Waiting on Wednesday [126] – RADIANCE by Catherynne M. Valente

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WOW 2014 copy

Welcome to the Sci-Fi November version of Waiting on Wednesday! Sci-Fi November is hosted by Oh, The Books! and Rinn Reads, and Waiting on Wednesday is hosted by Breaking the Spine. This month I’m highlighting upcoming science fiction titles that I’m dying to read, and today’s pick is:

Radiance

Radiance by Catherynne M. Valente. Releases from Tor Books in August 2015. I’ve read a few short stories by Valente, and loved them. Now I’m looking forward to her newest science fiction novel for adults! Here’s what Goodreads says:

The first adult novel in more than three years from the bestselling author of the Fairyland books.

Radiance is a decopunk pulp SF alt-history space opera mystery set in a Hollywood—and solar system—very different from our own, from the phenomenal talent behind the New York Times bestselling The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making.

Severin Unck’s father is a famous director of Gothic romances in an alternate 1986 in which talking movies are still a daring innovation due to the patent-hoarding Edison family. Rebelling against her father’s films of passion, intrigue, and spirits from beyond, Severin starts making documentaries, traveling through space and investigating the levitator cults of Neptune and the lawless saloons of Mars. For this is not our solar system, but one drawn from classic science fiction in which all the planets are inhabited and we travel through space on beautiful rockets. Severin is a realist in a fantastic universe.

But her latest film, which investigates the disappearance of a diving colony on a watery Venus populated by island-sized alien creatures, will be her last. Though her crew limps home to earth and her story is preserved by the colony’s last survivor, Severin will never return.

Aesthetically recalling A Trip to the Moon and House of Leaves, and told using techniques from reality TV, classic film, gossip magazines, and meta-fictional narrative, Radiance is a solar system-spanning story of love, exploration, family, loss, quantum physics, and silent film.

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Oh. My. God. Doesn’t that sound amazing? I will be first in line to read this one! Let me know what you’re waiting on:-D

Posted November 19, 2014 by Tammy in Waiting on Wednesday / 7 Comments

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7 responses to “Waiting on Wednesday [126] – RADIANCE by Catherynne M. Valente

  1. HECK YES it sounds awesome! I’m gonna be honest, the number one way that I choose books to feature for WoW is by looking at gorgeous covers and dang does Radiance fit the bill! Would you believe that I’ve never read a book by Valente? I’ve only heard good things and I want to find out for myself!
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  2. I don’t even know what decopunk is but it’s Valente so I’m totally on board. I am LOVING that cover too! Have you read Valente’s Fairyland series? It’s the only thing I’ve read of hers since I’m very picky with my sci-fi reads and she seems hardcore sci-fi. Comparing it to House of Leaves though does this book no favors. Lol Anyways, great pick!

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