Rjurik Davidson's Unwrapped Sky was published by Tor Books (UK website/US website) in April 2014.
Information about Rjurik Davidson:
Rjurik Davidson is a freelance writer and Associate Editor of Overland magazine. He has written short stories, essays, screenplays and reviews. His short collection, The Library of Forgotten Books, was recently released by PS Publishing. His work has been published in Postscripts, Years Best Australian Science Fiction and Fantasy, Volumes One, Two and Four, Australian Dark Fantasy and Horror 2006, SciFiction, Aurealis, Borderlands and elsewhere. He has been short-listed for the Ditmar Award for Best Short Story three times, the Aurealis Award once and won the Ditmar award for Best New Talent in 2005.
Click here to visit the author's official website.
Information about Unwrapped Sky:
A hundred years ago, the Minotaurs saved Caeli-Amur from conquest. Now, three very different people may hold the keys to the city's survival.
Once, it is said, gods used magic to create reality, with powers that defied explanation. But the magic - or science, if one believes those who try to master the dangers of thaumaturgy - now seems more like a dream.
Industrial workers for House Technis, farmers for House Arbor and fisher folk of House Marin eke out a living and hope for a better future. But the philosopher-assassin Kata plots a betrayal that will cost the lives of godlike Minotaurs; the ambitious bureaucrat Boris Autec rises through the ranks as his private life turns to ashes; and the idealistic seditionist Maximilan hatches a mad plot to unlock the fabled secrets of the Great Library of Caeli-Enas, drowned in the fabled city at the bottom of the sea, its strangeness visible from the skies above.
In a novel of startling originality and riveting suspense, these three people, reflecting all the hopes and dreams of the ancient city, risk everything tor a future that they can only create by throwing off the shackles of tradition and superstition, as their destinies collide at ground zero of a conflagration that will transform the ancient city... or destroy it.
A REVIEW OF RJURIK DAVIDSON'S UNWRAPPED SKY
Unwrapped Sky is Rjurik Davidson's debut novel. It's an impressive, satisfyingly complex and beautifully written new weirdish fantasy novel that invites comparison with China Miéville's Bas-Lag novels and Anthony Huso's new weird duology (The Last Page and Black Bottle).
Unwrapped Sky is a stunningly original, ambitious and unique combination of fantasy, dark fantasy and steampunk elements. This debut novel casts a long shadow and many new fantasy novels fall under its shadow, because only a few of them are equal to it in style and quality. In this novel, the author pushes the limits of imagination to all the right directions and never loses sight of what's important and fluently drives the story towards a satisfying conclusion.
In my honest opinion Unwrapped Sky is a feast of imagination. It's an unputdownable fantasy novel that has a fascinatingly dark and beautifully grotesque storyline that's full of beauty, terror and weirdness. I think it's good to mention that everybody who has read the author's short story collection, The Library of Forgotten Books, will notice that Unwrapped Sky is tied to the Caeli-Amur stories found in it. It's a continuation of "The Passing of the Minotaurs", which tells about the philosopher-assassin Kata.
This novel intoduces readers to a fantasy world filled with ancient wonders and modern horrors. The following things are just a few examples of what readers can find in this novel: Minotaurs, a cruel political system, a city submerged beneath the sea, philosopher-assassins, dangerous magic (thaumaturgy), captured Sirens that are forced to perform at the opera, strikes that are ended with thaumaturgists who control the Furies from the Other Side, tramworker gladiators, bizarre creatures under the mountains, ancient machines, transformations, hideways, political intrigue, betrayal, love and obsession.
The amount of different elements found inside the covers of this novel is simply amazing, but all the elements are connected to each other and create a coherent and powerful vision of a magical world where light and beauty are heavily balanced by darkness and terror. This novel is one of the few fantasy novels in which disturbing happenings and wondrous happenings support each other and awake the reader's interest in them.
Unwrapped Sky is a beautifully told story about a revolution and change that is coming slowly - but inevitably - to an ancient city called Caeli-Amur. Rjurik Davidson has created a uniquely original vision of a society on the verge of total collapse. The collapse of the society is seen through the varying perspectives of three different characters (Kata, Boris and Maximilian).
The coming revolution is slightly reminiscent of the French Revolution, because the workers are oppressed by the wealthy Houses. The author paints a vivid image of the workers' situation and offers glimpses into the lives of people who have no power against the ruling Houses, but who dream of peace and equality. He writes fluently about the seditionists and how they try to change things for the better, but are aware that change isn't easy and may even cost their lives.
