30 pages.
And, while I get the final pages, the ending is abrupt. I think the point was to end on hope, despite the planet's prognosis. At least that's how I choose to interpret it.
----------------
*Disclaimer: A major pet peeve is toxic relationships in which one partner continually gives into the other partner. Like the one partner has a secret power and the other partner is helpless against it or something. Yes, I realize this is part of what makes codependent relationships bad; I just can't stand to read from the POV of the push over.
Now, the character and relationship that fits the above does have a believable transformation, if not of the too-little-too-late variety. Kind of like, so much more could've been accomplished and avoided if the character had wised up sooner than later.
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LibraryThing member fred_mouse
Anders is a very clever writer, with fabulous use of language, and immersive world-building. Unfortunately, I loathe their characters. Well written, but just horrible people, and I spend so much time not wanting to be anywhere near them that this book took me months to read.
LibraryThing member xiaomarlo
Things I love about this book:
- it's about a tidally locked planet: one half will burn you to a crisp and the other half will freeze you to death. Humans are trying to survive straddling that tiny part in between. The push and pull of those two halves are reflected in many ways, in the narrative,
- Anders is so imaginative. I genuinely never knew what was going to happen next, because her ideas and tone are so fresh. The world-building is fun (and dark) and surprising and three-dimensional. And so much of it is delightfully weird.
- the characters and their relationships are so fleshed out, and it's so intimate and raw, and funny in parts.
- it's about trauma and memory, and how to heal (or not heal) and process trauma
- I cried a few times, and was on the edge of crying many more times, particularly in the midnight city parts, which were particularly deep and moving. I don't want to spoil it for you.
- this world is absolutely nothing like earth, but like all great science fiction, the story says so much about our contemporary world, and how humans think about the past and the future.
- it's about a tidally locked planet: one half will burn you to a crisp and the other half will freeze you to death. Humans are trying to survive straddling that tiny part in between. The push and pull of those two halves are reflected in many ways, in the narrative,
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and in the characters and their relationships.- Anders is so imaginative. I genuinely never knew what was going to happen next, because her ideas and tone are so fresh. The world-building is fun (and dark) and surprising and three-dimensional. And so much of it is delightfully weird.
- the characters and their relationships are so fleshed out, and it's so intimate and raw, and funny in parts.
- it's about trauma and memory, and how to heal (or not heal) and process trauma
- I cried a few times, and was on the edge of crying many more times, particularly in the midnight city parts, which were particularly deep and moving. I don't want to spoil it for you.
- this world is absolutely nothing like earth, but like all great science fiction, the story says so much about our contemporary world, and how humans think about the past and the future.
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LibraryThing member LisCarey
The planet of January is tidally locked, one side endless, blazing daylight, and the other endless, frozen night. There are two human cities on January, in the narrow temperate zone. They're cities of very different cultures.
Xiosphant is rigidly autocratic, with very tight rules governing waking,
Argelo superficially appears to be without rules, and in reality is run by several Mafia-like families, and its own complex social conventions. There are no rules about when you can eat, work, or sleep, and the language lacks all the complex case forms, working entirely by word-order.
Sophie and Bianca are students at the Gymnasium in Xiosphant, a very distinguished school of higher education. Bianca is from an upper class family. Sophie is a scholarship student in this very class-conscious society. They are roommates, and very idealistic, and active in underground student political activities. This ultimately leads to Sophie being seized for a very minor crime Bianca committed, and forced out of the city into the night side, where she will freeze to death. Except, instead she meets the Gelet, and survives.
Mouth and Alyssa are members of the Resourceful Couriers, smugglers conducting illegal trade between Argelo and Xiosphant. Mouth is the last survivor of the Citizens, who were nomads traveling between the cities and whatever other patches of habitable places with useful things that they could find. They didn't consider themselves smugglers, but others probably did. They were wiped out in a horrible attack by blue things from the sky, when Mouth had been off gathering something. Alyssa is Jewish, a native of Argelo, and Mouth's sleep partner among the Resourceful Couriers--they watch each other's backs against the dangers of the road.
