My Real Children by Jo Walton

My Real Children by Jo Walton --- 317 pages

This is a hauntingly beautiful novel by an author I just stumbled across when I found her collection of essays, What Makes This Book So Great, on the new books shelf at my local library.

Ursula K. LeGuin invented the term "speculative fiction," and this is exactly the kind of story she meant by it. Walton begins with an old woman in a nursing home. Patricia is suffering from dementia; the notes on her chart often say she is "very confused." But she does remember people and places and events from the past --- only it seems as though she is remembering two different sets of people and places and events. At some point in time she made a choice --- either/or --- and her life and the world around her diverged down separate paths, but she remembers both: living, breathing, real.

Even if you don't read science fiction or fantasy, read this book. It will break your heart and fill you with wonder and pride in the sheer resilience of the human spirit.

Click HERE for a brief biographical entry on Jo Walton.

Click HERE to acess Jo Walton's web site.

Click HERE to access Jo Walton's blog on the Tor Book's web site.  

What Makes This Book So Great by Jo Walton

What Makes This Book So Great? by Jo Walton --- 446 pages

This collection of short essays were originally published as blog entries on Tor.com between 2008 and 2011. The then new science fiction web site asked British-born Canadian Jo Walton to blog about her habit of reading and re-reading older science fiction and fantasy. Drawing on her omnivorous consumption of all kinds of books, from classics and cult favorites to books that vanished into (deserved) oblivion and titles that should have won awards and didn't, the book includes 125 of Walton's blog posts that generated lively discussions online.

Walton's generally brief and pithy comments on her favorite and occasionally unfavorite books and authors are intelligent, frequently provocative and always enthusiastic about the sheer joy that books and reading can bring to our lives. I particularly enjoyed her description of how repeated re-readings of favorite books and series of books connect with the reader's own life experiences to trigger insights that change the way one responds to the story.

And of course it doesn't hurt that we share a common regard --- not to say passion --- for certain authors!

Click HERE to check out another review of Walton's book --- and look for some of her own science fiction: her award-winning debut novel Tooth and Claw, the Small Change trilogy and her 2012 Hugo and Nebula Award winner, Among Others.