Rjurik Davidson writes beautifully about the ancient Caeli-Amur. Caeli-Amur is a city in which many wonders and horrors exist side by side, and where powerful people oppress those who have no power. A powerful cataclysm changed Caeli-Amur and destroyed the ancients. After the cataclysm many things have been different, because the ground shifted and ancient wonders were buried beneath the surface.
Three Houses - House Arbor, House Marin and House Technis - hold power in Caeli-Amur. These three Houses rule people and evoke fear with their thaumaturgists. The workers aren't happy with the Houses, because they want improvements and more safety to their working conditions. Because the workers have to use the dangerous thaumaturgical magic in their work, they risk their lives and sanity on daily basis. Thaumaturgy affects their bodies and minds in a horrifying way (workers can see dark visions etc). Although the workers want changes and don't want to risk their lives anymore, the Houses aren't willing to do anything to improve the workers' conditions, because they're satisfied by maintaining the status quo.
The three Houses - House Arbor, House Marin and House Technis - are controlled by the creepy Elo-Talern that stay hidden and are rarely seen by the citizens. The Elo-Talern watch the city and people fear them because of their magical powers. The Elo-Talern seem to have lost interest in the Houses and their actions, but recently they've been more active and have once again shown interest in the Houses.
The characterization is excellent in this novel. The richly drawn and three-dimensional characters have their own traits, feelings, needs and ambitions that define them. The three protagonists are called Kata, Boris and Maximilian. The author writes about the happening from their perspectives and shows what each of them thinks about what's going on and how they feel about what will happen when the revolution is carried out by the seditionists.
Maximilian is an enthusiastic liberator, Boris is a power-hungry officiate filled with contradiction and Kata is caught in the middle: Maximilian wants to unlock the secrets of the Great Library of Caeli Enas; Boris is an ambitious bureaucrat whose rise to power has been harmful to his private life; and Kata has to balance between what's right and what's wrong.
What makes each of these protagonists interesting is that they're all flawed. The author makes his readers understand his protagonists and their actions, because they've experienced many things that have shaped them and their way of looking at life. Because a revolution is coming, the protagonists come into conflict and their fates are decided by their actions. I'm not going to reveal what happens to them, but I can mention that not all of them will survive.
Here's more information about the protagonists:
Kata: Kata is a former street orphan and has been trained as a philosopher-assassin. She learned from her dying mother to do whatever she must to survive. Kata has fits and needs medicine for her disease. She works for House Technis. She's in debt and needs to kill two minotaurs to get rid of her debts. When she becomes involved with the seditionists her life begins to change.
Boris: Boris is a bureaucrat. He's a subofficiate and a former tramworker. His daughter, Saidra, dances and sings at the opera. Boris works for House Technis and begins to get more power. Boris is asked to improve the conditions for tramworkers, but he isn't exactly willing to put his the needs of the others ahead of his own needs. One of the mysterious Elo-Talern, Elo-Drusa, is interested in him. Boris is fascinated and obsessed by Paxaea, the Siren, that has been captured and forced to perform at the opera. He does horrible things.
Maximilian: Maximilian is an idealistic revolutionary who has his own visions of revolution. He's a seditionist who dreams of studying the dangerous arts of thaumaturgy and changing things. He wants to create an army of liberation-thaumaturgists to set things right and end the oppression. Because almost all knowledge of thaumaturgy is hidden away in the House libraries and much of the knowledge lies under the ocean in Caeli-Enas and its Great Library, Maximilian dreams of reaching the Library and learning its secrets.
Character interaction is realistic and works well in this novel. Rjurik Davidson writes fluently about the relationship between Boris and Paxaea (and also about the relationship between Boris and his daughter, Saidra). Because Boris is obsessed with Paxaea, his obsession clouds his thinking and makes him act in a rash way and Paxaea is the victim of his behaviour (Paxaea is passive, but Boris is active and enthusiastic in a disturbing way). The author also writes well about what happens between Kata and Maximilian, because they're both different kind of persons who react differently to emotions. Both of them have kept their feelings hidden and have concentrated on other things.
The magic system (thaumaturgy) used in this novel is truly a fascinating magic system (it plays an important role in the story). Thaumaturgists touch the Other Side and are aware that contact with it is extremely dangerous. Technology also plays an important role in the story, because the citizens of Caeli-Amur use techonology and ancient machines can be found under the city. Reading about the ancient machines was intriguing for me.