Sophie's encounter with the Gelet changes her, and when she returns to Xiosphant, she stays away from Bianca and other students, remaining in hiding and working for Hernan in the Illyrian Parlour. This avoidance of Bianca has consequences for both of them, later.
There's political intriguein Argelo, too, and these disparate sets of people come together, not exactly in harmony, and they, their cities, and the Gelet collide in ways both expected and unexpected. The humans and the Gelet can't survive without each other, and it's not clear they'll be able to come together in useful ways.
I'm not nearly doing justice to this excellent, absorbing book. I haven't said a lot about the Gelet because saying what I want to involves spoilers. They're fascinating beings, and it's not really a surprise that first contact didn't go all that well.
Highly recommended.
I received this book as part of the Hugo Voters packet, and am reviewing it voluntarily.
Xiosphant is rigidly autocratic, with very tight rules governing waking,
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sleeping, work, the limited amount of leisure time available. The language is complex, with case forms that indicate social rank of speaker and of the person addressed, time of day, and numerous other details.Argelo superficially appears to be without rules, and in reality is run by several Mafia-like families, and its own complex social conventions. There are no rules about when you can eat, work, or sleep, and the language lacks all the complex case forms, working entirely by word-order.
Sophie and Bianca are students at the Gymnasium in Xiosphant, a very distinguished school of higher education. Bianca is from an upper class family. Sophie is a scholarship student in this very class-conscious society. They are roommates, and very idealistic, and active in underground student political activities. This ultimately leads to Sophie being seized for a very minor crime Bianca committed, and forced out of the city into the night side, where she will freeze to death. Except, instead she meets the Gelet, and survives.
Mouth and Alyssa are members of the Resourceful Couriers, smugglers conducting illegal trade between Argelo and Xiosphant. Mouth is the last survivor of the Citizens, who were nomads traveling between the cities and whatever other patches of habitable places with useful things that they could find. They didn't consider themselves smugglers, but others probably did. They were wiped out in a horrible attack by blue things from the sky, when Mouth had been off gathering something. Alyssa is Jewish, a native of Argelo, and Mouth's sleep partner among the Resourceful Couriers--they watch each other's backs against the dangers of the road.
Sophie's encounter with the Gelet changes her, and when she returns to Xiosphant, she stays away from Bianca and other students, remaining in hiding and working for Hernan in the Illyrian Parlour. This avoidance of Bianca has consequences for both of them, later.
There's political intriguein Argelo, too, and these disparate sets of people come together, not exactly in harmony, and they, their cities, and the Gelet collide in ways both expected and unexpected. The humans and the Gelet can't survive without each other, and it's not clear they'll be able to come together in useful ways.
I'm not nearly doing justice to this excellent, absorbing book. I haven't said a lot about the Gelet because saying what I want to involves spoilers. They're fascinating beings, and it's not really a surprise that first contact didn't go all that well.
Highly recommended.
I received this book as part of the Hugo Voters packet, and am reviewing it voluntarily.
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LibraryThing member imyril
I love CJA's prose style, but I was never won over by the protagonists (or their terrible toxic relationships) in City In The Middle Of The Night, so this slow-paced, introspective space opera felt far longer than it is.
There was so much along the way that intrigued me - except the characters, and
There's so much world to explore, too, as Anders has developed a considered history of two races - but City is set in a time when most of this history has been forgotten, so we can’t know about it (until the end, when after the long build it feels like rushed exposition).
In the end the pace frustrated and the final act felt completely out of step. This is a book that I will probably find rereads better, now I know what to expect, but I can’t imagine I’ll revisit it.
Points for originality and world design, but not for me. Or not for me at this point in time.
There was so much along the way that intrigued me - except the characters, and
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this is more of a character study and coming of age story than a save the world from political insanity and climate apocalypse story. There's so much world to explore, too, as Anders has developed a considered history of two races - but City is set in a time when most of this history has been forgotten, so we can’t know about it (until the end, when after the long build it feels like rushed exposition).
In the end the pace frustrated and the final act felt completely out of step. This is a book that I will probably find rereads better, now I know what to expect, but I can’t imagine I’ll revisit it.
