Girl in Landscape by Jonathan Lethem. Review by Violet Kane

Lethem tells a peculiar coming-of-age tell against a hybrid science fiction and frontier background. Though not entirely to my taste, this novel is definitely worth a read.

The main character is Pella Marsh, a girl in her early teens with a more or less ordinary family. She lives with her parents and two brothers in New York on an environmentally-degraded version of Earth; here, a day at the beach requires a full-body protective suit. Her father had made a career in politics, but following a major election loss, he decides to move the family off-world to a newly-formed human settlement on the planet of the Arch-Builders. Before setting off to this new world, tragedy strikes, and the children's mother dies in a random accident. With heavy hearts, the family leaves for the Arch-Builders' planet where humans are struggling to negotiate their relationship to the friendly but non-humanoid Arch-Builder people. Most of the human colonists take a drug formulated to stop the planet's environment from having the same effects on them as on arch-builder physiology, but Pella's father decides instead that his children ought not to take the drug, arguing that if humans are truly to make this new planet a home, they shouldn't have to rely on drugs to live there.

This novel is certainly not formulaic. For the most part, the plot twists and character complications of this novel are neither clichéd nor expected. This is not your typical coming of age story. It gives SF readers a rare dose of austere reality—mixed in, of course, with a science fiction reality. And this one is both original and intriguing. The forward progression of the story definitely kept me intrigued. Overall, however, the characters and their conflicts lacked a certain luster that I look for in a truly excellent read. I think, perhaps, that the character conflicts were a bit too driven by the concept, rather than by their own power. Certainly, though, don't let my nitpicking stop you from giving this book a try. It's a rare and innovative story.

Violet "Violanthe" Kane is the Webmaster and Founder of ARWZ.com. She is an editor of ARWZ Literary Zine and has a Master's degree in Medieval studies. For more on Vio, check out her ARWZ blog.

Buy the Cover? (7/15)
07/15/2010

Author: Violanthe Posted: Thu Jul 15, 2010 12:55 pm Look at the following cover. Imagine that you have only the cover and the information it provides (including images, title and author name) to decide whether to buy this (or any) book. Would you buy this book having looked... read more

Favorite Setting
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Author: SKS Posted: Wed Jul 07, 2010 3:09 pm Do you prefer stories that take place... in a city? In a rural area? On a beach? In a small town? In a foreign country? etc. etc? read more

Buy the Cover? (7/6)
07/06/2010

Author: Violanthe Posted: Tue Jul 06, 2010 4:01 pm Look at the following cover. Imagine that you have only the cover and the information it provides (including images, title and author name) to decide whether to buy this (or any) book. Would you buy this book having looked... read more

The Price you Pay
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Author: Violanthe Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 4:20 pm How much is too much for a book or DVD? How much will you pay for your favorite author or show? read more

Buy the Cover? (6/23)
06/23/2010

Author: Violanthe Posted: Wed Jun 23, 2010 4:17 pm Look at the following cover. Imagine that you have only the cover and the information it provides (including images, title and author name) to decide whether to buy this (or any) book. Would you buy this book having looked... read more

Do you go to your library?
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Author: SKS Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 4:26 pm Do you use your local library? How often? read more

Buy the Cover? (6/22)
06/22/2010

Author: Violanthe Posted: Tue Jun 22, 2010 4:23 pm Look at the following cover. Imagine that you have only the cover and the information it provides (including images, title and author name) to decide whether to buy this (or any) book. Would you buy this book having looked... read more

Didn't sit well
06/17/2010

Author: Violanthe Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 3:29 pm Have you read or watched anything lately that just didn't sit well with you? Something that bothered you or kept you thinking? read more

Buy the Cover? (6/17)
06/17/2010

Author: Violanthe Posted: Thu Jun 17, 2010 3:26 pm Look at the following cover. Imagine that you have only the cover and the information it provides (including images, title and author name) to decide whether to buy this (or any) book. Would you buy this book having looked... read more

Covers you Remember
06/14/2010

Author: Violanthe Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 12:59 pm What book covers stick out in your mind? Do you have a favorite book from the past whose cover you found particularly striking? Do you remember first seeing the cover of a now-favorite book as you first glimpsed it in the... read more

Buy the Cover? (6/14)
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Author: Violanthe Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 12:57 pm Look at the following cover. Imagine that you have only the cover and the information it provides (including images, title and author name) to decide whether to buy this (or any) book. Would you buy this book having looked... read more

Author Nationality
06/14/2010

Author: Violanthe Posted: Mon Jun 14, 2010 12:55 pm Well, of course we are all bound to read more of authors who speak our own languages. It's harder to come across others who write in different languages simply because the middle man of translator is necessary. A book has to... read more

Politics in fiction
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Author: Violanthe Posted: Wed May 12, 2010 12:50 pm Do you like fiction with a political message, either blatant or underlying? read more

Multi-viewpoint stories
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Author: Violanthe Posted: Wed May 12, 2010 12:48 pm I don't know if they're rare, because I see them a lot, especially in fantasy, but maybe done well they are rare. I don't know that first person is that common either, but rather third person limited. I've gotten some flak... read more

Buy the Cover? (5/10)
05/10/2010

Author: Violanthe Posted: Mon May 10, 2010 1:02 pm Look at the following cover. Imagine that you have only the cover and the information it provides (including images, title and author name) to decide whether to buy this (or any) book. Would you buy this book having looked... read more

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