Winged Histories
Jul. 15th, 2016 08:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
psocopteraSo I liked A Stranger In Olondria better than just about everyone I talked into reading it, so I realize this isn't going to sound as superlative as it sounds to me, but, Samatar's sequel The Winged Histories is *every bit as good*. It's so beautiful, so rich, so well-constructed. There were things that happened that left me breathless. I am very susceptible to the pleasure of catching on; it was *so satisfying* to watch these stories unfold. Tolkien, Le Guin, Samatar, man, masters of high fantasy.
You might wonder: do I need to read Stranger in Olondria first? I wouldn't say you absolutely *have* to, it's not a straight sequel but rather a parallel story (paraquel?) but I think Stranger is a better introduction to Olondria, Winged Histories is going to dump you in pretty hard and fast if you haven't read Stranger. You also might wonder: do I need to have read Stranger *recently*? I did, and I am glad I did that (for place names, in particular) but I also greatly enjoyed my reread because I was reading an excellent book. You could probably get away with skimming, um, the middle third, ish, if you wanted the most relevant review quickly.
You might wonder: do I need to read Stranger in Olondria first? I wouldn't say you absolutely *have* to, it's not a straight sequel but rather a parallel story (paraquel?) but I think Stranger is a better introduction to Olondria, Winged Histories is going to dump you in pretty hard and fast if you haven't read Stranger. You also might wonder: do I need to have read Stranger *recently*? I did, and I am glad I did that (for place names, in particular) but I also greatly enjoyed my reread because I was reading an excellent book. You could probably get away with skimming, um, the middle third, ish, if you wanted the most relevant review quickly.