Points for originality and world design, but not for me. Or not for me at this point in time.
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LibraryThing member g33kgrrl
Absolutely lovely. Took me forever to finish because I had a hard copy from the library, but it's worth it.
"To join with others to shape a future is the holiest act." So fucking pointy here in the good year 2020, but also so touching and lovely.
"To join with others to shape a future is the holiest act." So fucking pointy here in the good year 2020, but also so touching and lovely.
LibraryThing member pjohanneson
Well written, full of big ideas and well-rounded, flawed, human characters (and inhuman too). I think I'll be digesting that ending for a while.
LibraryThing member Stevil2001
The front cover blurb on my copy reeds, "This generation's Le Guin," which made me scoff. I mean, I enjoyed All the Birds in the Sky, but it read to me like an above-average YA novel in many ways-- not a piece of genre-defining fiction. But I did read The City in the Middle of the Night about a
The novel is set on a tidally locked planet, in human colonies in the planet's tiny habitable zone. Thus "day" and "night" are directions, not times, and there is no natural timekeeping system for the planet to adopt. We primarily see two different cities, one where a consistent time system is rigidly enforced, one where there is a complete absence of consistent time from person to person. I loved the worldbuilding, especially in Xiosphant, the rigid city. But like the best science fiction, it's not all about the world; it's also about the people, people who both feel like totally a product of their world and like people you could actually know. Following the adventures of Sophie and Mouth tells you something about their world, and something about yourself. The book has a real emotional truth that impressed me a lot, especially after reading the complete lack of truthful characterization (or worldbuilding, come to think of it) in Gideon the Ninth. Near the end, the worldbuilding feels less important, which was disappointing; I wanted more of human culture on the planet January than we ultimately got.
But this book feels real throughout, in terms of character and in terms of world. It does what great sf does: explores an idea both literally and metaphorically. I have four more Best Novel finalists to read, but this feels to me like the one to beat.
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month after reading The Left Hand of Darkness for the third time, and I can see it. City in the Middle won't redefine the genre, but it is working squarely within the genre as Le Guin redefined it; like Ancillary Justice, you can see very clearly how Anders is following in the footsteps of her predecessor. Like Left Hand, this is a story about societies and how they shape us, and how we reach across the barriers. Like Left Hand, there's a focus on two different societies, one more rigid, one seemingly more flexible. Like Left Hand, it's about how histories define both self and world. Like Left Hand, it's about how we fail to reach across the barriers. Like Left Hand, it's about how exploration is about redefining the self. And like Left Hand (and Ancillary Justice!), it's got a long, cold journey on a sled in it.The novel is set on a tidally locked planet, in human colonies in the planet's tiny habitable zone. Thus "day" and "night" are directions, not times, and there is no natural timekeeping system for the planet to adopt. We primarily see two different cities, one where a consistent time system is rigidly enforced, one where there is a complete absence of consistent time from person to person. I loved the worldbuilding, especially in Xiosphant, the rigid city. But like the best science fiction, it's not all about the world; it's also about the people, people who both feel like totally a product of their world and like people you could actually know. Following the adventures of Sophie and Mouth tells you something about their world, and something about yourself. The book has a real emotional truth that impressed me a lot, especially after reading the complete lack of truthful characterization (or worldbuilding, come to think of it) in Gideon the Ninth. Near the end, the worldbuilding feels less important, which was disappointing; I wanted more of human culture on the planet January than we ultimately got.
But this book feels real throughout, in terms of character and in terms of world. It does what great sf does: explores an idea both literally and metaphorically. I have four more Best Novel finalists to read, but this feels to me like the one to beat.
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LibraryThing member renbedell
A science fiction book about a planet that the sun only hits one part of, making one part of the planet boiling hot and the other dark and cold. Society lives on the fringe with fear of traveling outside of the cities due to dangerous creatures. The story follows two women as they try to find their
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life meaning. It has dystopian elements, survival elements, and philosophy elements. The story direction changes a lot throughout the book. The main two characters are interesting, but the supportive cast less so. The story meanders along that it is difficult to get attached to any plot line and mostly it is just about the two characters growth. It is a very enjoyable book with very interesting ideas. The ending is abrupt and it would have been nice if there was something more to tie in the whole journey together. Show Less
LibraryThing member brakketh
Wonderful and engaging world building.
