Review of A Stranger in Olondria by Sofia Samatar

Could not deal.

I looked at my progress today and realized I was only slightly more than halfway through. Every time I go to read it, my eyes feel heavy. Enormous paragraphs of description and narration make for a style of story that just does not work for me at the moment. I need something more quickly-paced, something that grabs and takes me along for the ride.

This is not a bad book. But it’s not interesting me right now. It’s not entertaining me. While I don’t make New Year’s resolutions, if I did, letting go of books that fail to do these things would be one of them. So that’s what I’m doing: I’m not giving up; I’m letting go. Also I kind of forgot about reading the Hugo nominees until a week ago and have so much to get through before the voting deadline.

I might come back to this. I might not. But I know that if I were to continue with it right now, I’d just end up being disappointed with it and giving it a poorer review than it probably deserves. I really like the setting, but the slow pace and embroidered narration make it difficult for me to enjoy in my mood this week.