Rjurik Davidson writes believably and realistically about what happens among the seditionists and inside the House Technis. The philosophical discussions about the society and the Houses are interesting and reveal what kind of thoughts people have about the society, its structure and the current state of things. The author writes perfectly about the state of the society and the plight of the oppressed workers.
The prose is excellent and nuanced. I've liked the author's prose ever since I read The Library of Forgotten Books, which contained four Caeli-Amur stories, but I have to mention that I like his prose even more now, because his writing style has developed over the years and now he writes in a more fluent and confident way than before. The author's lush descriptions of the characters and the city (and its different areas) are vivid and breath-takingly beautiful.
I've always enjoyed reading fantasy novels that offer food for thoughts, so I enjoyed reading Unwrapped Sky. This novel makes readers think why the characters do what they do and why they act the way they act. It raises such questions as "Why is the revolution necessary?", "Who benefits from the revolution?", "How will things change when the revolution ends?", "How will the revolution affect the seditionists and the Houses?" and "What will happen to the protagonists?".
I know that there are readers out there who aren't familiar with new weirdish fantasy or tend to avoid it. I'm also aware that there may be readers out there who aren't willing to read complex and imaginative stories that have plenty of depth in them, because they want almost instant action and battles from their novels. I sincerely hope that both readerships would forget their prejudices and read this novel, because it's a quality novel.
In my opinion Unwrapped Sky should be read by all who enjoy reading good and imaginative fantasy, because it's something different and offers intelligent entertainment for speculative fiction readers. There are too many mediocre fantasy novels out there on the market that tend to recycle the same plots over and over again, so original and thought-provoking novels like Unwrapped Sky are much needed novels, because they remind us of the fact that fantasy novels can offer deep and intelligent entertainment for speculative fiction readers.
I loved Rjurik Davidson's sense of style and use of imagination in this novel. He combines mythology, politics and fantasy in such a brilliant and evocative way that it's difficult not to be impressed by his use of different elements. It was easy for me to see that the author had used plenty of time to create the world and loved what he had created. He takes his time to build the characters and the world, and avoids easy decisions. He trusts that his readers are capable of analyzing things and have an ability to absorb information that is revealed to them as the story progresses.
I have to mention that I especially enjoyed reading about the Elo-Talern, because the author wrote fascinatingly about them. They could've easily come from the dark imagination of H. P. Lovecraft or Clark Ashton Smith. They were fascinating beings who had decaying features and awakened fear in people.
I also have to mention that Caeli-Amur's sister city, Caeli-Enas, is one of the most fascinating places described in this novel. Caeli-Enas is deep beneath the ocean and its Great Library can't be reached by anybody, but it can be seen through the crystal water on clear and calm nights. Sea serpents wander through its streets.
Unwrapped Sky can be read as a standalone novel, because the author wraps things up nicely at the end, but leaves plenty of room for the sequel. I look forward to reading the sequel, The Stars Askew, which will be published next year, because I want to find out what happens next.
I highly recommend this novel to readers who want quality from their fantasy novels, because it's an excellent and absorbing novel. I especially recommend it to readers who have read China Miéville, Felix Gilman, Mark Charan Newton and Anthony Huso. I think that it will also be of interest to readers who have read Martha Wells' Ile-Rien novels, because there's something in its fantasy world that's slightly reminiscent of the world described in the Ile-Rien novels. It's possible that readers of Gene Wolfe will also find this novel interesting, because there are a few elements that will appeal to readers who enjoy reading his novels and stories.
Unwrapped Sky is one of those fantasy novels that remind us why reading fantasy can be rewarding and why we should read it. It's a fantastical and atmospheric voyage through new weirdish landscapes and exotic locales. The story is full of mythology, politicial intrigue, magic, steampunk, ancient secrets and richly drawn characters.
There's so much that I could write about this novel, but I think it's time for me wrap things up and write the final paragraph of this review.
Unwrapped Sky is without a doubt the best debut fantasy novel of the year, because it surpasses many other novels in terms of depth, complexity, storytelling and originality. To be honest, Unwrapped Sky is one of the best and most original fantasy novels I've read to date. It's an impressive achievement, because it's a refreshingly different kind of a fantasy novel. Its wonderfully new weirdish atmosphere will leave readers holding their breath and wanting more. With this novel Rjurik Davidson proves that he is the new master of new weirdish fantasy that sparkles with creativity and originality.
Very highly recommended!