LibraryThing member ShellyS
I'd read some nice reviews for this, and both the plot and setting sounded interesting, so I decided to give this a try. First off, it's very readable, a fairly linear story told from the pov of two late teenage (I assume) female characters: Sophie (first person narration) and mouth (third person
Now for my (non-spoiler) review.
The setting is a planet called January, many generations after the Mothership arrived from Earth. Nearly half of January is a cold wasteland where night never ends, while the other side of the planet is in perpetual, blazing light. The narrow temperate zone is the only place where humanity can survive, though travel between the two main cities is treacherous. I had some difficulties envisioning this and wished there had been a map. I love maps.
Sophie, the first person narrator, is an idealistic, quiet, naive, good-hearted college student enamored of her bunkmate Bianca. They have big dreams of changing the culture of the restrictive, regimented life in their city. Mouth, whose story unfolds in third person narration, runs with a group of smugglers after having been raised by nomads who never got around to giving her a real name. She's a hot mess, sarcastic, closed-off, unable to stay in one place for too long.
The plot is kicked off when Sophie is sent to an expected death in the planet's dark side after she protected Bianca from being caught in a minor theft, and ended up being the one arrested. But instead of dying, Sophie is saved by one of the creatures that lives in the planet's dark. And then....
If you're intrigued, the book is worth reading to find out what happens. Some fascinating questions are explored, such as how time works on a planet where it's always day or always night. The two cities treat time very differently, and have different languages and customs. There are the species native to January and a declining climate system causing a toxic rain. And there's a seemingly pretentious "Translator's Note" before the story begins, that makes more sense after the story is read.
So, this should've been a slam-dunk 5-star book for me, but it wasn't. It's mostly a small story set on a big science-fictional world, where the setting supports the character arcs. Which isn't bad, but I prefer a better mix. At its core, this reads like a YA novel, with Sophie and mouth coming to terms with who they are, what they want, and how best to get it. There are times I want to slap Sophie silly for her undying devotion to Bianca, a young woman so good at manipulating people. It takes the whole book pretty much for Sophie to realize and accept some truths about Bianca.
Bottom line, this is a good, enjoyable book. But it could have been much more.
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narration. Second, the blurb was no more than an approximation of what goes on in the book. Perhaps I shouldn't have read it, but I did, and it gave me expectations regarding how the story would play out. I don't mind surprises in books. In fact, I love a good plot twist, but in this case, the inaccuracies were just enough to be annoying.Now for my (non-spoiler) review.
The setting is a planet called January, many generations after the Mothership arrived from Earth. Nearly half of January is a cold wasteland where night never ends, while the other side of the planet is in perpetual, blazing light. The narrow temperate zone is the only place where humanity can survive, though travel between the two main cities is treacherous. I had some difficulties envisioning this and wished there had been a map. I love maps.
Sophie, the first person narrator, is an idealistic, quiet, naive, good-hearted college student enamored of her bunkmate Bianca. They have big dreams of changing the culture of the restrictive, regimented life in their city. Mouth, whose story unfolds in third person narration, runs with a group of smugglers after having been raised by nomads who never got around to giving her a real name. She's a hot mess, sarcastic, closed-off, unable to stay in one place for too long.
The plot is kicked off when Sophie is sent to an expected death in the planet's dark side after she protected Bianca from being caught in a minor theft, and ended up being the one arrested. But instead of dying, Sophie is saved by one of the creatures that lives in the planet's dark. And then....
If you're intrigued, the book is worth reading to find out what happens. Some fascinating questions are explored, such as how time works on a planet where it's always day or always night. The two cities treat time very differently, and have different languages and customs. There are the species native to January and a declining climate system causing a toxic rain. And there's a seemingly pretentious "Translator's Note" before the story begins, that makes more sense after the story is read.
So, this should've been a slam-dunk 5-star book for me, but it wasn't. It's mostly a small story set on a big science-fictional world, where the setting supports the character arcs. Which isn't bad, but I prefer a better mix. At its core, this reads like a YA novel, with Sophie and mouth coming to terms with who they are, what they want, and how best to get it. There are times I want to slap Sophie silly for her undying devotion to Bianca, a young woman so good at manipulating people. It takes the whole book pretty much for Sophie to realize and accept some truths about Bianca.
Bottom line, this is a good, enjoyable book. But it could have been much more.
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LibraryThing member ladycato
The City in the Middle of the Night feels highly reminiscent of Ursula K. LeGuin with its analysis of alien culture, colonialism, and even the meaning of language, though with a grittier, modern edge. It's not simply a book on social issues, though--the characterizations are deep and realistic.
The book follows two viewpoints: Sophie, a quiet student with a hopeless crush on her manic, popular university roommate, and Mouth, the hard-edged only survivor of a roaming culture that was obliterated by the harsh environment of the planet January. Humans have been on the world for centuries struggle to survive in massive cities that exist largely in isolation.
The worldbuilding truly blew me away here. This is hard scifi across disciplines, but the cultural aspect is what I loved most. I didn't find this to be a fast read-the tension has a slow build, but it was interesting all the way through.
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This is a book that makes you think and feel.The book follows two viewpoints: Sophie, a quiet student with a hopeless crush on her manic, popular university roommate, and Mouth, the hard-edged only survivor of a roaming culture that was obliterated by the harsh environment of the planet January. Humans have been on the world for centuries struggle to survive in massive cities that exist largely in isolation.
The worldbuilding truly blew me away here. This is hard scifi across disciplines, but the cultural aspect is what I loved most. I didn't find this to be a fast read-the tension has a slow build, but it was interesting all the way through.
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LibraryThing member Jayeless
I really enjoyed this book; I thought it was a perfect example of a character-driven tale in an immersively detailed SF setting. To be sure, it's not a cheerful book, and the descriptions inside really play up the deprivations and bleakness of the future it imagines rather than painting a picture
The City in the Middle of the Night is set on a world which doesn't rotate on its axis. The side facing the sun is permanently scorched by temperatures of hundreds of degrees; the side facing away is locked in permanent night, covered in ice, hundreds of degrees below zero. Only the thin sliver of the planet located in permanent twilight is survivable for humanity, so that's where they all live.
Humanity arrived on this world many generations before this story starts, and life has been so hard since then that they live amidst technology that they no longer understand, desperately patching them with dwindling supplies of resources to keep themselves afloat. There are two major city-states – Xiosphant and Argelo – whose divisions go back to their early years on-world and even before, to major conflicts aboard the Mothership. Both are fleshed out in thorough, but not overwhelming detail.
Also on this planet are its native inhabitants – a tentacled species most humans pejoratively call crocodiles, but which Sophie – who becomes their ally – calls the Gelet. The Gelet have found ways to carve a sustainable existence for themselves out of the harsh environment, and they realise that the humans thus far have failed. A major theme of the story is the way humans continue to consume all their energy fighting each other, ignoring the looming catastrophe, and whether or not they can be convinced to change direction.
The main characters are two young women – Sophie, a university student turned outlaw, and Mouth, the last survivor of a band of nomads who's joined a smuggling crew. Each of them have a female friend with whom they're intimately close – Bianca and Alyssa, respectively. This core group of four are one of the definite strengths of the novel – in many ways none of them are super likeable (and they end up in conflict with each other at least as much as they're ever allied), but they're all empathetic characters whose personal failings cause trouble for themselves, again and again.
If I was dissatisfied with anything about this novel, it's the ambiguous ending. I think Anders intended for it to be positive – that humanity will find their way, but only incrementally over tens of generations, such that it can't really be made clear in the novel. But at the same time, there's no real evidence in the book thatSophie succeeds in her mission either – that all of the reasons why none of the previous attempts at change have worked are magically fixed now. What the ending does do is give a clear resolution to the conflicts between Sophie and Bianca, and Mouth and Alyssa, so in that sense at least it's successful.
There's so much I could talk about in relation to this book – the obsessive time-keeping of Xiosphant, designed to fluster people if they sense a single minute they could have spent better working; Mouth's pain over the loss of her people and misguided efforts to find her place in the world; the colonial arrogance of humanity towards the Gelet; Bianca and how her genuine eagerness to do good leads to quite the opposite, because of her self-centredness… there truly is so much packed in here and for lovers of character-driven, social science fiction I would whole-heartedly recommend this.
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of an enchanting world you'd like to visit. That is the whole point, though, and the result is an awesome book.The City in the Middle of the Night is set on a world which doesn't rotate on its axis. The side facing the sun is permanently scorched by temperatures of hundreds of degrees; the side facing away is locked in permanent night, covered in ice, hundreds of degrees below zero. Only the thin sliver of the planet located in permanent twilight is survivable for humanity, so that's where they all live.
Humanity arrived on this world many generations before this story starts, and life has been so hard since then that they live amidst technology that they no longer understand, desperately patching them with dwindling supplies of resources to keep themselves afloat. There are two major city-states – Xiosphant and Argelo – whose divisions go back to their early years on-world and even before, to major conflicts aboard the Mothership. Both are fleshed out in thorough, but not overwhelming detail.
Also on this planet are its native inhabitants – a tentacled species most humans pejoratively call crocodiles, but which Sophie – who becomes their ally – calls the Gelet. The Gelet have found ways to carve a sustainable existence for themselves out of the harsh environment, and they realise that the humans thus far have failed. A major theme of the story is the way humans continue to consume all their energy fighting each other, ignoring the looming catastrophe, and whether or not they can be convinced to change direction.
The main characters are two young women – Sophie, a university student turned outlaw, and Mouth, the last survivor of a band of nomads who's joined a smuggling crew. Each of them have a female friend with whom they're intimately close – Bianca and Alyssa, respectively. This core group of four are one of the definite strengths of the novel – in many ways none of them are super likeable (and they end up in conflict with each other at least as much as they're ever allied), but they're all empathetic characters whose personal failings cause trouble for themselves, again and again.
If I was dissatisfied with anything about this novel, it's the ambiguous ending. I think Anders intended for it to be positive – that humanity will find their way, but only incrementally over tens of generations, such that it can't really be made clear in the novel. But at the same time, there's no real evidence in the book that
There's so much I could talk about in relation to this book – the obsessive time-keeping of Xiosphant, designed to fluster people if they sense a single minute they could have spent better working; Mouth's pain over the loss of her people and misguided efforts to find her place in the world; the colonial arrogance of humanity towards the Gelet; Bianca and how her genuine eagerness to do good leads to quite the opposite, because of her self-centredness… there truly is so much packed in here and for lovers of character-driven, social science fiction I would whole-heartedly recommend this.
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LibraryThing member jovemako
It was a pretty great read! It was a good sci fi story while making the "surprise" villain a good example of what a toxic relationship could look like. I heard the book got picked up for a tv series so I can't wait to see how it translates to the screen. Especially with what the author thinks the
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wildlife looks like. It kind of screwed up my imagery of what the crocodiles and bison looked like. The only real downside is the way the book ended. It could EASILY be viewed as a cliffhanger and continue for sequel. Still good read. Show Less
LibraryThing member TegarSault
Interesting read with complex themes. I like both pov characters and I see how they reflect each other in a way that reflects the dualism in the whole novel. The story favours complexity over focus, which I'm not against, but it did feel like choosing a single protagonist would have vastly
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decreased the length while only losing some nuance. Show Less
LibraryThing member JJbooklvr
Bonkers in the best way possible and shows how science fiction should be written! This would make for a great book discussion title with so much to talk about. Loved it!
LibraryThing member lschiff
A fun and interesting book. The best part is the very unique world that Anders has created.
Awards
Hugo Award (Nominee — Novel — 2020)
Locus Award (Finalist — Science Fiction Novel — 2020)
Arthur C. Clarke Award (Shortlist — 2020)
NPR: Books We Love (2019)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2019-02-12
Physical description
366 p.; 9.77 inches
ISBN
9780765379962